Rejecting American pressure, Russia announced the planned launch this summer of Iran’s first, Russian-built nuclear power plant.

Russian Premier Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would start up Tehran’s first and only nuclear power plant this summer. Moscow has been helping Iran build the Bushehr facility since 1995, but work has been delayed several times.

The statement of Russian Premier came at a time when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is in Moscow for talks on the Middle East and a stalled US-Russia nuclear arms reduction treaty. Russia’s foreign minister, gave Mrs Clinton short shrift and argued that making Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant operational would keep Tehran engaged with the international community.

SYDNEY: Pregnant women may be far more at risk from swine flu than thought, according to a survey published on Friday that was carried out in Australia and New Zealand.

An investigation carried out among American women between April and May last year, in the first month of the H1N1 virus’ outbreak, suggested pregnant women were four times likelier to develop severe illness requiring hospitalisation compared with non-pregnant counterparts.

But the new paper, published online by the British Medical Journal (www.bmj.com), found in a small sample that the risk of critical illness was between seven and 13 times as much.

From June 1 to August 31 last year, 209 women of child-bearing age were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in Australia and New Zealand with confirmed swine flu, 64 of whom were either pregnant or had recently birth.

The fact that almost one in three of the admissions were women who were pregnant or post-partum was significant, says the paper.

When extrapolated to the child-bearing population of both countries, a pregnant or post-partum woman with H1N1 was more than seven times likelier to be admitted to an ICU compared to a non-pregnant counterpart who also had flu.

In the case of flu-infected women who were more than 20 weeks’ pregnant, ICU admission was 13 times higher than a non-pregnant, infected counterpart.

The study also showed high rates of ventilator and oxygen use to help the pregnant women breathe.

Seven of the women died, four babies were stillborn and three died in infancy.

Of the surviving births, 22 were pre-term and 32 needed treatment at a neonatal intensive care unit.

None of the women had been vaccinated against seasonal flu, despite recommendations that pregnant women be immunised.

In an editorial, Stephen Lapinsky, a professor of critical-care medicine at the University of Toronto in Canada, said mortality from H1N1 during pregnancy seemed high, although not as bad as in previous flu pandemics.

In the 1918-9 outbreak of so-called Spanish flu, which slew tens of millions of people, maternal mortality was reported in one study to be as high as 27 percent, while in the 1957-8 “Asian” flu pandemic, which may have killed two million, half of the women of child-bearing age who died were pregnant.

“Despite evidence of an increase in maternal mortality after infection with H1N1, in the later phases of the pandemic its effect on pregnant women has been less than was initially anticipated,” said Lapinsky.

This could be explained by vaccination advice and early use of antiviral drugs to women with flu symptoms of flu, he suggested.

H1N1 caused at least 16,713 deaths as of March 7, according to a March 12 posting on the World Health Organisation website (www.who.int).

Chemicals and machinery worth of millions of rupees were destroyed when a huge fire broke out in a chemical factory in Green Town, Lahore. Fire brigade is trying to contain the fire.

Fire brigade sources said that the blaze broke out late night in the factory, they added that the cause of the fire could not be immediately ascertained, though an electric short-circuit was believed to have caused it.

10 to 12 fire brigade engines were pressed into service to contain the fire; however it is feared that the fire cannot be put out until the entire quantity of chemical is burnt. The fire fighters are trying to stop the fire from reaching neighboring factories.

US citizen of Pakistani origin David Headley has admitted 12 counts of conspiracy. He pleaded guilty to scouting targets for the 2008 attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai.

Prosecutors will therefore ask for a lesser sentence since Headley was cooperating with the prosecutors, but US District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber said Headley could still be jailed for life. David Headley, at his trial in Chicago, also admitted plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that published a cartoon many Muslims deemed offensive.

Headley, 49, had denied the charges but changed his plea to avoid the death penalty or extradition to India, Pakistan or Denmark.

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INDIAN WELLS: Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (4) to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in his first tournament since returning from a six-week injury layoff.

Nadal used every inch of the court in beating Berdych for the sixth consecutive time. He mixed topspin with power off the forehand side, slipped in drop shots, and painted the corners with smashes.

Nadal won the final three points of the tiebreaker that ended with Berdych netting a backhand. The Spaniard leaped for joy, trading the snarl he wore through most of the match for a smile.

Nadal was hampered by knee injuries last summer that continued into the Australian Open in January, when he was forced to retire in the quarterfinals.

Jelena Jankovic rallied from a 2-4 second-set deficit to beat Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-4 and reach the women’s semifinals.

Jankovic won the final four games of the match, twice breaking Kleybanova, to extend her best showing of the year. Jankovic made the semifinals at Indian Wells in 2008, and went on to finish the year ranked No. 1 in the world.

In the semifinals, Jankovic will play Australian Samantha Stosur, a 6-3, 7-6 (9) winner over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain.

Their match ended awkwardly when Stosur challenged Sanchez’s serve that had been called good. Sanchez thought Stosur was questioning the Aussie’s return, and believed her challenge request wasn’t made in time.

“She thought maybe it was a first serve or she got confused about something, but I wanted to challenge the serve and the serve was out, so it’s a second serve,” Stosur said. “It’s a little bit more big a deal because it was match point.”

Sanchez was also confused about the score in the tiebreaker.

Stosur has yet to drop a set in four matches, and is projected to crack the top 10 for the first time in the WTA Tour rankings.

No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who also hasn’t dropped a set, will meet in the other semifinal.

Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia gave himself an early birthday present by defeating Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, setting up a semifinal against Nadal. Ljubicic turns 31 on Friday.

MUMBAI INDIA : Tanushree Dutta plans to celebrate her birthday with her family. Tanu who has been quite busy with her schedule, plans for an outing with her family in Mumbai.

An excited Tanushree says, “I turn 24 this year and I am on a high since my last movie is doing quite well…just waiting for my next release Apartment where I have a complete new look and I am getting a lot of compliments for it. One thing that hasn’t changed since my last birthday is my yoga routine with which I start my day. I plan to do the same tomorrow with no-social dos, all the time for my family. ”

Well, Tanu we wish you all the luck and best wishes for the year ahead!

Yuvraj Singh’s New Girlfriend – Aanchal Kum, Soon after the Kings XI Punjab’s IPL Match loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore the other day, the Punjabi munda Yuvi was living up to the maxim of “Live life King size”Yuvraj Singh got his new girlfriend, model Aanchal Kumar (who was in a relationship earlier with Shaadi.CEO Anupam Mittal) to the IPL Party in Bangalore,this even though when he was seeing Vivek Oberoi’s ex girlfriend.

The Philippines’ top fashion designers had a ball, dressing up the world’s most famous doll, as Barbie donned priceless couture pieces for a charity auction.

Ballet Philippines, a prestigious dance institution, auctioned 201 Barbie dolls and raised 1.5-million pesos (32,900 US dollars) for scholarships that will benefit underprivileged dancers.

Dozens of the country’s premiere designers created miniature versions of their signature looks, and what better model to have then tall, curvy Barbie who can look glamourous in any garb. The dress styles ranged from Hollywood glam to Mother Nature to Filipina senora.
The one-of-a-kind dolls came with hefty price tags. A doll in a black gown by designer Rajo Laurel embellished with a pearl and diamond brooch by Hans Brumann had an opening bid of 150,000 pesos (3,290 US dollars).

Chennai Super Kings
Delhi Daredevils
Delhi Daredevils
19 Mar 2010
10:30 GMT

Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils
Delhi
11th Match
Match scheduled to begin at 16:00 local time
Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI Punjab
Deccan Chargers
Deccan Chargers
19 Mar 2010
14:30 GMT

Kings XI Punjab Vs Deccan Chargers
Cuttack
12th Match
Match scheduled to begin at 20:00 local time
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
England
England
20 Mar 2010
03:30 GMT

More matches schedule