| "Dot-Com" News - 26th July, 2010. | ||||
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VIENNA (Reuters) – An Austrian woman has had to convince her electricity supplier that she is alive after the company wrote to her asking for information about her contract following her "passing away." In a personally addressed letter, the Linz-based company said it had heard of her death through her bank, daily Oesterreich reported on Thursday. "I am not the dead one," 58-year-old Christine R. wrote back in a fax and email to the company, explaining that it was her neighbor who had died and she was the custodian. She eventually went to the customer center in person to prove her existence. "It was an unfortunate mistake," a spokeswoman for the company said. "There was a muddle in the paperwork and the letters we automatically send out. It has been resolved now." Priest suspended for World Cup Orange Mass AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A Dutch priest has been suspended for dedicating a Mass to the Dutch national soccer team -- while wearing an orange cloak -- ahead of the World Cup final against Spain. Priest Paul Vlaar from the town of Obdam prayed last Sunday for team spirit for the national team, while worshippers, also dressed in orange clothes, were singing soccer songs in the church. It was decorated with orange flags. The Haarlem-Amsterdam diocese said in a statement Friday that Vlaar "failed to do justice to the holiness of the celebration of the Eucharist." Bishop Jozef Marianus Punt has imposed a period of reflection on the priest with immediate effect. Vlaar's prayers appear to have fallen on deaf ears, however, as the Dutch lost the match 1-0. Rep Film with Bin Laden lookalike banned ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani censors have banned an Indian comedy film featuring a lookalike of al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, the film's distributor said on Wednesday. The ban had been anticipated on grounds that Islamist extremists could use it as a pretext for attacks. "They have banned it in Pakistan," Nadeem Mandviwall told Reuters. "We have moved an appeal against the board decision but there's little chance we will get relief." Mandviwall had earlier said censors had found no fault with the film itself. "It's because they think somebody might do something. They're not saying there's something wrong in the film or the picture is against Osama bin Laden or maligning him," he said. Walwater Media's production, "Tere Bin Laden" ("Without You, Bin Laden"), revolves around a television journalist whose sole ambition is to gain residency in the United States. The journalist, played by Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar, films a video with the lookalike, which quickly goes viral online, and attempts to migrate to the United States. "Our full board have watched the movie and the majority has decided it's not suitable for exhibition," Masood Elahi, vice chairman of the Censor Board of Pakistan (CBP), told Reuters before the ban was imposed. He gave no reasons for the ban. The 57-member board is made up of members from the media and public representatives and religious clerics. Mandviwali said a ban would prompt a variety of interest groups to seek similar bars on any film they found objectionable. Plans had called for the movie, had it escaped a ban, to be shown with the amended title "Tere Bin," ("Without You"), because of sensitivity surrounding the name of the al Qaeda chief. Militants linked to al Qaeda are trying to topple the civilian democratic government in conservative, Muslim Pakistan and enforce harsh Taliban-style rule. They have killed thousands in bomb and suicide attacks on minorities, markets, mosques, security forces and western targets. Al Qaeda and Taliban militants have taken refuge in Pakistan's border regions after U.S.-led forces ousted the radical Taliban regime in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. |
| Last Updated ( Monday, 26 July 2010 13:19 ) |
