Barack Obama and David Cameron meet for talks in Downing Street

 The two leaders will discuss a range of issues before the US President gives an optimistic speech declaring that the West is "turning a corner" towards a new international order.

The President's motorcade swept into Downing Street shortly before 10am, where Mr Cameron greeted his US counterpart.

The pair shook hands and smiled on the steps of No 10 before going inside to begin the real political business of Mr Obama's state visit.

    Mr Obama will insist the alliance between their two countries is key to providing global security after a ''difficult decade''.

A joint press conference following the talks in Downing Street is likely to be studied intently for clues to the strength of their ''special relationship''.The two men will also attend a barbecue hosted by their wives at No 10, attended by US and British military personnel, where they will announce a new Service Personnel Task Force to share best practice on supporting members of the armed forces and their families.

However, the highlight of the day is likely to be Mr Obama's keynote speech in the historic venue of Westminster Hall this afternoon.

   Following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and the Pope in addressing both houses of Parliament, he will say that even though the world has changed significantly since the Second World War, the relationship and the broader transatlantic alliance is still the ''cornerstone of global security''.

The ''Arab Spring'' in the Middle East and North Africa reinforce that the allies' shared beliefs are ''not just relevant but 

essential'', he is to say.

Iran successfully launches satellite into orbit

Iran has launched a satellite into earth orbit in a feat that is likely to raise concerns among those who fear Iran's intentions and nuclear development program.A report on state television said the locally produced satellite, called Rasad, or observation, was launched successfully by a Safir missile on Wednesday. There was no independent confirmation of the launch or of the satellite achieving orbit.

It would be the second satellite Iran has put into orbit. The first, named Omid, was launched in 2009.

The Iranian TV report said the new satellite is designed to produce high resolution maps.Iran's decade-long space program has raised alarms in the West, because the same technology that allows missiles to launch satellites can be used to fire warheads. Israel, the US and others charge that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies that.The TV report said the Rasad satellite, developed by Iran's aerospace agency, weighs 34 pounds and has been designed to orbit the earth 15 times a day at the height of 160 miles.

Youth Force protests after chairman Basnet arrested

ITAHARI, June 16: Police on Thursday morning arrested Youth Force chairperson Mahesh Basnet alleging him of protecting Parshuram Basnet, an accused of attacking journalist Khilanath Dhakal.
Mahesh Basnet was preparing a press conference, boycotted by local journalists, at the Riverside Hotel at Itahari-8 when police made the arrest as soon as he told a few journalists present that Parshuram Basnet was there. 

Youth Force, a wing of ruling CPN-UML, had planned a demonstration in Biratnagar which was canceled after District Administration Office of Morang issued a notice declaring Birantagar a prohibited area.
Cadres of Youth Force are demonstrating at various places in protest of the arrest.
Basnet was taken to Regional Police Training Center, Biratnagar.
Police said that Basnet was arrested for his involvement in hiding Parshuram Basnet, an accused of attack on journalist Khilanath Dhakal. Mahesh Basnet has publicly challenged the state saying that Parshuram Basent was under his protection.

67 senior police officials transferred

As per the 11-point directive of the Home Ministry, the Nepal Police Headquarters, Naxal Wednesday transferred altogether 67 Superintendents of Police (SP) to various districts.

The Nepal Police Headquarters published the list of SPs who have been transferred today.

The transfer of SPs who are chiefs of Kathmandu valley including majority of Terai districts including police training centers will be in effect today.

Only SP Kedar Rijal retains his earlier position as Kathmandu District Police chief.

As per the list, SP Ramesh Prasad Kharel has been transferred to Parsa district from Kathmandu while SPs Ganesh Bahadur Gurung, Rabindra Nath Regmi, Rabindra Prasad Sharma, Dilip Kumar Chaudhary, Yadav Raj Khanal and Bhog Bahadur Thapa have been transferred to Dipayal, Rupandehi, Chitwan, Kanchanpur, Kaski and Lalitpur respectively.

Similarly, SP Bikram Gurung has been transferred to Eastern Regional Armed Police Batallion (Biratnagar), Narayan Singh Khadka has been transferred to Bhaktapur, Pradhuymna Karki to Morang, Raju Manadhar to Sunsari, Hari Bahadur Pal to Dhanusha, Mohan Raj Joshi to Sarlahi, Ganashyam Aryal to Rautahat, Suresh Bikram Shah to Bara and Dinesh Amatya has been transferred to Banke.

Newly appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rabindra Pratap Shah had personally supervised the preparation of the list till late in the night at the police headquarters.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara had earlier directed Nepal Police Headquarters to stall its decision to transfer senior police officers. Police headquarters had decided to transfer 65 SPs just hours before Mahara assumed office in May.

Charice blasts critics via Twitter, deletes Facebook account

MANILA, Philippines - 

   International singing sensation Charice turned to Twitter on Tuesday night to express her disappointment on the negative things being said about her on social networking sites.

"To all of you fake people saying great stuff in front of me, backstabbers, goodluck. :) Have a mentos! The fresh maker!! boo :P," Charice tweeted.

When asked by one of her followers, amirzmusic, why bother with the harsh comments when one cannot please everybody, Charice responded: "@amirzmusic I care because they WERE chasters. :) Ofcourse I care. But now that I found out about it.. Will forget about it."

Charice, obviously hurt by the harsh comments of some people, decided to delete her personal account on Facebook.

"Glad I deleted my Facebook. It's funny to invade some non-public pages and see other 'not so true chasters' talk negative stuff about me," the pint-sized singer said.

Last month, after performing an original song on the season finale of "Glee," Charice created a buzz not just because of her powerful performance, but also because of her weight.

Fans noticed that Charice, who plays the character Sunshine Corazon, gained weight.

It became more obvious when she put her hair up and wore a fitted blue dress.

Some netizens could not help but call attention to her weight gain.

Charice has not replied as of posting time to a request by abs-cbnNEWS.com to comment on the whole issue.

Sri Sri to meet Ramdev, urge him to end fast his strike

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankarwill meet yoga guru Baba Ramdev in Haridwar and persuade him to end his fast because of his deteriorating heath condition, an official said Friday. 
The spiritual guru, who is reaching Haridwar to perform the last rites of his father, will meet Ramdev, whose fast against corruption entered the seventh day Friday. 

"Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is going to Haridwar for his pitaji's Asthi Visarjan. He will also meet Baba Ramdev and persuade Baba to drop the fast as Baba's health is deteriorating," said a communiqué issued here. 
    It is not clear whether the spiritual leader would meet Ramdev Friday or Saturday, said an official. Ramdev's health condition has considerably deteriorated and he took lemonade and honey at the request of doctors Thursday. He has lost more then two kg of weight since Saturday when he went on fast against corruption.

New warning on earthquake in Nepal and Himalayan region

As pressure in the region’s crust is building up and could be released far more powerfully than previously imagined, the researchers warn that the Himalayan region including Nepal will have to face major quake

 Along with Nepal, north India could experience a powerful earthquake, it could happen sooner than expected and wreak more damage than previously estimated, according to the findings of a research study by scientists at Bangalore’s respected Indian Institute of Science (IISc).In case of such disaster, Nepal is nowhere close to being ready to deal with a powerful seismic shock.

The researchers analyzed earthquakes over the years in the seismically-volatile northern Himalayan region. Their study will be published in next month’s issue of the Journal of Tectonophysics, a peer-reviewed journal.

"Under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal has made certain progress in coping disaster management," said Shaker Koirala chief of Disaster Management Division of Ministry of Home Affairs. "We are now building nationwide networks to cope with such situation."

For at least three decades now, seismologists have been unanimous that a major quake (exceeding magnitude 8.2) is imminent somewhere between Bihar and Nepal, and Kangra (Himachal Pradesh), referred to as the central conflict zone, as well as around Delhi and Uttarkashi. The IISc scientists point out that those studies assume that the last major quake that rocked the region happened 500 years ago, whereas their calculations and on-site excavations suggest that such a quake happened 1,000 years ago.