Pigeon Found Carrying Drugs Into Kuwait

Little did you know! You could use birds to smuggle drugs now in order to avoid customs! Except customs won this one. Sorry smugglers, but you’ll have to do a better job than you have done. Long story short, instead of planes, people use a pigeon to smuggle their illegal items now.

It appears that the customs in Kuwait seized 178 pills wrapped around a homing pigeon in a small bag, taped to the bird’s back. The employees of the department followed a homing pigeon that was flying from Iraq and finally caught it on the roof of a building near the customs’ department, according to Al-Rai, a Kuwaiti newspaper. As for how they would have known that the pigeon came from Iraq, it is assumed that pigeons fly very much like crows, thus follow a certain direction, making little to no turns.

In the past, homing pigeons were used to carry letters and notes as messenger pigeons and they were known to have crossed a distance of approx. 100 miles. (~161km)

Initially they only delivered letters one-way, but after training, men trained them to deliver messages back and forth between two locations, for more than once a day if needed.

This whole story feels a little sad that an innocent bird was used for the crime of another human being…

Survey Shows Women In India Are Using Old Nokia 3310s As Dildos

Nokia 3310s were the greatest phones ever…

They were just the right size. They had ever-lasting batteries. They had a vigorous vibration. It’s because of all those incredible features, they’re now apparently serving an alternative use: as dildos. Yes, you read that right!

According to a tiny study of 100 Indian women by sex-positive group, Agents of Ishq, women are using their Nokia phones as a substitute for hard-to-find sex toys.

And obviously, it’s doing the rounds on the internet because we all want to believe that those nostalgic bits of technology gold are getting people off.


‘The old Nokia vibrating phone made several appearances on this survey!’ the group says.

‘We have no idea why the company is not the market leader after this!’

One woman surveyed told the collective: ‘A group of three of us decided to masturbate with the old Nokia phones to show a fourth how pleasurable masturbation can be.

‘We switched off the lights to reduce her discomfort and got into our beds. Only, when we switched on vibration, the screens lit up showing off our vaginas!’

What happened to the phones isn’t clear as they’re not waterproof – unlike today’s iPhone 7, which is undoubtedly a far more sophisticated tool.

The survey also claims that 54% of the women surveyed said they used domestic appliances to masturbate with. That included vegetables, toothbrushes and bottles (sort of standard fodder), as well as beds (what?), pillows (how?) and sofas . Errr

Dependable dildos are apparently quite difficult to get hold of in India but if anyone knows how you can jerk off using a pillow, then please let us know.

Stone Pelters Could Be Biggest Threat To Amarnath Pilgrimage

IANS, 24 May, 2017

The Jammu and Kashmir government has sought around 27,000 security personnel from the central government, mostly Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

Read more on Amarnath Temple

Stone pelting mobs and terrorists pose equal threat to the annual Amarnath pilgrimage that begins June 29, a senior official said today.

More than 27,000 security personnel will be deployed along the route to ensure that all goes peacefully, he said after a high-level meeting to discuss security arrangements for the pilgrimage to the high-altitude shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The meeting was chaired by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and attended by top officials of the state and central governments.

"There are equal threats from militants and stone pelters. All threats are being taken care of," Advisor in the Home Ministry Ashok Prasad said when asked whether stone pelting mobs could be the biggest threat to the 40-day pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine located at a height of 3,888 metres.

Security forces will take into consideration all issues before finalising the security plan, he said in response to a question on the possible impact of the destruction of Pakistan Army posts by the Indian Army.

"Definitely, we will make all efforts to ensure a peaceful pilgrimage," Mr Prasad said.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has sought around 27,000 security personnel from the central government, mostly Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

Last year, around 20,000 paramilitary personnel besides state police personnel were deployed along the route.


Though there are no specific threats to the pilgrims, the central and Jammu and Kashmir governments are taking no chances and ordered all possible steps to ensure foolproof security, officials said.

During the meeting, Mr Mehrishi is said to have directed all agencies concerned to keep a close watch and maintain effective coordination to ensure all goes smoothly.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary B B Vyas, Director General of Police S P Vaid and top officials of the home ministry attended the meeting.

Notwithstanding the continuing unrest in the Kashmir Valley, there has been no drop in the number of devotees who have enrolled for the arduous trek, an official said. So far, around 1.80 lakh pilgrims have registered.

Around 2.20 lakh pilgrims had offered prayers at the naturally formed ice-Shivlingam last year. The shrine is located 46 km from Pahalgam and 14 km from Baltal.

The Amarnath yatra will conclude on August 7.

Jammu and Kashmir has seen protests and violence since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in July last year. There was massive violence during the April 9 bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents.

The Election Commission had cancelled the May 25 bypoll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat saying the situation was not condusive to holding elections.

Slain Pakistani Sufi Singer's Family Seeks Protection

IANS, 19 May, 2017
Slain Pakistani Sufi Singer's Family Seeks Protection

The family of famed Sufi Qawwal singer Amjad Sabri, who was shot dead in Karachi last June, has requested the Pakistan government to provide them security, a media report said.

 Amjad Sabri last naat full must watch

Talking to media along at Karachi's Press Club, Amjad Sabri's brother Talha demanded that the culprits behind the murder be brought to justice. He also asked the authorities to return the mobile phones and car of the singer that were confiscated for investigation, Dunya News reported.

To reports that the family wanted to leave the country as they feel "unsafe", Sabri's mother said they only wanted to go abroad for excursion and didn't have any plans to leave Pakistan permanently. She said they have given the name of ‘urs' to the first death anniversary of Amjad Sabri.

Sabri was gunned down by two bike-born assailants while he was travelling in a car along with a friend in June 2016.

Tribute To Late Qawwal Amjad Sabri  Best Islamic Sufi Urdu Qawwali  TAJDAR-E-HARAM

The accused, Asim Capri and Ishaq Bobby, later said that they killed Sabri as he had committed ‘blasphemy' on a television show.

Sabri regularly performed on a morning television show during Ramadan and had won many admirers for his devotional music, humble lifestyle, and charitable work.

Gay Indian-Origin Miniter Leo Varadkar Leads Race To Become New Irish Prime Minister

Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 May, 2017

Welfare Minister Leo Varadkar is leading the race to succeed Enda Kenny as Ireland's first Indian-origin and also openly gay Prime Minister or the Taoiseach, the media reported.

The 38-year-old will face Housing Minister Simon Coveney after nominations closed for the leadership of the governing centre-right Fine Gael party, reported Sky News on Saturday.

Varadkar is favoured to take over from 66-year-old Kenny, who is stepping down after six years as Taoiseach and 15 years at the helm of Fine Gael.

Kenny's successor is due to be elected in the June 2 general elections and Ireland's Parliament will vote for Prime Minister a few days later.


Varadkar has won early support for his leadership bid from several senior cabinet members and a majority of his parliamentary colleagues have publicly backed him.

The Dublin-born son of an Indian immigrant father and Irish mother, Leo Varadkar became the first openly gay cabinet minister in Ireland after coming out in 2015, reports Sky News.

He has campaigned on same-sex marriage and liberalising abortion laws and is an advocate of tight fiscal restraint.

He was a doctor before winning a seat in Parliament in 2007 and has rapidly risen through the ranks, holding several ministerial portfolios.

Ahead of the deadline for leadership nominations, Varadkar had secured 45 of 71 available votes from members of Fine Gael's parliamentary party.

They account for 65 per cent of the electoral college, with 22,000 ordinary party members sharing 25 per cent. County councillors account for the remaining 10 per cent.

Pakistan 'Harbouring Terrorists' In Afghanistan To Counter Indian Influence: Top US Official

IANS, 24 May, 2017

Pakistan is "harbouring terrorists" and using them as "reserve" in Afghanistan, a top US intelligence official has told lawmakers.

Pakistan wants to see an Afghanistan that "does not have heavy Indian influence," Lt Gen Vincent Stewart, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency told members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats.

 "They (Pakistan) view all of the challenges through the lens of an Indian threat," Lt Gen Stewart said.

"So they (Pakistan) hold in reserve terrorist organisations -- if Afghanistan leans towards India, they will no longer be supportive of an idea of a stable and secure Afghanistan that could undermine Pakistan's interest," Lt Gen Stewart said.

The top defence official said that Pakistan needs to be told very clearly that Afghanistan's security and stability is in the interest of all, and does not pose a risk to Pakistan.

"We've got to convince Pakistan that if they're harbouring any of the Haqqani network members, that it is not in their interest," he said. "We ought to be working together to go after those 20 terrorist organisations that undermine not just Afghanistan, not just Pakistan, but the entire region," Lt Gen Stewart said. "And so we have to make sure we're pushing them (Pakistan) to do more against the Haqqani network."

So, we've got tell Pakistan "that the status quo is not in their best interest," he said.

Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence said there is a need to evaluate how to address the situation of Pakistan harbouring terrorist. "I think certainly an evaluation of how we work with Pakistan to address the situation of the harbouring of terrorist groups would be essential to a strategy that affects Afghanistan, going forward in Afghanistan," he said in response to a question.

"Because that is potentially a very disrupting situation, putting our own troops at risk and undermining the strategy of dealing with the Taliban and local groups that are trying to undermine the government," Mr Coats said.

Boeing beats out competitors to build hypersonic space plane

By: Jill Aitoro, May 24, 2017

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency selected Boeing to design its Experimental Spaceplane, or XS-1, a new class of hypersonic aircraft that can launch to low Earth orbit in days, rather than months or years, the agency announced Wednesday.

“The XS-1 would be neither a traditional airplane nor a conventional launch vehicle but rather a combination of the two, with the goal of lowering launch costs by a factor of ten and replacing today’s frustratingly long wait time with launch on demand,” said Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager. “We’re very pleased with Boeing’s progress on the XS-1 through Phase 1 of the program and look forward to continuing our close collaboration in this newly funded progression to Phases 2 and 3 — fabrication and flight.”

Boeing Experimental Spaceplane XS-1 (Phantom Express spaceplane) 

XS-1 aims to provide short-notice, low-cost access to space by way of aircraft that combines the best of a spacecraft with a jet. In Phase 1 of the XS-1 program, prime contracts were awarded to three companies to pitch concepts, working with commercial launch providers: Boeing with Blue Origin; Masten Space Systems with XCOR Aerospace; and Northrop Grumman with Virgin Galactic.

Now with Phase 2, Boeing will design, construct and test the technology demonstration vehicle through 2019. It calls for initially firing the vehicle’s engine on the ground 10 times in 10 days to demonstrate propulsion readiness for test flights, DARPA noted in the announcement. Phase 3 objectives include 12 to 15 test flight, currently scheduled for 2020. Among those would be 10 flights over 10 consecutive days, at first without payloads and at speeds as fast as Mach 5, then as fast as Mach 10, and delivering a demonstration payload between 900 pounds and 3,000 pounds into low Earth orbit.

Ultimately, DARPA envisions from the XS-1 a fully reusable unmanned vehicle, the size of a business jet, which would take off vertically like a rocket and fly to hypersonic speeds.

“Demonstration of aircraft-like, on-demand, and routine access to space is important for meeting critical Defense Department needs and could help open the door to a range of next-generation commercial opportunities," said Brad Tousley, director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office.