12 Jan 2005

15 Jailed for Anti-Govt Demonstration Abdul Wahab Bashir, Arab News

JEDDAH, 12 January 2005 - A court in Jeddah has sentenced 15 people,
including a Saudi woman, to prison terms and lashing for taking part last
month in an illegal demonstration called for by Saudi dissident Saad
Al-Faqih. Six other defendants are awaiting trial by the Shariah Court.

The state prosecutor objected to the sentences, saying they were too lenient
and demanded stiffer ones for the demonstrators who were arrested on Dec.
16. The sentences will be referred to the Court of Cassation.

One of the defendants, a Saudi woman, was sentenced to six months in prison.
Two foreign residents among the 15 were given separate jail sentences of
five and two months, according to Okaz. In all, 21 people were arrested in
Jeddah, 15 of them were tried and sentenced and the remaining six will
appear later in court.

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Apple unveils low-cost 'Mac mini'

Apple has unveiled a new, low-cost Macintosh computer for the masses, billed
as the Mac mini.

Chief executive Steve Jobs showed off the new machine at his annual MacWorld
speech, in San Francisco.

The $499 Macintosh, sold for £339 in the UK, was described by Jobs as the
"most important Mac" made by Apple.

Mr Jobs also unveiled the iPod shuffle, a new music player using cheaper
flash memory rather than hard drives, which are used in more expensive
iPods.

Speculation

The new computer shifts the company into new territory - traditionally, the
firm is known as a design and innovation-led firm rather than as a
mass-market manufacturer.

The Mac mini comes without a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and a second
version with a larger hard drive will also be sold for $599.

The Mac mini will appeal to PC users looking for an attractive, 'no fuss'
computer

Ian Harris, Mac Format

The machine - which will be available from 22 January - was described by
Jobs as "BYODKM... bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse".

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France to honour this Pune citizen

PUNE, JANUARY 11: Indian spirituality held a 40-year-old Frenchwoman
spellbound and on a crisp February morning in 1970, she arrived here with a
suitcase full of books on India and no return ticket. Nishtatai stayed on,
working with the underprivileged and teaching French. On Wednesday, the
82-year-old will receive the French Government's Ordre National du Merite
(National Order of Merit) from the French Ambassador at a function in
Mumbai. She is among the seven recipients of the award in the country.

''The French Government wrote saying that the award was for my work -
teaching French here, acting as a cultural bridge between India and France
and for my efforts with the underprivileged,'' says Nishtatai in Marathi.

Having studied the Upanishads, she says, ''I follow the philosophy that you
always have to search more and more for the complete truth.'' So where is
home? ''India has been my only home from the day I landed.''

Her association with Pune runs deep - she has taught French at various city
colleges and is the co-founder of Alliance Francaise de Poona. ''I came to
Pune with just the clothes I was wearing and very little money. I bought a
saree when I came here and was given a flat in Bhawani Peth opposite
Kasewadi slum. I stayed there till the 1980s and worked with the
slum-dwellers.''

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