Kuala Lumpur, Nov. 27 : Many Tamil schools do not have basic facilities although the country has been independent for more than 50 years, Malaysia Nanban quoted Selangor state executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar, as saying on Wednesday.

He said some schools were conducting their classes in warehouses and under trees.

He added that in the 1980s and 1990s, many parents were not interested in sending their children to Tamil schools due to the deplorable conditions, which made it unsafe for them.

He said the trend had changed and more Indian parents were eager to send their children to Tamil schools due to the excellent academic performance by students in such schools.

Washington, Nov 27 : Kid Rock is so smitten by Welsh soul singer Duffy that he has even warned the sexy blonde to stay away from him or he''ll get her pregnant.

The ‘All Summer Long’ rocker has confessed that he is a huge fan of the Mercy hitmaker''s 60s inspired sound.

However, the star, who has fallen for Duffy’s sultry charms actually, ruined his chances by telling the singer to stay away from him or he won’t be able to control himself.

"I did meet her recently, but I told her to stay away from me or she will end up pregnant,” Contactmusic quoted Britain''s Daily Star newspaper as saying,

Washington, Nov 27 : Aretha Franklin is thinking of giving Terrence Howard the role of Smokey Robinson in an upcoming biopic about the Queen of Soul.

And from what the reports suggest, the Motown legend has approved of her choice.

While Franklin has not yet finalised who will play her in the movie, she is quite sure that she''s found her Smokey.

"I was talking to him (Howard) about playing Smokey (and) he said he would be delighted with a capital D,” Contactmusic quoted the R. E. S. P. E. C. T. singer as saying.

New York, Nov 27 : A new keyboard called ‘Keyboard for Blondes’ has been developed with keys that have ‘Smart Blonde Button’ and ‘Somewhat Useless Key’, written on them.

The keyboard, which comes in a bubblegum-pink colour and is priced at 50 dollars, can even talk back and has funny titles for boring keystrokes like, “I need my space” bar.

The best features, however, are the keys dedicated to 100-times-a-day texts like “OMG,” “LOL” or “ZZZD,” which is girl-speak for boring date.

“It’s pink? That''s great,” the New York Daily News quoted blonde Samantha Dubin, 34, as saying wryly.

Chennai, Nov 27 : Heavy rains triggered off by the inching cyclone ''Nisha'' towards the southern coast of India continued to lash Chennai and other places in Tamil Nadu disrupting life on Thursday.

The streets in Chennai were literally submerged and traffic moved at a snail''s pace on the waterlogged streets.

People of the area complained that the rainwater had started entering their houses and the government was not taking any action.

Rome  - Italy's government condemned Thursday the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, in which an Italian man was among those killed.

"The attacks in India, that were almost certainly carried out by groups linked to al-Qaeda, confirm that terrorism remains the number one threat to the entire community of nations," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

Frattini, in a television interview, also expressed condolences to the family of the Italian victim, Antonio De Lorenzo.