Freemont , Oct 30 : As Hurricane Sandy hit the East American coast, bringing with it fears of devastation, the American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (AGPC) today appealed all the Sikh Gurdwaras to lend hands to the affected persons.

They ordered that all gurdwaras in the areas under impact of the storm be converted into `shelter homes’ to make arrangements for providing food and water to those impacted by this devastation.

California, Oct 15 : Political scientist Francis Fukuyama has described the Taliban, both in Afghanistan or Pakistan, as "non-expansionist bogeymen". "One must understand that the political motives of the Taliban (in Afghanistan) focus on the exit of NATO forces from Pashtun areas. They don''t have a larger agenda and they don''t want to branch out in other parts of the world," The Express Tribune quoted Fukuyama, a Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, as saying. Fukuyama believes their counterparts in Pakistan are equally non-expansionist.

Cupertino, Sep 24 - Apple Monday said it has sold over five million of its new iPhone 5 sets just three days after its launch Sep 21.

Demand for iPhone 5 exceeded the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders have been shipped to customers, many are scheduled to be shipped in October, the company said in a statement.

iPhone 5 is available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK, and will be available in 22 more countries including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and Luxembourg on Sep 28 and in more than 100 countries by the end of the year.

Cupertino, California, Sep 24 : Apple Monday said it has sold over five million of its new iPhone 5 sets just three days after its launch Sep 21.

Demand for iPhone 5 exceeded the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders have been shipped to customers, many are scheduled to be shipped in October, the company said in a statement.

Cupertino , Sep 17 - The pre-orders for Apple's iPhone 5 have crossed two million in just 24 hours, the company said Monday.

"Pre-orders of iPhone 5 topped two million in just 24 hours, more than double the previous record of one million held by iPhone 4S," the company said in a statemet.

"Demand for iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered to customers on Sep 21, many are scheduled to be delivered in October," it added.

iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever and features a new 4-inch retina display, an Apple-designed A6 chip and ultrafast wireless technology.

California, Sept 10 : A 29-year-old American accused of ripping out the heart and tongue of a friend after the two had taken hallucinogenic drugs, has pleaded guilty to murder.

Jarrod Wyatt, from California, accepted a plea deal, four days before his case was set to go to trial.

According to ABC News, Wyatt will serve a 50-years-to-life prison for killing 21-year-old Taylor Powell.

Police officers discovered Wyatt naked and covered in blood head-to-toe when they arrived at a house California in March 2010.

Wyatt, a mixed-martial artist, reportedly told the officers, `I killed him.'

Washington, Sep 10 - California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two bills aimed at battling workplace discrimination against Sikhs and Muslim by shunting workers wearing turbans, beards and hijabs to backroom jobs out of public view.

"This bill, AB 1964, makes it very clear that wearing any type of religious clothing or hairstyle, particularly such as Sikhs do, that that is protected by law and nobody can discriminate against you because of that," Brown told an enthusiastic crowd of 500 Sikhs Saturday, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Washington, Sep 10 - California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two bills designed to battle workplace discrimination against Sikhs and Muslim by shunting workers wearing turbans, beards and hijabs to backroom jobs out of public view.

"This bill, AB 1964, makes it very clear that wearing any type of religious clothing or hairstyle, particularly such as Sikhs do, that that is protected by law and nobody can discriminate against you because of that," Brown told an enthusiastic crowd of 500 Sikhs Saturday, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Freemont (California, US), Aug 23 : The American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (AGPC), a conglomeration of 65 gurdwara managements in the United States, has welcomed the visit of U. S. First Lady Michelle Obama to Oak Creek in Wisconsin to commiserate with the Sikh community in the wake of the recent killing of six Sikhs at a gurdwara by a former army soldier.

California, Aug 20 : Wildfires in northern regions of the U. S. state of California were threatening thousands of homes Sunday night, forcing thousands to evacuate.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 12,000 acres (around 48.6 square km) of forest have been destroyed by the so-called "Ponderosa Fire" after lighting strikes on Friday night and Saturday morning set off a dozen fires in northern California.

California, Aug 17 : An American judge, presiding over an intellectual property dispute between Apple and Samsung, has said that the iPhone maker's lawyer `must be on drugs' if he thought she would accept his list of potential witnesses.

William Lee had named 22 people he wanted to rebut testimony given by Samsung''s choice of experts.

Judge Lucy Koh, however, became frustrated as Lee said he could call 22 witnesses in four hours.

"Unless you''re smoking crack, you know these witnesses aren''t going to be called," the BBC quoted Judge Koh, as saying.

California, Aug 16 : An American judge presiding over an intellectual property dispute between Apple and Samsung Electronics has urged the chief executives of the tech firms to speak to each other at least once on the phone before the jury begins its deliberations.

"It''s time for peace," US District Judge Lucy Koh said in a San Jose, California, federal court.

Apple has accused Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone, and is asking for a sales ban in addition to monetary damages.

California, Aug 15 : Computers and personal items worth over 60,000 dollars were stolen from the home of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, it has emerged.

Kariem McFarlin, 35, was arrested on August 2 and charged with residential burglary and selling stolen property from Jobs' home in California.

He remains jailed, with bail set at 500,000 dollars pending an August 20 court hearing.

According to News. com. au, police believes that McFarlin was unaware that he had broken into the Jobs home.

Long Beach , Aug 1 - Appreciating India's efforts at fighting terrorism and promoting peace in Afghanistan, US Senator Dana Rohrabacher Wednesday said India is America's key ally in the fight against global terrorism.

"India is USA's key ally in the fight against global terrorism. We support and welcome India's steps in providing vital services in Afghanistan, for the stability of that country and the entire region," Rohrabacher, who represents 46th District of the state of California, told IANS.

Long Beach , Aug 1 - Boeing Wednesday said the first of the 10 heavy-lift military aircraft, C-17 Globemaster III, for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will arrive in the county by June 2013.

The C-17 is a strategic acquisition for the IAF which currently operates Russian built IL-76s and a medium to light lift aircraft AN-32s.

Officials at the aerospace giant told IANS here that the final assembly of the first of the 10 aircraft would be completed by December 2012 and the first trial flight will take place by January 2013.