At least 26 die in Egyptian clashes over death sentences

PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 26 people died on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, adding to bloody street turmoil confronting Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said after the violence. The state news agency quoted a general...

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10 police killed in Afghanistan suicide attack: official

KABUL: At least 10 policemen were killed and 18 others, mostly civilians, were wounded in a suicide attack Saturday in a crowded area of the northeast Afghan city of Kunduz, provincial authorities said.The attacker, who was on foot, detonated his explosives next to a group of police officers, according to several sources."We have 10 dead, including the counter terrorism police chief and...

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At his Republic Day reception, President Pranab gives tradition a break

NEW DELHI: As a pleasant winter sun shone on the manicured lawns of the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Pranab Mukherjee mingled with dignitaries at a reception he hosted here Saturday, and in a break from tradition, walked up to the guests and exchanged greetings with them.At the traditional reception, or " At Home", the President hosts on the occasion of Republic Day, Mukherjee did away...

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very...

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Cops Using More Private Cameras to Nab Suspects

Philadelphia detectives were able to quickly make an arrest in the murder and burning of a female pediatrician by viewing surveillance video of nearby stores and a hospital that captured the suspect entering the doctor's home and later getting into his truck.In the hours after Dr. Melissa Ketunuti's body was found strangled and burning in her basement, city's Homicide Task Force...

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Violence flares on anniversary of Egypt uprising

CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Protesters clashed with police across Egypt on Friday on the second anniversary of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, taking to the streets against the elected Islamist president who they accuse of betraying the revolution. At least 91 civilians and 42 security personnel were hurt in violence across the country, officials said. Street battles erupted...

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US scholar urges dramatic rethink on Taiwan

WASHINGTON: With Beijing growing in strength, a US scholar is calling for a major rethink on Taiwan in which the island would cut its troop numbers in half and rebrand its army as a self-defence force.The proposal marks a rare break from the conventional view of American and Taiwanese policymakers that the island needs to close the military gap with Beijing, but its author said an opposite...

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Now, NIA aiming to secure access to Rana

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), satisfied with the 35-year sentence handed out to LeT operative David Coleman Headley as it virtually rules out his coming out of the prison alive, will now step up efforts to gain access to his accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana to probe the case relating to the LeT's plot to target various Indian cities, including the national capital. Rana,...

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

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Mars Rover Celebrates Milestone on Red Planet

It was never supposed to last this long. When the Mars rover Opportunity settled on the Martian surface nine years ago today, mission managers at NASA said they would be pleased if it lasted for 90 days.Instead, it's been 3,201 days, and still counting. The rover has driven 22.03 miles, mostly at a snail's pace, from one crater to another, stopping for months at a time in...

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North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy". The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North...

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Keppel Corp's net profit falls 22% on-year in Q4

SINGAPORE: Falling margins from building oil rigs has hit the bottomline of Keppel Corp. Net profit for the world's leading rig builder fell 22 per cent on-year to S$305 million in the fourth quarter last year.Still, full year profit for the conglomerate came in 15 per cent to S$2.24 billion.Despite lower net profit in the three months ended Dec 31, Keppel Corp still declared a final dividend...

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David Headley sentenced to 35 years in jail by US court

NEW DELHI: Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Coleman Headley has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks by a Chicago court on Thursday. The court of US district judge Harry D Leinenweber in downtown Chicago pronounced the sentence amidst an unprecedented security. Pakistani American, Headley, 52, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October...

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CDC: New version of stomach bug causing US illness

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say a new strain of stomach bug that's sweeping the globe is taking over in the U.S.In the last four months, more than 140 outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by the new Sydney strain of norovirus. These kinds of contagious bugs cause bouts of diarrhea and vomiting.The new strain may not be unusually dangerous; some scientists don't think it is. But it is different,...

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Exterminator Charged in Pa. Doctor's Murder

An exterminator named Joseph Smith was arrested and charged today in the strangling and burning death of Philadelphia pediatrician Melissa Ketunuti.Smith, 36, had been sent to Ketunuti's home on a service call where the two got into "some kind of argument" in Ketunuti's basement on Monday, Capt. James Clark of the Philadelphia police department said this morning."At her home...

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First Russia bans US adoptions. Are English words next?

With anti-foreign sentiments riding high in Russia this political season, the flamboyant leader of the Duma's ultranationalist wing, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, is proposing a dramatic new measure to curb outside influence: a ban on about 100 English words that are allegedly subverting the Russian language."We want to minimize the usage of foreign words when they have ready Russian substitutes at hand,"...

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Japan presses Algeria for answers as toll hits nine

ALGIERS: A senior Japanese official met Algeria's prime minister on Wednesday to press for an explanation of the gas plant siege, as Tokyo confirmed the deaths of two more nationals, taking its toll to nine.Senior Vice Foreign Minister Shunichi Suzuki arrived aboard a government jet that is to repatriate the bodies of those known to have been killed in the hostage crisis, along with the...

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Tamil Nadu bans screening of 'Vishwaroopam'

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday evening banned the screening of Kamal Hassan's " Vishwaroopam" following strong protests from various Muslim organizations over alleged depiction of their community in a negative light. Official sources said the state government has asked the respective district collectors to invoke necessary legal provisions to maintain law and order. The ban came...

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Sickening fog settles over Salt Lake City area

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of Utah doctors is declaring a health emergency over the Salt Lake City area's lingering air pollution problem.Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment planned to deliver a petition Wednesday demanding immediate action by elected officials.The group wants Gov. Gary Herbert and mayors of northern Utah cities to cut the pollution.The doctors suggest lowering highway speed...

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Clinton Says Budget Cuts Undermine Security

An energized Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood her ground today, telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she has overseen plans to secure diplomatic outposts around the world while cuts in State Department funding undermine those efforts.Citing a report by the department's Accountability Review Board on the security failures that led to the deaths of four...

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Israel goes to polls, set to re-elect Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election that is expected to hand hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a third term, opening the way for a showdown with Iran and bolstering opponents of Palestinian statehood. However, Netanyahu's own Likud party, running alongside the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, looks set to win fewer seats than in the previous...

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SGX's Q2 net profit rises 17% to S$76m

SINGAPORE : Rising interest in derivatives trading helped lift earnings for the Singapore Exchange (SGX) last quarter. Asia's second-largest bourse operator reported a 17 per cent on-year rise in second-quarter net profit to S$76 million.It also attracted a large number of new bond listings in the same quarter.Derivatives trading has been the star performer in SGX.Over the October to December...

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I'm opting out of race for BJP chief to save party: Gadkari

NEW DELHI: BJP president Nitin Gadkari today said he is opting out of the race for the top organizational post for a second time as he does not want the charges of financial impropriety levelled against him to adversely affect the party's interest. In a written statement, Gadkari said "I have committed no wrong or any impropriety either directly or indirectly. Yet, the UPA government has been making...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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Group Finds More Fake Ingredients in Popular Foods

It's what we expect as shoppers—what's in the food will be displayed on the label.But a new scientific examination by the non-profit food fraud detectives the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), discovered rising numbers of fake ingredients in products from olive oil to spices to fruit juice."Food products are not always what they purport to be," Markus Lipp, senior director...

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