Dec
08

Football: Comfortable Bayern cruise as Dortmund slip

BERLIN: Bayern Munich moved a step closer to the Bundesliga title on Saturday as they beat Augsburg 2-0 and extended their lead over two-time reigning champions Borussia Dortmund to 14 points.Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez scored in Bayern's victory while 10-man Dortmund lost 3-2 at home against Wolfsburg. Munich jumped onto 41 points while Dortmund remained on 27 points one game day before...
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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced...
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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...
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Australian DJs Behind Prank Call Under Fire

An outpouring of anger is being directed today at the two Australian radio hosts after the death of a nurse who was caught in the DJs' prank call to hospital where Kate Middleton was treated earlier this week.Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital - the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank in a letter...
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Dec
07

Jim DeMint’s resignation jump-starts S.C. campaign season two years early

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Let the death match begin. In South Carolina — a one-party state that still produces some of the country’s meanest, weirdest political battles — the resignation of Sen. Jim DeMint (R) means that the 2014 campaign season started Thursday, in 2012....
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Football: City will benefit from European exit: Ferguson

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says that Manchester City's European demise has given Roberto Mancini's side a clear advantage in the race for the Premier League title.City, who host leaders United on Sunday, failed to clinch a place in the Europa League after finishing bottom of their Champions League group following defeat by German side Borussia Dortmund...
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BJP has 15 leaders fit for PM job: MP minister

BHOPAL: We don't need Congress leader Digvijay Singh's certificate to decide who will be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate,'' Madhya Pradesh minister for industries Kailash Vijayavargiya said on Friday while reacting to AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh's observation on Thursday that Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj would be a better Prime Ministerial candidate that Gujarat chief minister...
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Photos: Best Camera-Trap Pictures of 2012

Photograph courtesy Zhou Zhefeng, BBC Wildlife Magazine A leopard seems to strike a regal pose in China in the winning photograph of the annual BBC Wildlife Camera Trap Competition.Photographer Zhou Zhefeng snagged both the top prize and a category win for Animal Portraits.Established in 2010, the contest features the most "visually exciting" or significant camera-trap images taken by conservationists...
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Nurse Duped by 'Queen's' Prank Call Found Dead

The hospital receptionist who was hoaxed by a prank call from a DJ claiming to be the queen asking about Kate Middleton has been found dead."It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff," the hospital said in a statement released today.The nurse was identified as Jacintha Saldanha. The hospital said that Saldanha worked at the...
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Dec
06

ECB slashes growth forecasts, keeps door open to rate cuts

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank slashed its eurozone growth forecasts Thursday, keeping the door open to more interest rates cuts, even as it insisted it was up to governments to solve the debt crisis.As widely expected, the ECB's decision-making governing council voted to leave the bank's main refinancing rate at a historic low of 0.75 percent at its last policy meeting this year.But...
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PMO pushes for hike in rail fares after nine years

NEW DELHI: Get ready to pay more for rail travel by next March as the government is trying to set up of an independent tariff regulator. PM Manmohan Singh on Thursday stepped in to accelerate the much-awaited reforms in railways, which has been neglected for many years. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has set deadlines for railways' top brass to set up independent tariff regulator and implement...
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High-Voltage DC Breakthrough Could Boost Renewable Energy

Patrick J. Kiger Thomas Edison championed direct current, or DC, as a better mode for delivering electricity than alternating current, or AC. But the inventor of the light bulb lost the War of the Currents. Despite Edison's sometimes flamboyant efforts—at one point he electrocuted a Coney Island zoo elephant in an attempt to show the technology's hazards—AC is the primary way that electricity...
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Winter Chill Descends on Frozen Fiscal Cliff Talks

A chill has descended on Washington just in time for tonight's lighting of the National Christmas Tree.President Obama will preside over an evening festival of star-studded carols and sparkling displays of holiday cheer on the White House Ellipse.But don't expect any of the holiday good will to warm the political frost over the fiscal cliff talks.The White House is mandating...
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Dec
05

Rubio, Ryan look to the future during award dinner speeches

Two high-profile Republican members of Congress who stand at the forefront of the effort to rebuild the party after a stinging presidential defeat delivered speeches Tuesday night aimed at turning the page with a fresh emphasis on inclusion and a renewed focus on growing the middle class. “Nothing represents how special America is more than our middle class. And our challenge and our opportunity...
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Britain faces more austerity pain

LONDON: Finance minister George Osborne on Wednesday warned Britons that they faced an extra year of austerity measures and insisted that reversing his belt-tightening measures now would be a "disaster".Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne said Britain would face spending cuts and tax hikes until 2018 -- after the coalition government led by Prime Minister David Cameron had already previously...
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Deoband fatwa describes perfume with alcohol, tattoo and women receptionists as un-Islamic

LUCKNOW: Two fatwas issued by leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh in last two days have left many in Muslim community perplexed in the state. While a fatwa as described working of women as receptionists against sharia law, another termed tattoo and use of perfume with alcohol content as un-Islamic.A Pakistan-based company had asked whether it could appoint...
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Scientific Results From Challenger Deep

Jane J. Lee The spotlight is shining once again on the deepest ecosystems in the ocean—Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (map) and the New Britain Trench near Papua New Guinea. At a presentation today at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco, attendees got a glimpse into these mysterious ecosystems nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers) down, the former visited by filmmaker...
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John McAfee Seeks Asylum, Thanks God for 'Sanity'

Eccentric software tycoon John McAfee, wanted for questioning in the shooting death of his neighbor, has made his escape from Belize to Guatemala, where he told ABC News he will be seeking asylum."Thank God I am in a place where there is some sanity," McAfee said. "I chose Guatemala carefully."McAfee, 67, has been on the run from police in the Central American country of Belize...
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Dec
04

Senate rejects treaty to protect disabled around the world

The Senate has failed to ratify an international treaty intended to protect the rights of those with disabilities, as a bloc of conservatives opposed the treaty believing it could interfere with U.S. law. The Senate voted 61 to 38 to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, a tally that fell short of the two-thirds needed to sign on to an international trea...
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Android extends global smartphone lead: survey

WASHINGTON: Google's Android operating system will power more than two-thirds of smartphones sold worldwide in 2012, and will remain the dominant platform for at least the next four years, a survey showed Tuesday.The survey by the research firm IDC showed Android will be the platform for 68.3 per cent of smartphones shipped in 2012, far ahead of 18.8 per cent for the iOS platform used...
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GMR row: India tells Maldives not to take any coercive action

MALE/NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday made it clear to the Maldives that no arbitrary or coercive measure should be taken in the GMR case pending the outcome of the legal proceedings, underlining that any such action would inevitably have adverse consequences for bilateral relations. This was conveyed by external affairs minister Salman Khurshid when his Maldivian counterpart Abdul Samad Abdullah telephoned...
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Pictures We Love: Best of November

Photograph by Qais Usyan, AFP/Getty ImagesThe family of a five-year-old Afghan girl, victim of an alleged rape by a 22-year-old man, sits at her hospital bedside in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, on November 12. News agencies reported that the assailant, a neighbor, was later detained by police.(Read about the continued struggle of women in Afghanistan in National Geographic magazine.)Why We Love It...
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Alaska Serial Killer Buried Murder Kits Across US

Israel Keyes, the Alaskan man whoconfessed to seven murders before killing himself in a jail cell, told police that he traveled the country to find victims and buried caches of weapons, money and tools for disposing of bodies to use in future crimes.The FBI also released an ominous list of 35 trips Keyes made around the U.S., Mexico and Canada over the last eight years.Keyes,...
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Dec
03

Top accounting firms face charges over China data

WASHINGTON: US market regulators charged the China affiliates of five top accounting firms Monday with violation of securities laws for refusing to provide audit data related to China-based companies."The audit materials are being sought as part of SEC investigations into potential wrongdoing by nine China-based companies whose securities are publicly traded in the US," the Securities...
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NRHM scam: CBI files chargesheet against Pradeep Shukla

GHAZIABAD: The CBI today filed chargesheet against senior IAS officer Pradeep Shukla in connection with alleged irregularities in upgrading of 89 district hospitals in the state, under National Rural Health Mission scheme, causing a loss of Rs 16 crore to the exchequer. The agency had received sanction to prosecute Shukla, the then family welfare secretary, on November 30 from the Centre after...
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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...
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Kate Middleton Is Pregnant, in Hospital

Kate Middleton is pregnant.The most eagerly awaited pregnancy was announced today by St. James Palace on behalf of Middleton and her husband Prince William.The child, whether boy or girl, will eventually be heir to the British throne according to new legislation awaiting final approval.The duchess was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital today in central London with hyperemesis...
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