Egyptian military says only dialogue can avert disaster

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military, stepping into a crisis pitting Islamist President Mohamed Mursi against opponents who accuse him of grabbing excessive power, said on Saturday only dialogue could avert "catastrophe". State broadcasters interrupted their programs to read out an army statement telling feuding factions that a solution to the upheaval in the most populous Arab nation should...

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Football: Villa, Stoke in goalless stalemate

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom: Aston Villa, featuring for the first time since October out-of-favour striker Darren Bent, and Stoke played out a goalless draw at Villa Park on Saturday.Villa boss Paul Lambert kept the same line-up that drew 1-1 at Queens Park Rangers with Bent taking up position on the bench.His Stoke counterpart Tony Pulis made one change from the 1-0 win over West Brom,...

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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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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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Egypt Terror Leader Possibly Linked to Benghazi Attack Arrested

Dec 8, 2012 2:16pm Mohammad Hannon/AP PhotoThe leader of an Egyptian terrorist cell that planned attacks in Egypt and may be linked with the storming of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11 has been arrested by Egyptian intelligence officers, according to an official close to Egypt’s intelligence agency and a senior U.S. official.Mohammad Jamal Abdo Ahmed...

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Protesters surge around Egypt's presidential palace

CAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Egyptian protesters surged around the presidential palace on Friday and the opposition rejected President Mohamed Mursi's call for dialogue to end a crisis that has polarized the nation and sparked deadly clashes. The Islamist leader's deputy said he could delay a December 15 referendum on a constitution that liberals opposed, although the concession...

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US extends exemptions for Asian powers to Iran oil sanctions

  WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday extended exemptions from sanctions designed to choke Iran's oil exports to nine major economic powers, including China, Taiwan, India and South Korea.The Obama administration ruled that the economies concerned had taken steps to reduce imports of Iranian oil, so their financial institutions would not face sanctions under US law designed to...

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Haryana plans to buy hydel power from Arunachal Pradesh

CHANDIGARH: Haryana power minister, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav said on Friday that the visit of Haryana chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda to Bhutan in connection with the purchase of 2000 MW of hydel power is very significant step for making the state free of any power shortage in the coming times. Hooda would visit Bhutan from December 14 and 16 regarding purchase of 2000 MW hydel power from Bhutan....

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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Royal Hoaxers Pulled Off Air After Nurse's Death

The two Australian radio hosts who prank called the hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated have been pulled off the air "until further notice" after the hoaxed nurse was found dead today."Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) and 2Day FM are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII's Hospital and we extend our deepest sympathies...

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Military halts clashes as political crisis grips Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Republican Guard restored order around the presidential palace on Thursday after clashes killed seven people, but passions ran high in a contest over the country's future. President Mohamed Mursi had been due to address the nation, but a presidential source said the Islamist leader, criticized by his opponents for his silence in the last few days, might speak...

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Three-way talks seek to pull Syria back from brink

DUBLIN: Surprise talks Thursday between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and the UN peace envoy to Syria failed to reach any "sensational decisions" on ending the conflict.UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said all three agreed the situation was "very, very, very bad" in Syria during the 40-minute meeting in Dublin on the sidelines of an international...

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NH8 stretch on Delhi-Gurgaon border is India’s deadliest road

NEW DELHI: Perhaps, the deadliest stretch in the country falls on the Delhi-Gurgaon border on NH8. Data available with TOI shows that 260 lives were lost on this 40-km stretch last year.While the Gurgaon section killed 160 people in 2011, another 100 died in road crashes on Kapdiwas border and Daruhera stretch. The high rate of fatalities has exposed how safety of road users has been the lowest priority...

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Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans...

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McAfee Mystery Deepens With Possible Heart Attack

Two ambulances have arrived at the detention center in Guatemala City where software millionaire John McAfee is being held after McAfee suffered a possible heart attack.McAfee, 67 -- who may soon be deported back to Belize, where authorities want to question him about the shooting death of his neighbor -- was reportedly prostrate on the floor of his cell and unresponsive. Medics...

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Clashes erupt in Egypt despite proposal to end crisis

CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists fought protesters outside the Egyptian president's palace on Wednesday, while inside the building his deputy proposed a way to end a crisis over a draft constitution that has split the most populous Arab nation. Stones and petrol bombs flew between opposition protesters and supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, and the Interior Ministry said 32 people had...

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Palestinian fury as Israel advances E1 settlement plan

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinians on Wednesday reacted furiously after a controversial Israeli settlement plan passed a first hurdle, warning that the project would end all hopes for peace.Israel's plan for construction in a strip of West Bank land outside Jerusalem called E1 has sparked a major diplomatic backlash, with experts saying it could wipe out hopes for the...

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Congress ‘rebels’ force Telangana meet

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has convened an all-party meeting in New Delhi on December 28 to discuss the Telangana statehood issue. The move is essentially aimed at placating the seven Congress MPs from the region who were growing increasingly restive over the government's indecision on Telangana and had even threatened to boycott the FDI vote in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday...

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Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for longer...

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NYC Subway Pusher Charged With Murder

A New York City man was charged today with murder for shoving another man onto subway tracks where he was struck and killed by an oncoming train.Naeem Davis, 30, was charged after being questioned by police since Tuesday about the death of Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Queens, N.Y.The charges include murder second degree: intentional, as well as murder second degree: depraved indifference.He...

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NATO warns Syria not to use chemical weapons

BRUSSELS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - NATO told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons in his fight against encroaching rebel forces would be met by an immediate international response. The warning from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen came as U.S. government sources said Washington had information that Syria was making what could be seen as preparations...

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Pregnant Kate 'feeling better' after second day in hospital

LONDON: Prince William's pregnant wife Kate was feeling better on Tuesday after a second day of hospital treatment for acute morning sickness, palace officials said.William spent most of the day at his wife's bedside as congratulations poured in from around the world after Monday's announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 30, are expecting their first child -- a new royal...

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