Syria opposition leader rejects Moscow invitation

ALEPPO PROVINCE, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition leader has rejected an invitation from Russia for peace talks, dealing another blow to international hopes that diplomacy can be resurrected to end a 21-month civil war. Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's main international protector, said on Friday it had sent an invitation for a visit to Moaz Alkhatib, whose six-week-old...

Read More..

Italy's Monti to lead centrist coalition in February polls

ROME: Italy's caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti said Friday that he will contest February elections at the head of a centrist coalition, driving a wedge between centre-left and centre-right parties."I agree to assume the role of head of the coalition, and I will commit myself to guaranteeing the success of this operation," Monti said after meeting for four hours with representatives...

Read More..

Sharad Pawar's word of advice to President Pranab Mukherjee's son

MUMBAI: Union agriculture minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar has a "word of advice" for former cabinet colleague and President Pranab Mukherjee's son, Jangipur Congress MP Abhijeet, as well as other politicians who seem to have taken umbrage at the spontaneous protests against crime against women.Without naming Abhijeet, Pawar said, "When situation becomes intolerable, citizens come on road to...

Read More..

Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

Read More..

'Mom' Loses Russian Girl Weeks From Adoption

After a roller coaster week, Kendra Skaggs sat down to vent on her blog. She had used that space to document her 13 month journey of adopting a young girl named Polina from Russia. But now, with that dream just weeks away from fulfillment, she described her frustration, fear and anger as she watched it being snatched away."I have no control. I'm on the other side of the world...

Read More..

Russia's Putin signals he will sign U.S. adoption ban

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signaled on Thursday he would sign into law a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children and sought to forestall criticism of the move by promising measures to better care for his country's orphans. In televised comments, Putin tried to appeal to people's patriotism by suggesting that strong and responsible countries should take care...

Read More..

Football: Forest hire former Villa boss McLeish

LONDON: Nottingham Forest's Kuwaiti owners appointed former Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish as their new manager on Thursday just 24 hours after sacking Sean O'Driscoll.Forest chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi insisted he wanted a manager with Premier League experience when he made the surprise decision to dismiss O'Driscoll following the Championship team's 4-2 win over Leeds on Wednesday.And Al...

Read More..

Nirbhaya first private citizen treated abroad at state expense

NEW DELHI: Nirbhaya has already set a record - she has become the first Indian private citizen to have been taken abroad for medical care at the expense of the state. Asked if there has been any precedents, a senior Union minister and a former cabinet secretary said they were unable to recall any such previous instance. Government and political leaders, also army officers have been given this help,...

Read More..

Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

Read More..

At Cliff's Edge, Reid Decries Boehner's 'Dictatorship'

With only five days left before the federal government goes over the fiscal cliff, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shattered any pretense of cooperation with Republicans in a scathing speech that targeted House Republicans and particularly Speaker John Boehner.Reid, D-Nev., spoke on the floor of the Senate as President Obama returned to Washington early from an Hawaiian vacation...

Read More..

Syria to discuss Brahimi peace proposals with Russia

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent a senior diplomat to Moscow on Wednesday to discuss proposals to end the conflict convulsing his country made by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Syrian and Lebanese sources said. Brahimi, who saw Assad on Monday and is planning to hold a series of meetings with Syrian officials and dissidents in Damascus this week, is trying...

Read More..

'Thunderbirds' creator Gerry Anderson dies aged 83

LONDON: Gerry Anderson, the British director and creator of the cult sci-fi animation series "Thunderbirds", died on Wednesday aged 83, his son announced.Anderson had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease since 2010 and his health had deteriorated in the past six months, causing him to be moved into a care home in October, Jamie Anderson said.The animator created "Joe 90", "Stingray"...

Read More..

Main accused in Dera chief attack sent in judicial custody

SIRSA: Baljit Singh Dadduwal, the main accused in the case of attack on cavalcade of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was sent in judicial custody on Wednesday. He was produced in the court of Payal Bansal, Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, after his arrest on Tuesday from Amritsar international airport on his arrival from UK.To maintain law and order situation, heavy police force...

Read More..

Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

Read More..

Weather Death Toll Up to 6 as Storm Churns North

A killer Christmas storm is churning its way north leaving hundreds of thousands without power and snarling travel plans for people trying to get home after the holiday.Six people have died, mostly in weather related car crashes, as the South was hammered by as many as 34 tornadoes and a lethal coating of sleet and snow that spread from the South into the Midwest.Over 280,000...

Read More..

Egypt approves new constitution drafted by Mursi allies

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved a constitution drafted by President Mohamed Mursi's allies, results announced on Tuesday showed, proving that liberals, leftists and Christians have been powerless to halt the march of Islamists in power. Final elections commission figures showed the constitution adopted with 63.8 percent of the vote in the referendum held over...

Read More..

Netanyahu launches re-election bid centred on Iran

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday put Iran at the top of his re-election campaign, pledging that halting Tehran's nuclear programme would be his first priority as premier."Who do (Israeli voters) think is the most suitable candidate to deal with the Iranian threat? With the missile threat? With the threat of terror?" he asked supporters in Jerusalem in a speech...

Read More..

i-age protests rob govt comfort zone

NEW DELHI: Frequent street mobilization with participation of politically non-aligned public has left parties and governments bereft of the comfort of not being seriously questioned or held to account in between elections when voters express their anger through the ballot. Activists and opposition leaders argue that the response of the government to a swiftly developing situation like the one that...

Read More..

Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

Read More..

Gunman Killed Firemen With Bushmaster, Left Note

A convicted killer, who shot dead two firefighters with a Bushmaster assault rifle after leading them into an ambush when they responded to a house fire he set in Western New York, left behind a typewritten note saying he wanted to "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said.William Spengler, 62, set his home and a car on fire early Monday morning with the intention...

Read More..

Afghan policewoman kills coalition contractor in Kabul: NATO

KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan woman wearing a police uniform shot dead on Monday a civilian contractor working for Western forces in the police chief's compound in Kabul, NATO said. The incident is likely to raise troubling questions about the direction of an unpopular war. It appeared to be the first time that a woman member of Afghanistan's security forces carried out such...

Read More..

Syria's Assad meets envoy as regime suffers blow

DAMASCUS: Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held "constructive" talks in Syria on Monday with President Bashar al-Assad, as jihadists seized an area populated by the embattled leader's Alawite community.The opposition National Coalition, meanwhile, accused Damascus of committing a "massacre" of dozens of civilians in the bombing of a bakery -- an allegation fended off by the Assad regime.As...

Read More..

Delhi gang rape case: US asks to continue fight for women's rights

WASHINGTON: The US today said the gang rape of a student in New Delhi is a powerful and urgent reminder to continue fight against gender-based violence and for women's rights in India and around the world. "Like so many in India, we were horrified to learn of the recent violent assault on a young woman and her companion in New Delhi," State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell told PTI. "Our...

Read More..

Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

Read More..