Russia rejects Assad exit as precondition for Syria deal

MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia voiced support on Saturday for international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi but insisted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's exit cannot be a precondition for a deal to end the country's conflict. Some 60,000 Syrians have been killed during the 21-month-old revolt and world powers are divided over how to stop the escalating bloodshed. Government aircraft bombed...

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Vowing revenge, 15,000 rally in Paris over Kurd killings

PARIS: At least 15,000 Kurds from all over Europe vowed revenge as they rallied Saturday in Paris over the killing of three top Kurdish activists from a separatist group banned in Turkey.The march, which began at the city's Gare de l'Est railway station, was emotionally charged, with demonstrators saying France would be an accomplice in the brazen murders if it did not identify and punish...

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Reformed women alcoholics from Australia on taboo-breaking trip to India

NEW DELHI: She began drinking when she was 15 and couldn't stop thereafter. From then on, Janet, a 50-year-old Perth resident, would get drunk every time she touched any spirit. "It got so bad that I suffered three seizures. I was admitted to a detox unit and later taken to my first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting. That changed my life." Not only has Janet now written a book about her recovery...

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Q&A: Scramble for vaccine as flu season heats up

WASHINGTON (AP) — Missed flu-shot day at the office last fall? And all those "get vaccinated" ads? A scramble for shots is under way as late-comers seek protection from a miserable flu strain already spreading through much of the country.Federal health officials said Friday that there is still some flu vaccine available and it's not too late to benefit from it. But people may have to call around to...

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Poisoned Lottery Winner's Kin Were Suspicious

Urooj Khan had just brought home his $425,000 lottery check when he unexpectedly died the following day. Now, certain members of Khan's family are speaking publicly about the mystery -- and his nephew told ABC News they knew something was not right."He was a healthy guy, you know?" said the nephew, Minhaj Khan. "He worked so hard. He was always going about his business and,...

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Obama, Karzai agree to speed up Afghan military transition

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed on Friday to speed up the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces this year, underscoring Obama's determination to move decisively to wind down the long, unpopular war. Signaling a narrowing of differences, Karzai appeared to give ground in White House talks on U.S. demands for...

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China landslide kills 43, three missing

BEIJING: Three people remain missing after a landslide which killed 43, including seven from a single family, struck a remote village in southwestern China, state media said Saturday.Another two victims were sent to hospital after being rescued from the debris from the landslip on Friday which engulfed 16 homes in the village of Gaopo, the official news agency Xinhua said.It reported that...

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India Inc calls Narendra Modi leader with vision

GANDHINAGAR: There were no lofty investment promises but captains of the industry and a battery of foreign diplomats queued up to hail Gujarat's economic progress on Friday when the sixth edition of the two-day Vibrant Gujarat business summit started at Mahatma Mandir here on Friday. Apart from tycoons, several foreign dignitaries, including Japanese ambassador to India Takashi Yagi, Canadian high...

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Flu more widespread in US; eases off in some areas

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is more widespread across the nation, but the number of hard-hit states has declined, health officials said Friday.Flu season started early this winter, and includes a strain that tends to make people sicker. Health officials have forecast a potentially bad flu season, following last year's unusually mild one. The latest numbers, however, hint that the flu season may already have...

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James Holmes Told to 'Rot in Hell' By Victim's Dad

The father of a young woman allegedly slain by James Holmes in the Aurora movie theater massacre yelled "Rot in hell, Holmes" during a court hearing today.The outburst by Steve Hernandez prompted judge William Sylvester to have an off-the-record conference with prosecutors and defense attorneys. Sylvester then reconvened court to address the issue while armed court deputies...

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String of bombings kill 101, injure 200 in Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least 101 people were killed in bombings in two Pakistani cities on Thursday in one of the country's bloodiest days in recent years, officials said, with most casualties caused by sectarian attacks in Quetta. The bombings underscored the myriad threats Pakistani security forces face from homegrown Sunni extremist groups, the Taliban insurgency in the northwest...

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US will stand by Afghanistan, Panetta tells Karzai

WASHINGTON: The United States sought to assure Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday that it would remain committed to his country even as US officials weigh a major withdrawal of American forces.After an elaborate military ceremony for Karzai outside the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told his "distinguished visitor" that more than 10 years of war had paved the way for...

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Prayers for Akbaruddin Owaisi in temple

HYDERABAD: About 50 Hindus living in the Old City performed a 'havan' at a temple for the release of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, who was arrested on Sunday over a hate speech. The 41-year-old Majlis leader was remanded to 14-day judicial custody this week with multiple cases being filed against him. Legal experts say chances of his immediate release are remote....

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Flu season hits early and, in some places, hard

NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers have limited visitors, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to handle the feverish patients.Flu season in the U.S. has hit early and, in some places, hard. But whether this will be considered a bad season by the time it has run its course in the spring...

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Biden Hints at Executive Order on Gun Control

Vice President Biden, meeting today with outside groups on gun safety, told reporters he has already started putting together a list of recommendations that he plans to issue next Tuesday.Biden meets with representatives of the NRA and other supporters of gun rights on the second day of this week's meetings on gun violence.But he told reporters Thursday, during meeting a with...

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Venezuela court endorses Chavez inauguration delay

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's top court endorsed the postponement of Hugo Chavez's inauguration this week and ruled on Wednesday that the cancer-stricken president and his deputy would continue in their roles, despite a cacophony of opposition complaints. Critics had argued the 58-year-old's absence from his own swearing-in ceremony on January 10 meant a caretaker president must be...

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Oil prices weaken after US energy report

NEW YORK: Crude oil prices retreated Wednesday after a US oil inventory report pointed to large increases in refined petroleum products.Oil prices for US benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled five cents lower at US$93.10 a barrel.In London, the Brent contract for February finished at US$111.76 a barrel, losing 18 cents from Tuesday.The decline came after a weekly report by the US Energy...

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Maharashtra plans water trains for drought areas

MUMBAI: With the state witnessing an acute drought, the state government has decided to adopt unprecedented measures. Anticipating that certain parts of Marathwada will go completely dry by March, the state government has drawn up a plan to transport water for drinking in railway wagons. At the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan informed colleagues that initial...

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Retooling Pap test to spot more kinds of cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, doctors have lamented that there's no Pap test for deadly ovarian cancer. Wednesday, scientists reported a tantalizing hint that one day, there might be.Researchers are trying to retool the Pap, a test for cervical cancer that millions of women get, so that it could spot early signs of other gynecologic cancers, too.How? It turns out that cells can flake off of tumors...

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Holmes Took Disturbing Photos Before Massacre

Hours before James Holmes allegedly carried out a massacre at a Colorado movie theater he took a series of menacing self-portraits with his dyed orange hair curling out of from under a black skull cap and his eyes covered with black contacts.A prosecutor told the court after the photographs were shown that Holmes had a "depravity of human heart."Those haunting photographs,...

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Insight: Aleppo misery eats at Syrian rebel support

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - At a crowded market stall in Syria, a middle-aged couple, well dressed, shuffle over to press a folded note, furtively, into the hand of a foreign reporter. It is the kind of silent cry for help against a reign of fear that has been familiar to journalists visiting Syria over the past two years. Only this is not the Damascus of President Bashar al-Assad but rebel-held...

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Clinton to testify on Benghazi on January 22

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will appear before US lawmakers on January 22 to be quizzed about a damning inquiry into a deadly militant attack on a US mission in Libya, a senator said Tuesday.Clinton had initially been due to testify to US lawmakers in late December after the scathing probe blamed "grossly inadequate" security at the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, eastern...

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Arjun Munda resigns, seeks dissolution of Jharkhand assembly

RANCHI: The political crisis in Jharkhand deepened on Tuesday with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha formally withdrawing support from the Arjun Munda-led NDA government and the cabinet recommending the dissolution of the assembly to the governor. Munda called an emergency meeting and apprised governor Syed Ahmed of the cabinet decision just an hour before JMM chief Shibu Soren met the governor with his 18...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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