Algerian army stages "final assault" on gas plant

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - The Algerian army carried out a dramatic final assault to end a siege by Islamic militants at a desert gas plant on Saturday, killing 11 al Qaeda-linked gunmen after they took the lives of seven more foreign hostages, the state news agency said. The state oil and gas company, Sonatrach, said the militants who attacked the plant on Wednesday and took...

Read More..

Football: Barcelona lose first La Liga game of season

MADRID: An injury-time strike from substitute Imanol Agirretxe condemned 10-man Barcelona to a 3-2 defeat at Real Sociedad on Saturday, their first of a record-breaking La Liga season.Lionel Messi scored in a 10th consecutive game for a landmark second time, putting Barca ahead after six minutes with Pedro Rodriguez doubling lead.But Chory Castro pulled a goal back before the break and...

Read More..

Elevation no surprise, no challenge: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP on Saturday claimed the elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the number two position in Congress poses no challenges to it. The party also said that the move is not going to make any difference as far the prospects of Congress is concerned. With Congress elevating Rahul Gandhi formaly to the second position in the party by declaring him vice president under party president Sonia Gandhi,...

Read More..

Lilly drug chosen for Alzheimer's prevention study

Researchers have chosen an experimental drug by Eli Lilly & Co. for a large federally funded study testing whether it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in older people at high risk of developing it.The drug, called solanezumab (sol-ah-NAYZ-uh-mab), is designed to bind to and help clear the sticky deposits that clog patients' brains.Earlier studies found it did not help people with moderate...

Read More..

Inauguration to Cost Millions But Total Price Unclear

How much will all the inaugural events cost? It's hard to say.While most events that occur in the capital have a hard-and-fast budget, the inauguration's many moving parts, safety concerns and large geographic reach make it hard to quantify – especially before the main event.In 2009, ABC reported the total cost of Obama's first inauguration was $170 million. While incumbent...

Read More..

Foreigners still caught in Sahara hostage crisis

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - More than 20 foreigners were still either being held hostage or missing inside a gas plant on Friday after Algerian forces stormed the desert complex to free hundreds of captives taken by Islamist militants. More than a day after the Algerian army launched an assault to seize the remote desert compound, much was still unclear about the number and...

Read More..

Snooker: Dott dumps Trump out of Masters tournament

LONDON: Judd Trump produced one of his worst displays in a 6-1 quarter-final loss to Graeme Dott at the Masters on Friday.Several times Trump, taking on the role of fans' favourite in the ongoing self-imposed exile of crowd pleaser Ronnie O'Sullivan, missed pots by inches or left routine balls in the jaws of the pocket.Former world champion Dott was not in the best of form himself, with...

Read More..

Obscene MMS clip of wife drives man to suicide

PATIALA: An obscene MMS of his wife drove a young man to suicide on Thursday night. Although police have not recovered the MMS clip so far, they have registered a case against three neighbours of the deceased on the basis of suicide note recovered from his pocket.Jaswinder Singh, 30, of Dholan Majra village worked on a wood works shop. Some days back his neighbour Dharinder Kaur allegedly showed...

Read More..

Flu season 'bad one for the elderly,' CDC says

The number of older people hospitalized with the flu has risen sharply, prompting federal officials to take unusual steps to make more flu medicines available and to urge wider use of them as soon as symptoms appear.The U.S. is about halfway through this flu season, and "it's shaping up to be a worse-than-average season" and a bad one for the elderly, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers...

Read More..

Manti Te'o Hoax Incredibly Detailed and Complex

The hoax that is Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend "Lennay Kekua" has revealed layers of lies carried out by a complex web of characters.Te'o received phone calls, text messages and letters before every football game from his "girlfriend." He was in contact with her family, including a twin brother, a second brother, sister and parents. He called often...

Read More..

Some foreign hostages said killed in Algeria assault

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria said several hostages were killed on Thursday when its forces stormed a remote desert gas plant occupied by Islamist militants in retaliation for French intervention in Mali, and local sources said six foreigners were among the dead. Amid reports of many more casualties in one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades, Western leaders expressed anger they...

Read More..

Lagarde warns more global recovery work needed

WASHINGTON: International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned Thursday that more efforts were needed to get the global economy back on track."We stopped the collapse, we should avoid the relapse, and it's not time to relax," Lagarde said at a news conference at the multilateral institution's Washington headquarters."There's still a lot of work to be done."The IMF managing director,...

Read More..

Hike in fuel price a signal to ratings agencies, investors

NEW DELHI: Although deregulation of diesel prices has been in the works for a while, the government bit the bullet around 8 pm on Wednesday when a decision was taken to place the politically knotty proposal before the cabinet committee on political affairs the next morning. The approval of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs is seen as a major step to prune a subsidy bill playing havoc with...

Read More..

Study: NYC better than LA at cutting kids' obesity

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study shows New York City is doing better than Los Angeles in the battle against childhood obesity, at least for low-income children.From 2003 to 2011, obesity rates for poor children dropped in New York to around 16 percent. But they rose in Los Angeles and ended at about 20 percent.The researchers focused on children ages 3 and 4 enrolled in a government program that provides...

Read More..

'Catfish' Star Reaches Out to Manti Te'o

Nev Schulman, the star and creator of the MTV show "Catfish" that follows Internet dating hoaxes, has reached out to Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o and offered to help solve his girlfriend hoax.Te'o and Notre Dame claim he was a "catfish" victim when it was revealed that the woman he said was his girlfriend and died of leukemia never existed.The "Catfish" television show...

Read More..

Dozens held after Islamists attack Algerian gas field

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Islamist militants attacked a gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, claiming to have kidnapped up to 41 foreigners including seven Americans in a dawn raid in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, according to regional media reports. The raiders were also reported to have killed three people, including a Briton and a French national. An al Qaeda...

Read More..

US to recognise first Somali government in 20 years

WASHINGTON: The United States will on Thursday recognise the first Somali government in two decades, heralding a significant shift in ties since the deadly 1993 attack on US helicopters over Mogadishu.The beginning of the new chapter will come when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanges diplomatic notes with visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a top US official said...

Read More..

Curtains for Pak actors at Jaipur fest

JAIPUR: At least 24 Pakistani artists in Jaipur for a theatre festival set to stage a play on Wednesday are instead on their way back home. The artistes of Ajoka Theatre of Lahore were participating in the 15th Theatre Utsav, Bharat Rang Mahotsav, organized by the National School of Drama and ministry of cultural affairs. It began on January 7 and was to conclude on January 17. Following growing...

Read More..

ER visits tied to energy drinks double since 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving...

Read More..

Obama Unveils Sweeping Plan to Curb Gun Violence

Flanked by four children from across the country, President Obama today unveiled a sweeping plan to curb gun violence in America through an extensive package of legislation and executive actions not seen since the 1960s.Obama is asking Congress to implement mandatory background checks for all gun purchases, including private sales; reinstate a ban on some assault-style weapons;...

Read More..

France to stay in Mali until stability restored

BAMAKO/DUBAI (Reuters) - France will end its intervention in Mali only once stability has returned to the West African country, French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday, raising the prospects of a costly, drawn-out operation against al Qaeda-linked rebels. Paris has poured hundreds of soldiers into Mali and carried out air raids since Friday in the northern half of the country,...

Read More..