Exterminator Charged in Pa. Doctor's Murder

An exterminator named Joseph Smith was arrested and charged today in the strangling and burning death of Philadelphia pediatrician Melissa Ketunuti.Smith, 36, had been sent to Ketunuti's home on a service call where the two got into "some kind of argument" in Ketunuti's basement on Monday, Capt. James Clark of the Philadelphia police department said this morning."At her home...

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Cameron promises Britons vote on EU exit

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron promised Britons a vote on quitting the European Union, rattling London's biggest allies and some investors by raising the prospect of uncertainty and upheaval. Cameron announced on Wednesday that the referendum would be held by the end of 2017 - provided he wins a second term - and said that while Britain did not want to retreat from the...

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White House lifts hold on general for NATO job

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will go ahead with his nomination of General John Allen to command NATO after he was cleared in a saga related to the sex scandal that felled CIA director David Petraeus, officials said Wednesday."The investigation is now complete and General Allen's nomination to serve as the next Supreme Allied Commander Europe will proceed. We hope the Senate will...

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Justice Verma panel suggests amendments to AFSPA

NEW DELHI: Taking strong cognizance of sexual offences committed by armed forces personnel in conflict zones, Justice J S Verma committee report has not only recommended amendments to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) but even questioned its continuance in such areas.The report has recommended that the Act's provision of seeking sanction from the central government before initiating any...

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Scientists to resume work with lab-bred bird flu

WASHINGTON (AP) — International scientists who last year halted controversial research with the deadly bird flu say they are resuming their work as countries adopt new rules to ensure safety.The outcry erupted when two labs — in the Netherlands and the U.S. — reported they had created easier-to-spread versions of bird flu. Amid fierce debate about the oversight of such research and whether it might...

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Manti Te'o Tells Katie Couric His Emotions Were Real

Manti Te'o says that even though he was hoaxed by the supposed existence of a fake girlfriend, his inspirational story of playing through emotional pain "was all real and that's something that I can't fake."Te'o made his comments to Katie Couric which will air the exclusive interview on Thursday.Te'o, 21, has been alternately questioned and lampooned over his role in the hoax...

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Netanyahu tops Israel vote despite losses: exit polls

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged the bruised winner of Israel's election on Tuesday, with his hawkish bloc unexpectedly losing ground to resurgent center-left challengers, exit polls showed. They suggested the Israeli leader's Likud party, yoked with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, would still be the biggest bloc in the 120-member assembly with...

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US existing-home sales dip in December: NAR

WASHINGTON: US existing-home sales dipped in December, capping a year that saw the briskest sales pace in five years as the housing market recovers, a trade group said Tuesday.Sales fell 1.0 per cent from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million last month, the National Association of Realtors said.The NAR revised downward its November estimate to 4.99 million, from...

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Is FDI in retail a gimmick? SC asks

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would test the constitutional validity of the Centre's decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and asked the UPA government to spell out the safeguards put in place to protect small traders from possible onslaught of multinationals in future.Parliament's approval of the policy decision was cited by Attorney General G...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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