Skiing: Fenninger wins women's World Cup giant slalom

SEMMERING, Austria: Austria's Anna Fenninger won the women's World Cup giant slalom on Friday going fastest on both legs of the race.She was quickest on the first leg 00.56 seconds ahead of Tessa Worley of France and 00.90 second clear of overall World Cup leader Tina Maze of Slovenia.With gusting winds and poor visibility making the going tough for all the skiers, Maze, who had won four...

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Maharashtra drought situation alarming, says Pawar

MUMBAI: Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Friday described the drought situation in Maharashtra as "alarming" and called for urgent steps to overcome water shortage in the state. A central team has recommended an assistance of Rs 778 crore to Maharashtra government for setting up fodder and cattle camps and the state government would get the amount in a week, the NCP leader said. "This...

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How to Live to a Ripe Old Age

Cento di questi giorni. May you have a hundred birthdays, the Italians say, and some of them do. So do other people in various spots around the world—in Blue Zones, so named by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner for the blue ink that outlines these special areas on maps developed over more than a decade. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)In his...

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Man Killed After Being Pushed in Front of NY Subway

Detectives in New York are searching for a female suspect who fled a subway station after a man was fatally pushed in front of a train on an elevated platform in Queens, N.Y.At 8:04 p.m. on Thursday an unnamed man was standing on the northbound platform at 40th Street and Queens Blvd., waiting for the 7 train. Witnesses told police that a woman was walking back and forth on...

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Second Morsi minister resigns in Egypt

CAIRO: Egypt's legal and parliamentary affairs minister announced his resignation on Thursday, the day after President Mohamed Morsi vowed a government reshuffle to tackle the country's troubled economy.Mohammed Mahsoub said he was stepping down because "many policies and efforts contradict my personal convictions," according to his letter published on the Facebook page belonging to a...

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Modi gets rousing welcome at BJP office

NEW DELHI, Amid rousing chants of "PM, PM" by his supporters, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked the BJP for its support and said the development work done by his government was responsible for its hat-trick win in the assembly polls.Addressing a felicitation event at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters here, Modi said: "For 12 years, my government has done work......

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Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

Green LanternImage courtesy Caltech/SSI/NASAAnother glorious, backlit view of the planet Saturn and its rings has been captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, as seen in a picture...

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Newtown Shooter's DNA to Be Studied

Geneticists have been asked to study the DNA of Adam Lanza, the Connecticut man whose shooting rampage killed 27 people, including an entire first grade class.The study, which experts believe may be the first of its kind, is expected to be looking for abnormalities or mutations in Lanza's DNA.Connecticut Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver has reached out to University of Connecticut's...

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Democrats push for tax cuts they once opposed

Democrats seeking a deal to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” are trying to etch into stone the signature economic achievement of Republican President George W. Bush by permanently extending tax cuts enacted during his tenure. President Obama has put the extension of the tax cuts for most Americans at the top of his domestic agenda, a remarkable turnaround for Democrats, who had staunchly...

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Low-cost carriers to continue to drive growth in aviation industry: analysts

SINGAPORE : Low-cost carriers are driving growth in the aviation industry this year, accounting for a billion dollar increase in the profits forecast for airlines in 2012. And Singapore Airlines (SIA) has latched on to the trend with its newly-minted low-cost carrier Scoot, in a bid to remain competitive. Low-cost carriers have continued to enjoy healthy profits, with the number of economy...

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Need rules to handle flash mobs: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Faced with criticism over the way in which the Delhi Police lathicharged youngsters protesting the December 16 gang-rape, the government on Wednesday admitted it was not fully prepared to deal with flash mobs. Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters: "Flash mob is a new phenomenon... sometimes they gather to dance and sing, but sometimes they can gather to protest also... we need...

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Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)Humboldt squid are typically found in...

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Storms Spawn 34 Tornado Reports Across South

Severe Christmas day weather tore across the deep South, spinning off 34 possible tornadoes and killing at least three people in its path, while extreme weather is forecast throughout today for parts of the East Coast.The storm first pounded Texas, then touched down in Louisiana and blasted through homes in Mississippi. In Mobile, Ala., a wide funnel cloud was barreled across...

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Federal workers feel unease over potential layoffs, furloughs unleashed by ‘fiscal cliff’

Federal employees have been skeptical for months that the biggest cuts to government spending in history could really happen. But with the “fiscal cliff” a week away, workers are now growing increasingly alarmed that their jobs and their missions could be on the line. President Obama and members of Congress headed out of town late last week for a Christmas break without reaching a deal...

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Thai court jails ex-trader over royal health web rumours

BANGKOK: A Thai court jailed a former equity trader for four years on Tuesday for posting false Internet messages about the king's health that sent stocks plunging in 2009, an official said.Katha Pajariyapong, 39, was found guilty of three counts of breaching the kingdom's controversial computer crime laws in messages posted under his username on the Sameskybooks.org Internet forum.The...

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Delhi gang-rape case: Congress core group reviews situation after protests

NEW DELHI: The Congress core group on Tuesday reviewed the situation in the Capital in the wake of protests over the gang-rape incident emphasising that police should deal with the matter with sensitivity while there should be no room for violence.The two-and-a-half hour long meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence was attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, defence minister A K...

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Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)Humboldt squid are typically found in...

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Winter Storms, Tornado Threats for Christmas in US

Forecasts of snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened to complicate Christmas Day travel around the nation's midsection Tuesday as several Gulf Coast states braced for a chance of twisters and powerful thunderstorms.A blizzard watch was posted for parts of Indiana and western Kentucky for storms expected to develop Tuesday amid predictions of up to 4 to 7 inches of snow in...

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New industries revitalising China's north eastern region

BEIJING: Once a thriving industrial base, China's north eastern region slipped into depression when several state-owned enterprises shut down in the 1990s as part of economic restructuring. Still, growth is now slowly but surely returning to the region.A currency exchange built by the Japanese during World War Two is still in use today in China's northeastern city of Changchun in Jilin...

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Two LeT militants, policeman killed in encounter in J&K

SRINAGAR: Two Lashker-e-Taiba militants, allegedly involved in an attack on a hotel in the city, and a policeman were killed in a fierce gunbattle between security forces and ultras in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Monday. The gunfight erupted in Dodhipora village, some 75-km from here, when a joint team of police and Rashtriya Rifles launched a search operation to flush out hiding militants,...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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Newtown Inspires Country to Spread Kindness

While the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School have no doubt left the nation shaken, they have also inspired an outpouring of acts of kindness from across the nation and around the world.The central hub of many of these is on display in the U.S. Post Office in Newtown, Conn., a community shaken by the killing of 20 children and six school staff members by 20-year-old Adam...

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History of gun control is cautionary tale for those seeking regulations after Conn. shooting

At 3 a.m. on July 2, 1993, Steve Sposato sat down in his darkened living room to write, by hand, a letter to the president of the United States. His life had just been shattered. Hours earlier, in the afternoon, a deranged man armed with semiautomatic weapons had gone on a rampage, slaughtering eight people at an office building in downtown San Francisco. The gunman’s motive would remain...

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Demand for rice in China falls with rising affluence

JILIN: China may be the world's biggest rice consumer, but some say demand will fall, as its people become more affluent and consume more meat and dairy products. Nearly 200 million tonnes are produced in China each year. But as grain processing became more mechanized, the appetite of affluent Chinese has also became more polished.On average, a person in China is said to consume 90 kilograms...

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Sikkim wins best small state award

NEW DELHI: Sikkim has been declared India's 'best small state' by the jury of the IBN7 Diamond State Award, 2012, an official statement from the Sikkim government said on Sunday. "Sikkim was declared as the best state in the country in the category of small states for its overall achievements. The state was also declared best in the country in citizen security, environment and water and sanitation...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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Departing Secretary of State Clinton's Legacy of Firsts

After 31 years of public service, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves the limelight behind.On Friday, President Obama nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to take her place as secretary of state, leaving Clinton to help him move in and then bow out.Over the past three decades, Clinton has served her country in one way or another, a tenure that was full of firsts.She was...

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