Obama to refocus attention on immigration, gun control

President Obama signaled Friday a desire to refocus his attention on second-term priorities, such as immigration and gun control, after weeks of fruitless wrangling with Republicans over his fiscal agenda. “What I want to try to do is make sure that we’re constantly focused . . . on how are we helping American families succeed,” Obama said at a news conference after failing to strike a...

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President Tony Tan hosts reception for 2013 Special Olympics team

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Special Olympians had a special reception at the Istana on Saturday.President Tony Tan Keng Yam and his wife hosted the athletes, officials and coaches who represented the nation at the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea last month.The athletes were invited to the Istana, after bringing home an unprecedented eight medals. Four...

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'Not inevitable' to call Raja as witness before JPC: Chacko

THRISSUR: JPC chairman P C Chacko on Saturday said 'it is not inevitable' to call former telecom minister A Raja, prime accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, before the joint parliamentary committee as a witness as all the main witnesses had been called and evidence taken."It is not inevitable at this juncture to call Raja as all main witnesses have been called and evidence taken," he...

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We Didn’t Domesticate Dogs. They Domesticated Us.

In the story of how the dog came in from the cold and onto our sofas, we tend to give ourselves a little too much credit. The most common assumption is that some hunter-gatherer with a soft spot for cuteness found some wolf puppies and adopted them. Over time, these tamed wolves would have shown their prowess at hunting, so humans kept them around the campfire until they evolved into dogs....

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Sequester: What Will Happen, What Won't Happen

When it comes to critical elements of the sequester timeline, not much is known -- because federal agencies have been tight lipped.Asked when specific effects will be felt, officials at three federal departments declined to discuss the timing of sequester cuts and their consequences. Some departments were waiting for President Obama's Friday night sequester order and subsequent...

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Canada's Q4 GDP flat, growth at 1.8% for 2012

OTTAWA: Canada's economy grew 1.8 percent last year, a bit less than the central bank's forecast and down from 2.6 percent in 2011, the government statistics agency said on Friday.Gross domestic product in the fourth quarter was up 0.2 percent, similar to the previous quarter's gains, as mining and oil and gas extraction was up and manufacturing recorded a significant decrease.The arts...

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J&K assembly adjourned after furore over Afzal issue

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was rocked by repeated disruptions on Friday, which ultimately led to the House being adjourned for the day, as various parties demanded that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mortal remains be handed over to his family. Cutting across party lines, members of the House from the ruling National Conference as well as opposition PDP and CPM had moved adjournment...

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Scarred Duckbill Dinosaur Escaped T. Rex Attack

A scar on the face of a duckbill dinosaur received after a close encounter with a Tyrannosaurus rex is the first clear case of a healed dinosaur wound, scientists say.The finding, detailed in the current issue of the journal Cretaceous Research, also reveals that the healing properties of dinosaur skin were likely very similar to that of modern reptiles.The lucky dinosaur was an adult...

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Sequester Set to Trigger Billions in Cuts

Nobody likes the sequester.Even the word is enough to send shivers of fiscal panic, or sheer political malaise, down the spines of seasoned politicians and news reporters. And today, the sequester will almost certainly happen, a year and a half after its inception amid the stalemate of the debt-limit crisis in 2011.Automatic budget cuts will be triggered across federal agencies,...

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US pledges US$60m for Syria opposition

ROME: The United States on Thursday pledged US$60 million in "non-lethal" assistance for the Syrian political opposition to President Bashar al-Assad as well as the first direct US aid to rebel fighters in the form of food and medical assistance."The US will be providing an additional US$60 million in non-lethal assistance to support the efforts of the Syrian opposition coalition over...

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Left returns to power in Tripura for 5th consecutive time; Congress retains Meghalaya

AGARTALA: The Left Front in Tripura today retained power for the fifth consecutive time since 1993 with the coalition securing a three-fourths majority by winning 50 of the 60 Assembly seats.While CPM, which contested in 55 seats, secured win in 49 seats, coalition partner CPI won one seat of the two it had contested. However, RSP which fought in two seats and Forward Bloc in one, failed to open...

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Why African Rhinos Are Facing a Crisis

The body count for African rhinos killed for their horns is approaching crisis proportions, according to the latest figures released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). To National Geographic reporter Peter Gwin, the dire numbers—a rhinoceros slain every 11 minutes since the beginning of 2013—don't come as a surprise. "The killing will continue as long as...

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Why Should We Care? The Politics of Picking a Pope

Feb 28, 2013 9:34am                              (Image Credit: L’Osservatore Romano/Vatican/Getty Images)ANALYSISVATICAN CITY – In a U.S presidential campaign, the New Hampshire primary is thought of as “retail politics,”...

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Portugal seizes 79 tonnes of meat containing horse

LISBON: Portuguese authorities said they had launched fraud proceedings after seizing 79 tonnes of wholesale food and thousands of packaged meals that contained horsemeat despite not being labelled with it.The 79 tonnes of "meat and meat-based products" were seized in plants that processed, packaged and distributed meat to supermarkets, the government's Economic and Food Safety Authority...

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India silent over US-backed resolution against Lanka at UN rights body

NEW DELHI: India is not ready to reveal its hand on the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). And, the radio silence is all for a good reason. Despite the loud support by DMK and AIADMK members in the Rajya Sabha for the resolution on Wednesday, there is discomfort within the Indian government regarding the document's fine print. Sources said recommendations...

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A History of Balloon Crashes

A hot-air balloon exploded in Egypt yesterday as it carried 19 people over ancient ruins near Luxor. The cause is believed to be a torn gas hose. In Egypt as in many other countries, balloon rides are a popular way to sightsee. (Read about unmanned flight in National Geographic magazine.)The sport of hot-air ballooning dates to 1783, when a French balloon took to the skies with a sheep,...

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Pope Thanks Crowd in Final Address

On his final full day as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI thanked a huge crowd for respecting his historic decision to step down and told them that God will continue to guide the church."The decision I have made, after much prayer, is the fruit of a serene trust in God's will and a deep love of Christ's Church," Benedict said to cheers in his last public...

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Impact of China's demand for iron ore on shipping industry

SINGAPORE : China's appetite for iron ore may be among the few bright spots for the shipping industry this year, although there are still many empty vessels plying the waterways.Analysts have said that those unable to wait out the recovery are likely to go under.After years of low freight rates, overcapacity and few cargoes, dry bulk shipping firms are finally seeing the light on the horizon....

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Afzal Guru allegedly justified Parliament attack in letter written four years ago

SRINAGAR: Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru had in a letter, purportedly written by him over four years ago, said that there was no need to be ashamed of the December 13 attack on Parliament, but had stopped short of owning any responsibility for it. In the letter written to editor of a local Urdu weekly, Guru, who was hanged in Delhi's Tihar jail on February 9, asked Hizbul Mujahideen...

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Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks...

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First Lady Sees 'Movement' in Childhood Obesity

As she celebrates the third anniversary of her Let's Move! initiative, first lady Michelle Obama told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts that the country is seeing real "movement" on the issue of childhood obesity."We've really changed the conversation in this country. When we started, there were a lot of people in this country who would have never thought that childhood...

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Jewell nomination roadblock; McCain may hold up Brennan; and Arne Duncan deployed in sequester fight (read-this roundup)

President Obama’s pick to be Interior Secretary, Sally Jewell, could face a Senate obstacle. (Andrew Harrer - Bloomberg) Here’s what the Loop is reading Monday:Road to somewhere — Nominations often face roadblocks, but this one’s a bit more literal than most: Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is holding up Interior Secretary nominee Sally Jewell over a “20-mile gravel road” in Murkowski’s...

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Fidel Castro backs move to younger leadership: report

HAVANA: Fidel Castro and the Cuban communist party have given the green light for reforms paving the way for a new, younger generation of leaders in the single-party state, state media said Monday.As expected, Sunday's session of Cuba's National Assembly re-elected Castro's 82-year-old brother Raul to serve a second and final five-year presidential term.But the assembly also promoted Miguel...

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Chopper scam: CBI names ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi as suspect

NEW DELHI: Former Air Force chief SP Tyagi has been named in a CBI preliminary enquiry (PE) on allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, becoming the second former defence services chief to figure in the agency probe. Besides the former IAF chief, 10 others including his cousins — Julie, Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi have also been named besides four companies in the PE, CBI sources...

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Picture Archive: Dorothy Lamour and Jiggs, Circa 1938

Dorothy Lamour, most famous for her Road to ... series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, never won an Oscar. In her 50-plus-year career as an actress, she never even got nominated.Neither did Jiggs the chimpanzee, pictured here with Lamour on the set of Her Jungle Love in a photo published in the 1938 National Geographic story "Monkey Folk."No animal has ever been nominated for...

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Best Moments From the Academy Awards

Host Seth MacFarlane took the stage at the 2013 Oscars with an opening monologue revealing he was ready to poke fun at the star-studded audience."The quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now," he said.But it wasn't too long before MacFarlane was interrupted. William Shatner, dressed as his iconic character Captain Kirk from "Star Trek," descended on the stage to warn MacFarlane that he...

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Egypt protesters block doors to Cairo administrative hub

CAIRO: Protesters on Sunday blocked the doors to Cairo's main administrative building as part of a growing campaign of civil disobedience around the country against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.A group of protesters closed the doors of the Mugamma, a massive labyrinth of bureaucratic offices on the edge of Tahrir Square, leaving only a side exit for employees to leave, employees told...

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Congress president or VP natural choice for PM's post: Tharoor

BHOPAL: Union minister Shashi Tharoor on Sunday suggested if the party is voted to power, its president or the vice-president will be the natural choice for the post. "Everybody knows who is the president and vice president of our party and if people vote for our party, then naturally one among them would become Prime Minister of the country," he said without specifying any name. He was suggesting...

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