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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