Tennis: Nadal struggles into Brazil Open final

SAO PAULO: Rafael Nadal struggled into the Brazil Open final on Saturday by downing Argentine lucky loser Martin Alund in three sets.The former world number one, who is recovering from a knee injury, battled hard to dismiss his 27-year-old opponent, who is ranked 111 in the world, winning 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 in nearly two hours.Sunday's final will pit the 26-year-old Spanish star against...

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Curfew relaxed in Kashmir as protests continue

SRINAGAR: The rigid curfew imposed across the Kashmir Valley to prevent protests against Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's execution last week was lifted on Saturday. But reports said businesses mostly remained shuttered in response to separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's two-day strike call to protest the execution. Private vehicles were back on the streets. Protests were reported from...

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Picture Archive: Making Mount Rushmore, 1935-1941

Photograph from Rapid City Chamber of Commerce/National GeographicThere's no such thing as Presidents' Day.According to United States federal government code, the holiday is named Washington's Birthday, and has been since it went nationwide in 1885.But common practice is more inclusive. The holiday expanded to add in other U.S. presidents in the 1960s, and the moniker Presidents' Day became popular...

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Meteor Blast 'Something We Only Saw in Movies'

A day after a massive meteor exploded over this city in central Russia, a monumental cleanup effort is under way.Authorities have deployed around 24,000 troops and emergencies responders to help in the effort.Officials say more than a million square feet of windows -- the size of about 20 football fields -- were shattered by the shockwave from the meteor's blast. Around 4,000...

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Will young adults face ‘rate shock’ because of the health-care law?

Many young, healthy Americans could soon see a jump in their health-insurance costs, and insurance companies are saying: It’s not our fault. The nation’s insurers are engaged in an all-out, last-ditch effort to shield themselves from blame for what they predict will be rate increases on new policies they must unveil this spring to comply with President Obama’s health-care law. Insurers...

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SEC alleges Swiss insider trading on Heinz buyout

NEW YORK: US regulators Friday obtained an emergency court order to freeze a Swiss bank account they suspect was used for insider trading ahead the Berkshire Hathaway-3G Capital buyout of HJ Heinz.The Securities and Exchange Commission said unknown traders earned $1.7 million in profits through "irregular and highly suspicious" options trades on Heinz shares booked on Wednesday, one day...

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People who have mandate to rule are typical 'bullies', CAG Vinod Rai says

MUMBAI: Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, whose reports on various scams had raised the hackles of those in the government, says people who have the mandate to rule are typical "bullies". Rai, who is due to retire in May this year, also said on Friday that time alone will tell whether he will join politics. The government auditor said that public officials often make the statement that...

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Severe Weather More Likely Thanks to Climate Change

Jane J. Lee BOSTON—Wildfires. Droughts. Super storms.As opposed to representing the unfortunate severe weather headlines of the last year, scientists said Friday that climate change has increased the likelihood of such events moving forward.And though the misery is shared from one U.S. coast to another, scientists speaking at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science...

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Carnival Cruise Ship Hit With First Lawsuit

The first lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines has been filed and it is expected to be the beginning of a wave of lawsuits against the ship's owners.Cassie Terry, 25, of Brazoria County, Texas, filed a lawsuit today in Miami federal court, calling the disabled Triumph cruise ship "a floating hell.""Plaintiff was forced to endure unbearable and horrendous odors on the filthy and...

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Postmaster takes case for five-day mail delivery to skeptical senators

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe took his controversial plan for five-day mail delivery before a congressional hearing Wednesday, where he told senators that the Postal Service “needs your help.” Donahoe’s refrain was familiar. ●The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is losing $25 million a day.●Last year, the Postal Service lost $15.9 billion.●It defaulted on $11.1 billion...

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Obama says public deserves to know more on drones

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said Thursday that Americans needed more than just his word to be assured he was not misusing his powers in waging a secret drone war overseas.The president was asked about the debate over the deadly tactic, a backbone of the US campaign against Al-Qaeda, and whether the Constitution allows the use of drones against Americans who have turned against their...

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PIL for cancellation of Yasin Malik's passport dismissed

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the home ministry for cancellation of passport of YasinMalik, chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front, for his alleged anti-national activities.The division bench headed by Chief Justice AK Sikri refused to entertain the petition on jurisdictional grounds and directed...

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Why We Walk … and Run … And Walk Again to Get Where We're Going

You have to get to a bus stop to catch the once-an-hour express ... or to a restaurant to meet a friend ... or to a doctor's office. You've got maybe a half a mile to cover and you're worried you'll be late. You run, then you stop and walk, then run some more.But wait. Wouldn't it be better to run the whole way?Not necessarily.A new study by an assistant professor of mechanical engineering...

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Dorner Confirmed Dead in Autopsy on Cabin Remains

Christopher Dorner, the ex-Los Angeles police officer who declared himself on a killing spree against his former law enforcement colleagues, is dead.Authorities this evening confirmed that remains found after a fiery standoff at a California mountain cabin Tuesday were, in fact, Dorner's."The charred human remains located in the burned out cabin in Seven Oaks have been positively...

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Obama urges a move away from narrow focus on politics of austerity

Just about every argument in Washington since the 2010 midterm elections, which returned control of the House to Republicans, has centered on reducing the federal deficit. On Tuesday night, President Obama leaned into his second term by declaring that a single-minded focus on deficit reduction would jeopardize the nation’s future. And he sounded an urgent call to rebuild. Reelected by...

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Zuckerberg owns nearly a third of Facebook: US regulators

SAN FRANCISCO: Mark Zuckerberg's stake in Facebook has climbed to nearly 30 percent since the leading social network made its dismal stock market debut, according to a filing Wednesday with US regulators.Zuckerberg owns 632.65 million Facebook shares as compared with the slightly more than 500 million he held in September when the stock's sagging price prompted a promise he would not sell...

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Terror groups in Pak vow to avenge Afzal

ISLAMABAD: In a show of strength in the Pakistani capital, several banned anti-India militant groups, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, on Wednesday vowed to take "revenge" for the execution of Afzal Guru and step up their "jihad" in Jammu and Kashmir. Scores of members of the groups gathered at the National Press Club for a conference organized by the United Jihad Council to...

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Are Honeybees Losing Their Way?

A single honeybee visits hundreds, sometimes thousands, of flowers a day in search of nectar and pollen. Then it must find its way back to the hive, navigating distances up to five miles (eight kilometers), and perform a "waggle dance" to tell the other bees where the flowers are.A new study shows that long-term exposure to a combination of certain pesticides might impair the bee's ability...

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Ship Stranded: Love Boat to Horror Honeymoon

A Texas couple's fantasy wedding quickly turned into a nightmare honeymoon when the fire-damaged Carnival Cruise ship carrying them became stranded in the Gulf of Mexico.Rob Mowlam, 37, and Stephanie Stevenson, 27, of Nederland, Texas, got married on the Carnival Triumph on Saturday. The four-day cruise was meant to be back to shore on Monday, but was left disabled by an engine...

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17 gunmen dead in Thai military base attack

  BANGKOK, Thailand: Scores of heavily-armed gunmen stormed a military base in unrest-plagued southern Thailand, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, in a major assault that left at least 17 militants dead."Some 100 fully armed militants stormed the base, where there were 60 marines," Colonel Pramote Promin, southern army spokesman, told AFP. He said the attack, one of the most ambitious...

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Businessmen scared to complain against tax officials

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry's plan to stamp out corruption in customs and excise departments across the country and address other grievances by appointing ombudsmen hasn't taken off with businessmen reluctant to file complaints against tax officials fearing reprisals. S Dutt Majumdar, the ombudsman for Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal and J&K, said he was facing a peculiar problem - he...

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Where Will Pope Benedict XVI Retire?

Someone with a suspicious mind and deep knowledge of Vatican trivia might have guessed that something was going on months ago. Last November, a community of cloistered nuns vacated the  Mater Ecclesiae monastery, located inside Vatican Gardens, two years before they were expected to do so.The monastery has since been closed for renovation.On Monday, in the press conference that followed...

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Officer Dies After Dorner Shootout; Cabin on Fire

Police are in a tense standoff with fugitive former-cop Christopher Dorner, who barricaded himself inside a remote mountain cabin near Big Bear, Calif., after a shootout with police in which he shot two cops, killing one, authorities said.Smoke was seen coming from near or at the cabin shortly before 4:30 p.m. PT, and a fire has been reported to authorities.Dorner, a former...

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A taste for diplomacy

Critical Loop Information Bulletin for heads of state, foreign ministers and their chefs: An excellent meal of fine food and wine has often been the key to successful diplomatic negotiations. So if you’re hosting Secretary of State John Kerry, here are some pointers. In arranging a dinner with the former senator last year, one host asked whether Kerry had meal preferences.One aide...

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Anti-whaling group takes battle to top US court

WASHINGTON: The Sea Shepherd conservation group asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to lift an order forcing it to steer clear of Japan's whalers, who are seeking legal reprisals over harassment at sea.Since 2002, Sea Shepherd has annually disrupted Japan's contested hunt in the Southern Ocean but a US court issued an injunction on December 17 for the activists to stay at least 500 yards...

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Markanday Katju slams scribe’s detention

NEW DELHI: Describing detention of journalist IftikharGilani by the Delhi police as "undemocratic" Press Council chairman MarkandayKatju asked Union home secretary for action against the police officials involved and criminal charges pressed against them.Responding to a complaint filed by Gilani, Katju said that the Delhi police's behavior exposed a high-handed and outrageous behaviour. In a letter...

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Kumbh Mela: Pictures From the Hindu Holy Festival

Holy BathPhotograph by Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty ImagesThe Hindu festival known as Kumbh Mela, often referred to as the world’s largest gathering of humanity, peaked on Sunday at...

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