Egyptian opposition to shun Mursi's national dialogue

CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi was expected to press ahead on Saturday with talks on ways to end Egypt's worst crisis since he took office even though the country's main opposition leaders have vowed to stay away. Cairo and other cities have been rocked by violent protests since November 22, when Mursi promulgated a decree awarding himself sweeping powers that put him above...

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Royal hoax DJs taken off air amid anger over death

SYDNEY: Two Australian radio presenters who made a hoax call to the hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine were taken off the air on Saturday after the nurse who took the call was found dead in a suspected suicide.Jacintha Saldanha answered the phone when presenters from Sydney's 2Day FM called, pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William's father Prince Charles,...

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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced...

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post-'Cliff'

Dec 7, 2012 4:22pm Toby Jorrin/AFP/Getty ImagesWith the “fiscal cliff” quickly approaching, federal agencies are stepping up preparations for deep automatic budget cuts that will kick in Jan. 2 unless the White House and Congress can reach a deal.The Office of Management and Budget told ABC News that a memo went out to federal agencies earlier this week seeking “additional...

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Egypt demonstrators reject Mursi call for dialogue

CAIRO (Reuters) - Demonstrators rejected a call from Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi for a national dialogue after deadly clashes around his palace, demanding the "downfall of the regime" - the chant that brought down Hosni Mubarak. Mursi said in a televised speech late on Thursday that plans were on track for a referendum on a new constitution on December 15 despite clashes...

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Fans to get third "A Slice of Life" book

SINGAPORE: "A Slice of Life Volume 3", the third collection of scripts for the popular "A Slice of Life" self-improvement radio programme on Singapore radio station 938LIVE, will be launched on Sunday, 2pm at the &Made by Bruno Menard bistro.Written by 938LIVE deejay Eugene Loh, "A Slice of Life Volume 3" contains the uplifting anecdotes about life, love and work, which Loh shares...

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1993 Mumbai serial blasts result of Pak envy: Shinde

NEW DELHI: In a veiled attack on Pakistan, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday said the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai were the result of a neighbour's envy to India's economic progress and vowed to bring back all terrorists, including Dawood Ibrahim, to face trial here.He also said that the neighbour is still trying to weaken country's economy by pumping fake Indian currency notes."We launched...

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Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans...

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John McAfee Out of Hospital, Back in Cell

Software millionaire John McAfee has been returned to an immigration detention cell in Guatemala after being rushed to a Guatemala City hospital via ambulance.McAfee, 67 -- who soon may be deported back to Belize, where authorities want to question him about the shooting death of his neighbor -- was reportedly found prostrate on the floor of his cell and unresponsive.He was...

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Tanks outside Egypt presidential palace, streets calmer

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian army tanks deployed outside the presidential palace on Thursday in streets where supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Mursi had clashed into the early hours of the morning in violence that killed five people. Armored troop carriers also moved into the roads around the palace, in what Egypt's state news agency said was a measure to secure the palace....

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Companies urged to tap on educated, economically inactive women

SINGAPORE: Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu has urged companies to employ highly-educated women who are economically inactive to meet the current shortages in the labour market.Speaking at a dialogue on developing an alternative workforce this morning, Ms Fu said this group is an important source of untapped talent.Currently, there are about 60,000 female university graduates...

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Supreme Court pulls up Centre on appointment of National Green Tribunal head

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Centre for its failure in putting on file the present Chief Justice of India's letter relating to the appointment of the chairman of National Green Tribunal (NGT), which is functioning without its head for a year. "You have placed the record but where is the letter of the present CJI? Why you have not placed it when you knew that the matter...

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Study could spur wider use of prenatal gene tests

A new study sets the stage for wider use of gene testing in early pregnancy. Scanning the genes of a fetus reveals far more about potential health risks than current prenatal testing does, say researchers who compared both methods in thousands of pregnancies nationwide.A surprisingly high number — 6 percent — of certain fetuses declared normal by conventional testing were found to have genetic abnormalities...

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Guatemala Could Deport McAfee to Belize

Software anti virus pioneer John McAfee is in the process of being deported to Belize after he was arrested in Guatemala for entering the country illegally, his attorney told ABC News early Thursday.ABC News has learned that John McAfee is scheduled to be deported to Belize later this morning. But a judge could stay the ruling if it is determined McAfee's life is threatened...

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Egypt's Mursi back at palace after night of protests

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi returned to work in Cairo on Wednesday, although scores of protesters angered by his drive to push through a new constitution were still blocking one gate of the presidential palace. The Islamist leader left the palace in the northern Cairo district of Heliopolis on Tuesday evening as tens of thousands of demonstrators surged around it,...

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Woman arrested over 160 dogs living in own waste

TOKYO: A woman who kept 160 starving dogs in her house among tonnes of their own waste has been arrested by Japanese police, an official said Wednesday.Ten tonnes of animal waste and other rubbish were removed from Noriko Ishii's house after the dogs were taken away, he said.One Bernese Mountain Dog kept by Ishii, 43, weighed just seven kilograms (15 pounds) -- a sixth of what it should...

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Government deliberately disrupting Rajya Sabha: Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: The government and the parties that support it were intentionally disrupting the Rajya Sabha as it lacked the numbers for a vote on the issue of foreign investment in retail, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday."Since the very first day, the government doesn't seem to be serious about conduct of business, specially in Rajya Sabha," the leader of opposition...

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Study: Drug coverage to vary under health law

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says basic prescription drug coverage could vary dramatically from state to state under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.That's because states get to set benefits for private health plans that will be offered starting in 2014 through new insurance exchanges.The study out Tuesday from the market analysis firm Avalere Health found that some states will require...

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Subway Push Murder Suspect Implicated Self: Police

A suspect believed to be responsible for throwing a man into the path of an oncoming New York City subway train who was taken into custody today has made statements implicating himself, police said.According to Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne, the suspect has been questioned by police since at least early afternoon and while the suspect is in police custody,...

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Israel says will stick with settlement plan despite condemnation

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel rejected concerted criticism from the United States and Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. Washington urged Israel to reconsider its plan to erect 3,000 more homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying the move...

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Islamic finance to surpass trillion-dollar mark in 2012: Tharman

JOHOR BAHRU: Islamic finance is poised to expand over the next 10 to 15 years after surpassing the trillion-dollar mark in 2012, said Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the World Islamic Economic Forum in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.Mr Tharman, who is also Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, said that he was optimistic about the potential for the sector after it chalked-up growth...

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Terrorist attacks soar, India among most affected nations: Study

NEW YORK: The number of terrorist attacks each year has more than quadrupled in the decade since September 11, 2001, a study released on Tuesday said, with Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan the most affected.The number of annual deaths in attacks, however, peaked in 2007 -- the height of the Iraq conflict -- and has been falling ever since. The survey reported 7,473 fatalities in 2011, 25 percent down...

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Fossil fuel subsidies in focus at climate talks

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Hassan al-Kubaisi considers it a gift from above that drivers in oil- and gas-rich Qatar only have to pay $1 per gallon at the pump."Thank God that our country is an oil producer and the price of gasoline is one of the lowest," al-Kubaisi said, filling up his Toyota Land Cruiser at a gas station in Doha. "God has given us a blessing."To those looking for a global response to climate...

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