Suicide bomber kills guard at U.S. embassy in Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, officials said, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air. The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. A lower leg and other human remains lay on the street....

Read More..

Projected 6.9m population basis for healthcare planning: Gan

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said the projected 6.9 million population by 2030 in the White Paper will serve as a basis for planning efforts to ensure sufficient capacity in the healthcare sector. He also said his ministry is adjusting its plans to be able to meet future healthcare needs. Mr Gan stressed that the 6.9 million figure is not a target. !-- Zone Tag : Channel...

Read More..

Rahul Gandhi to visit Amethi on Feb 5 and 6

AMETHI: In his first visit after being elevated as Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi would tour his constituency of Amethi for two days during which he would also interact with party cadres. District Magistrate Vidya Bhushan today confirmed the two day visit of the local MP and said he would arrive here on February 5. Rahul, who will be here within a fortnight after being appointed the Congress...

Read More..

New rules aim to get rid of junk foods in schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out...

Read More..

Gov's Handling of Sandusky Case Under Investigation

The newly-elected attorney general of Pennsylvania is going after the state's governor, Tom Corbett, who was attorney general when child sex allegations against Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky were first brought forward.Kathleen Kane, a Democrat who was sworn in as attorney general on Jan. 15, said that she will name a special prosecutor in the coming days to investigate Corbett's...

Read More..

Explosion at Mexican oil giant Pemex headquarters kills 25

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A powerful explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of state-owned oil giant Pemex on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, injuring more than 100 and trapping others inside. The mid-afternoon blast in a neighboring building shattered the lower floors of the downtown tower, throwing debris into the streets and sending frightened workers running outside. ...

Read More..

Taiwan premier resigns over flagging economy

TAIPEI: Taiwanese Premier Sean Chen said Friday he has stepped down for health reasons, after the cabinet he heads came under fire for its poor handling of the economy."I have some health problems ... and I need to completely change my life and work style to reverse the situation," the 63-year-old finance expert told a press conference to announce his resignation."I believe that the economy...

Read More..

Kiran Bedi backs amended Lokpal Bill

NEW DELHI: Differing with Anna Hazare on the amended Lokpal Bill approved by the Union Cabinet, his team member and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi today backed the legislation saying it addresses most of their concerns. Bedi also expressed happiness over the amended Bill paving the way for constitution of a collegium to select the chief of CBI. "From nothing to something to more, as we move on!...

Read More..

Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Health officials on Thursday...

Read More..

Arias' Lawyer Shows Ex-Boyfriend's Lewd Photos

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was kept away from the Mormon friends of her lover Travis Alexander and their torrid sex affair was kept secret by Alexander, even as he sent lewd photos of himself to her online, according to court testimony today.The testimony in Arias' trial for killing Alexander in 2008 was intended to bolster the defense's argument that she killed him in self...

Read More..

Syrian rebels make slow headway in south

AMMAN (Reuters) - The revolt against President Bashar al-Assad first flared in Deraa, but the southern border city now epitomizes the bloody stalemate gripping Syria after 22 months of violence and 60,000 dead. Jordan next door has little sympathy with Assad, but is wary of spillover from the upheaval in its bigger neighbor. It has tightened control of its 370-km (230-mile) border with...

Read More..

Four arrested for suspected thefts from the elderly

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested four men suspected of stealing from the elderly.On January 10, police received reports of theft in some housing estates by men who approached the victims and offered to pray in their residences. The suspects targeted elderly victims who were alone at home during the day.The four suspects, aged between 21 and 55 years, were arrested along Syed Alwi Road on...

Read More..

1996 Suryanelli rape case: SC sets aside Kerala HC verdict acquitting 35 accused

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside Kerala high court verdict acquitting 35 accused in the 1996 Suryanelli gang rape case. The Supreme Court has sent back the case to Kerala HC asking it to take a fresh look at it. The Suryanelli rape case involves gang rape of a 16-year-old girl continuously for 40 days by 42 men in 1996. The girl from Suryanelli in Idukki district of Kerala was...

Read More..

Sex to burn calories? Authors expose obesity myths

Fact or fiction? Sex burns a lot of calories. Snacking or skipping breakfast is bad. School gym classes make a big difference in kids' weight.All are myths or at least presumptions that may not be true, say researchers who reviewed the science behind some widely held obesity beliefs and found it lacking.Their report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine says dogma and fallacies are detracting...

Read More..

No Device Eliminates Concussion Risk, Experts Say

As the long-term consequences of concussions become clearer, a cottage industry has popped up to sell athletes and worried parents products designed to mitigate risks of concussions that even helmets cannot prevent.Despite the bold claims of some companies, however, many experts say the Holy Grail in contact sports -- a device that prevents concussions -- simply does not exist....

Read More..

U.N.'s Ban decries "horrors" in Syria, urges end to war

DUBAI (Reuters) - Denouncing "unrelenting horrors" in Syria's war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed on Wednesday for an end to the violence and urged more aid to address a situation he said was catastrophic and worsening by the day. "How many more people will be killed if the current situation continues?," Ban said, speaking at a conference of donors in Kuwait called to drum...

Read More..

Greater community support helps ex-offenders

SINGAPORE: Greater community support for ex-offenders has paid off -- with overall fewer ex-inmates imprisoned for re-offending -- according to the Singapore Prison Service's annual report card.However, drug offenders who were released from Drug Rehabilitation Centres recorded a higher percentage of re-offending.For some inmates who have no family support, they might not have a job or...

Read More..

Partymen should exercise restraint in their speech, Rajnath Singh says

NEW DELHI: New BJP president Rajnath Singh today asked partymen to exercise restraint in their speech and conduct and fight for people's issues to gain the confidence of the masses. Addressing party leaders and workers at the BJP headquarters here, Singh also asked them to maintain patience. He exhorted BJP workers to work for strengthening the party and said there is a need to fight for the problems...

Read More..

Soldier with new arms determined to be independent

BALTIMORE (AP) — After weeks of round-the-clock medical care, Brendan Marrocco insisted on rolling his own wheelchair into a news conference using his new transplanted arms. Then he brushed his hair to one side.Such simple tasks would go unnoticed in most patients. But for Marrocco, who lost all four limbs while serving in Iraq, these little actions demonstrate how far he's come only six weeks after...

Read More..

Clinton Talks 2016, Stands by Benghazi Testimony

In her final television interview as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton told ABC's Cynthia McFadden that she is "flattered and honored" at the intense interest in whether she might run for president in 2016.But Clinton maintained that right now she's "not focused" on a presidential campaign; instead she said she wants to return to a "normal" life when she steps down from office...

Read More..

French seal off Mali's Timbuktu, rebels torch library

GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops retook control of Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Monday after Islamist rebel occupiers fled the ancient Sahara trading town and torched several buildings, including a library holding priceless manuscripts. The United States and the European Union are backing a French-led intervention in Mali against al Qaeda-allied militants they...

Read More..

North Korea threatens "merciless" retaliation on South

SEOUL: North Korea on Tuesday vowed "merciless" retaliation against the South for its support of UN sanctions, as Seoul urged Pyongyang to step back from a widely expected nuclear test.The perennially tense situation on the Korean peninsula has been stretched to its limit in the past week, with almost daily threats from the North that it is preparing to conduct a nuclear test as a riposte...

Read More..

Soldier talks about his new arms after transplant

BALTIMORE (AP) — A soldier who lost all four limbs in an Iraq roadside bombing has two new arms following a double transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital.Twenty-six-year-old Brendan Marrocco along with the surgeons who treated him will be at the Baltimore hospital on Tuesday to discuss the new limbs.The transplants are only the seventh double-hand or double-arm transplant ever conducted in the United...

Read More..

Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic. Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual...

Read More..

EU calls for more entrepreneurs

BRUSSELS: Policy makers in Europe want to convince more people to become entrepreneurs in order to bring back jobs and growth to the struggling bloc. Critics have argued too many start-ups in a volatile financial climate will only struggle to survive while others said business-minded self-starters are born, not bred.Policy makers in Brussels are more and more adamant that self-made businessmen...

Read More..

Temperatures rise in J&K, minimum temperature remains sub-zero

SRINAGAR: Night temperatures across Kashmir rose by several degrees, much to the relief of residents of the Valley, but the minimum temperature stayed sub-zero. Kashmir Valley shivered for the last few days as the minimum temperatures hovered several degrees below the freezing point. As dry weather prevailed, water supply lines and water bodies, including the world famous Dal Lake, froze under...

Read More..