Cameron promises Britons straight choice on EU exit

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Wednesday to give Britons a straight referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union or leave, provided he wins an election in 2015. Cameron ended months of speculation by announcing in a speech the plan for a vote sometime between 2015 and 2018, shrugging off warnings that this could imperil Britain's diplomatic and...

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Malaysia citizenship-for-votes probe stirs outrage

KUALA LUMPUR: For years, charges have swirled that a secret Malaysian scheme gave citizenship to huge numbers of illegal migrants in a politically important state in exchange for votes for the ruling coalition.Now, an inquiry is finally airing detailed allegations that have the government on the defensive ahead of elections that pose the greatest threat yet faced by the ruling bloc that...

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BJP to hold countrywide protests against Shinde's remarks

NEW DELHI: The BJP will hold countrywide protests from Thursday against home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's "Hindu terror" remarks, Rajnath Singh said after being elected as the party president on Wednesday."The recent statement of Shinde shows the government is not serious on its fight against terrorism," Rajnath Singh said, addressing party workers here."Just for vote bank politics, they are poisoning...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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Al Qaeda Commander Killed for the 3rd Time

The second in command of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate was reportedly killed in an airstrike in Yemen in December, according to a news report by Arabic television network Al Arabiya, the third time the former Guantanamo detainee has been reported dead since 2010.According to the report, Said al-Shihri died last month after sustaining severe injuries from a joint U.S.-Yemeni airstrike...

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Israel goes to polls, set to re-elect Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election widely expected to win Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a third term in office, pushing the Jewish State further to the right, away from peace with Palestinians and towards a showdown with Iran. Netanyahu has vowed to pursue the settlement of lands seized during the 1967 Middle East war if he stays in power, a policy that...

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Wen urges "healthy" devt as China's economy slows

BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has urged the central bank to promote "healthy" economic development, the government said, after the economy expanded at its slowest pace for 13 years in 2012.Speaking on a visit to the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, Wen called on the central bank to push financial reform and use monetary policy to support the economy, the government said...

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Haryana CM appeals for peace after Chautala ruling

NEW DELHI: Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda appealed for peace on Tuesday as supporters of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala staged violent protests over the 10-year jail sentence given to him and his son in a corruption case. "All are equal for court, and we have faith in the judiciary. We will appeal to the people to maintain peace, Haryana is a peaceful state," Hooda, who is...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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Inauguration: 7.5 Things You Should Have Seen

A presidential inauguration is a big, long event that lasts all day and into the night–and who has time to really watch it? People have jobs, ones that don’t let you off for a federal holiday.Everyone (or, at least, some) will be talking about it, which means potential embarrassment for anyone who doesn’t know what happened. Thankfully, ABC employs  news professionals stationed in Washington,...

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