150 scientists raise concerns about GM crops, write to Natarajan

NEW DELHI: More than 150 scientists have written a letter to the environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan on Saturday raising concerns about genetically modified (GM) crops. Their primanry concern is that Ministry of Agriculture is allegedly making a case for GM crops by stating that the technology is 'absolutely needed' for India's food security. They referred to a recent affidavit filed by the...

Read More..

After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

Read More..

Northeast Digs Out After Blizzard

A fierce winter storm brought blizzard conditions and hurricane force winds as the anticipated snowstorm descended across much of the Northeast overnight.By early Saturday morning, 650,000 homes and businesses were without power and at least five deaths were being blamed on the storm, three in Canada, one in New York and one in Connecticut, The Associated Press reported.The...

Read More..

Tunisian Islamists rally to show "power of street"

TUNIS (Reuters) - Thousands of Islamists marched in Tunis on Saturday in a show of strength, a day after the funeral of an assassinated secular politician drew the biggest crowds seen on the streets since Tunisia's uprising two years ago. About 6,000 supporters of the ruling Ennahda movement rallied to back their leader Rachid al-Ghannouchi, who was the target of angry slogans raised...

Read More..

Russian opposition activist put under house arrest: media

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Saturday put prominent opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov under house arrest amid accusations he incited mass disorder to overthrow President Vladimir Putin, local media reported.The Basmanny court in Moscow was responding to a request by investigators who said Udaltsov was not showing good behaviour and not cooperating with the authorities.The judge said that...

Read More..

Six Maharashtra policemen arrested for involvement in Dhule riot

DHULE (MAHARASHTRA): Six police personnel were on Friday arrested for allegedly taking part in vandalism during the last month's communal riot in north Maharashtra's Dhule city, police said.They were remanded in one-day police custody by the local court.The accused were seen indulging in looting and violence in a video clip shot during the riot which rocked the city on January 6, they said.Apart from...

Read More..

Health officials: Worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say the worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread flu dropped again last week. By some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks. Deaths from the flu or pneumonia have been dropping for two weeks.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the latest flu numbers on Friday.This flu...

Read More..

Rescued Ethan Spends Birthday With SWAT Heroes

As a beaming 6-year-old Ethan said "cheese" for photos and played with toy cars at his birthday party, there were no immediate signs of the turmoil the young boy had endured just days earlier.The boy, identified only as Ethan, was held hostage in a nearly week-long standoff in Alabama. He was physically unharmed after Jimmy Lee Dykes kidnapped him from a school bus and held...

Read More..

Violence mars funeral of Tunisian opposition leader

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Tunisians turned out on Friday to mourn secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has deepened a political crisis and led to violent protests against the Islamist-led government. Teargas and smoke from burning cars at times wafted over the Tunis cemetery where Belaid was buried in the country's biggest funeral since independence...

Read More..

Golf: Fisher Jnr takes Joburg Open lead with showy 62

JOHANNESBURG: Trevor Fisher Jnr shot to a shared lead with a record nine-under-par 62 second round of the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Friday.Tied with fellow South African Richard Sterne, who shot 65, Fisher lead countryman George Coetzee by three strokes. South Africans Keith Horne and Charl Schwartzel, as well as Chilean Felipe Aguilar, are five...

Read More..

SC pulls up CBI in Babri Masjid demolition case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday pulled up the CBI for its submission that BJP leader LK Advani and other party leaders present at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, had committed a "national crime" in the conspiracy that led to demolition of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure. Taking a dim view of the submission, a bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that...

Read More..

Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.Blacks were five times more likely than whites...

Read More..

Suspect Tried to Flee Country Before Cop Shooting

The fired ex-California cop who set off a region-wide manhunt after allegedly shooting three police officers this morning -- one fatally -- had initially gone to a yacht club near San Diego where police say he attempted to steal a boat and flee to Mexico.Police say that former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who officials believe posted an online manifesto outlining...

Read More..

Khamenei rebuffs U.S. offer of direct talks

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problem between them. "Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem," Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of...

Read More..

War crimes court wants Gaddafi spy chief handed over

THE HAGUE: International Criminal Court judges on Thursday demanded Libya hand over Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief Abdullah Senussi to face charges of crimes against humanity.The latest broadside in the legal tug-of-war between The Hague-based ICC and Tripoli over where Senussi and Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam should be tried repeated a demand for Senussi to be handed over.The ICC "orders...

Read More..

In 12 hours, credit card used in four continents

MUMBAI: A Tardeo-based businessman opened his e-mail recently to find messages telling him that his wife's credit card had been used in over 20 transactions within 12 hours across four continents to run up a bill of over Rs 2 lakh. The family was in the city at that time. After the shock, 51-year-old Rikin Choksi felt as if he had run into a wall—the issuing bank was way less than helpful and the...

Read More..

Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until...

Read More..

US Postal Service to End Saturday Mail Delivery

Feb 6, 2013 8:28am Weekend mail delivery is about to come to an end.The U.S. Postal Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays, but will continue to deliver packages six days a week, the USPS announced at a news conference this morning.While post offices that open on Saturdays will continue to do so, the initiative, which is expected to begin the week of August...

Read More..

Tunisia protests after government critic shot dead

TUNIS (Reuters) - A fierce critic of the Tunisian government's dealings with radical Islamists was shot dead on Wednesday, sending protesters onto the streets two years after their Jasmine Revolution sparked revolt across the Arab world. The headquarters of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which rules in a fractious coalition with secularists, was set ablaze after Chokri Belaid, an...

Read More..

Falkland Islanders "do not exist", says Argentinian foreign minister

LONDON: Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said on Wednesday that the Falkland Islanders "do not exist" after snubbing the chance of talks with their government members.Timerman told a press conference in London that the 3,000-odd residents of the South Atlantic archipelago were simply British citizens who live there.British Foreign Secretary William Hague met Jan Cheek and Dick...

Read More..

Rushed, ordinance is half-baked, may help rapists

NEW DELHI: Can a rape accused get away by claiming that he had penetrated a woman's vagina for "proper hygienic or medical purposes"? The hastily promulgated ordinance replacing rape with the broader and gender neutral offence of "sexual assault" has given rise to such a bizarre possibility. This is because of the ill-thought-out definition of sexual assault, which encompasses a wide range of non-consensual...

Read More..

Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until...

Read More..

Boy Rescued in Ala. Standoff 'Laughing, Joking'

The 5-year-old boy held hostage in a nearly week-long standoff in Alabama is in good spirits and apparently unharmed after being reunited with his family at a hospital, according to his family and law enforcement officials.The boy, identified only as Ethan, was rescued by the FBI Monday afternoon after they rushed the underground bunker where suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, was...

Read More..

Iran's Ahmadinejad kissed and scolded in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The trip was meant to underline a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state, President Mohamed Mursi, last June. But it also highlighted deep theological and geopolitical differences....

Read More..

Iran "danger" threatens Israel's existence: Peres

JERUSALEM: Israeli leaders warned Tuesday of threats posed by Iran, Hezbollah and their mutual ally Syria as the new Israeli parliament opened following last month's general election.President Shimon Peres said the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran was growing under the "terrifying dictatorship" ruling the Islamic republic."The Iranian danger has grown," Peres said in a speech to the Knesset,...

Read More..