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...

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After Blizzard, Northeast Begins to Dig Out

The Northeast began the arduous process of cleaning up after a fierce storm swept through the region leaving behind up to three feet of snow in some areas.By early this 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 storm...

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Israel's Lieberman says Palestinian peace accord impossible

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has no chance of signing a permanent peace accord with the Palestinians and should instead seek a long-term interim deal, the most powerful political partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. The remarks by Avigdor Lieberman, an ultranationalist whose joint party list with Netanyahu narrowly won a January 22 election while centrist challengers...

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6.5-magnitude quake strikes off Solomon Islands

HONIARA: A 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit off the Solomon Islands on Sunday, the latest powerful aftershock following a 8.0-magnitude quake that sparked a tsunami four days ago, US seismologists said.The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 8:02 am, 2102 GMT Saturday, 29 kilometres south-southwest of Lata, the main town on remote Ndende Island in the Santa Cruz Islands, which are...

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Dhule riots: Custody of six policemen extended

DHULE: The police custody of the six cops who were arrested on Friday on charges of theft and breaking open a stall during the Dhule riots of January 6 was on Saturday extended by three more days, even as senior lawyers termed the charges "too mild" and demanded action against the officers who ordered firing and cops who fired above the waist. The policemen have been identified as Liladhar Sonawane,...

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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...

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'Stay Home': Northeast Shuts Down as Blizzard Hits

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions is set to strike the Northeast, starting today and could bring more than two feet of snow and strong winds that could shut down densely populated cities such as Boston and New York City.A storm from the west will join forces with one from the south to form a nor'easter that will sit and spin just off the East Coast, affecting more...

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China, Japan engage in new invective over disputed isles

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Japan engaged on Friday in a fresh round of invective over military movements near a disputed group of uninhabited islands, fuelling tension that for months has bedeviled relations between the Asian powers. An increasingly muscular China has been repeatedly at odds with others in the region over rival claims to small clusters of islands, most recently with...

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Tennis: Nadal advances to semi-finals in comeback event

VINA DEL MAR, Chile: Rafael Nadal, playing his first event after a seven-month injury layoff, advanced to the semi-finals of the $410,200 Vina del Mar ATP claycourt tournament with a straight-sets triumph on Friday.The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain ousted seventh-seeded countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 6-4.Top seed Nadal will face either French third seed Jeremy Chardy or...

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'Friends' among 100s on ex-President's 'pleasure trips'

MUMBAI: On each of her well-documented tours, former President Pratibha Patil travelled with close to 100 people, which included, besides officials, members of her family as well as friends who joined in as 'Presidential guests'.Patil found herself in an embarrassing situation when it was discovered that the government had stopped footing a bill of Rs 225 crore for her jaunts as the country's head.Now,...

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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...

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Alleged Cop-Killer Has Calif. Region on Edge

The truck owned and driven by suspected cop killer Christopher Dorner during his alleged rampage through the Los Angeles area was found deserted and in flames on the side of Bear Mountain, Calif., this afternoon.Heavily armed SWAT team members descended onto Bear Mountain from a helicopter manned with snipers today to investigate the fire. The San Bernadino Sheriff's Department...

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Iran's 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 last 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...

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North Korea nuclear test could "tie hands" of South: Ban Ki-moon

UNITED NATIONS: UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that a nuclear test by North Korea could blow up hopes of an eventual reconciliation by "tying the hands" of the South's incoming president.Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said incoming South Korean president Park Geun-Hye is "very much committed" to improving relations with North Korea."If they conduct this nuclear...

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Suryanelli sex scandal: 17-year-old Kerala rape haunts Congress

KOTTAYAM: A day after an AICC spokesperson said the Congress high command will look into the allegations against Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien in the Suryanelli sex scandal , the victim's mother sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi, seeking her intervention for an impartial probe. In a letter faxed to the Congress president on Thursday, the victim's mother narrated the trauma her daughter and...

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New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have discovered the first U.S. cases of whooping cough caused by a germ that may be resistant to the vaccine.Health officials are looking into whether cases like the dozen found in Philadelphia might be one reason the nation just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. The new bug was previously reported in Japan, France and Finland."It's quite intriguing....

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Galaxy May Be Full of 'Second Earths'

You may look out on a starry night and get a lonely feeling, but astronomers now say our Milky Way galaxy may be thick with planets much like Earth -- perhaps 4.5 billion of them, according to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.Astronomers looked at data from NASA's Kepler space telescope in orbit, and conclude that 6 percent of the red dwarf stars in the Milky...

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Tunisian government out after critic's killing causes fury

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's ruling Islamists dissolved the government on Wednesday and promised rapid elections in a bid to calm the biggest street protests since the revolution two years ago, sparked by the killing of an opposition leader. The prime minister's announcement that an interim cabinet of technocrats would replace his Islamist-led coalition came at the end of a day which had...

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Tennis: Nadal triumphs in singles return

VINA DEL MAR, Chile: Rafael Nadal made a triumphant singles return after a seven-month absence, beating Argentinian qualifier Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the ATP claycourt tournament.The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain hadn't played since a shock second-round exit from Wimbledon in June.A torn tendon and inflammation in his left knee had kept him out of the...

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CBI finds it difficult to close fodder scam cases

RANCHI: The CBI is facing tough time in taking the five cases of the fodder scam in which two former chief ministers of Bihar, Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra were involved, to their logical end.Special public prosecutors of the CBI dealing the five cases said by using the provisions of law and the loopholes both Prasad and Mishra had dragged the cases for years. Of the 53 cases, the CBI has...

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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...

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Sierra's Family Selling Photos to Cover Funeral, Kids

The family of Sarai Sierra, an amateur New York photographer slain while on a trip to Turkey, put her photos up for sale today and quickly sold enough photographs to pay forher funeral, the woman's brother said today.The photos remain on sale and the profits will now be going to her two young sons, the family said.Sierra, 33, was found bludgeoned to death near a highway in Istanbul...

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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....

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"Hundreds" of rebels killed, France to leave Mali from March

GAO, Mali: French-led forces have killed hundreds of Islamists in fighting to reclaim northern Mali and with the rebels' last bastion secured, France said Tuesday it will begin withdrawing its troops from March.Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the 26-day military intervention had killed "several hundred" Islamist militants as its air and ground forces chased them from their northern...

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