Senate negotiators yet to reach ‘fiscal cliff’ deal as clock winds down

Vice President Joseph Biden and Sen. Mitch McConnell were locked in urgent talks late Sunday over the “fiscal cliff” after Democrats offered several significant concessions on taxes, including a proposal to raise rates only on earnings over $450,000 a year. With a New Year’s Eve deadline hours away, Democrats abandoned their earlier demand to raise tax rates on household income over $250,000...

Read More..

Singapore rigbuilders set for strong 2013: analysts

SINGAPORE : Singapore rigbuilders Keppel Offshore & Marine (O&M) and Sembcorp Marine have secured a slew of contracts this year.Analysts have said the two companies could see another strong set of orders in 2013, driven by robust demand for ultra-deepwater rigs.Keppel O&M booked about US$8 billion worth of contracts this year - its second highest on record.This follows a record...

Read More..

AIADMK to go it alone in LS polls: Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: Slamming the Congress and BJP in Karnataka for being "determined" in denying Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Monday said her party would go it alone in the next Lok Sabha polls and secure all 40 seats in order to assert its rights in Delhi. Both parties were "united" and "determined" not to give Tamil Nadu its due share of water from Cauvery river, a combative...

Read More..

How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

For those of us who enjoy the occasional cocktail, the holiday season would be incomplete without certain treats of the liquid variety. Some look forward to the creamy charms of rum-laced eggnog; others anticipate cupfuls of high-octane punch or mugs of warm, spiced wine.No matter what's in your glass, raising one as the year winds down is tradition. What could be more festive? The problem...

Read More..

Hillary Clinton Hospitalized With Blood Clot

(MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images)By DANA HUGHES and DEAN SCHABNERSecretary Hillary Clinton was hospitalized today after a doctors doing a follow-up exam discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago.She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours, Deputy...

Read More..

Senators trade proposals into night to avoid ‘fiscal cliff’

Senate negotiators labored late into Saturday over a last-ditch plan to avert the “fiscal cliff,” struggling to resolve key differences over how many wealthy households should face higher income taxes in the new year and how to tax inherited estates. As the clock ticked toward a Jan. 1 deadline, the halls of the Capitol were dark and silent. The House and the Senate are shuttered until...

Read More..

French paper to publish comic book on life of Mohammed

PARIS: A French weekly known for publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed to the ire of conservative Muslims said on Sunday it plans to release a comic book biography, that will be researched and educational.Satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo has on several occasions depicted Islam's prophet in an effort to defend free speech and defy the anger of Muslims who believe depicting Mohammed...

Read More..

AP Express from Hyderabad to Delhi cancelled tomorrow

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad-New Delhi AP Express, scheduled to depart Hyderabad at 6.25am on Monday, has been cancelled by the railways. A spokesman of South Central Railway (SCR) said train no. 12723 Hyderabad-New Delhi AP Express was cancelled in view of abnormal late running of the incoming pairing train due to heavy fog in northern India. "Full refund of fare will be given to the passengers on...

Read More..

How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

For those of us who enjoy the occasional cocktail, the holiday season would be incomplete without certain treats of the liquid variety. Some look forward to the creamy charms of rum-laced eggnog; others anticipate cupfuls of high-octane punch or mugs of warm, spiced wine.No matter what's in your glass, raising one as the year winds down is tradition. What could be more festive? The problem...

Read More..

Woman Charged With Murder in NYC Subway Push

A woman who allegedly told New York City police she pushed a man onto the subway tracks because she hated Hindus and Muslims has been charged with murder as a hate crime.Erica Menendez, 31, allegedly told police that she "pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up."Menendez...

Read More..

Agreement within reach on ‘fiscal cliff’ deal, officials say

President Obama and Senate leaders were on the verge of an agreement Friday that would let taxes rise on the wealthiest households while protecting the vast majority of Americans from historic tax hikes set to hit in January. The development marked a breakthrough after weeks of paralysis. After meeting with Obama at the White House, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority...

Read More..

Egypt's Morsi to focus on economy in senate speech

CAIRO: Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi is expected to address the economy on Saturday in a speech before a newly-empowered senate as concerns mount over a downturn and cracks in his government.Morsi will give the address after the senate, invested with legislative powers under a newly ratified constitution until a new parliament is elected, convenes at 1100 GMT (1:00 pm local time).A declining...

Read More..

Delhi gang rape: 13 days that stopped a nation

NEW DELHI: From Dec 16, when the 23-year-old was raped in a moving bus in Delhi, to Dec 29, when she died of her grievous injuries in a Singapore hospital, a sequence of 13 days that stopped a nation in its tracks:Dec 16 - The physiotherapy intern and her friend on the way back from a movie get into a bus at Munirka in south Delhi. She is gang-raped and tortured in the moving bus and her friend beaten....

Read More..

How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

For those of us who enjoy the occasional cocktail, the holiday season would be incomplete without certain treats of the liquid variety. Some look forward to the creamy charms of rum-laced eggnog; others anticipate cupfuls of high-octane punch or mugs of warm, spiced wine.No matter what's in your glass, raising one as the year winds down is tradition. What could be more festive? The problem...

Read More..

Epic Journey: Did Moses' Exodus Really Happen?

In the Bible, he is called Moses. In the Koran, he is the prophet Musa.Religious scholars have long questioned whether of the story of a prophet leading God's chosen people in a great exodus out of Egypt and the freedom it brought them afterwards was real, but the similarities between a pharaoh's ancient hymn and a psalm of David might hold the link to his existence.Tune in...

Read More..

As ‘fiscal cliff’ deadline nears, OPM updates furlough guidelines

With talks on averting the “fiscal cliff” apparently stalled, the Office of Personnel Management posted new guidance to federal workers for administrative furloughs on its Web site Thursday afternoon. “We wanted to take some prudent steps to keep federal employees informed in case of an order for sequestration,” said Thomas Richards, OPM’s communications director. He added that the...

Read More..

India gang-rape victim "struggling against the odds"

SINGAPORE: The Indian gang-rape victim who has been been admitted to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital remains in an extremely critical condition.The 23-year-old student is still receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.The medical team's investigations showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, the patient had an infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant...

Read More..

Kashmir Valley gets connected by rail

BANIHAL (J&K): Northern Railways made history on Friday as the first train chugged through India's longest railway tunnel through the Pir Panjal mountain range, connecting Kashmir Valley to Banihal town on Srinagar-Jammu National highway.The train on a trial run, arrived at Banihal station from Qazigund in Anantnag district of Kashmir.The train chugged in at the station amidst thunderous applause...

Read More..

How to Live to a Ripe Old Age

Cento di questi giorni. May you have a hundred birthdays, the Italians say, and some of them do. So do other people in various spots around the world—in Blue Zones, so named by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner for the blue ink that outlines these special areas on maps developed over more than a decade. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)In his...

Read More..

White House Says It Has No New Fiscal Cliff Plan

The White House said today it has no plans to offer new proposals to avoid the fiscal cliff which looms over the country's economy just five days from now, but will meet Friday with Congressional leaders in a last ditch effort to forge a deal.Republicans and Democrats made no conciliatory gestures in public today, despite the urgency.The White House said President Obama would...

Read More..

Hawaii’s lieutenant governor is named to the U.S. Senate

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) selected Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz on Wednesday to fill the vacancy created by the death last week of veteran U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D). With the “fiscal cliff” five days away and critical decisions facing the Senate, the White House said Schatz would fly to Washington on Wednesday evening with President Obama. Schatz said he would be in place to be sworn...

Read More..

More cash payouts for Silver Housing Bonus and Lease Buyback Scheme

SINGAPORE: Authorities have announced plans to raise the cash bonuses of two housing monetisation schemes for the elderly in response to public feedback.The latest changes to the Silver Housing Bonus (SHB) and Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) will see households having to put less of their flat's sale proceeds into their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts - a national pension scheme. They...

Read More..

Maoists trigger landmine blast in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: A member of the special operation group (SOG) was hurt when a landmine planted by Maoists exploded on Thursday in a forest in Odisha's Rayagada district, police said.The landmine exploded as a group of the elite anti-Maoist force was walking in the forest in Kalyansinghpur area as part of routine combing operations, district Superintendent of Police Rajesh Pandit told IANS."It was a...

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

Green LanternImage courtesy Caltech/SSI/NASAAnother glorious, backlit view of the planet Saturn and its rings has been captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, as seen in a picture...

Read More..

Okla. Senator Could Prevent Gun Control Changes

If there's one person most likely to keep new gun-control measures from passing Congress swiftly, it's Sen. Tom Coburn.Conservatives revere the Oklahoma Republican for his fiscal hawkishness and regular reports on government waste. But he's also a staunch gun-rights advocate, and he's shown a willingness to obstruct even popular legislation, something in the Senate that a single...

Read More..

Democrats push for tax cuts they once opposed

Democrats seeking a deal to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” are trying to etch into stone the signature economic achievement of Republican President George W. Bush by permanently extending tax cuts enacted during his tenure. President Obama has put the extension of the tax cuts for most Americans at the top of his domestic agenda, a remarkable turnaround for Democrats, who had staunchly...

Read More..

Football: Liverpool's Sterling commits himself to England

LONDON: Liverpool's teenage winger Raheem Sterling has pledged his international future to England, thereby calming fears he was considering a switch of allegiance to Jamaica.The 18-year-old holds dual-nationality as he was born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, but he has represented England at every level from under-16 upwards and made his senior debut in the 4-2 friendly loss to Sweden...

Read More..

India will continue to do its best to assist Nepal: President Pranab Mukherjee

NEW DELHI: Citing India's deep rooted ties with Nepal, President Pranab Mukherjee said New Delhi will continue to do its best to assist the neighbouring nation in its socio-economic development.It is in India's interest that Nepal progresses as a stable, secular, democratic republic, the President said welcoming his Nepalese counterpart Ram Baran Yadav at Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Wednesday.Mukherjee...

Read More..

Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)Humboldt squid are typically found in...

Read More..

Winter Storms Spawn Tornadoes Across South

A nasty Christmastime storm system spawned blizzard conditions in some states and at least 15 reported tornadoes in the South, damaging homes, taking out power lines and dangerously snarling holiday travel.Severe weather swept across the United States during the Christmas holiday, bringing tornadoes and intense thunderstorms to the Gulf Coast, while dumping heavy snow and freezing...

Read More..