Killer typhoon turns back towards Philippines

MANILA: A typhoon that has killed hundreds of people and left tens of thousands homeless in the southern Philippines has turned back towards the country and will hit it again, forecasters said on Saturday.Typhoon Bopha will slam into the northern tip of the main island of Luzon early Sunday, packing gusts of up to 160 kilometres (around 100 miles) an hour, the state weather service said.It...

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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced...

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...

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Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post-'Cliff'

Dec 7, 2012 4:22pm Toby Jorrin/AFP/Getty ImagesWith the “fiscal cliff” quickly approaching, federal agencies are stepping up preparations for deep automatic budget cuts that will kick in Jan. 2 unless the White House and Congress can reach a deal.The Office of Management and Budget told ABC News that a memo went out to federal agencies earlier this week seeking “additional...

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India's government wins second reform vote

NEW DELHI : India's minority government survived a final vote in parliament on Friday when lawmakers backed its controversial move to allow in foreign supermarkets, giving a boost to its reform agenda.After four days of debate, lawmakers in the nominated upper house gave their support to the government and kicked out an opposition motion against the decision to open up the retail sector...

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I will not resign: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Amid demands from some party leaders that he should step down in the wake of allegations of dubious fundings of his companies, BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Friday said he is an "honest man" and ruled out resigning from his post. "I am an honest man, I will not resign," the BJP president said in reply to a question at a programme organised by a TV network here. Gadkari's present tenure...

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Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

Cassiopeia’s BubbleImage courtesy T.A. Rector, UAA/WIYN/NOAO/NSFA new camera called the One Degree Imager, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, is responsible...

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Tsunami Warning Lifted in Japan After Quake

A tsunami warning has been lifted for the northeastern region of Japan following a strong 7.3-magnitiude earthquake that struck off the coast of Miyagi prefecture.The earthquake rattled the coast of Japan just after 5 p.m. local time. Tsunami waves were recorded in at least five different locations – the largest in Ishinomaki was measured at 3 feet, according to the Japan Meteorological...

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Obama’s claim of the ‘largest’ discretionary cuts ‘in history’

(KEVIN DIETSCH/POOL/EPA) “Working with Democrats and Republicans last year, we were able to cut over a trillion dollars of spending — the largest cut, by the way, in discretionary spending in history.”— President Obama, remarks to the Business Roundtable, Dec. 5, 2012 To some extent, it is a bit silly for politicians to claim they have achieved the “biggest” or “largest” event...

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North Korean rocket 'to commemorate' Kim Jong-Il: ex-chef

TOKYO: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un does not want to fire a rocket, but feels he has to mark the anniversary of his father's death, the dead dictator's former sushi chef said Thursday.The hermit state's long range rocket will be launched 12 months to the day that Kim Jong-Il died, his one-time personal chef, Kenji Fujimoto told journalists in Tokyo."I believe the launch will take place...

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BSP puts its weight behind govt on FDI issue in Rajya Sabha

NEW DELHI: BSP on promised to vote in favour of FDI in Rajya Sabha, giving much relief to the government which is bracing for a crucial vote on Friday, even as BJP and AIADMK attacked parties which sided with UPA despite having reservations over the measure.A day after the opposition motion seeking rollback of the decision was rejected convincingly in Lok Sabha, the Upper House took up the debate...

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A 2020 Rover Return to Mars?

NASA is so delighted with Curiosity's Mars mission that the agency wants to do it all again in 2020, with the possibility of identifying and storing some rocks for a future sample return to Earth.The formal announcement, made at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting, represents a triumph for the NASA Mars program, which had fallen on hard times due to steep budget cuts....

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Guatemala Could Deport McAfee to Belize

Software anti virus pioneer John McAfee is in the process of being deported to Belize after he was arrested in Guatemala for entering the country illegally, his attorney told ABC News early Thursday.ABC News has learned that John McAfee is scheduled to be deported to Belize later this morning. But a judge could stay the ruling if it is determined McAfee's life is threatened...

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Rubio, Ryan look to the future during award dinner speeches

Two high-profile Republican members of Congress who stand at the forefront of the effort to rebuild the party after a stinging presidential defeat delivered speeches Tuesday night aimed at turning the page with a fresh emphasis on inclusion and a renewed focus on growing the middle class. “Nothing represents how special America is more than our middle class. And our challenge and our opportunity...

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SingHealth, Australian firm explore new technology to treat cancer cells

SINGAPORE: Under a research collaboration with an Australian company called Sirtex Medical, Singapore will be the first in the world to try out a new treatment for cancer cells.Sirtex Medical and SingHealth signed a new Master Research Collaboration Agreement where Singapore General Hospital and National Cancer Centre Singapore will explore the potential of a new technology called Carbon...

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Lok Sabha disrupted over Lalu Prasad's remarks

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha was on Wednesday adjourned briefly following verbal clashes between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RLD) chief Lalu Prasad and Bharatiya Janata Party members.As soon as Lalu Prasad stood up to participate in the debate on FDI in multi-brand retail, BJP members created a ruckus.An agitated Lalu Prasad addressed BJP members as "jamhoore" (side-kicks), which led to protests by BJP members.Lok...

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Scientific Results From Challenger Deep

Jane J. Lee The spotlight is shining once again on the deepest ecosystems in the ocean—Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (map) and the New Britain Trench near Papua New Guinea. At a presentation today at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco, attendees got a glimpse into these mysterious ecosystems nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers) down, the former visited by filmmaker...

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Subway Push Murder Suspect Implicated Self: Police

A suspect believed to be responsible for throwing a man into the path of an oncoming New York City subway train who was taken into custody today has made statements implicating himself, police said.According to Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne, the suspect has been questioned by police since at least early afternoon and while the suspect is in police custody,...

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Geithner’s fuzzy math on entitlement ‘spending cuts’

(Chris Usher/AP)  “We've laid out a detailed plan of spending cuts. $600 billion in spending in mandatory programs over 10 years. They phase in gradually, they build over time. They are good policy. They make a lot of sense.”— Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Dec. 2, 2012 “We've laid out a very comprehensive detailed framework of how we do it...

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Congratulations pour in for William and Kate's pregnancy

LONDON: Messages of congratulations poured in from around the world on Tuesday on news that Prince William's wife Kate is pregnant, as she spent a second day in hospital suffering from acute morning sickness.The announcement on Monday that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 30, are expecting their first child ended feverish speculation about a new royal heir that began immediately...

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FDI debate: BJP says government gone back on promise

NEW DELHI: The government had promised a decision on foreign investment in retail after consensus but had gone back on its promise, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday while initiating the debate on the issue in the Lok Sabha.The leader of opposition said the government claims that foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail would benefit farmers but this was...

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Mars Rover Detects Simple Organic Compounds

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has detected several simple carbon-based organic compounds on Mars, but it remains unclear whether they were formed via Earthly contamination or whether they contain only elements indigenous to the planet.Speaking at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco, Curiosity mission leaders also said that the compound perchlorate—identified...

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Kate's Illness Sometimes Linked to Twins

Hyperemesis gravidarum, the reason newly pregnant Kate Middleton is in the hospital, is a rare but acute morning sickness that results in weight loss and accounts for about 2 percent of all morning sickness, doctors say.The condition is sometimes associated with women having twins, experts said.Women diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum have lost 5 percent of their pre-pregnancy...

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Boehner’s misfire on the impact of tax hikes on small-business owners

(J. Scott Applewhite — AP) “Raising taxes on the so-called top two percent — half of those taxpayers are small business owners who pay their taxes through their personal income tax filing every year.” — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Nov. 28, 2012The Speaker misspoke — again. A reader asked us about this statement, and we noticed that it was similar to a claim he made last...

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SMRT says no further adjustments of pay for China bus drivers

SINGAPORE: SMRT will not make further adjustments to the salaries of its drivers from China, despite an illegal strike last week over pay and living conditions.But it will look into the possibility of allowing its drivers to encash their unused leave.This was the decision communicated to drivers by SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek at a townhall meeting on Monday morning.Describing what has been a...

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