Egypt's constitution seen passing in referendum

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on a constitution drafted by Islamists on Saturday in a second round of balloting expected to approve the charter that opponents say will create deeper turmoil in Egypt. After a first round last week in which unofficial results showed 57 percent of those who voted approved the constitution, the opposition cried foul, saying a litany of alleged abuses...

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Egyptians vote on divisive new constitution

CAIRO: Egyptians voted on Saturday in the final round of a referendum on a new constitution championed by President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist allies against fierce protests from the secular-leaning opposition.The proposed charter is expected to be adopted after already garnering 57 percent support in the first round of the referendum a week ago.But the slim margin and the low first-round...

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Newly elected Himachal MLA booked for murder, on the run

SHIMLA: Ahead of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Saturday to elect Himachal Pradesh's next chief minister, one of the party's newly elected legislators has gone underground after being booked in a murder case.Ram Kumar Chaudhary, a first-time MLA from Doon constituency in Solan district, is one of the four suspects in the murder of a 24-year-old woman in Panchkula in Haryana Nov 22."Police...

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AP IMPACT: Big Pharma cashes in on HGH abuse

A federal crackdown on illicit foreign supplies of human growth hormone has failed to stop rampant misuse, and instead has driven record sales of the drug by some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, an Associated Press investigation shows.The crackdown, which began in 2006, reduced the illegal flow of unregulated supplies from China, India and Mexico.But since then, Big Pharma has been...

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Obama Still an 'Optimist' on Cliff Deal

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON D.C. – Ten days remain before the mandatory spending cuts and tax increases known as the “fiscal cliff” take effect, but President Obama said he is still a “hopeless optimist” that a federal budget deal can be reached before the year-end deadline that economists agree might plunge the country back into recession.“Even though Democrats and Republicans are...

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Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels began to push into a strategic town in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday and laid siege to at least one town dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect, activists said. The operation risks inflaming already raw sectarian tensions as the 21-month-old revolt against four decades of Assad family rule - during which the president's Alawite sect...

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Kingfisher shares rise on new licence application

NEW DELHI: Shares in India's grounded Kingfisher Airlines climbed nearly three per cent on Friday on news that the stricken carrier has applied to renew its operating licence.The move came days after Kingfisher, whose liquor baron owner Vijay Mallya has been desperately seeking investment from foreign carriers, said it aims to resume operations in a "phased manner".Kingfisher's shares...

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CWG scam: Delhi court orders framing of charges against Suresh Kalmadi & others

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court today ordered framing of charges against sacked CWG organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and others for offences of forgery, cheating and conspiracy in a games-related graft case.Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh passed the order on framing of charges against Kalmadi, former OC secretary general Lalit Bhanot and nine others for illegally awarding a contract to Swiss...

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AP IMPACT: Big Pharma cashes in on HGH abuse

An Associated Press investigation shows that a federal crackdown on illicit foreign supplies of human growth hormone has failed to stop rampant misuse, and instead has driven record sales of the drug by some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies.The crackdown, which began in 2006, reduced the illegal flow of unregulated supplies from China, India and Mexico. But since then, Big Pharma has...

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Fiscal Cliff 'Plan B' Is Dead: Now What?

Dec 20, 2012 11:00pm The defeat of his Plan B — Republicans pulled it when it became clear it would be voted down — is a big defeat for Speaker of the House John Boehner.  It demonstrates definitively that there is no fiscal cliff deal that can pass the House on Republican votes alone.Boehner could not even muster the votes to pass something that would only allow...

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State Department security chief leaves post over Benghazi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday its security chief had resigned from his post and three other officials had been relieved of their duties following a scathing official inquiry into the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. Eric Boswell has resigned effective immediately as assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, State Department...

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Park Geun-Hye: South Korea's president-elect with history

SEOUL: Park Geun-Hye's historic election victory that will see her installed as South Korea's first woman president of a still male-dominated nation caps a political career founded in privilege and personal tragedy.One might assume Park's upbringing to be one of privilege, having lived in the presidential Blue House as a child and served there after her mother's murder as first lady to...

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Samajwadi Party MP expresses regret over bill snatching incident: Speaker

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party member Yashvir Singh, who had stunned the Lok Sabha yesterday by snatching a copy of the quota bill from minister V Narayanasamy, today expressed regret over the incident. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said the member had expressed regret over the unfortunate incident which had shaken the foundation of democracy. Kumar said the untoward incident had led to abrupt adjournment...

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma

WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering...

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Obama Invokes Newtown on 'Cliff' Deal

Invoking the somber aftermath of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., President Obama today appealed to congressional Republicans to embrace a standing "fair deal" on taxes and spending that would avert the fiscal cliff in 13 days."If there's one thing we should have after this week, it should be a sense of perspective about what's important," Obama said at a midday news conference."I...

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Insight: Once a symbol of new Afghanistan, can policewomen survive?

KABUL (Reuters) - Shortly after Friba joined the Afghan National Police, she gave herself the nickname "dragon" and vowed to bring law and order to her tormented homeland. Five years later, she is tired of rebuffing the sexual advances of male colleagues, worries the budget for the female force will shrink and fears the government will abandon them. Women in the police force...

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Philippine leader signs US$49b anti-poverty budget

MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday signed into law a 2.005 trillion-peso ($49 billion) budget for 2013, vowing to use higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol to boost programmes to reduce poverty.Education, health, agriculture and a cash-transfer scheme for the poor are the key priorities of the appropriations, which are 10.5 percent higher than the 2012 national budget,...

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Lok Sabha adjourned till 2pm after uproar over quota bill

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha members divided over quota in job promotions for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes on Wednesday disrupted proceedings of the house, forcing the speaker to adjourn the house till 2 pm The house was earlier adjourned till 12 noon. As soon as the question hour began in the morning, Parliament members from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal-United (JD-U)) and Shiv Sena...

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma

WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering...

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Newtown Settles In for Prayerful, Somber Christmas

Residents of Sandy Hook, Conn., gather every year under an enormous tree in the middle of town to sing carols and light the tree. The tree is lit this year, too, but the scene beneath it is starkly different.The tree looms over hundreds of teddy bears and toys, but they are for children who will never receive them. The ornaments are adorned with names and jarringly recent birth...

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Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels took full control of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Monday after fighting raged for days in the district on the southern edge of President Bashar al-Assad's Damascus powerbase, rebel and Palestinian sources said. The battle had pitted rebels, backed by some Palestinians, against Palestinian fighters of the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation...

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Malaysia Airlines to buy 36 turboprop planes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines on Tuesday said it will buy 36 new ATR turboprop aircraft for 3.0 billion ringgit ($916 million) as it looks to further expand its regional and domestic networks.Of the 36 ATR-72-600 planes, the carrier said 20 will go to subsidiary Firefly, which is fast expanding its lucrative routes, while 16 are for MASwings which flies to Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo...

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Delhi gangrape: Sushma Swaraj demands capital punishment for rapists

NEW DELHI: Amid massive outrage over the rape of a 23-year-old on a moving bus in Delhi, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday demanded capital punishment for the rapists. "It's a shame if you can't be safe at 9:30pm in Delhi. The government must take stern action, the rapists should be hanged," she told the Lok Sabha. The senior BJP leader further demanded that Union home...

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