President Tony Tan hosts reception for 2013 Special Olympics team

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Special Olympians had a special reception at the Istana on Saturday.President Tony Tan Keng Yam and his wife hosted the athletes, officials and coaches who represented the nation at the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea last month.The athletes were invited to the Istana, after bringing home an unprecedented eight medals. Four...

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'Not inevitable' to call Raja as witness before JPC: Chacko

THRISSUR: JPC chairman P C Chacko on Saturday said 'it is not inevitable' to call former telecom minister A Raja, prime accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, before the joint parliamentary committee as a witness as all the main witnesses had been called and evidence taken."It is not inevitable at this juncture to call Raja as all main witnesses have been called and evidence taken," he...

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Sequester: What Will Happen, What Won't Happen

When it comes to critical elements of the sequester timeline, not much is known -- because federal agencies have been tight lipped.Asked when specific effects will be felt, officials at three federal departments declined to discuss the timing of sequester cuts and their consequences. Some departments were waiting for President Obama's Friday night sequester order and subsequent...

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Canada's Q4 GDP flat, growth at 1.8% for 2012

OTTAWA: Canada's economy grew 1.8 percent last year, a bit less than the central bank's forecast and down from 2.6 percent in 2011, the government statistics agency said on Friday.Gross domestic product in the fourth quarter was up 0.2 percent, similar to the previous quarter's gains, as mining and oil and gas extraction was up and manufacturing recorded a significant decrease.The arts...

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J&K assembly adjourned after furore over Afzal issue

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was rocked by repeated disruptions on Friday, which ultimately led to the House being adjourned for the day, as various parties demanded that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mortal remains be handed over to his family. Cutting across party lines, members of the House from the ruling National Conference as well as opposition PDP and CPM had moved adjournment...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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Sequester Set to Trigger Billions in Cuts

Nobody likes the sequester.Even the word is enough to send shivers of fiscal panic, or sheer political malaise, down the spines of seasoned politicians and news reporters. And today, the sequester will almost certainly happen, a year and a half after its inception amid the stalemate of the debt-limit crisis in 2011.Automatic budget cuts will be triggered across federal agencies,...

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US pledges US$60m for Syria opposition

ROME: The United States on Thursday pledged US$60 million in "non-lethal" assistance for the Syrian political opposition to President Bashar al-Assad as well as the first direct US aid to rebel fighters in the form of food and medical assistance."The US will be providing an additional US$60 million in non-lethal assistance to support the efforts of the Syrian opposition coalition over...

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Left returns to power in Tripura for 5th consecutive time; Congress retains Meghalaya

AGARTALA: The Left Front in Tripura today retained power for the fifth consecutive time since 1993 with the coalition securing a three-fourths majority by winning 50 of the 60 Assembly seats.While CPM, which contested in 55 seats, secured win in 49 seats, coalition partner CPI won one seat of the two it had contested. However, RSP which fought in two seats and Forward Bloc in one, failed to open...

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Medicare paid $5.1B for poor nursing home care

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Medicare paid billions in taxpayer dollars to nursing homes nationwide that were not meeting basic requirements to look after their residents, government investigators have found.The report, released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general, said Medicare paid about $5.1 billion for patients to stay in skilled nursing facilities that failed to...

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