Pistorius, girlfriend were planning future: uncle

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African athlete Oscar Pistorius was planning a future with girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who he is accused of shooting in cold blood this week, his uncle said on Saturday. "We are in a state of total shock - firstly about the tragic death of Reeva who we had all got to know well and care for deeply over the last few months," Anthony Pistorius said in a statement...

Read More..

Pertapis children's home using music to boost academic performance

SINGAPORE: Pertapis children's home is trying to raise its residents' academic achievements through using music as educational therapy.As part of the programme, the children learn to play various musical instruments. It is one way to help them express themselves and focus better on their studies as a result.The home is also getting help from partners like Hwa Chong Institution for lessons...

Read More..

Veerappan's aides move SC against execution of death sentence

NEW DELHI: Four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the execution of their death penalty in connection with a landmine blast that had killed 22 policemen in Karnataka nearly 20 years ago. Veerappan's elder brother Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran were awarded death sentence in 2004 in connection with a landmine blast at Palar...

Read More..

UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.Edwards...

Read More..

Vatican Raises Possibility of Early March Conclave

The Vatican raised the possibility Saturday that the conclave to elect the next pope might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules that require a 15-20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant.Vatican spokesman The Rev. Federico Lombardi said that the Vatican rules on papal succession are open to interpretation and that "this is a question...

Read More..

Meteorite hits central Russia, more than 500 people hurt

CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings. People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial...

Read More..

Eurozone returns to trade surplus

BRUSSELS: The 17-nation eurozone posted a 2012 trade surplus of 81.8 billion euros ($108 billion), more than reversing a deficit of 15.7 billion euros in 2011, official data showed Friday.For December, the eurozone had a trade surplus of 11.7 billion euros, down from 13 billion euros in November, as exports fell 1.8 percent and imports by 3.0 percent, the Eurostat agency said.For the wider...

Read More..

Not interfering in Maldivian affairs, India says

NEW DELHI: India denied Friday that it was interfering in the internal affairs of the Maldives, where former president Mohamed Nasheed has taken refuge in the Indian mission.An official source said the Indian statement issued after Nasheed walked into the Indian High Commission in Male Wednesday was never meant to "pass a judgement on their internal system"."We have clarified our position (on the...

Read More..

Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction

BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.The findings, published online Thursday in...

Read More..

Falling Meteor Causes Blast, Injures Hundreds

A massive meteor shower slammed into Earth near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, located about 1,000 miles east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.Dashboard cameras captured a blinding flash of light streaking across the sky. Moments later, the fragments smashed into the ground. The impact, and the sonic boom of the meteor entering the atmosphere, shattered windows around the city...

Read More..

"Blade Runner" Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, was charged on Thursday with shooting dead his girlfriend at his upscale home in Pretoria. Police said they opened a murder case after a 30-year-old woman was found dead at the Paralympic and Olympic star's house in the Silverlakes gated complex...

Read More..

Life in Kashmir inches back to normalcy after curfew lift

SRINAGAR: Life in Indian Kashmir is slowly returning to normal as authorities lift a curfew in phases. The curfew was imposed during the weekend after the execution of a Kashmiri militant.The Batmalu area of Srinagar in Kashmir valley was under curfew since Saturday, after Afzal Guru was hanged in Central Prison in Delhi. Since Guru came from the valley, police anticipating any kind of...

Read More..

Chopper scam: Govt warns of blacklisting Italy's Finmeccanica

NEW DELHI: With the VVIP choppers deal facing charges of kickbacks, government on Thursday formally asked Italian firm Finmeccanica to state whether any money was illegally paid to any Indian entity or individual amidst its warning of legal action including blacklisting of the firm. The ministry of defence, which is under attack on the issue, came out with a factsheet detailing the sequence of the...

Read More..

Morning-after pill use up to 1 in 9 younger women

NEW YORK (AP) — About 1 in 9 younger women have used the morning-after pill after sex, according to the first government report to focus on emergency contraception since its approval 15 years ago.The results come from a survey of females ages 15 to 44. Eleven percent of those who'd had sex reported using a morning-after pill. That's up from 4 percent in 2002, only a few years after the pills went...

Read More..

'Blade Runner' Charged With Murdering Girlfriend

Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic and Paralympic athlete known as the "blade runner," was taken into custody in South Africa today and charged with the murder of his girlfriend, who was fatally shot at his home.Police in the South African capital of Pretoria received a call around 3 a.m. today that there had been a shooting at the home of 26-year-old Pistorius, Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale...

Read More..

Insight: Divided Damascus confronted by all-out war

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - MiG warplanes roar low overhead to strike rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad on the fringes of Damascus, while artillery batteries pound the insurgents from hills overlooking a city divided between all-out war and a deceptive calm. Whole families can be obliterated by air raids that miss their targets. Wealthy Syrians or their children are kidnapped....

Read More..

Apple loses rights to iPhone trademark in Brazil

BRASILIA: Regulators in Brazil on Wednesday rejected Apple's application to register its iPhone trademark in the country, having already recognized a local manufacturer's claim to the name.The Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) "denied Apple registration of the iPhone trademark," the institute's press office told AFP. The decision was officially published by the INPI.- AFP/fa !--...

Read More..

Chopper scam: Govt suspends payments for Italy's Finmeccanica

NEW DELHI: India has suspended payments to Italian defence group Finmeccanica SpA for a $750 million helicopter deal and won't take delivery of more aircraft until the completion of a federal police investigation into bribery allegations, a defence ministry source told Reuters. Will blacklist Finmeccanica if bribery provenIndia will cancel a $750 million deal to buy helicopters from Finmeccanica...

Read More..

Report: Tracking system needed to fight fake drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting the problem of fake drugs will require putting medications through a chain of custody like U.S. courts require for evidence in a trial, the Institute of Medicine reported Wednesday.The call for a national drug tracking system comes a week after the Food and Drug Administration warned doctors, for the third time in about a year, that it discovered a counterfeit batch of the...

Read More..

Charred Human Remains Found in Burned Cabin

Investigators have located charred human remains in the burned-out cabin where they believe suspected cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner was holed up as the structure burned to the ground, police said.The human remains were found within the debris of the burned cabin and identification will be attempted through forensic means, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner...

Read More..

China joins U.S., Japan in condemning North Korea nuclear test

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of existing U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from around the world, including from its only major ally, China, which summoned the North Korean ambassador to protest. The reclusive North said the test was an act of self-defense against "U.S. hostility" and threatened further, stronger steps if necessary....

Read More..

Cycling: Sagan wins second stage in Oman, takes lead

AL BUSTAN, Oman: Slovakia's Peter Sagan won the second stage of the Tour of Oman on Tuesday and moved into the overall lead, following a 146km run from Fanja in Bidbid to Al Bustan, close to the Oman Sea.The 23-year-old Cannondale rider broke free from the pack in the final kilometre to finish nine seconds in front of Frenchman Tony Gallopin, with Swiss rider Martin Elmiger a further two...

Read More..

Newspapers in Kashmir to be available from Wednesday

SRINAGAR: Local newspapers in Kashmir would hit the stands Wednesday as their editors said authorities had told them to resume publication, while cable operations were again normal."We have been told to resume publications of our newspapers from tomorrow. Authorities have also said security forces have been instructed to treat identity cards of our staff members as curfew passes," the editor of a...

Read More..

Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life

The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.There may be more behind the story of why Pope Benedict XVI decided to leave a job normally held for...

Read More..

Could an African Cardinal Be the Next Pope?

Feb 12, 2013 9:09am Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson attends a Mass for Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, in this April 13, 2005 photo. (Pier Paolo Cito/AP Photo)By BAZI KANANI and PHOEBE NATANSONROME – After Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope in hundreds of years to voluntarily resign, the Roman Catholic Church could be...

Read More..