Algerian army stages "final assault" on gas plant

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - The Algerian army carried out a dramatic final assault to end a siege by Islamist militants at a desert gas plant on Saturday in which 23 hostages were killed, many of them believed to be foreigners, the interior ministry said. Thirty-two al Qaeda-linked militants were killed in the army operation to recapture the complex, according to a provisional...

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Obama blames "terrorists" for Algeria hostage deaths

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said on Saturday that blame for deaths stemming from a hostage crisis in Algeria lay with the "terrorists" who had earlier taken foreigners captive at a remote gas plant.The remarks were the president's first direct comments about the protracted hostage crisis. His statement was released several hours after Algerian troops stormed the gas plant to...

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Siddis plan a bash to celebrate Obama 2.0

MANGALORE: Gollehalli, 7 km from Haliyal town in Uttara Kannada, will reverberate to the beats of a special Siddi drum 'Dhamal' on Sunday, to mark the ascent of Barack Obama as US President for the second time in a row.Disappointed with their earlier effort at not being able to send honey to Obama when he was elected to the White House for the first time, the Siddis this time will send him a letter...

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Lilly drug chosen for Alzheimer's prevention study

Researchers have chosen an experimental drug by Eli Lilly & Co. for a large federally funded study testing whether it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in older people at high risk of developing it.The drug, called solanezumab (sol-ah-NAYZ-uh-mab), is designed to bind to and help clear the sticky deposits that clog patients' brains.Earlier studies found it did not help people with moderate...

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Algeria Hostage Crisis Over, One American Dead

After the Algerian military's final assault on terrorists holding hostages at a gas complex, the four-day hostage crisis is over, but apparently with additional loss of life among the foreign hostages.One American, Fred Buttaccio of Texas, has been confirmed dead by the U.S. State Department. Two more U.S. hostages remain unaccounted for, with growing concern among U.S. officials...

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Foreigners still trapped in Sahara hostage crisis

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - More than 20 foreigners were captive or missing inside a desert gas plant on Saturday, nearly two days after the Algerian army launched an assault to free them that saw many hostages killed. The standoff between the Algerian army and al Qaeda-linked gunmen - one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades - entered its fourth day, having...

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Boeing suspends 787 Dreamliner deliveries

NEW YORK: US aerospace giant Boeing said late Friday it had suspended deliveries of its new 787 Dreamliner jet until a battery problem is resolved, but continues to build the plane."We will not deliver 787s until the FAA approves a means of compliance with their recent Airworthiness Directive concerning batteries and the approved approach has been implemented," a Boeing spokesman said...

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Bangalore student commits suicide in Germany

BANGALORE: A Bangalore student enrolled in a post-graduate course in Siegen University, Germany, died under mysterious circumstances. While German authorities said it was a clear case of suicide, the youth's family expressed doubts about it. The body of Likhith Shashidhar, 24, who was found hanging in his apartment in Kreuztal, allegedly by a computer cable tied around his neck on January 8, was...

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Flu season 'bad one for the elderly,' CDC says

The number of older people hospitalized with the flu has risen sharply, prompting federal officials to take unusual steps to make more flu medicines available and to urge wider use of them as soon as symptoms appear.The U.S. is about halfway through this flu season, and "it's shaping up to be a worse-than-average season" and a bad one for the elderly, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers...

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One American Confirmed Dead in Algeria

U.S. officials told ABC News that at least one American has been killed in the hostage standoff at an Algerian gas plant, and the family of the deceased American has been notified.An al Qaeda-linked group called the Masked Brigade and led by the one-eyed jihadi Mokhtar Belmokhtar raided the BP joint venture facility in In Amenas on Wednesday, taking an undetermined number of...

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Thirty hostages reported killed in Algeria assault

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Thirty hostages and at least 11 Islamist militants were killed on Thursday when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant in a bid to free many dozens of Western and local captives, an Algerian security source said. Details remained scant - including for Western governments, some of which did little to disguise irritation at being kept in the dark by Algeria before...

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Australia's Qantas cancels one Dreamliner, 14 still on order

SYDNEY: Australian airline Qantas Friday said it was cutting its order for Dreamliner aircraft by one, but said it had planned this move before the Boeing jets were grounded worldwide and still had 14 on order.Qantas had initially said it would not be changing its order for 15 of the fuel-efficient aircraft after a Japanese jet was forced into an emergency landing on Wednesday, triggering...

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Mulayam threatens changes in LS candidate list

LUCKNOW: In yet another denunciation of AkhileshYadav governance in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Thursday, said there were instances of those in power serving their "own interest" rather than focusing on "public interest". He also hinted the party may give a re-look to the list of 63 candidates it announced for the LokSabha elections scheduled in 2014."I am aware of...

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Will Obama's order lead to surge in gun research?

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Nearly as many Americans die from guns as from car crashes each year. We know plenty about the second problem and far less about the first. A scarcity of research on how to prevent gun violence has left policymakers shooting in the dark as they craft gun control measures without much evidence of what works.That could change with President Barack Obama's order Wednesday to ease research...

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Officials: 5 Americans Escaped from Algeria Terrorists

Five Americans who were at an Algerian natural gas facility when it was raided by al Qaeda linked terrorists are now safe and believed to have left the country, according to U.S. officials. At least three Americans, however, were being held hostage by the militants when the Algerian military mounted an rescue operation earlier today that reportedly resulted in casualties.Reports...

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Sahara Islamists take hostages, spreading Mali war

ALGIERS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Islamist fighters seized dozens of Western and Algerian hostages in a dawn raid on a natural gas facility deep in the Sahara on Wednesday and demanded France halt a new offensive against rebels in neighboring Mali. Three people, among them one British and one French, were reported killed, but details were sketchy and numbers of those held at Tigantourine ranged...

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FAA grounds 787 Dreamliner in US

WASHINGTON: The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all US-registered Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft Wednesday to address a possible battery fire risk."As a result of an in-flight, Boeing 787 battery incident earlier today in Japan, the FAA will issue an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) to address a potential battery fire risk in the 787 and require operators to temporarily...

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Nothing to show CBI was biased: Court

NEW DELHI: Even as the accused alleged that the CBI's probe into the Junior Basic Trained (JBT) teachers recruitment scam was not fair, the special court on Wednesday supported the agency and said there was nothing to show that the CBI was biased against anyone for any reason. All the 55 accused, including Om Prakash Chautala and his MLA son Ajay Chautala, had alleged that the probe was not fair as...

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NRA President Defends Ad Attacking Obama

Jan 16, 2013 6:40pm In an interview with ABC News this evening, NRA President David Keene said the gun-rights lobby is aggressively preparing for “battle” with the White House and Congress over President Obama’s sweeping new proposals to curb gun violence.Keene criticized Obama’s announcement today, surrounded by four children from around the country, for “using kids...

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France to stay in Mali until stability restored

BAMAKO/DUBAI (Reuters) - France pledged on Tuesday to keep troops in Mali until stability returned to the West African country, raising the specter of a long campaign against al Qaeda-linked rebels who held their ground despite a fifth day of air strikes. Paris has poured hundreds of soldiers into Mali and carried out 50 bombing raids since Friday in the Islamist-controlled northern half...

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Jeep to build cars in China with GAC

DETROIT: The iconic American Jeep brand will be manufactured in China and Italy's Fiat will also build more cars there through an expanded partnership announced Tuesday with Chinese carmaker GAC.Guangzhou Automobile Group is already building the Fiat Viaggio and distributes imported models such as the Fiat 500, Freemont and Bravo in China.The expansion will begin with introducing more...

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