Tens of thousands in Spain protest economic policy, corruption

MADRID (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched through cities across the country on Saturday to protest deep austerity, the privatization of public services and political corruption. Gathering under the banner of the "Citizen Tide", students, doctors, unionists, young families and pensioners staged rowdy but non-violent demonstrations as a near five-year economic slump shows...

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Auto racing: Late crash mars Daytona Nationwide finish

DAYTONA BEACH: A fiery car crash sent Kyle Larson's car airborne and flying debris injured a number of fans Saturday in the waning moments of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opener.The wreck, which occurred almost as Tony Stewart was taking the chequered flag for victory, appeared to begin when Regan Smith was turned sideways and took several competitors behind him in a pack.Larson,...

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Stuck to rubber, terrorists let go of gun

AGARTALA: Ranjit Debbarma still remembers the day 11 years ago when, as an area commander with banned terrorist group NLFT, he trekked for two months -- from the Jampui hills to Rangamurra and then to border areas of Bangladesh before finally reaching Burma -- to carry back Ak 47, 56, M 16 and SK guns for the insurgency back home in Tripura. Today, though, the 37-year-old can be seen going from...

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FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent...

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Fiery Last-Lap Daytona Crash Injures 15 Fans

A fiery last-lap crash at the Daytona International Speedway injured a number of spectators today, who were seen being carried away from the stands on stretchers.Fifteen spectators were taken to the hospital, according to ESPN, with one on the way to surgery with head trauma.The 12-car crash happened moments before the end of the Nationwide race, and on the eve of the Daytona 500,...

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Rockets hit Aleppo, killing at least 29: monitor

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rockets struck eastern districts of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, on Friday, killing at least 29 people and trapping a family of 10 in the ruins of their home, activists in the city said. "There are families buried under the rubble," said an activist called Baraa al-Youssef, speaking by Skype after visiting the scene in his Ard al-Hamra neighborhood. "Nothing...

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US budget cuts can be avoided: Obama

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama insisted Friday that mandatory government budget cuts set to kick in on March 1 -- known as the sequester -- were not "inevitable."The cuts to defence and domestic spending were mandated in an agreement between Obama and his Republican foes to end a previous budget battle."I never think that anything is inevitable, we always have the opportunity to make...

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Hyderabad, hotbed of home-grown terror, under lens

NEW DELHI: For the veterans of security establishment the bomb blasts have revived concerns about the critical nature of Hyderabad and surroundings in the growth of home-grown terrorism in India.Officials point out that Hyderabad has been intricately linked to the growth of the present phase of domestic terrorism. When the first definite information about Muslim youth going to Pakistan for terror...

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Jodi Arias' Friends Believe in Her Innocence

Accused murderer Jodi Arias believes she should be punished, but hopes she will not be sentenced to death, two of her closest friends told ABC News in an exclusive interview.Ann Campbell and Donavan Bering have been a constant presence for Arias wth at least one of them sitting in the Phoenix, Ariz., courtroom along with Arias' family for almost every day of her murder trial....

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French, Malian forces fight Islamist rebels in Gao

GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops fought Islamists on the streets of Gao and a car bomb exploded in Kidal on Thursday, as fighting showed little sign of abating weeks before France plans to start withdrawing some forces. Reuters reporters in Gao in the country's desert north said French and Malian forces fired at the mayor's office with heavy machineguns after Islamists were reported...

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Singapore trade expands 1.1% in 2012

SINGAPORE: Singapore's total external trade rose by 1.1 per cent in 2012, a contrast to the 8.0 per cent rise seen in the previous year. The trade growth is lower than the previously projected range of between 3.0 and 4.0 per cent, said IE Singapore in its news release on Friday.This, IE Singapore said, is due to poor trade performance in 4Q 2012.Total trade reached S$984.9 billion in...

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British intel had warned of Indian Mujahideen attack

NEW DELHI: The British intelligence had warned India about a possible terrorist attack by the homegrown terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen (IM). The alert led to a general nationwide alert on Wednesday.The British intelligence alert is believed to have been received by Indian agencies just as British PM David Cameron was about to land in Mumbai on Monday. The input did not speak of any specific movements...

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Flu shot doing poor job of protecting older people

ATLANTA (AP) — It turns out this year's flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting older people, the most vulnerable age group.The vaccine is proving only 9 percent effective in those 65 and older against the harsh strain of the flu that is predominant this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.Health officials are baffled as to why this is so. But the...

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Las Vegas Shooting Launches Multi-State Manhunt

An argument in the valet area of a Las Vegas hotel led to a deadly drive-by shooting on the occupants of a Maserati on Vegas' glitzy strip, initiating a multi-state manhunt for the black Range Rover from which the shots were fired.Three people were left dead in the attack, including two who died when their taxi was struck by the careening sports car and exploded into flames."What...

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French general urges EU to equip "impoverished" Mali army

BAMAKO, Mali (Reuters) - The European Union should complement a mission to train Mali's army, routed by rebels last year, by providing equipment from uniforms to vehicles and communications technology, a French general said on Wednesday. General Francois Lecointre, appointed to head the EU training mission to Mali (EUTM) that was formally launched this week, said in Bamako equipping the...

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Qantas reports sharp rise in first-half profits

SYDNEY: Australian flag carrier Qantas on Thursday reported that first-half net profit more than doubled to A$111 million (US$114 million), also announcing an upgrade to its fleet.The result in the six months to December 31 was up 164 percent on the same period in the previous year and in line with guidance, "despite challenging conditions in international and domestic air travel markets."Underlying...

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West Bengal govt plans to depoliticize students' union polls

KOLKATA: Increasing incidence of violence on campuses in West Bengal has forced the Mamata Banerjee government to explore ways to depoliticise students' union elections. The state education department has drawn up a draft guideline that proposes to delink student bodies from political parties and make college union polls a 'once-in-two-years' event. Education minister Bratya Basu is expected to...

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Scientists use 3-D printing to help grow an ear

WASHINGTON (AP) — Printing out body parts? Cornell University researchers showed it's possible by creating a replacement ear using a 3-D printer and injections of living cells.The work reported Wednesday is a first step toward one day growing customized new ears for children born with malformed ones, or people who lose one to accident or disease.It's part of the hot field of tissue regeneration, trying...

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Armstrong Snubs Offer From Anti-Doping Officials

Lance Armstrong has turned down what may be his last chance at reducing his lifetime sporting ban. Armstrong has already admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey to a career fueled by doping and deceit. But to get a break from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, all he had to do was tell his story to those who police sports doping. The deadline was today, and Armstrong now says he won't...

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Syria "Scud-type" missile said to kill 20 in Aleppo

AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian missile killed at least 20 people in a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Tuesday, opposition activists said, as the army turns to longer-range weapons after losing bases in the country's second-largest city. The use of what opposition activists said was a large missile of the same type as Russian-made Scuds against an Aleppo residential district came after rebels...

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Football: LionsXII impress Fandi in 2-2 draw with Johor

SINGAPORE: Fandi Ahmad was left shocked and impressed after his star-studded Johor Darul Takzim were forced to share the spoils at a packed Larkin Stadium, as they drew 2-2 with an impressive LionsXII side in the Malaysian Super League (MSL) on Tuesday night.Fandi told reporters after the match that he and his players were shocked that the LionsXII had opted to go on the offensive from...

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No trace of 3,772 children missing from Delhi in last 5 years

NEW DELHI: Over 3,700 children, majority of whom are girls, went missing from Delhi homes in the last five years and are still untraceable yet the Delhi government says it has no evidence of organized gangs operating in the national capital indulging in kidnapping or trafficking of children.The Delhi home department through advocate S Wasim Qadri cited a special initiative taken by Delhi Police under...

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Drug overdose deaths up for 11th consecutive year

CHICAGO (AP) — Drug overdose deaths rose for the 11th straight year, federal data show, and most of them were accidents involving addictive painkillers despite growing attention to risks from these medicines."The big picture is that this is a big problem that has gotten much worse quickly," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gathered and analyzed...

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Report Fingers Chinese Military Unit in US Hacks

A Virginia-based cyber security firm has released a new report alleging a specific Chinese military unit is likely behind one of the largest cyber espionage and attack campaigns aimed at American infrastructure and corporations.In the report, released today by Mandiant, China's Unit 61398 is blamed for stealing "hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations" since...

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Time to refer Syrian war crimes to ICC: U.N. inquiry

GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations investigators said on Monday that Syrian leaders they had identified as suspected war criminals should face the International Criminal Court (ICC). The investigators urged the U.N. Security Council to "act urgently to ensure accountability" for violations, including murder and torture, committed by both sides in an uprising and civil war that has killed...

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Greater US military role in Mali likely after polls: senator

BAMAKO: The United States is likely to play a more active military role in Mali, where French-led forces are battling Islamist rebels, after the country holds elections, the chair of a key Senate sub-committee said Monday.Washington has been providing intelligence, transport and mid-air refuelling to France, which launched its intervention last month, but cannot work directly with the...

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Wait of Rajiv killer's mother continues

CHENNAI: A shiver runs down her spine every time 66-year-old Arputham Ammal recalls the hanging of Afzal Guru, convicted for the Parliament attack. Her son Perarivalan, one of the three convicts on death row in Vellore prison for his role in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, is awaiting a verdict from the Supreme Court as his mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee. The case is now pending...

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Hip implants a bit more likely to fail in women

CHICAGO (AP) — Hip replacements are slightly more likely to fail in women than in men, according to one of the largest studies of its kind in U.S. patients. The risk of the implants failing is low, but women were 29 percent more likely than men to need a repeat surgery within the first three years.The message for women considering hip replacement surgery remains unclear. It's not known which models...

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