Jay Rockefeller, likely the last of a political dynasty

Uncle Nelson was vice president. Uncle Winthrop a governor. Great-grandfather Nelson a senator. Political bloodlines, he had. But the great American electoral dynasty that abruptly announced its end Friday, or at least signaled what looks to be a long, long pause, always evoked more. That name on the ballot — Rockefeller — meant money. It meant epic-scale success. It meant everything.And...

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WoW! fund to be enhanced

SINGAPORE: The Manpower Ministry will be enhancing the Work-Life Works! (WoW!) fund this year.Channel NewsAsia understands that the review of the fund is in its final stages.It was set up in 2004 to encourage employers to better support their employees' need for work-life balance. A spokesperson from the ministry told Channel NewsAsia that details of the enhancement may come together with...

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Four stamps released on Vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary

JAMMU: (PTI) The Department of Posts (DoP) here today released four special postage stamps and the First Day Cover on Swami Vivekananda on his 150th birth anniversary. Chief postmaster general Jammu and Kashmir John Samuel today released the stamps and cover on Vivekananda at a simple but impressive function held at Gandhi Nagar Head Post Office here today. These stamps have been brought out by...

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Pictures: Civil War Shipwreck Revealed by Sonar

Photograph by Jesse CancelmoA fishing net, likely only decades old, drapes over machinery that once connected the Hatteras' pistons to its paddle wheels, said Delgado.From archived documents, the NOAA archaeologist learned that Blake, the ship's commander, surrendered as his ship was sinking. "It was listing to port, [or the left]," Delgado said. The Alabama took the wounded and the rest of the crew...

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CDC: Flu Outbreak Could Be Waning

The flu season appears to be waning in some parts of the country, but that doesn't mean it won't make a comeback in the next few weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Five fewer states reported high flu activity levels in the first week of January than the 29 that reported high activity levels in the last week of December, according to the CDC's...

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Bibles used by King, Lincoln to be part of Obama’s second inauguration

Martin Luther King Jr. carried a black leather King James Bible on his journeys as a young pastor starting out in Montgomery, Ala. He turned to this “traveling Bible” for inspiration, his family says, as he fought for freedom and equality. President Obama will put his hand over King’s well-worn Bible at his public swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 21, the holiday celebrating the...

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Malaysia prepares for joint opposition mega-rally

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is preparing for a big rally on Saturday - what organisers are calling the People's Uprising rally.It is the first of its kind, bringing together opposition parties and non-governmental organisations.Dubbed the KL112, the mega rally this Saturday promises to be a historic event for the country. The rally venue, Merdeka stadium, is a heritage site and the management...

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Fire at ONGC, two dead

SIBSAGAR: (Assam) A massive fire swept through an unit of the ONGC at upper Assam's Sibsagar district killing two persons and destroying property worth lakhs of rupees, ONGC officials said. The fire started from a part of the Group Gathering Stations (GGS) number 3 of ONGC's Assam Asset at Geleki in Sibsagar around midnight. The fire rapidly spread through the entire GGS burning thousands of tonnes...

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Google and Twitter Help Track Influenza Outbreaks

This flu season could be the longest and worst in years. So far 18 children have died from flu-related symptoms, and 2,257 people have been hospitalized. Yesterday Boston Mayor Thomas Menino declared a citywide public health emergency, with roughly 700 confirmed flu cases—ten times the number the city saw last year."It arrived five weeks early, and it's shaping up to be a pretty bad...

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Judge: Holmes Can Face Trial for Aurora Shooting

Jan 10, 2013 8:45pm (Arapahoe County Sheriff/AP Photo)In a ruling that comes as little surprise, the judge overseeing the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre has ordered that there is enough evidence against James Holmes to proceed to a trial.In an order posted late Thursday, Judge William Sylvester wrote that “the People have carried their burden of proof and have established...

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Bibles used by King, Lincoln to be part of Obama’s second inauguration

Martin Luther King Jr. carried a black leather King James Bible on his journeys as a young pastor starting out in Montgomery, Ala. He turned to this “traveling Bible” for inspiration, his family says, as he fought for freedom and equality. President Obama will put his hand over King’s well-worn Bible at his public swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 21, the holiday celebrating the...

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India's Kingfisher airline boss promises restart

MUMBAI: The boss of India's troubled Kingfisher airline has sought to allay fears about jobs in a rare communication to staff, which outlines plans to restart limited operations and win a foreign investment deal.Kingfisher, whose operations have been grounded since October, lost permission to fly after a deadline to renew its suspended licence with the aviation regulator expired at the...

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LeT chief Hafiz Saeed was present in PoK: Shinde

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said that visa agreement between India and Pakistan will be carried out as per schedule.There will be no change in visa policy for Pakistan in view of the Tuesday's incident on Line of Control (LoC) in which two Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistan army with the body of one being badly mutilated.Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafeez Saeed was present...

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Embryonic Sharks Freeze to Avoid Detection

Jane J. Lee Although shark pups are born with all the equipment they'll ever need to defend themselves and hunt down food, developing embryos still stuck in their egg cases are vulnerable to predators. But a new study finds that even these baby sharks can detect a potential predator, and play possum to avoid being eaten.Every living thing gives off a weak electrical field. Sharks can sense...

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Biden, NRA to Meet During Day 2 of Gun Talks

Vice President Joe Biden will start day two of this week's meetings on gun violence Thursday, and the participants in the latest round of talks will include two powerhouses in the gun industry -- the National Rifle Association and Wal-Mart, one of the largest sellers of firearms in the country.Spokesmen for the NRA and Wal-Mart confirmed representatives from their organizations...

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GAO calls on Postal Service to prefund retiree benefits

U.S. Postal Service officials and postal unions have long pushed Congress to relieve the agency of its obligation to prefund retiree health benefits. It’s a burden other agencies don’t share and one that officials say the Postal Service can’t afford. Defaults on prefunding payments total $11.1 billion. But not everyone agrees that removing or substantially reducing the prefunding requirement...

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Japan's foreign minister on two-day visit to Singapore

SINGAPORE: Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida will visit Singapore from Thursday till Friday.This will be Mr Kishida's first official visit to Singapore in his current capacity. During his visit, Mr Kishida will call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana, and meet with Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam. Mr Shanmugam will also host Mr Kishida to...

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Enough proof of Pak army's involvement in Indian jawans' killing: Antony

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Outraged by the brutal killing of two of its soldiers by intruding Pakistani troops, India on Wednesday strongly protested to Pakistan, warning that the "unacceptable" incident will have adverse impact on the ties.As strong reactions by the government and political parties came, Pakistan high commissioner Salman Bashir was summoned by foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, who conveyed...

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Pictures: Wildfires Scorch Australia Amid Record Heat

Photograph by Jo Giuliani, European Pressphoto AgencySmoke from a wildfire mushrooms over a beach in Forcett, Tasmania, on January 4. (See more wildfire pictures.)Wildfires have engulfed southeastern Australia, including the island state of Tasmania, in recent days, fueled by dry conditions and temperatures as high as 113ºF (45ºC), the Associated Press reported. (Read "Australia's Dry Run" inNational...

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Dead Lotto Winner's Wife Seeks 'Truth'

The wife of a $1 million Chicago lottery winner who died of cyanide poisoning told ABC News that she was shocked to learn the true cause of his death and is cooperating with an ongoing homicide investigation."I want the truth to come out in the investigation, the sooner the better," said Shabana Ansari, 32, the wife of Urooj Khan, 46. "Who could be that person who hurt him?"It...

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Karzai on US visit as Obama mulls Afghan troop plan

WASHINGTON: President Hamid Karzai will begin a four-day US visit on Tuesday as President Barack Obama weighs how fast to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and whether to leave a "residual force" behind after 2014.Foreign combat soldiers are due to exit Afghanistan by the end of next year, more than a decade after a US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime in 2001, but the country...

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Primitive and Peculiar Mammal May Be Hiding Out in Australia

It’d be hard to think of a mammal that’s weirder than the long-beaked, egg-laying echidna. Or harder to find.Scientists long thought the animal, which has a spine-covered body, a four-headed penis, and a single hole for reproducing, laying eggs, and excreting waste, lived only in New Guinea. The population of about 10,000 is critically endangered. Now there is tantalizing evidence that...

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Giffords, Kelly Launch Initiative to Curb Gun Violence

After she was gravely wounded by gunfire two years ago in Tucson, Ariz., former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, imagined a life out of the public eye, where she would continue therapy surrounded by the friends, family and the Arizona desert she loves so much.Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly Speak Exclusively to Diane SawyerBut after the slaughter of 20 first-graders...

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Tennis: Erratic Janowicz fails in Auckland

AUCKLAND: Jerzy Janowicz's fairy tale rise through the tennis ranks was dealt a blow at the Heineken Open in Auckland on Monday when the Polish fifth seed lost in the opening round to US journeyman Brian Baker.In his first outing since a breakthrough run to reach the final of the Paris Masters last November, Janowicz was defeated 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 after an erratic display in the tournament,...

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Kasab pleaded for 'mercy' in a four-line plea

NEW DELHI: Ajmal Kasab, the face of the dastardly 26/11 terror strike on Mumbai who was hanged on November 21, had begged for "daya" (mercy) from the President through his four-line clemency plea written in elementary Urdu, which was rejected. The hand written petition dated September 12, 2012, which has been made public more than a month after Kasab was hanged, shows glaring Urdu language errors....

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Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

Winner: PlacesPhotograph by Nenad SaljicA full moon illuminates the Matterhorn peak near Zermatt, Switzerland, in the winning image...

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Hagel Nomination Stirs Bipartisan Opposition

Two weeks before his inauguration, and with more "fiscal cliffs" on the horizon, President Obama is embracing a showdown with Congress over his pick to lead the Pentagon in his second term.Obama will nominate former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense at a formal White House announcement later today, administration officials said.The president will...

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After ‘fiscal cliff,’ Obama finishes recharging on Hawaiian holiday

HONOLULU — The place where President Obama vacations each winter is farther from Washington than almost any other place in the United States. So, it is not terribly surprising that less than 45 minutes after Congress passed a bill averting the “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1, Obama was racing back here. The president’s vacation with his family and friends had already been cut short by the protracted,...

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PSLE should not be abolished: poll

SINGAPORE: The majority of participants at a Our Singapore Conversation session at Jurong Central on Sunday agreed that the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) should not be abolished.Nearly nine out of 10 who responded to the online poll said the PSLE is still relevant.Ang Wei Neng, Member of Parliament for Jurong Group Representation Constituency commented: "They know that PSLE...

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Lot to be done to strengthen Indo-Pak bilateral ties: Salman Khurshid

AMRITSAR: India and Pakistan government took some bold initiatives to further strengthen the bilateral ties between the two which includes easing out the visa regime and opening of Integrated Check Post at Attari (India)-Wagha (Pakistan) border but still lot was to be done and hopefully it would be achieved in the near future with sincere and relentless efforts, said Union external affairs minister...

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