Will young adults face ‘rate shock’ because of the health-care law?

Many young, healthy Americans could soon see a jump in their health insurance costs, and insurance companies are saying: It’s not our fault. The nation’s insurers are engaged in an all-out, last-ditch effort to shield themselves from blame for what they predict will be rate increases on policies they must unveil this spring to comply with President Obama’s health-care law. Insurers...

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Spike in dengue cases in first months of 2013

SINGAPORE: Dengue cases have spiked in the first couple of months this year.In the first week of January, there were 100 cases. This number climbed to more than 300 cases last week.Within Punggol South, there have been more than 100 cases reported in seven clusters.To remind residents in the area to do their part in preventing dengue, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources...

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Sushilkumar Shinde should clarify on Arun Jaitley surveillance issue: BJP

NEW DELHI: Condemning the "unauthorised surveillance" on its leader Arun Jaitley, BJP on Saturday said it will not take things "lying down" and asked home minister Sushilkumar Shinde to clarify on who ordered the collection of his call details.BJP president Rajnath Singh also termed the issue as "serious" and demanded that all those involved in the incident should be brought to book. "Further investigations...

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Why the Dog Show Winner Looks Like a Monkey

Standing less than a foot tall and easily cradled in one of trainer Ernesto Lara's arms, Banana Joe made big news for a small dog when he became the first affenpinscher to win the Westminster Kennel Club dog show on Tuesday.His short stature and flattened face might not make Banana Joe look like a typical winner: The name "affenpinscher" is German for "monkey terrier," and its mug is definitely...

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Carnival Cruise Ship Hit With First Lawsuit

The first lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines has been filed and it is expected to be the beginning of a wave of lawsuits against the ship's owners.Cassie Terry, 25, of Brazoria County, Texas, filed a lawsuit today in Miami federal court, calling the disabled Triumph cruise ship "a floating hell.""Plaintiff was forced to endure unbearable and horrendous odors on the filthy and...

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Judicial confirmations inch forward in the Senate

(Alex Wong - GETTY IMAGES) Movement on the judicial confirmation front? The Senate late Wednesday approved its first Obama judge for 2013: William Kayatta of Maine for a seat on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. He’d been waiting about 10 months for that cliff-hanger, 88 to 12 vote. (Well, you don’t want to be too hasty on these matters, after all.)And the Senate Judiciary Committee...

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66-year-old man arrested for alleged outrage of modesty

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested a 66-year-old male suspect for a case of outrage of modesty.Police were notified of the case on Friday evening when an 11-year-old victim reported that he was kissed and touched inappropriately by an unknown man in the vicinity of Yishun Street 11. Following the report, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division conducted extensive follow-up and managed to...

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Govt to scrap Rs 3,546 crore Finmecccanica chopper deal

NEW DELHI: The Rs 3,546 crore deal for 12 AgustaWestland AW-101 helicopters is going to be scrapped. The defence ministry on Friday initiated action for cancellation of the contract inked in February 2010. It issued a formal show-cause notice to the UK-based subsidiary of Finmeccanica to explain within a week why the contract should not be cancelled. The Times of India had reported on Thursday that...

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Why We Walk … and Run … And Walk Again to Get Where We're Going

You have to get to a bus stop to catch the once-an-hour express ... or to a restaurant to meet a friend ... or to a doctor's office. You've got maybe a half a mile to cover and you're worried you'll be late. You run, then you stop and walk, then run some more.But wait. Wouldn't it be better to run the whole way?Not necessarily.A new study by an assistant professor of mechanical engineering...

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Nightmare Ends: Passengers Leave Disabled Ship

After five days without power in the Gulf of Mexico, the more than 4,200 people aboard the Carnival Triumph returned home to the U.S., with many of them telling their horror stories for the first time.Passengers began to disembark the damaged ship around 10:15 p.m. CT Thursday in Mobile, Ala. The last passenger disembarked the ship at 1 a.m. local time, according to Carnival's...

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Postmaster takes case for five-day mail delivery to skeptical senators

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe took his controversial plan for five-day mail delivery before a congressional hearing Wednesday, where he told senators that the Postal Service “needs your help.” Donahoe’s refrain was familiar. ●The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is losing $25 million a day.●Last year, the Postal Service lost $15.9 billion.●It defaulted on $11.1 billion...

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Athletics: Pistorius charged with murder

PRETORIA - South Africa's Olympic sprint star Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius has been charged with the Valentine's Day murder of his model girlfriend, police confirmed Thursday ahead of his expected court appearance."I can confirm that a suspect has been charged, he has been charged with murder," said Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale. Officials said there was no other suspect in the case. !--...

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TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu falls, suffers minor injuries

HYDERABAD: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader N Chandrababu Naidu suffered minor injuries when a makeshift dais collapsed while he was garlanding a statue in Guntur district on Thursday, a party leader has said.The incident took place at Kolakaluru village in Guntur district during Naidu's 'padyatra' (march).A TDP leader said Naidu escaped with minor injuries to his leg as his security guards tried...

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Are Honeybees Losing Their Way?

A single honeybee visits hundreds, sometimes thousands, of flowers a day in search of nectar and pollen. Then it must find its way back to the hive, navigating distances up to five miles (eight kilometers), and perform a "waggle dance" to tell the other bees where the flowers are.A new study shows that long-term exposure to a combination of certain pesticides might impair the bee's ability...

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'Blade Runner' Charged With Murder of 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. Thursday that there had been a shooting at the home of 26-year-old Pistorius, Lt. Col. Katlego...

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Obama urges a move away from narrow focus on politics of austerity

Just about every argument in Washington since the 2010 midterm elections, which returned control of the House to Republicans, has centered on reducing the federal deficit. On Tuesday night, President Obama leaned into his second term by declaring that a single-minded focus on deficit reduction would jeopardize the nation’s future. And he sounded an urgent call to rebuild. Reelected by...

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EU ministers to meet on horsemeat crisis

BRUSSELS: European Union farm ministers hold crisis talks in Brussels on Wednesday to agree a response to a scandal over mislabelled frozen meat products which is spreading across Europe.The snap talks come a day after British police searching for the source of horsemeat found in kebabs and burgers raided two meat plants, the first such operation in the row, and France became the second...

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2G scam: Rajnath Singh demands widening of probe

RAIPUR: Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) president Rajnath Singh on Wednesday demanded widening of the scope of a probe into prosecutor-accused collusion in the 2G spectrum scam case saying he suspected involvement of more influential people. "A detailed probe is needed to find out who all were behind revealing the prosecution strategy with one of the accused. Even there may be some ministers and officers",...

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Obama Pledges U.S. Action on Climate, With or Without Congress

If there were anything in President Barack Obama's State of the Union to give hope to wistful environmentalists, it was the unprecedented promise to confront climate change with or without Congress, and to pursue new energy technology in the process.Following his strong statements in his inaugural address about the ripeness of the moment to address a changing climate, Obama outlined a...

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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...

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North Korea threatens "stronger" action after nuke test

SEOUL: North Korea said its nuclear test on Tuesday was only a "first" step and warned of stronger action if it was faced with tougher sanctions as a result."The latest nuclear test was only the first action, with which we exercised as much self-restraint as possible," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the country's official news agency."If the US further complicates...

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Father wants son out of Kerala cabinet

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Congress (Pillai) leader R. Balakrishna Pillai Tuesday asked Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to drop his (Pillai's) son and minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar from the cabinet.The father and son have been at war for over a year. A letter making this demand was handed over to Chandy by an aide to the senior Pillai.Ganesh Kumar is the forest, sports and cinema minister.At a meeting...

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Kumbh Mela: Pictures From the Hindu Holy Festival

Holy BathPhotograph by Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty ImagesThe Hindu festival known as Kumbh Mela, often referred to as the world’s largest gathering of humanity, peaked on Sunday at...

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US economy picks up, China might slow: OECD indicator

PARIS: Economic activity in the United States is rising, in the eurozone it is steadying, but in China and India the growth trend is slowing, leading indicators from the OECD showed on Monday.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that its index of leading indicators suggested that economic growth in the United States was "firming".Activity in Britain was also firming...

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Railways struggling to deal with Kumbh rush as stampede toll reaches 36

ALLAHABAD: Frantic relatives mobbed officials on Monday seeking information about victims of Sunday's stampede which has claimed 36 lives even as the railways had a tough time dealing with the rush of three crore Kumbh devotees thronging the city. There were chaotic scenes at the railway station and local hospitals here treating the 39 injured in the tragedy with relatives running from pillar to...

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Year of the Snake: The Serpent Behind the Horoscope

On February 10, people all around the world will ring in the Lunar New Year with paper lanterns and firecrackers. At the heart of it all sits the snake, a slithery reptile feared for its sharp fangs and revered for its undeniable charm. (Watch videos of some of the world's deadliest snakes.)Those born in the Year of the Snake are said to be intelligent and quick thinking, but they can...

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Many 2011 federal budget cuts had little real-world effect

Late on the night of April 8, 2011, Washington’s leaders announced that they’d just done something extraordinary. They had agreed to cut the federal budget — and cut it big. “The largest annual spending cut in our history,” President Obama called it in a televised speech. To prevent a government shutdown, the parties had agreed to slash $37.8 billion: more than the budgets of the Labor...

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