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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Merkel counts cost as minister quits in election year

BERLIN, Germany: German Chancellor Angela Merkel was left licking her wounds on Sunday after her education minister quit amid a plagiarism scandal, depriving her of a key ally as she gears up for September elections. Merkel betrayed rare emotion as she accepted "with a very heavy heart" the resignation of Annette Schavan, a personal friend, who quit to fight charges from her former university...

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Conspiracy theory: Was due process flouted to deny Afzal Guru a bid to escape hangman?

NEW DELHI: Although both have been executed in a hush-hush manner citing security reasons, the dilution of due process was greater in Mohammad Afzal Guru's hanging than in Ajmal Kasab's.The denial of an opportunity to challenge the President's decision on the mercy petition was more likely to have affected Guru's fate for, unlike Kasab, he was not present at the crime scene when Parliament was attacked...

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Mars Rover Curiosity Completes First Full Drill

For the first time in history, humans have drilled a hole into rock on Mars and are collecting the powdered results for analysis, NASA announced Saturday.After weeks of intensive planning, the Mars rover Curiosity undertook its first full drill on Friday, with NASA receiving images on Saturday showing that the procedure was a success.Curiosity drilled a hole that is a modest 2.5 inches...

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LAPD Reopens Case of Suspected Cop-Killer's Firing

The Los Angeles Police Department announced today it will reopen the case of the firing of Christopher Dorner, but said the decision was not made to "appease" the fugitive former cop suspected of killing three people.Dorner, a fired and disgruntled former Los Angeles police officer, said in the so-called "manifesto" he released that he was targeting LAPD officials and their...

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India holds showcase to raise awareness on natural heritage

NEW DELHI: New Delhi is known as a cultural hub, where fairs and festivals of all kinds are held nearly every day. One such recent event had a special theme: raising awareness of the country's natural heritage.The 15-day "Green Haat" saw participants from across India showcase a variety of non-timbre forest produce.Goods on display ranged from wild grains, chillies and spices to medicinal...

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Afzal's family communicated through speed post: Home secretary

NEW DELHI: The family of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru has been informed about his hanging by the Tihar authorities through speed post and the J&K government was taken into confidence before his execution, the Centre said on Saturday."They (Tihar jail authorities) intimated the family through speed post, registered post and the DG (Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police) has been...

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Space Pictures This Week: Sun Dragon, Celestial Seagull

Solar DragonImage courtesy SDO/NASAResembling a dragon's tail, remnants of a solar filament strain to escape the sun's gravity in an image released this week by NASA's Solar Dynamics...

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Northeast Shuts Down as Blizzard Batters Millions

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions battered the Northeast Friday into Saturday, and forecasters feared as much as two feet of snow and strong winds could shut down densely populated cities such as New York and Boston, where cars were ordered off the streets.State officials declared states of emergencies throughout the region, and utilities estimated more than a half-million...

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Lawmakers divided on Postal Service plan

Lawmakers wrestled Thursday with how to address Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe’s announcement that the U.S. Postal Service plans to end Saturday mail delivery in August. Donahoe moved to circumvent Congress’s long-standing resistance to the proposal for five-day delivery, a move the Postal Service thinks will save about $2 billion annually and help ease its financial losses....

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Scores missing after ferry sinks in Bangladesh: officials

DHAKA: Scores of people are missing after a ferry carrying around 100 passengers sank in a river in Bangladesh on Friday, officials said."So far we have gathered that the ferry was carrying around 100 people and some have swum to the banks," local police chief Jahangir Hossain told AFP after the accident on the Meghna river in the central district of Munshiganj.District administrator Saifuddin...

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Protest led by Congress minister turns violent, workers ransack DM's office in Bengal

BERHAMPORE: A demonstration led by Union minister of state for railways Adhir Chowdhury turned violent and led to the storming of the district magistrate's office in Murshidabad on Thursday. Though Adhir climbed on a jeep and tried to pacify Congress supporters, the damage was done.Bricks, stones, broken glass and debris from a wrecked podium for VIP visits lay strewn about the office compound....

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Asteroid to Make Closest Flyby in History

Talk about too close for comfort. In a rare cosmic encounter, an asteroid will barnstorm Earth next week, missing our planet by a mere 17,200 miles (27,700 kilometers).Designated 2012 DA14, the space rock is approximately 150 feet (45 meters) across, and astronomers are certain it will zip harmlessly past our planet on February 15—but not before making history. It will pass within...

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Cop Shooting Rampage: Manhunt on Mountain

The truck owned and driven by suspected cop killer Christopher Dorner during his alleged rampage through the Los Angeles area was found deserted and in flames on the side of Bear Mountain, Calif., this afternoon -- with tracks in the snow leading away from the vehicle.The San Bernadino Sheriff's Department confirmed the truck was Dorner's, but said at a news conference this...

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In the Loop: Interior pick could watch, but not deliver, a State of the Union address

The nomination announcement Wednesday afternoon of Sally Jewell, chief executive of outdoor company REI, to be secretary of the interior would put her eighth in the line of presidential succession should anything happen to President Obama, Vice President Biden, House and Senate leaders and the top four Cabinet officials at State, Treasury, Defense and Justice. Except for one problem: She...

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China bans ads on gift-giving to officials: media

BEIJING: China has banned ads that encourage giving luxury gifts to authorities, state media said on Thursday, the latest push against official extravagance since new leaders took charge vowing better governance.The ban came ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday on Sunday, as part of a high-profile campaign against government waste and corruption launched after Xi Jinping and others took...

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Another youth held for online abuse of all-girl rock band of Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Another youth has been arrested in connection with the online abuses and threats to the all-girl rock band of Kashmir, which forced them to quit singing.Irshad Ahmad Chara, resident of S D Colony, Batamaloo, was arrested late on Wednesday night by the police, who was raiding different places to apprehend him.Tariq Khan, was apprehended from Bijbehara, a town in South Kashmir, and Rameez...

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Humans Swap DNA More Readily Than They Swap Stories

Jane J. Lee Once upon a time, someone in 14th-century Europe told a tale of two girls—a kind one who was rewarded for her manners and willingness to work hard, and an unkind girl who was punished for her greed and selfishness.This version was part of a long line of variations that eventually spread throughout Europe, finding their way into the Brothers Grimm fairytales as Frau Holle, and...

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Armstrong May Testify Under Oath on Doping

Facing a federal criminal investigation and a deadline that originally was tonight to tell all under oath to anti-doping authorities or lose his last chance at reducing his lifetime sporting ban, Lance Armstrong now may cooperate.His apparent 11th-hour about-face, according to the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA), suggests he might testify under oath and give full details to...

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Strengthening security at the nation’s airports

Most people think of airport security as their walk through the metal detector and the eyeballing by transportation security officers (TSOs). Dan Liddell, whose job it is to protect the flying public at seven airports in central New York, instead sees 17 zones of worker responsibility and hundreds of different tasks. In pursuit of safeguarding the public, Liddell, a federal security director...

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Basketball: Bryant scores 21 to lead Lakers over Net

NEW YORK: Kobe Bryant scored 21 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers overcome the absence of Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace, and a late injury to Pau Gasol, in a 92-83 NBA victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.Howard missed the game as he continues to recover from a torn labrum in his right shoulder while World Peace was suspended by the NBA for the game after an incident in...

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15 dip hands in hot oil to prove loyalty in Gujarat

SABARKANTHA (Gujarat): Fifteen persons received burn injuries after they dipped their hands in hot oil to convince a candidate, who lost in panchayat elections, that they had voted for him, police said. The candidate, identified as Girish Parmar, has been detained, police said. The incident took place at Derai village of Bayad taluka this evening after counting of votes for the district panchayat,...

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Lance Armstrong Under Criminal Investigation

Federal investigators are in the midst of an active criminal investigation of disgraced former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, ABC News has learned.The revelation comes in stark contrast to statements made by the U.S. Attorney for Southern California, Andre Birotte, who addressed his own criminal inquiry of Armstrong for the first time publicly on Tuesday. Birotte's...

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