Motor Racing: Rome to host 2014 'green' grand prix

ROME: The streets of Rome will be the backdrop for a race in the new Formula E world championship in 2014, it was announced on Saturday.The series is being backed by McLaren which is supplying cars powered exclusively by electric energy.The Formula E championship has the full support of motor racing's governing body the FIA.FIA president Jean Todt said: "It gives me great pleasure to be...

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FDI in retail to safeguard international market mafias' interest: BJP

NEW DELHI: India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said retail reform is a step taken by the Congress led-federal government to safeguard the interests of the international market mafias at the cost of national interest.BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday that voting inside the parliament would decide as to who is in favour of national interest and who is working...

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South Africa makes progress in HIV, AIDS fight

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — In the early '90s when South Africa's Themba Lethu clinic could only treat HIV/AIDS patients for opportunistic diseases, many would come in on wheelchairs and keep coming to the health center until they died.Two decades later the clinic is the biggest anti-retroviral, or ARV, treatment center in the country and sees between 600 to 800 patients a day from all over southern Africa....

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Police: KC Chiefs Player Killed Girlfriend, Self

Jovan Belcher, a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, committed suicide today in front of his coaches and police officers outside the team's stadium, shortly after he fatally shot his girlfriend, police said."We heard that they had been arguing in the past [and] as far as recently, they'd been arguing before the shooting occurred this morning," Kansas City Police spokesman...

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Egyptians protest after draft constitution raced through

CAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Egyptians protested against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday after an Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the Islamist leader's newly expanded powers. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted in Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in the same place less than...

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Mittal, France seek last-ditch solution on steel plant

PARIS: Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and the French government sought a last-ditch solution Friday on the eve of the expiry of his deadline to the state to find a new buyer for a plant it has threatened to nationalise.A number of scenarios were evoked and media reports were awash with names that could take control of the Florange plant in the eastern Lorraine region, where two blast furnaces...

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HIV claimed 60,000 less lives last year in India

NEW DELHI: India recorded around 60,000 fewer deaths due to HIV in 2011 compared to 2007 while the overall number of people living with HIV has fallen by almost 1.7 lakhs during the same period. There has been a 57% reduction in new HIV infections in India during the last decade with HIV prevalence among adults (15-49 years) dipping to 0.27% (2011) compared to 0.33% (2007). The total number of people...

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Kenya village pairs AIDS orphans with grandparents

NYUMBANI, Kenya (AP) — There are no middle-aged people in Nyumbani. They all died years ago, before this village of hope in Kenya began. Only the young and old live here.Nyumbani was born of the AIDS crisis. The 938 children here all saw their parents die. The 97 grandparents — eight grandfathers among them — saw their middle-aged children die. But put together, the bookend generations take care of...

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Mo. Couple Wins Half of Powerball Jackpot

The lucky winners of half of the record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot have been identified as Mark and Cindy Hill of Dearborn, Mo., their working-class lives suddenly taking a turn to the financial stratosphere.Cindy Hill, who with her husband has three adult sons and a 6-year-old daughter adopted from China, purchased the ticket at a Trex Mart gas station in Dearborn."I...

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Palestinians turn to U.N. for state recognition

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly is set to approve an implicit recognition of Palestinian statehood on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding funds for the West Bank government. A resolution that would lift the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like...

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EU backs Palestinian state even if split on UN vote

BRUSSELS: The European Union reiterated the bloc's support for a Palestinian state Thursday despite splits between its 27 member states over granting upgraded status to the Palestinians at the United Nations."The EU has repeatedly expressed its support and wish for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations as part of a solution to the conflict," EU foreign policy chief Catherine...

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CAG punches holes in MoD’s offsets policy

NEW DELHI: India will remain among the world's largest arms importers for the foreseeable future. With DRDO, defence PSUs and ordnance factories flopping to get their act together, the CAG has now punched holes even in the implementation of the much-touted defence offsets policy. The audit watchdog also slammed DRDO, often in the dock for huge time and cost overruns in crucial defence projects, for...

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Clinton releases road map for AIDS-free generation

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an ambitious road map for slashing the global spread of AIDS, the Obama administration says treating people sooner and more rapid expansion of other proven tools could help even the hardest-hit countries begin turning the tide of the epidemic over the next three to five years."An AIDS-free generation is not just a rallying cry — it is a goal that is within our reach," Secretary...

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Obama Lunches With Romney as 'Cliff' Talks Falter

President Obama and Mitt Romney met face to face today for the first time since the election, breaking bread at the White House as talks over the looming "fiscal cliff" appeared to be faltering on Capitol Hill.The lunch between former rivals, served in an elegant private dining room in the West Wing, lasted just over an hour, with Romney seen coming and going from a side entrance...

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Egypt assembly seeks to wrap up constitution

CAIRO (Reuters) - The assembly writing Egypt's constitution said it could wrap up a final draft later on Wednesday, a move the Muslim Brotherhood sees as a way out of a crisis over a decree by President Mohamed Mursi that protesters say gives him dictatorial powers. But as Mursi's opponents staged a sixth day of protests in Tahrir Square, critics said the Islamist-dominated assembly's...

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Golf: McIlroy welcomes proposed putting rule change

THOUSAND OAKS, California: World number one Rory McIlroy was among those welcoming a proposed ban on "anchored" putting, announced on Wednesday by golf's global governing bodies."Fully agree with the anchoring ban," the Northern Ireland golfer said on Twitter after the Royal & Ancient and US Golf Association jointly announced they proposed to ban golfers from anchoring putters to their...

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Israel ahead of US in race to supply ‘tank-killer’ missiles to India

NEW DELHI: Israel has upstaged the US in the ongoing race to bag the huge deal to supply third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) to the Indian Army, in a project which could well be worth $1 billion eventually. Defence ministry sources said the plan to go in for the American FGM-148 Javelin ATGMs has "virtually been shelved" because of Washington's reluctance to provide full military...

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Simple measures cut infections caught in hospitals

CHICAGO (AP) — Preventing infections from surgery is a major concern for hospitals and it turns out some simple measures can make a big difference.A project at seven big hospitals reduced infections after colorectal surgeries by nearly one-third. It prevented an estimated 135 infections, saving almost $4 million.The measures included having patients shower with special germ-fighting soap before surgery,...

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Obama Taps Twitter for Tax-Cut Push

President Obama today sought to inject a dose of public pressure into the "fiscal cliff" debate, urging Americans who face an across-the-board tax hike in 34 days to lobby lawmakers by phone, email and Twitter."If there's one thing I've learned; when the American people speak loudly enough, lo and behold, Congress listens," Obama said from a White House auditorium.He was flanked...

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Egyptians challenge Mursi in nationwide protests

CAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands Egyptians protested on Tuesday against President Mohamed Mursi in one of the biggest rallies since Hosni Mubarak's overthrow, accusing the Islamist leader of seeking to impose a new era of autocracy. Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths in streets near the main protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square, heart of the uprising that toppled Mubarak last...

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Gas explosion blamed for deadly German fire

TITISEE-NEUSTADT, Germany: An explosion following a gas leak triggered a fierce blaze in a workshop for the disabled in Germany which killed 14 people, officials said on Tuesday.All but one of the dead from the fire which began on Monday at the centre in the southwestern town of Titisee-Neustadt in Germany's Black Forest region were handicapped, police said.A 50-year-old female carer was...

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