Football: Benitez named Chelsea 'interim' manager

LONDON: Chelsea announced Wednesday that Rafael Benitez had been appointed their interim first team-manager until the end of the season after the European champions sacked Roberto di Matteo.Di Matteo was fired after Tuesday's 3-0 defeat by Juventus in Turin left Chelsea facing elimination at the group stage of the Champions League.But within a matter of hours Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's...

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'Ajmal Kasab begged for mercy before execution'

PUNE: 'Allah qasam maaf karna, aisi galthi dobara nahi hogi' (I swear by Allah, please forgive me, such a mistake won't be repeated) were the last words uttered by terrorist Ajmal Kasab when he was being taken to the gallows at the Yerawada central prison here at 7.30 am on Wednesday. Sources said Kasab was speaking incoherently for a while until the lever was pulled.The sources said the entire procedure...

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US abortions fall 5 pct, biggest drop in a decade

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. abortions fell 5 percent during the recession and its aftermath in the biggest one-year decrease in at least a decade, perhaps because women are more careful to use birth control when times are tough, researchers say.The decline, detailed on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, came in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Both...

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Jesse Jackson Jr. to Resign From Congress

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the embattled Illinois congressman who has been on medical leave from Capitol Hill for months undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder, resigned from Congress Wednesday. Aides to House Speaker John Boehner said they have received a letter of resignation from Jackson Jr.The news was first reported by ABC's Chicago affiliate WLS and two Chicago newspapers.Jackson...

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Hamas says Gaza truce agreed; Israel, Egypt say no deal yet

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Hamas official said Egyptian mediators had clinched a truce with Israel on Tuesday that would go into effect within hours, but Egypt and Israel said a Gaza ceasefire deal was still up in the air after a week of fighting. "The talks are still continuing," an Egyptian official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. He said Cairo was hopeful of an agreement...

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Second Israeli killed by rocket fire from Gaza

JERUSALEM: An Israeli civilian was killed by rocket fire from Gaza on Tuesday, a defence ministry spokesman said, shortly after the army said a soldier died in a Palestinian rocket attack."Yes, I can confirm it," a defence ministry spokesman told AFP, saying the strike had killed Alayaan Salem al-Nabari, a Bedouin from the southern Negev desert.The spokesman said Nabari was "employed by...

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India ranks 131st in press freedom index; Internet 'partly free'

WASHINGTON: Just in case you did not know, India ranks 131st — between Burundi and Angola — in the 2012 press freedom index of Reporters without Borders. Freedom House puts India in the "party free" category in the 2012 Internet freedom rankings, below Argentina, South Africa, and Ukraine. So much for the world's largest democracy.India's bragging rights about being one of the world's thriving...

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make...

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Hopes Rise for Gaza Ceasefire

Hopes for a ceasefire between between Israel and Islamic militants in Gaza rose today as Hamas declared that a ceasefire would be announced and Israel indicated that a deal was possible.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told ABC News the news would be announced at a press conference in Cairo where Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been trying to broker an end to the fighting.An...

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Israel says prefers diplomacy but ready to invade Gaza

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel bombed dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and said that while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that would end Palestinian rocket fire. Mediator Egypt said a deal for a truce to end the fighting could be close. The leader of Hamas said it was up to Israel to end the new conflict it had...

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