Mursi calls referendum as Islamists march

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution on Saturday as at least 200,000 Islamists demonstrated in Cairo to back him after opposition fury over his newly expanded powers. Speaking after receiving the final draft of the constitution from the Islamist-dominated assembly, Mursi urged a national dialogue as the country nears...

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McAfee comes out of hiding

WASHINGTON: Anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee, wanted by authorities in Belize, has come out of hiding to insist he did not kill his neighbour or hire someone to do the crime."I will certainly not turn myself in, and I will certainly not quit fighting," McAfee told CNN on Friday in his first on-camera interview since going on the run from Belizean authorities."It hasn't been a lot...

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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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Psychiatrists OK vast changes to diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) — For the first time in almost two decades the nation's psychiatrists are changing the guidebook they use to diagnose mental disorders. Among the most controversial proposed changes: Dropping certain familiar terms like Asperger's disorder and dyslexia and calling frequent, severe temper tantrums a mental illness.The board of trustees for the American Psychiatric Association voted Saturday...

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KC Chiefs Player Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

A Kansas City Chiefs football player committed suicide today in front of his coaches and police outside of the team's stadium, just as officers investigating the shooting of the player's girlfriend arrived on the scene, police said.The name of the 25-year-old player has not yet been released.Kansas City Police were first alerted something was wrong by the girlfriend's mother."The...

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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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Mexico's incoming president unveils cabinet

MEXICO CITY: Mexico's incoming president Enrique Pena Nieto named his cabinet Friday, picking close advisors for key posts managing the drug war and the economy on the eve of his inauguration.Pena Nieto takes the oath of office on Saturday, marking the return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) after a 12-year absence from the presidency. The PRI ruled Mexico for most of the...

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Around 40% states still have more than 5% as stamp duty

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) audit into Centre's urban renewal programme - Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) -- has shown that 40% of states and Union Territories have failed to rationalize stamp duty to 5% for property registration. The defaulting states include Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Chhattisgarh. High stamp duty discourages...

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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 win implicit U.N. recognition of sovereign state

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long overdue "birth certificate." There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions. Three countries did not take part in the vote to upgrade...

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Motor Racing: Ecclestone blasts Vettel row as 'joke'

LONDON: Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone on Thursday blasted the controversy surrounding world champion Sebastian Vettel's Brazilian Grand Prix overtaking manoeuvre as a "joke".Ferrari had contacted Formula One's governing body, the FIA, concerning the move by the Red Bull driver during last weekend's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix that won him a third successive title.There had...

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White paper on irrigation a dud, Maharashtra skirts corruption

MUMBAI: The much-awaited white paper on irrigation, which was placed before the state cabinet on Thursday, has turned out to be a dud. As expected, it skirts the core issue of corruption and irregularities in the water resources department, and merely collates data on projects approved in the last decade. Addressing a news conference on Thursday night, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the two-volume...

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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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Petraeus Tells Friend He 'Screwed Up Royally'

One of David Petraeus' closest friends says the former CIA director admitted that he "screwed up royally" by having an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell.Retired Brigadier Gen. James Shelton has been friends with Petraeus for more than three decades and reached to out to him after he resigned from the CIA. Shelton told ABC News that the former four-star general wrote...

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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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Football: Fulham deny Benitez a first Chelsea goal

LONDON: Rafael Benitez was still searching for his first win since his controversial appointment as Chelsea manager after they were held to a goalless draw by Fulham in a west London derby at Stamford Bridge.Wednesday saw Benitez largely spared the hostile reception he received during his first game in charge against Premier League champions Manchester City -- also a scoreless draw --...

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Indira Gandhi lent Indian politics the dynastic shift: Ramachandra Guha

BANGALORE: The Congress led by Indira Gandhi fostered a generation of hero worship and dynasty politics after 1969. This inspired many others like Muthuvel Karunanidhi, who started off with noble intentions to fight against caste discriminations, to do the same and has led to a centralization of politics in present India, said Ramachandra Guha, on Wednesday. He was speaking during the launch of...

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Simple measures cut infections caught in hospitals

CHICAGO (AP) — Preventing surgery-linked infections 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 Joint Commission hospital regulating group and the American College of Surgeons...

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Susan Rice Made Allies, Enemies Before Benghazi

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, on Capitol Hill this week answering questions about her role after the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, has become yet another player in the divide between the left and right, with her possible nomination as the next Secretary of State hanging in the balance.But who was Susan Rice before she told ABC's "This Week" and other Sunday morning...

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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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Football: Redknapp's QPR debut yields point

LONDON: Harry Redknapp's first match as Queens Park Rangers manager saw the Premier League basement club collect a point in a goalless draw away to Sunderland on Tuesday.It was QPR's first point since they drew 1-1 with Reading on November 4 but the result meant the west London club, who last week sacked Mark Hughes as their manager, remained bottom of the table.But in the day's other...

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IIT-Kanpur flushes rail bio-toilet plan

CHENNAI: Scientists of IIT-Kanpur have thrown the kitchen sink at a high-tech solution to a messy problem: How to keep the world's largest railway network clean and prevent corrosion of lines when train toilets unload waste directly on the tracks. Bio-toilets developed by the Indian Railways and Defence Research and Development Organization have earned praise from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,...

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