Thousands protest to end evictions in Spain

MADRID: Thousands of people demonstrated in Spanish cities on Saturday pushing for a new law to end a wave of evictions of homeowners ruined by the economic crisis.Several thousand marched yelling to the din of drums and horns in central Madrid, waving banners reading "Stop evictions" and yelling "We have no homes!"Similar protests were called in Barcelona and 50 other Spanish cities,...

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Bring class III, IV employees under Lokpal: Hazare

PUNE: Social crusader Anna Hazare has expressed concern over the Union government's move to exclude corporate sector and class III and class IV government employees from the purview of Lokpal.In a letter sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ahead of Parliament's budget session, Hazare has reminded Singh of the promises made by the government about enacting a law incorporating citizens charter,...

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Tennis: Benneteau stuns Federer in Rotterdam

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: Frenchman Julien Benneteau sent defending champion Roger Federer crashing out of the Rotterdam World Tennis tournament on Friday with a stunning 6-3, 7-5 quarter-final upset.Federer, who lifted the trophy in his last two appearances in 2005 and 2012, last suffered defeat in the event against Tim Henman in 2004."I'm very disappointed, I have some regrets about this...

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Abhishek Verma owes Aeromatrix Gautam Khaitan Rs 5.32L as legal fees: ED

NEW DELHI: Contrary to reports that former director with Aeromatrix Gautam Khaitan held $145,000 of Abhishek Verma's money for disposal, documents available with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) show that it is Verma who owes Khaitan money. In a reply filed with the ED, which has been investigating Verma's dealings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Khaitan has said that the war...

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Cruise Ship Now Faces Expected Wave of Lawsuits

Despite having their feet back on solid ground and making their way home, passengers from the Carnival Triumph cruise ship are still fuming over their five days of squalor on the stricken ship and the cruise ship company is likely to be hit with a wave of lawsuits."I think people are going to file suits and rightly so," maritime trial attorney John Hickey told ABCNews.com. "I...

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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: 'Blade Runner' Pistorius charged in girlfriend's murder

PRETORIA: South African police held Olympic amputee sprint star Oscar Pistorius in custody Thursday after charging him with the Valentine's Day murder of his model girlfriend, who was shot four times with a gun registered in his name.Blonde cover girl Reeva Steenkamp died after suffering wounds to the head and hand in the shooting in the early hours of Thursday.Police played down reports...

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Abhishek Verma’s firm acted as brokers for AgustaWestland

NEW DELHI: Controversial arms dealer AbhishekVerma is back in the headlines. On a day when a Delhi court denied Verma and his wife interim bail in a case involving alleged violations of the Official Secrets Act, television channel Times Now cited documents to suggest that his firms had acted as deal-brokers for AgustaWestland, though not in the VVIP helicopter deal. Times Now said that Swiss lobbying...

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Cruise Passengers 'Upbeat' as They Near Land

The 4,000 passengers and crew aboard the stricken Carnival Triumph cruise ship will disembark after dark tonight from the fetid cruiser dubbed "the poop deck" on social media, according to officials."It will come in. It will not stop," Alabama State Port Authority Director Jimmy Lyons said at a news conference today. "We're going to do everything we can from our standpoint to...

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Asteroid Impacts:10 Biggest Known Hits

There's one physical connection that isn't going down after Valentine's Day this year: Earth and asteroid.The asteroid known as 2012 DA14 will narrowly miss Earth this Friday, the closest asteroid flyby on record. But the planet has not always been so lucky.Earth's craters are enduring testaments to direct asteroid hits. And though millions—in some cases billions—of years of erosion have...

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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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Tennis: Federer speeds to opening Rotterdam win

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: Roger Federer began the defence of his Rotterdam World Tennis title by crushing Slovenia's Grega Zemlja 6-3, 6-1 in just 57 minutes on Wednesday.Federer advanced effortlessly into the second round over last autumn's Vienna finalist and next faces Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker.The Swiss top seed, and world number two, improved to 22-5 in Rotterdam as he plays the event...

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Italian investigators name ex-IAF chief Shashi Tyagi

NEW DELHI: Former IAF chief Shashi P Tyagi on Wednesday categorically denied receiving bribes or indeed playing any role in the acquisition of AW-101 choppers, as alleged by an ongoing Italian probe. In a preliminary 64-page report filed in the tribunal of Busto Arsizio city, after Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi, AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini and two others were arrested, Italian investigators...

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Dorner Hid Just Steps From Command Center

Christopher Dorner, the fugitive ex-cop who authorities believe died in a fiery standoff with police Tuesday night, was apparently holed up in a snow-covered cabin in the California mountains just steps from where police had set up a command post and held press conferences during a five-day manhunt.The charred remains of a body believed to be Dorner was removed from another...

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Owl Monkeys Shed Light on Evolution of Love

It may not seem like monkey business, but emotional bonds in animals such as primates may have evolved into love as we know it.Take owl monkeys, tiny tropical tree-dwellers that treat every day like it's Valentine's Day. A male and a female stick together as long as possible, never cheat, and never "divorce" their mates—extremely unusual behavior, even among people. (Also see "Male Monkeys...

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Football: Valencia maintain hope against clinical PSG

VALENCIA, Spain: Paris Saint-Germain will take a 2-1 lead into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Valencia, but a dramatic late turn of events handed the Spanish side a lifeline.Going into the 90th minute here at the Mestalla on Tuesday, the French league leaders appeared in cruise control thanks to first-half goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore.However,...

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Guru's family sends letter, Tihar says 'come through proper channels'

NEW DELHI: Afzal Guru's family has sent a second letter to the Tihar director general, asking jail authorities to keep his belongings in a safe place and make arrangements for taking Afzal's body back to Kashmir. In the letter on Tuesday, a copy of which is with TOI, the family has made a list of requests through their lawyers ND Pancholi and Nandita Haksar. However, Tihar authorities are not treating...

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Where Will Pope Benedict XVI Retire?

Someone with a suspicious mind and deep knowledge of Vatican trivia might have guessed that something was going on months ago. Last November, a community of cloistered nuns vacated the  Mater Ecclesiae monastery, located inside Vatican Gardens, two years before they were expected to do so.The monastery has since been closed for renovation.On Monday, in the press conference that followed...

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Iran expecting new nuclear offer in Kazakhstan: negotiator

TEHRAN: Iran is expecting a new offer from world powers in talks later this month in Kazakhstan over its controversial nuclear programme, a member of its negotiating team said on Monday.Iran and the P5+1 group of the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany are to resume negotiations in Almaty, Kazakhstan on February 26 after an eight-month hiatus, following up three failed...

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Old Aadhaar applicants may have to reapply

NEW DELHI: Applied for an Aadhaar card before April 1, 2012, but haven't got it yet? You may have to apply all over again. A lot of data related to applicants who enrolled for the Aadhaar unique identification number in the first phase has apparently been either lost or rendered unusable due to "encrypting errors". UID Authority of India on Monday told the Delhi government that applicants whose...

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Controversy, Outreach Mark Pope Benedict's Reign

Pope Benedict XVI's unprecedented announcement today that he will resign Feb. 28 brings to a close one of the shortest papacies in history, for which the pontiff will leave a legacy as a leader with views in line with church tradition, but also as one who worked during a controversial reign to advance religious links cross the globe.The pope's decision, which he announced in...

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Biggest Crocodile Dies in Captivity

Lolong is the largest crocodile in captivity no longer.The 20.24-foot-long (6.17-meter-long) saltwater crocodile died recently at his home in the Bunawan Eco-Park and Research Centre in the Philippines' Bunawan township (map), according to news reports.In July, Guinness World Records named the behemoth, which was captured alive in September 2011, the largest crocodile in captivity....

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Obama should focus on deficit in State of the Union

President Obama is preparing to deliver his fourth State of the Union address on Tuesday at — or close to— the height of his political power. He has been reelected convincingly, won legislative showdowns with Republicans on debt and spending issues, and is basking in some of his highest approval ratings in years. Of course, modern political history has shown that political momentum can...

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Ben Affleck's 'Argo' wins best film at Britain's BAFTAs

LONDON: Iran hostage crisis drama "Argo" won the best film prize at Britain's BAFTA awards on Sunday, in a further boost for US actor-director Ben Affleck's movie at the Oscars later this month.Affleck also won the best director award at the biggest night of the British film industry, while Daniel Day-Lewis was named best actor for "Lincoln" and France's Emmanuelle Riva won best actress...

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No Rafale, nuclear deals during Hollande visit

NEW DELHI: India and France will not sign a contract for nuclear reactors at Jaitapur during the forthcoming visit of French President Francois Hollande. Neither will they seal the deal for 126 Rafale fighter aircraft. But as Hollande makes India his first stop in Asia, both sides are keen to showcase a growing relationship. The complex negotiations for the nuclear reactor deal will get a leg up...

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$1M Reward for Capture of Fugitive Ex-Cop Dorner

A $1 million reward was offered today for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, as authorities in Big Bear, Calif., scaled back their search for the disgruntled ex-cop, who is suspected in three revenge killings."Hopefully the reward will motivate people that may be involved with assisting him or might be reluctant to talk to us to call us and to put an end...

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