30 December 2015

Suicide bombing kills 26, wounds 45 in northwestern Pakistan

Pakistani volunteers rush an injured man to a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a government office in a northwestern Pakistani city on Tuesday, killing more than a dozen people and wounding tens. A breakaway Taliban group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a government office in a northwestern Pakistani city on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 45 in an attack claimed by a breakaway Taliban group.
The bombing took place in the city of Mardan, outside the regional office of the National Database and Registration Authority, or NADRA, which issues identity cards, according to senior police officer Saeed Khan Wazir.

29 December 2015

South Korea, Japan reach landmark deal on WWII sex slaves

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se, right, ushers his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida at the start of their meeting at Foreign Ministry in Seoul Monday, Dec. 28, 2015. The foreign ministers met Monday to try to resolve a decades-long impasse over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II.
An apology from Japan's prime minister and a pledge of more than $8 million sealed a breakthrough deal Monday in a decades-long impasse with South Korea over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II.
The accord, which aims to resolve the emotional core of South Korea's grievances with its former colonial overlord, could begin to reverse decades of animosity and mistrust between the two thriving democracies, trade partners and staunch U.S. allies. It represents a shift for Tokyo's conservative government and a new willingness to compromise by previously wary Seoul.

28 December 2015

Cow dung patties selling like hot cakes online in India

Cows that have been rescued from smugglers are seen at a rescue shelter November 7, 2015 in Ramgarh, Rajasthan, India. The local 'cow vigilante' group, headed by Nawal Kishore Sharma, is one of dozens of such hard line Hindu cow protection vigilante groups operating across India. The members work various day jobs such as teachers, lawyers, marble sculptors, politicians and by night they patrol on watch for smugglers illegally transporting cows for sale and slaughter. Many also work at the cow shelters where the rescued cows are taken.
Like consumers around the globe, Indians are flocking to the online marketplace in droves these days. But there's one unusual item flying off the virtual shelves: Online retailers say cow dung patties are selling like hot cakes.
The patties — cow poop mixed with hay and dried in the sun, made mainly by women in rural areas and used to fuel fires — have long been available in India's villages. But online retailers including Amazon and eBay are now reaching out to the country's ever-increasing urban population, feeding into the desire of older city folks to harken back to their childhood in the village.

27 December 2015

Floods force mass evacuations in 4 South American countries

Men selling vegetables drive their horse-drawn cart through a flooded street in the Tacumbu neighborhood of Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. The Paraguay River is at its highest level since 1984 and threatening the poor districts that surround the capital, forcing about 100,000 people to shelters.
Widespread floods have forced nearly 140,000 people from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil following days of torrential rains that drenched a region where the countries border each other.
Paraguay is the hardest hit with at least 100,000 evacuating according to the National Emergency Department.

26 December 2015

India's Modi arrives in Pakistan on first visit as premier

Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground right, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, foreground left, arrive to attend a meeting with Russian and Indian officials and businessmen in the Kremlin in Moscow, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015.
India's Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Pakistan on Friday, his first such trip as prime minister to this Islamic nation that has been India's long-standing archrival in the region.
The previously unannounced visit is a potential sign of thawing relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. The two heads of government also had an unscheduled meeting at the Paris climate change talks earlier this month.
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, the Himalayan region that both countries claim.

25 December 2015

Pope urges Christmas prayers for Syria, Libya peace

Pope Francis delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and to the world) blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, Dec. 25, 2015.
Pope Francis issued a Christmas Day prayer that recent U.N.-backed peace processes for Syria and Libya will quickly end the suffering of their people, denouncing the "monstrous evil" and atrocities they have endured and praising countries that have taken in refugees.
Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Francis issued a plenary indulgence for all Catholics in hopes of spreading the church's message of mercy in a world torn by war, poverty and extremist attacks. The sun-soaked St. Peter's Square was under heavy security, as it has been since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks by Islamic extremists that left 130 dead.

Oops: UK astronaut Tim Peake calls wrong number from space

In this Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 file photo, British astronaut Tim Peake, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), gestures prior the launch of Soyuz TMA-19M space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Anyone can dial a wrong number, but it’s not often done from outer space. Peake tweeted an apology on Christmas Day from the International Space Station after calling a wrong number.
Anyone can dial a wrong number, but it's not often done from outer space.

British astronaut Tim Peake tweeted an apology on Christmas Day from the International Space Station after calling a wrong number.

He wrote "I'd like to apologize to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?' — not a prank call — just a wrong number!"

24 December 2015

Russia's Putin hosts Indian PM for talks on defense, energy

In this Dec. 23, 2015 photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a photo while exchanging official gifts during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks that focused on defense, nuclear and energy ties.
Speaking at the start of their meeting in the Kremlin, Modi lauded Russia for being "a reliable friend" who has "always stood by us."
Russia and India have shared close ties since Cold War times, when Moscow was a key ally and the main arms supplier to New Delhi.

Indian premier Narendra Modi visits Russia for annual summit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, walks past an honour guard upon arrival at Moscow's Government Vnukovo II Airport outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. Modi is on official visit and plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putini on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks expected to focus on defense, nuclear and space cooperation.
Modi began his visit Wednesday with a private dinner with Putin. More talks involving top officials from both countries are to be held in the Kremlin on Thursday.

22 December 2015

Miss Universe show, host apologize for crowning wrong woman

Steve Harvey holds up the card showing the winners after he incorrectly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez at the winner at the Miss Universe pageant Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015, in Las Vegas. According to the pageant, a misreading led the announcer to read Miss Colombia as the winner before they took it away and gave it to Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
The Miss Universe pageant and host Steve Harvey doubled down on the apologies Monday after an excruciating live television moment — announcing incorrectly that Miss Colombia had won and then taking the crown from her head to give to a rival from the Philippines.
The fallout from Sunday's show made Harvey an online symbol of "oops" moments, drew a reaction from Colombia's president and even a gloating tweet from Donald Trump, the pageant's former owner.

21 December 2015

Hollywood star Bloom arrives in India after visa delay

In this Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015, photo, British actor Orlando Bloom, front left, takes a selfie as Indian lawmaker Amar Singh, front right, watches on arrival at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Indian officials say Bloom has arrived in New Delhi after being turned away a day earlier because he did not have a valid visa.
British actor Orlando Bloom has been allowed entry into India after being turned away a day earlier from New Delhi's international airport because he did not have a valid visa, officials said Monday.
The "Lord of the Rings" star was able to enter India after the External Affairs ministry intervened and gave him a special visa.

20 December 2015

Minor convicted in India gang rape released after 3 years

Indian youth shout slogans as they are detained by police during a protest against the release of a juvenile convicted in the fatal 2012 gang rape that shook the country in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec.20, 2015. The convict, who was short of his 18th birthday at the time of the crime, was to finish his three-year term in a reform home on Sunday. Several activists and politicians have demanded that he not be released until it can be proven that he has been reformed.
A man convicted as a juvenile in the fatal 2012 gang rape of a young woman aboard a moving bus in India's capital ended his three-year term in a reform home Sunday, as angry protesters demanded that he remain in detention.
The man was short of his 18th birthday when he and five others brutally attacked the 23-year-old woman in a case that shocked India, where sexual violence against women is rampant.

Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo wins Miss World title in China

Miss World Mireia Lalaguna Royo from Spain, center, Sofia Nikitchuk from Russia, left, the runner-up, and Maria Harfanti from Indonesia, right, the second runner-up celebrate at the end of the 2015 Miss World Grand Final in Sanya in south China's Hainan province Saturday Dec. 19, 2015. Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo was named the winner of the Miss World 2015 competition Saturday night in the southern Chinese island resort of Sanya, an event dogged by controversy over China's refusal to allow Canada's entrant to attend.
Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo was named the winner of the Miss World 2015 competition Saturday night in the southern Chinese island resort of Sanya, an event dogged by controversy over China's refusal to allow Canada's entrant to attend.
Sofia Nikitchuk of Russia was the runner-up and Indonesia's Maria Harfanti took third place in the final following a lengthy competition featuring 114 women.

18 December 2015

Mother Teresa to be made a saint after pope OKs miracle

In this Aug. 25, 1993 file photo Mother Teresa, head of Missionaries of Charity, is photographed, in New Delhi, India. Pope Francis has signed off on the miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint, giving the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor one of the Catholic Church's highest honors just two decades after her death. The Vatican said Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, that Francis approved a decree attributing a miracle to Mother Teresa's intercession during an audience with the head of the Vatican's saint-making office on Thursday, his 79th birthday.
Mother Teresa, the tiny, stooped nun who cared for the poorest of the poor in the slums of India and beyond, will be declared a saint next year after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to her intercession.
The Vatican on Friday set no date for the canonization, but it is widely believed that it will take place in the first week of September to coincide with the 19th anniversary of Mother Teresa's death and during Francis' Holy Year of Mercy.

Questions and answers about Mother Teresa and making saints

In this Aug. 25, 1993 file photo Mother Teresa, head of Missionaries of Charity, is photographed, in New Delhi, India. Pope Francis has signed off on the miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint, giving the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor one of the Catholic Church's highest honors just two decades after her death. The Vatican said Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, that Francis approved a decree attributing a miracle to Mother Teresa's intercession during an audience with the head of the Vatican's saint-making office on Thursday, his 79th birthday.
The Catholic Church makes saints to provide role models for the faithful, and Pope Francis has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors in churning them out at a rapid clip. The process is cloaked in secrecy and open to criticism, given that it deals with science-defying miracles, politicized choices and significant sums of money, as was recently revealed in some blockbuster books on Vatican finance.

But saints aren't going away anytime soon, and Francis has actually made the process easier in some ways by doing away with the miracle requirement for several high-profile saints.

Mother Teresa and sainthood: Here are the 5 steps to getting there

Mother Teresa
On Thursday, Pope Francis approved a decree from the Congregation of Causes of Saints that attributed a miracle to Mother Teresa, the woman who spent her life ministering to the poor in India. With that approval, Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, will be declared a saint. 
According to The Associated Press, no date has been set for the canonization, but Italian media have speculated that the ceremony may take place in the first week of September. Mother Teresa died on Sept. 5, 1997.   

17 December 2015

US rate hike ends wait, but not uncertainty for Asia

People are reflected on the electronic board of a securities firm in Tokyo,Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. Asian stocks posted broad gains Thursday after the Federal Reserve ended protracted uncertainty in markets by raising interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade and signaling that further increases will be gradual.
The Federal Reserve's rate hike was welcomed in Asia as a sign of strength in the U.S., one of the region's biggest export markets. But it could complicate Chinese efforts to avoid a sharper economic slowdown and keep the yuan steady.
The U.S. central bank on Wednesday raised the Federal Funds Rate by a quarter percentage point, the first such increase in nearly a decade. The decision ended a long period of uncertainty about when the Fed would begin winding down the easy money deployed to help heal the economic damage of the 2008 financial crisis.

16 December 2015

India issues rules on vehicles to curb pollution in capital

Cars and buses clogs a road in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. India's top court Wednesday ordered a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel vehicles in and around New Delhi and slapped a stiff levy on trucks entering the capital as it struggles with record pollution.
India's top court issued several orders Wednesday to fight record pollution in New Delhi, including a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel vehicles and a stiff hike on the toll for trucks entering the capital.
The Supreme Court also banned trucks from entering the city if they're over 10 years old or are just transiting through. In addition, all taxis in the area, including private ride-hailing services such as Uber, have to switch to compressed natural gas by March 31.

15 December 2015

A British medical artist and crime solving science bring you the unexpected face of Jesus

jesusface
The face of arguably the most famous person in history was a mystery until forensic anthropology put together Jesus’ probable face.
Without a physical description in the Bible or any other known writings, remains from which to find DNA, the presence of a skeleton or skull, or original drawings, the image of Jesus through history was left to the artist’s imagination. As a general rule their imagination did not stray too far, typically depicting Jesus with features reflecting their own cultural standard for a good looking man.

New Zealand picks new flag design to challenge current flag

This undated illustration provided by the New Zealand Government shows a flag design; Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) by Kyle Lockwood. Final results from a postal ballot were announced Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015. The winning design features a silver fern and red stars on a black and blue background. The new design will now go head-to-head against the current flag in a national vote that will be held in March.
The British Union Jack once symbolized the reach of a powerful empire — but it may need to yield soon to a delicate silver fern. At least on New Zealand's flag.
New Zealand on Tuesday revealed the new flag design chosen by the public to be put up as a challenger to the current flag in a March vote.
The question of whether to change a national symbol that has endured for more than a century and harks back to a colonial past has raised plenty of passion, and skepticism, in this nation of 4.6 million.

14 December 2015

Sikhs feel vulnerable, join with Muslims to combat backlash

In this Dec. 11, 2015, photo, Darsh Singh, left, poses for a photo with his wife, Lakhpreet Kaur, in Dallas. It happens regularly: Someone sees a man with a turban and beard and hurls anti-Muslim slurs his way, or worse. Members of the Sikh religion, like Singh and his wife, also are feeling vulnerable as anti-Islamic sentiment heats up across the U.S., but instead of distancing themselves from Muslims, members of this southeast Asian religion are working with them to combat hateful rhetoric and dispel misconceptions about their respective faiths.
Pardeep Kaleka spent several days after 9/11 at his father's South Milwaukee gas station, fearing that his family would be targeted by people who assumed they were Muslim. No, Kaleka explained on behalf of his father, who wore a turban and beard and spoke only in broken English, the family was Sikh, a southeast Asian religion based on equality and unrelated to Islam.
But amid a new wave of anti-Islamic sentiment since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Kaleka is vowing to take an entirely different approach.

Saudi voters elect 20 women candidates for the first time

Saudi electoral workers prepare to count ballots after the country's municipal elections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Women across Saudi Arabia marked a historic milestone on Saturday, both voting and running as candidates in government elections for the first time, but just outside polling stations they waited for male drivers — a reminder of the limitations still firmly in place.
Saudi voters elected 20 women for local government seats, according to results released to The Associated Press on Sunday, a day after women voted and ran in elections for the first time in the country's history.
The women who won hail from vastly different parts of the country, ranging from Saudi Arabia's largest city to a small village near Islam's holiest site.

13 December 2015

Historic pact to slow global warming is celebrated in Paris

The slogan "CLIMATESIGN" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.
Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Saturday, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that don't.
The "Paris agreement" aims to keep global temperatures from rising another degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) between now and 2100, a key demand of poor countries ravaged by rising sea levels and other effects of climate change.

Saudi women vote for the first time, testing boundaries

Saudi citizens read the candidates' list inside a polling center during the country's municipal elections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015.
Women across Saudi Arabia marked a historic milestone on Saturday, both voting and running as candidates in government elections for the first time, but just outside polling stations they waited for male drivers — a reminder of the limitations still firmly in place.
The landmark election for local council seats was not expected to immediately advance the status of women in Saudi Arabia, who are still not permitted to drive, but it seen as a chance for them to make their voices heard as citizens.
"We are making history. I just made history," said candidate Karima Bokhary, 50, after casting her ballot at a polling station in the capital Riyadh.

11 December 2015

Scuffles erupt at Ukraine's parliament, PM dragged from post

Oleh Barna, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the Block of Petro Poroshenko, second left, tries pull Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenuk out from the podium during his speech at a parliamentary session in the Parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday Dec. 11, 2015.
Scuffles involving several dozen lawmakers have erupted at Ukraine's parliament after one deputy tried to drag the prime minister away from the rostrum.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk was giving his report at the Supreme Rada on Friday when a deputy from the president's party went up to the rostrum with a bunch of red roses. After he handed the roses to Yatsenyuk, Oleh Barna took him by the waist and put his hands around his leg, trying to drag him away as Yatsenyuk clutched onto the rostrum.

Yahoo CEO gives birth to twin girls after big announcement

In this Tuesday, June 17, 2014, file photo, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer attends the Cannes Lions 2014, 61st International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France. Mayer gave birth to twin girls Thursday, the day after unveiling plans to hatch a new company to control Yahoo's Internet business. This is the second time that the 40-year-old Mayer has given birth since Yahoo hired her as CEO in July 2012. She and her husband have a 3-year-old son.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has followed a major business announcement with some big personal news.
She gave birth to twin girls Thursday, the day after unveiling plans to hatch a new company to control Yahoo's Internet business.
This is the second time that the 40-year-old Mayer has given birth since Yahoo hired her as CEO in July 2012. She and her husband, Zachary Bogue, have a 3-year-old son, Macallister.

10 December 2015

Bollywood star Salman Khan acquitted in hit-and-run case

In this Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 file photo, Bollywood actor Salman Khan attends a promotional event for his upcoming movie 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo' in Mumbai, India. An appeal court acquitted Khan on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, in a drunken-driving hit-and-run case from more than a decade ago saying that prosecutors had failed to prove charges accusing Khan of running over five men sleeping on a sidewalk, killing one of them.
An appeal court acquitted Bollywood star Salman Khan on Thursday in a drunken-driving, hit-and-run case from more than a decade ago.

The Bombay High Court threw out an earlier conviction and five-year sentence given the 49-year-old actor.

"The trial court's verdict is quashed and set aside," Justice A.R. Joshi said in reading the verdict to a crowded courtroom, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. "Salman is acquitted of all charges."

Yahoo's new plan: Spin off itself, not its Alibaba stake

In this Jan. 7, 2014, file photo, Yahoo president and CEO Marissa Mayer speaks during the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Yahoo announced Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, it is scrapping its original plan to spin off its prized stake in China’s Alibaba Group and will instead break off the rest of its business into a new company.
Internet pioneer Yahoo, under pressure from unhappy shareholders and desperate to avoid a huge investment-related tax bill, will break itself apart — just not in the way it had previously planned.
The company will now aim to spin off its struggling Internet business — essentially, everything associated with the Yahoo brand name — into a new company. Yahoo itself would then become little more than a holding company for its $32 billion stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

9 December 2015

German leader Angela Merkel named Time's Person of the Year

In this Thursday, July 16, 2015, file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles as she arrives for a meeting in Berlin. Merkel has been named as Time's Person of the Year, the publication announced Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, praised by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named Time's Person of the Year, praised Wednesday by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis.
Time also cited Merkel's strong response to "Vladimir Putin's creeping theft of Ukraine" and on its cover called her "Chancellor of the Free World."

6 December 2015

India officials investigate negligence after 18 patients die

A patient is shifted to an ambulance after the hospital she was being treated in had to be shut down because of power failure and being inundated with floodwaters in Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015. The relentless rains that lashed the state for three days eased Friday, but the misery of tens of thousands of people was far from over, with large parts of the main city still underwater along with the region's biggest airport.
Indian authorities were investigating possible negligence after 18 hospital patients died when rainwaters from massive floods in southern Tamil Nadu state knocked out generators and switched off ventilators.
The patients were in the intensive care unit at MIOT International hospital in the state capital of Chennai when floodwaters seeped into the room with the generators, cutting off power to the building and the ventilators earlier this week, state Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said Saturday.

5 December 2015

Spiderman, Batman, others mob New Delhi's Comic Con

Fans dressed as Hindu mythological characters pose for photographs at Delhi Comic Con in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. Indian mythological heroes, dressed in gaudy costumes with bejeweled crowns and sparkly clothes, added to the carnival atmosphere of India's annual comic book fest Saturday, ready to oblige fans with an autograph, a selfie or a photograph.
Spiderman was there. As was Batman. The supervillain Joker rubbed shoulders with Wicked Lulu from the League of Legends.
Thousands of fans cheered and clicked pictures with their favorite comic characters Saturday at India's annual comic book fest at a sprawling fairground in southeast New Delhi.
The fifth Delhi Comic Con had something for everyone who attended on this mild, wintry day. Die-hard fans came dressed as their favorite comic characters. Others crowded the more than 200 stalls selling comic books, graphic novels and merchandise on cartoon characters.

With lives at risk, Nepal struggles to escape dysfunction

In this Nov. 27, 2015 photo, Nepalese people sit on the top of a crowded public bus in Kathmandu, Nepal. An ethnic group’s blockade of a key border point with India is leaving Nepal with only about 15 percent of its normal supply of gasoline, diesel and cooking fuel, and creating shortages of other goods including food and medicine.
Shiva Parwar has been camping on the pavement for five days, waiting in line for cooking gas. There are 521 gas cylinders ahead of his, and not even the dealer knows when more fuel will arrive, thanks to a two-month-long border blockade that shows no sign of ending.
"I sent my wife and child back to our village home because we don't have the gas to cook," said Parwar, whose roadside candy stall is shuttered while he waits. "I have been eating in restaurants with borrowed money but that too has run out. I have no option but to wait in line."

18 die in India hospital as floods cut off power

A patient is shifted to an ambulance after the hospital she was being treated in had to be shut down because of power failure and being inundated with floodwaters in Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015. The relentless rains that lashed the state for three days eased Friday, but the misery of tens of thousands of people was far from over, with large parts of the main city still underwater along with the region's biggest airport.
Severe floods that hit the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu this week have killed 18 patients after rain waters knocked out generators, officials said Saturday.
State officials were investigating complaints of negligence by hospital authorities in the state capital Chennai, which is reeling from unprecedented floods.
The 18 patients were in the intensive care unit when a power outage affected ventilators in the hospital, leading to their deaths over the past two to three days, said Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan.

4 December 2015

Tourist photographs Australian scene of croc versus croc

In this Oct. 26, 2015 photo, a large crocodile flings a smaller crocodile through the air before eating it at Catfish Waterhole in the Rinyirru National Park in Australia's Queensland state. Tourist Sandra Bell was poised to photograph a sedate scene of two crocodiles sunning themselves at the edge of an Australian waterhole when the picture unexpectedly exploded into violence.
Tourist Sandra Bell was poised to photograph a sedate scene of two crocodiles sunning themselves at the edge of an Australian waterhole when the picture unexpectedly exploded into violence.
Bell was startled but managed to snap around 20 graphic photos as a 5-meter (16-foot) estuarine croc tore apart and devoured a far lighter 2.5-meter (8-foot) croc over 15 minutes.

3 December 2015

More rains coming as south India grapples with massive flood

People wade through a flooded road in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Weeks of torrential rains have forced the Chennai airport in southern India to close and have cut off several roads and highways, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes, government officials said Wednesday.
The heaviest rainfall in more than 100 years has devastated swathes of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, forcing thousands to leave their submerged homes as schools, offices and an airport remained shut for a second day Thursday.
Chennai, the state capital, received more than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain over 24 hours, significantly higher than the average for the entire month of December, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said.

More rains coming as south India grapples with massive flood

People wade through a flooded road in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Weeks of torrential rains have forced the Chennai airport in southern India to close and have cut off several roads and highways, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes, government officials said Wednesday.
The heaviest rainfall in more than 100 years has devastated swathes of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with thousands forced to leave their submerged homes and schools, offices and a regional airport shut for a second day Thursday.
At least 269 people had been killed in the state since heavy rains started in the beginning of November, said India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh, although no deaths have been reported in the latest deluge.

Yahoo mulls shareholder demand to sell Internet business

This Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, file photo, shows a sign in front of Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. In discussions that began Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, Yahoo’s board is mulling an activist shareholder’s demand to sell the Internet services that define the company to avoid paying more than $10 billion in taxes on its gains from a lucrative investment in China’s Alibaba Group.
Yahoo's board is considering an activist shareholder's demand to sell the Internet services the company is best known for, a maneuver that might help the company dodge a tax bill of more than $10 billion looming over its holdings in China's Alibaba Group.
The boardroom intrigue revolves around a recent proposal from Starboard Value, a New York hedge fund that been pressuring Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to take dramatic steps to boost the company's stock.

2 December 2015

In massive stranding, 337 whales beached on Chilean coast

In this photo taken on April 21, 2015, and released on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, by the Huinay Scientific Center, Sei whales lie dead at Caleta Buena, in the southern Aysen region of Chile. The coast of southern Chile has turned into a grave for 337 sei whales that were found beached in what scientists say is one of the biggest whale strandings ever recorded.
The coast of southern Chile has become a grave for 337 sei whales that were found beached in what scientists say is one of the biggest whale strandings ever recorded.
Biologist Vreni Haussermann told The Associated Press Tuesday that she made the discovery along with other scientists in June during an observation flight over fjords in Chile's southern Patagonia region. The team has been collecting samples since then.

Facebook CEO, now a father, will give away most of his money

In this undated photo provided by Mark Zuckerberg, Max Chan Zuckerberg is held by her parents, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Zuckerberg. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife announced the birth of their daughter, Max, as well as plans to donate most of their wealth to a new organization that will tackle a broad range of the world's ills.
Talk about birth announcements: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife say they'll devote nearly all their wealth — roughly $45 billion — to solving the world's problems in celebration of their new baby daughter, Max.
Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla Chan, gave birth to a 7-pound, 8-ounce daughter last week. But the couple didn't put out the news until Tuesday, when Zuckerberg posted it on Facebook, of course.

1 December 2015

Rudder problem, pilot actions led to Indonesia AirAsia crash

In this Sunday, Jan.11, 2015 file photo, crew members of Crest Onyx recovery ship prepare to unload the newly-recovered tail section of crashed AirAsia Flight 8501 at Kumai port in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia. Indonesian investigators say a faulty rudder control system and the pilots' response led to the crash of the plane last year that killed all 162 people on board. The National Transportation Safety Committee announced Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, that an analysis of Flight 8501's data recorder showed that the Airbus A320 had problems with its rudder control system while flying between the Indonesian city of Surabaya and Singapore on Dec. 28.
A rudder control system problem that had occurred nearly two dozen times in the previous 12 months coupled with the pilots' response led to last year's crash of an AirAsia plane in Indonesia that killed all 162 people on board, investigators said Tuesday.
In releasing their report, the country's National Transportation Safety Committee said an analysis of Flight 8501's data recorder showed the rudder control system had sent repeated warnings to the pilots during the Dec. 28 flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.