100 Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails to be freed soon
GANDHINAGAR - Hundred of the over 600 Indian fishermen held in Pakistani jails will be released soon, a fishermen's forum official said here Tuesday.
India
Sugar Mills should ensure ethanol to oil companies: Pawar
NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday appealed to the sugar mills to ensure continuous and adequate supplies of ethanol to the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) not only to make ethanol blending programme a success in India, but also to ensure adequate price for ethanol as well as sugar in all the years.
Kashmiri Pandits celebrate Pushkar festival after 11 years near Srinagar
SHADIPORA - After a gap of 11 years, Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district are celebrating Pushkar festival with fervour and gaiety in the Shadipora area.
Railways to introduce pilot ‘Yuva Trains’
NEW DELHI - Union Railways Ministry on Tuesday said that it will soon introduce the first ever 'Yuva Trains' which are targeted mainly for the unemployed youths of the country.
Asia
Fort Campbell brigade headed to Afghanistan
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Fort Campbell's 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division will deploy 3,400 soldiers to Afghanistan in the early summer of 2010.
Fort Campbell brigade to deploy to Afghanistan
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Fort Campbell's 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division will deploy 3,400 soldiers to Afghanistan in the early summer of 2010.
Suicide bombing kills 3 at NW Pakistan press club
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber struck Tuesday outside a press club in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing three people and wounding 17 in an attack that underscored the danger to journalists trying to cover Pakistan's Taliban-led insurgency.
Karzai orders investigation into cousin's slaying
KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he has asked the Interior Ministry to investigate the slaying of a young relative in a possible revenge killing connected to a family feud.
United States
Amos Makes Palin Promise
American singer TORI AMOS has vowed to run for office if former U.S.
OppenheimerFunds to pay $77M in Ill. settlement
NEW YORK - OppenheimerFunds Inc. said Tuesday it will pay the state of Illinois $77 million to settle an investigation into the firm's management of a college savings program.
Evergreen panels chosen for Massachusetts project
MARLBORO, Mass. - Evergreen Solar Inc.
US freezing assets of Iraq-based insurgent group
WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department is freezing the assets of an Iraq-based insurgent group that has conducted or supported violent raids against U.S.
Accidents & Disasters
Boy dies after falling into Mumbai manhole
MUMBAI - A five-year-old boy, who had gone missing since Tuesday afternoon, was found dead in a manhole in northeast Mumbai's Mankhurd suburb.
Smuggling bid foiled in Dubai
DUBAI - The Dubai Customs Tuesday foiled a bid to smuggle narcotics by arresting a passenger carrying small capsules of drugs hidden in his stomach, WAM news agency reported Tuesday.
Ruchika case should be re-opened, says friend
CHANDIGARH - Aradhana Gupta, a close friend of Ruchika Girhotra who was molested by former Haryana director general of police (DGP) S.P.S.
Three prisoners flee from police van
KOLKATA - Three prisoners Tuesday fled from a prison van after it was hit by a truck in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, police said here.
Crime
Egyptian court upholds 4 years jailing of blogger
CAIRO - Egypt's High Appeal Court has upheld the four-year prison sentence given to an Egyptian blogger who was convicted of insulting Islam and Egypt's president.
Young sailor Dekker's dreams dashed
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Just four months ago Laura Dekker was a carefree 13-year-old with an extraordinary dream - to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
Gunmen kill family of Mexican drug war hero
MEXICO CITY - Gunmen mowed down the family of a Mexican marine just hours after the military honored him as a national hero for losing his life during a raid that took down powerful drug kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva.
Kidnapping suspect arrested in Mauritania
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania - A security official says that Mauritanian police have arrested a man presumed to have kidnapped two Italians last week.
Latest
Nielsen's top 20 for Dec. 14-20
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co.
In week stuffed with repeats, CBS dominates rivals
NEW YORK - The television ratings make it look like CBS was the only broadcast network working last week.
New York ranks at bottom in US happiness rating
NEW YORK - New Yorkers, it seems, are the most unhappy bunch you can imagine in the US, a study published in Science magazine said Tuesday.
Israel passes demands in prisoner swap to Hamas
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel delivered its counter-demands Tuesday for a deal with Hamas to exchange about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a single Israeli soldier held captive by Gaza militants for more than three years.
World
Sarah Palin lands title of telling ‘biggest lie of the year’
LONDON - Ex- vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has won the title of telling the biggest political lie of the year.
Environment
Fissures within Indian climate team get clearer
COPENHAGEN - Differences within the Indian government delegation at the Dec 7-18 climate summit became apparent here Tuesday, with delegation leader Shyam Saran deciding to return to New Delhi before the arrival of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
Letters depicting Princess Di’s true heartache to go under the hammer
LONDON - Princess Diana poured out her heart and the inner turmoil at the breakdown of her marriage in a series of letters to her beautician Janet Filderman, which are set to go under the hammer.
Prince Harry, Chelsy Davy’s ‘9-hr Christmas lovefest in London’
LONDON - Prince Harry and his on-off girlfriend Chelsy Davy have reportedly shared a nine-hour long steamy night at her London pad.
UK priest says its OK for poor people to shoplift
London, December 22 (ANI): A vicar has created controversy by encouraging the poor to steal.
Pak bureaucracy stalls development work in POK
ISLAMABAD - Internal strife between Pakistan's Water and Power Ministry and the administration of occupied Kashmir is hampering development work of the region.
Keylong freezes at minus 9.6 degrees Celsius
SHIMLA - Keylong was the coldest place in Himachal Pradesh Tuesday, as the minimum temperature there fell to minus 9.6 degrees Celsius, weather officials said.
Himachal to launch plastic-free drive
SHIMLA - The Himachal Pradesh government will launch a week-long campaign from Dec 21 to make the state plastic-free by removing all polythene bags from residential areas and hillsides, the chief minister said Tuesday.
2009 one of world’s hottest years since 1850
COPENHAGEN - This year is likely to rank as one of the "10 warmest" since 1850, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said Tuesday in a report providing further evidence that the world is heating up.
Temperature falls in Delhi
NEW DELHI - The national capital Tuesday experienced winter chill with both minimum and maximum temperatures dropping below normal.
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces on Thursday released five Iranian officials who were detained in January 2007 in northern Iraq on suspicion of aiding Shiite Iraqi militants, Iranian and Iraqi officials said.
Mullah Krekar, the founder of the militant organization Ansar al-Islam, but his whereabouts is very much open to all.
KOLKATA - India defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the fourth one-day international (ODI) at the Eden Gardens here Thursday to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five match-series.
Christmas is here and the year is also nearing an end.