White House photo shows Obama firing shotgun

On his 51st birthday last August, President Obama hit the links with a group of buddies and then flew by helicopter to Camp David. He changed into jeans, picked up an expensive shotgun and started shooting clay targets. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t think this was headline-worthy news. But on Saturday morning, the White House released and promoted a photograph of Obama shooting skeet...

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Argentina to launch new inflation data method

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina said Saturday it will start using a new method of measuring inflation after the International Monetary Fund censured Buenos Aires over the quality of its economic data.Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino told C5N television that it would be "a new consumer price index to replace the current measure that has supposedly caused so many problems for the IMF."Lorenzino...

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Haryana pineline scam: Deputy commissioner orders FIR against 5 govt officials, many others

CHANDIGARH: Jhajjar deputy commissioner, AjitBalajiJoshi, has ordered registration of an FIR against around a dozen persons, including five agriculture department officials, in the subsidy scam related to laying of underground pipelines.Joshi told The Times of India on Saturday that they have also sought comments from the agriculture department in the matter. FIR has been sought against former assistant...

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Pictures We Love: Best of January

Photograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, APThe magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg...

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Body of Missing Mom Reportedly Found in Turkey

The body of an American woman who went missing while on a solo trip to Turkey has been pulled from a bay in Istanbul, and nine people have been held for questioning, according to local media.Sarai Sierra, 33, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board a flight home to New York City.The state-run Andolu Agency reported that residents found a woman's body today...

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VA study finds more veterans committing suicide

Every day about 22 veterans in the United States kill themselves, a rate that is about 20 percent higher than the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 2007 estimate, according to a two-year study by a VA researcher. The VA study indicates that more than two-thirds of the veterans who commit suicide are 50 or older, suggesting that the increase in veterans’ suicides is not primarily driven by...

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Twitter hit by "sophisticated" cyber attack

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter said Friday it had been hit by a "sophisticated" cyber attack similar to those that recently hit major Western news outlets, and that the passwords of about 250,000 users were stolen."This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident," Twitter information security director Bob Lord said in a blog post.Lord referred to an...

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ED raids in 3 cities, hawala money seized

JALANDHAR: The enforcement directorate (ED) conducted simultaneous raids in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Delhi on Friday and recovered money received through hawala channels. It is learnt that the directorate also seized documents pertaining to hawala transactions running into a few hundred crores.The raid in Jalandhar was conducted at Happy Forex Pvt Ltd in Adda Hoshiarpur in the early afternoon. The...

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Pictures We Love: Best of January

Photograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, APThe magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg...

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Hillary Clinton Says Goodbye...Until 2016?

Feb 1, 2013 6:48pm Image Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP PhotoAfter four years, nearly a million miles traveled and 112 countries visited, Hillary Clinton stepped down as the 67th secretary of state on Friday. But even on this, her final day as America’s top diplomat, she could not escape the questions about what she’ll do four years from now.Many of the 1,000 employees...

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Senate ethics panel reviews gift accusations against Menendez

The Senate Ethics Committee is reviewing allegations that Sen. Robert Menendez accepted inappropriate gifts from a Florida doctor who has flown the New Jersey Democrat to his estate in the Dominican Republic, a senior member of the panel confirmed Thursday. Sen. Johnny Isakson (Ga.), the ranking Republican on the committee, said the panel saw reports of the Tuesday FBI raid on the West...

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Sony invites press to mystery New York event

SAN FRANCISCO: Sony sent out invitations Thursday to a mystery event in New York City on February 20, sparking rumors that the world would get its first look at a new-generation PlayStation videogame console.Both Sony and Microsoft are expected this year to show off successors to their competing consoles, which have been evolving into home entertainment hubs for films, television, music,...

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TOI Social Impact Awards: When an IT mind took the organic route to farming

BORIAVI (ANAND): Devesh Patel, 30, graduated in computer applications in 2005. But the idea of flying off to the US didn't attract him. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a farmer, returning to the land of his forefathers — Anand's Boriavi village. Until recently, Devesh's father Ramesh, 56, suffered from chronic breathing problems induced by the chemical fertilizers he used. Nausea...

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Sinkhole Swallows Buildings in China

Photograph from AFP/Getty ImagesThe sinkhole that formed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou (pictured) is, unfortunately, not a new occurrence for the country.Many areas of the world are susceptible to these sudden formations, including the U.S. Florida is especially prone, but Guatemala, Mexico, and the area surrounding the Dead Sea in the Middle East are also known for their impressive sinkholes....

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What If Undocumented Immigrants Had Voted?

If every undocumented immigrant had cast a vote for President Obama in 2012, he would have won Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, and he would have beaten Mitt Romney by nearly 11 percentage points nationally, instead of three.Only citizens can vote, however, and 11.2 million unauthorized residents didn't get the chance.But with immigration overhaul on the table, legalizing...

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Mass. governor taps friend to fill Kerry seat

Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick (D) selected William “Mo” Cowan, his former chief of staff, to temporarily fill Sen. John F. Kerry’s seat, bringing the number of African Americans in the Senate to two, a historic high. Cowan, 43, will serve until a special election in the summer determines who will serve out the remainder of Kerry’s term, which ends in 2015. Kerry was picked by President...

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Research links acute malnutrition to gut microbes

WASHINGTON: A dearth of calories may not be the only reason some children face acute malnutrition, according to a new study out this week that says the microbes living in our guts may also be to blame.Within hunger-stricken communities, not all children fare the same. Some develop acute malnutrition, while others, even their brothers and sisters, may stay healthy.And some children respond...

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Discoms to allow repayment of arrears in instalments

CHANDIGARH: In a bid to increase the case recovery of electricity bills, the Haryana power distribution corporations have decided to allow payment of arrears in installments.Till now, the distribution companies were resorting to civil or legal recoveries after disconnection in case the arrears of bills crossed three billing cycles.Chairman and managing director of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam...

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New Theory on How Homing Pigeons Find Home

Jane J. Lee Homing pigeons (Columba livia) have been prized for their navigational abilities for thousands of years. They've served as messengers during war, as a means of long-distance communication, and as prized athletes in international races.But there are places around the world that seem to confuse these birds—areas where they repeatedly vanish in the wrong direction or scatter on...

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Obama Confident Immigration Reform Will Pass

President Barack Obama expressed confidence on Wednesday that he would sign comprehensive immigration reform into law by the end of this year.In an interview with Univision's Maria Elena Salinas, Obama explained that significant details of a bill still must be worked out by lawmakers, including the structure of a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented...

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Union says Congress can save money by lowering amount paid for contractor salaries

As policymakers prepare for the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration, the largest federal employee union is taking the opportunity to press a pet peeve — large payments to federal contractors. Labor leaders, including those with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), have long pushed Congress to lower payments for contractor salaries. The cap on Defense...

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Tibetans in India launch drive against China

NEW DELHI: The Tibetan government-in-exile in India on Tuesday announced plans for a four-day campaign to bring global pressure on China in a bid to end a string of self-immolations in their Himalayan homeland.Penpa Tsering, speaker of the exiled Tibetan parliament based in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala, said the drive would include rallies and meetings and begin in New Delhi...

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Harbhajan Singh to produce Punjabi movies

JALANDHAR: Cricketer Harbhajan Singh (Bhajji) has moved on to film production and would start with Punjabi movies. He revealed this on Tuesday and said that he has started a production house named " Bhajji and Madan Production" which would be producing two Punjabi films initially."Work on the first movie would start around April or May. We are doing a lot of spade work and we also plan to call in...

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Timbuktu’s vulnerable manuscripts are city’s "gold"

French and Malian troops surrounded Timbuktu on Monday and began combing the labyrinthine city for Islamist fighters. Witnesses, however, said the Islamists, who claim an affiliation to al Qaeda and had imposed a Taliban-style rule in the northern Malian city over the last ten months, slipped into the desert a few days earlier. But before fleeing, the militants reportedly set fire to several...

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Jodi Arias Borrowed Gas Cans Before Killing Ex

Accused murderer Jodi Arias borrowed two five-gallon gas cans from a former boyfriend the day before she drove to Arizona to kill another ex, Travis Alexander, according to testimony in Arias' murder trial today.In cross examination, prosecutors also forced Arias' former live-in boyfriend Darryl Brewer to describe his sex life with Arias as "pretty aggressive."Brewer, 52, dated...

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Bipartisan group of senators to unveil framework for immigration overhaul

A key group of senators from both parties will unveil on Monday the framework of a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, including a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants. The detailed, four-page statement of principles will carry the signatures of four Republicans and four Democrats, a bipartisan push that would have been unimaginable just...

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Australia PM's partner apologises for Asian doctor joke

SYDNEY: The partner of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, whose fiery speech against sexism last year made global headlines, apologised Tuesday for making a quip about an "Asian female doctor".Tim Mathieson made the comment during a reception at The Lodge in Canberra on Monday night attended by members of the West Indies cricket team.Mathieson, who has worked to raise awareness about...

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Court adjourns Patiala gang rape case till Feb 4

PATIALA: Patiala court, on Monday, adjourned the Patiala gang rape and suicide case till February 4 after the defence lawyer sought the copy of a compact disc, allegedly containing statement of the victim."The CD was prepared by a cameraman of Samana and now police have made that a case property. We want to hear the exact wording of the girl," said Kundan Singh Nagra, counsel of the accused, after...

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Space Pictures This Week: Martian Gas, Cloud Trails

Image courtesy SDO/NASAThe sun is more than meets the eye, and researchers should know. They've equipped telescopes on Earth and in space with instruments that view the sun in at least ten different wavelengths of light, some of which are represented in this collage compiled by NASA and released January 22. (See more pictures of the sun.)By viewing the different wavelengths of light given off by the...

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US Mom Missing in Turkey Took Side Trips

Sarai Sierra, the New York mother who disappeared in Turkey while on a solo trip, took several side excursions out of the country, but stayed in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.Turkish media reported today that police were trying to establish why Sierra visited Amsterdam and Munich. Police were also trying to establish the identity of a...

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Sensitive skin problems aren't skin deep

SINGAPORE: Most might assume that sensitive skin is mainly due to in an intake of the wrong food, or the application of the wrong product. However, the main reason for sensitive skin lies on the surface of the skin, and what that layer is subjected to from the daily environment.In a sensitive skin survey held by Curél, the dermatological research oriented brainchild of Japanese chemical...

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TOI Social Impact Awards: An evening to honour India's changemakers

They took the path less travelled, and on Monday it will lead a group of remarkable men and women to the stage for the second Times of India Social Impact Awards in association with J P Morgan. The awards are being given to changemakers within NGOs, corporates and the government who have quietly worked to transform the lives of millions of marginalized Indians. President Pranab Mukherjee will be...

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