Court says Obama exceeded authority in making appointments

President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority by making appointments when the Senate was on a break last year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The court’s broad ruling would sharply limit the power that presidents throughout history have used to make recess appointments in the face of Senate opposition and inaction. A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals...

Read More..

French-led troops seize airport in Mali Islamist bastion

BAMAKO: French-led forces Saturday wrested control of the airport at the Islamist stronghold of Gao, 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) northeast of the Mali capital Bamako, a security source said."Malian and French security forces have secured the airport of Gao and the Wanbary bridge. The two strategic points are under their control," the Malian source said.The airport is located about six...

Read More..

Four drown in Kerala houseboat capsize

ALAPPUZHA: Four tourists from Tamil Nadu drowned as the houseboat they were cruising tilted and capsized at Punnamada lake here on Saturday, police said. The boat had 61 tourists and all but the four, including three women and a child, were rescued. They were rushed to a hospital where they were declare dead, sources said. The mishap happened close to the landing point where the tourists were being...

Read More..

Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...

Read More..

Cops Using More Private Cameras to Nab Suspects

Philadelphia detectives were able to quickly make an arrest in the murder and burning of a female pediatrician by viewing surveillance video of nearby stores and a hospital that captured the suspect entering the doctor's home and later getting into his truck.In the hours after Dr. Melissa Ketunuti's body was found strangled and burning in her basement, city's Homicide Task Force...

Read More..

Football: Balotelli going nowhere this month, says Mancini

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has once again rejected speculation linking Mario Balotelli with AC Milan and admits he is struggling to add to his squad ahead of next week's transfer deadline.The Italy striker has made just seven Premier League starts this season after a string of controversial incidents.Balotelli, 22, attempted to take the club to...

Read More..

875 police personnel awarded on Republic Day; CRPF tops list

NEW DELHI: A total of 875 police and para-military personnel have been decorated by the President for gallantry and outstanding services on Republic Day eve with CRPF topping the list. Constable Daler Singh (posthumous) from Jammu and Kashmir is the lone recipient of the President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) this time, a Home Ministry statement said today. Police Medal for Gallantry...

Read More..

Deformed Dolphin Accepted Into New Family

In 2011, behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany were surprised to discover that a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)—animals not usually known for forging bonds with other species—had taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The researchers observed the group in...

Read More..

New Orleans Ready for 1st Super Bowl Since Katrina

The people of New Orleans have hosted nine Super Bowls since 1970, but Super Bowl 2013 may be one of the most meaningful yet.That, of course, is because it's the first Super Bowl in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005.When the San Francisco 49ers compete against the Baltimore Ravens on Feb. 3, it may rank with the 2002 game, when New Orleans hosted...

Read More..

OPM plans to shake up charity program raise concerns about reduced donations

The Office of Personnel Management wants to shake up the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the charitable-giving system for federal employees, but in the process the agency could risk losing donors and reducing contributions. One rule under review by the Obama administration would “eliminate the use of cash, check and money order contributions. Instead, all donations will be required to...

Read More..

13 bids for Yishun mixed commercial & residential site tender

SINGAPORE: The tender for a mixed commercial and residential site at Yishun Ring Road/Yishun Avenue 9 has attracted 13 bids.According to the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the highest bid of S$212.1 million was submitted by CEL Property - subsidiary of Singapore-listed Chip Eng Seng Corporation.This translates into about S$8,551 per square metre of gross floor area.The second highest...

Read More..

Hindu terror: Congress rallies behind Shinde as BJP wants him sacked

NEW DELHI/BANGALORE: Congress and the government on Thursday slammed BJP for its "unnecessary and unwarranted" agitation over home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remarks on Hindu terror, saying it was a "diversionary tactics" to keep away media attention from its internal affairs. Rejecting BJP chief Rajnath Singh's demand for an apology by Shinde on the issue, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh...

Read More..

Deformed Dolphin Accepted Into New Family

In 2011, behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany were surprised to discover that a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)—animals not usually known for forging bonds with other species—had taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The researchers observed the group in...

Read More..

Majority Favors Obama's Gun Control Plan

Jan 24, 2013 7:00am Charles Dharapak/AP PhotoMost Americans respond positively to the stricter gun control measures Barack Obama proposed last week in the wake of the tragic shootings in Newtown, Conn. – but by less of a margin than such measures receive outside the context of partisan politics.Fifty-three percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll view Obama’s...

Read More..

Smaller terror groups drive threat in Indonesia

JAKARTA: With all the major suspects involved in the 2002 Bali bombings killed or imprisoned, smaller groups with more local aims are driving the terrorist threat in Indonesia.Experts highlighted this, as part of discussions into the changing pattern of terrorism, at a forum in Jakarta.Indonesian security forces have so far arrested almost 800 people on suspicion of militancy and sentenced...

Read More..

Want to reduce negative politics: Rahul tells party leaders

NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said he wanted to try and reduce the "negative politics" and get into "positive politics", which would take the country forward. Addressing party leaders at the 24, Akbar Road party office here, Gandhi said he wanted to make the Congress party "accessible to as many people... this is my sentiment". He said political discussions...

Read More..

The Promise and Perils of Mining Asteroids

Encouraged by new space technologies, a growing fleet of commercial rockets and the vast potential to generate riches, a group of entrepreneurs announced Tuesday that they planned to mine the thousands of near-Earth asteroids in the coming decades.The new company, Deep Space Industries (DSI), is not the first in the field, nor is it the most well-financed. But with their ambition to become...

Read More..

Te'o Tells Couric He Briefly Lied About Girlfriend

Manti Te'o briefly lied to the media and the public after discovering his online girlfriend did not exist and was a part of an elaborate hoax, he admitted in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Katie Couric.The star Notre Dame linebacker, who has been hounded by the reporters since the story broke Jan. 16, told Couric in a taped interview Tuesday that he was not lying up until...

Read More..

Broadcasting Board ‘dysfunctional,’ IG says

Voice of America coffeee cup. VOA no longer uses these colors, changing the logo to blue, gray and green several years ago. (David Byrd - David Byrd) It’s not often that an inspector general’s report uses the word “dysfunctional” several times.But the Broadcasting Board of Governors — which oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio and (the un-watched) TV Marti,...

Read More..

Taxi drivers in S. Korea threaten to go on strike

SEOUL : Taxi drivers in South Korea are threatening to go on a partial strike from January 30.It is in protest against a government decision to block legislation that would give them subsidies for public transport.The so-called "Taxi Bill" was passed in Parliament earlier this month, but was vetoed by President Lee Myung-bak and will go back to Parliament for another vote.If Parliament...

Read More..

Chidambaram in Hong Kong, seeks to reassure foreign investors

HONG KONG: India's economy will grow "no better than" 5.7% in the current fiscal year but will regain traction in 2013/2014, the finance minister said on Tuesday, as he sought to reassure international investors that the government remained committed to pro-growth policies and reforms. P Chidambaram made the comments at a media briefing after meeting investors in Hong Kong as part of a four-city...

Read More..

Inauguration: 7.5 Things You Should Have Seen

A presidential inauguration is a big, long event that lasts all day and into the night–and who has time to really watch it? People have jobs, ones that don’t let you off for a federal holiday.Everyone (or, at least, some) will be talking about it, which means potential embarrassment for anyone who doesn’t know what happened. Thankfully, ABC employs  news professionals stationed in Washington,...

Read More..

Parents-to-be welcome new pro-family incentives

SINGAPORE: From 1 May 2013, working fathers will be legally entitled to one week of paid paternity leave. Parents welcome the move, but some pro-family organisations are calling for bolder measures. Eileen Chan and Alvin Tan tied the knot two years ago. They are expecting their firstborn in April, and with that, the bumped-up Baby Bonus. "I think the extra S$2,000 will come in handy,...

Read More..

Hafiz Saeed seeks to exploit Shinde's Hindu terror remarks, BJP launches all-out attack

LAHORE/SILIGURI/JAMMU: Mumbai attacks mastermind and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed on Monday sought to exploit home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's jibe against RSS and BJP saying Indian "propaganda" against Pakistani organizations of spreading terror now stood "exposed". A day after Shinde accused BJP and RSS of running terror camps and indulging in Hindu terror, he went to the extend of levelling an...

Read More..

Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

Read More..

Obama Second Inaugural: A Déjà vu Moment

At the height of the "fiscal cliff" showdown, the final political battle of his first term, President Barack Obama lamented the bitter persistence of Washington partisanship as "déjà vu all over again."Today, as Obama delivers his second inaugural address on the west front of the Capitol, he could say the same thing about the looming political battles of his new term.Four years...

Read More..

Biden’s gun task force met with all sides, but kept its eye on the target

Vice President Biden was curt, avoiding confrontation when he sat down with the National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates. He looked across the table in his ornate conference room and asked the NRA official if his group could back a ban on assault weapons. “No,” was James J. Baker’s reply. There was little discussion, no real debate over whether a 1990s ban had worked....

Read More..

Football: Clubs may be demoted over racism: Blatter

SAINT-PETERSBURG, Russia: FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in St Petersburg on Sunday that clubs where racist incidents occurred could face punishments of anything from points deduction or even demotion.The 76-year-old Swiss added that without heavy punishment racism would remain within the sport."The entire world fights against racism and discrimination," Blatter told a press conference."Football...

Read More..

Shinde's Hindu terror remarks 'oxygen' to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP on Sunday attacked home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for accusing it and RSS of running terror training camps and demanded an apology from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for it. "Their (Congress's) destructive mindset is reflected in the statement of the home minister. The statement he has given at the chintan shivir (brainstorming camp) is very objectionable. It's not only unacceptable...

Read More..

Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

Read More..