2,500 needy families to get help with childcare costs

SINGAPORE: Some 2,500 low-income families will benefit from a S$250,000 initiative to help their children. The five Commmunity Development Councils will help identify eligible families with monthly household incomes of less than S$3,500.OCBC Bank will also contribute S$100 when a low-income family deposits the first S$50 into their Child Development Account (CDA). Under the existing Baby...

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You are practising politics of anger, turn to love: Rahul to Narendra Modi

BHUJ (GUJARAT): In a veiled attack on chief minister Narendra Modi, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi accused him on Saturday of practising "politics of anger" and said it was time people switch to the power of "love", preached by the Mahatma, to ensure progress of Gujarat. "Common man dreams are not looked at ... it is just one man's dream that prevails in the state and who is doing politics...

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National GeographicThe aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles...

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School Shooting: Officials Seek Details on Gunman

The FBI is in at least three states interviewing relatives and friends of the elementary school gunman who killed 20 children, seven adults and himself, trying to put together a better picture of the shooter and uncover any possible explanation for the massacre, ABC News has learned.The authorities have fanned out to New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts to interview relatives...

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Bell tolls for Beijing's Drum Tower homes

BEIJING - China's capital is to destroy swathes of ancient courtyard homes surrounding a 13th-century landmark in what is being called an effort to preserve Beijing's historical legacy, residents said Friday.Large numbers of hutong homes, some of them dating back to the Qing dynasty, will be demolished around the Drum and Bell Towers -- a tourist hotspot in Beijing's historic centre --...

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Vaishnodevi gets seasons's first snowfall

JAMMU: Trikuta hills housing the cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi today received the season's first snowfall even as pilgrims continued their journey to pay obeisance.Trikuta hills and nearby areas received 4 inches of season's first snow, shrine board officials said.Despite the snowfall, over 15,000 pilgrims are on their way to the cave shrine to pay their obeisance, they said.Braving the chill,...

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Global Checkup: Most People Living Longer, But Sicker

If the world's entire population went in for a collective checkup, would the doctor's prognosis be good or bad? Both, according to new studies published in The Lancet medical journal.The vast collaborative effort, called the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010, includes papers by nearly 500 authors in 50 countries. Spanning four decades of data, it represents...

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Critics Faulted Rice's Work on Benghazi, Africa

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice removed herself from possible consideration as secretary of state after becoming yet another player in the divide between the left and right.Rice, who withdrew her name Thursday, has faced months of criticism over how she characterized the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. She also has come under fire for her approach...

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Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 2012 Christmas card: Fiscal cliff, Gretzky in heaven

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen — your Rep. Loretta Sanchez Christmas card for 2012! (Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez) Over the past decade, the California Democrat’s wacky holiday greetings have drawn a cult following. “I’ve seen them being sold on eBay,” the congresswoman told us. Nice topical theme this year! “The ‘fiscal cliff’ is a very serious situation,...

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Cricket: Clarke vows no complacency against Sri Lanka

HOBART, Australia: Skipper Michael Clarke has vowed there will be no complacency in the Test series with Sri Lanka, insisting Australia will improve on their recent performances against South Africa.The Australians had the better of the opening two Tests against the world number one Proteas only to be crushed by 309 runs in the series decider in Perth last week.Sri Lanka are ranked sixth...

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