Obama recognises Syrian opposition

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Syrian opposition was now "the legitimate representative" of the Syrian people, in the most significant US intervention yet in the brutal civil war."We have made a decision that the Syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population, that we consider them the legitimate...

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Apna Ghar case: Contempt petition seeks action against Haryana chief secretary

CHANDIGARH: A contempt of court petition was filed on Tuesday before the Punjab and Haryana high court against the chief secretary (CS), Haryana, following the disappearance of two female inmates of Apna Ghar.Petitioner Usav Singh Bains, a member of Child Rights Protection Network (CRPN), has sought contempt of court proceedings against the chief secretary for state government's failure to provide...

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal ObservatoryThis image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon...

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Obama Predicts GOP Will Cave on Taxes

As the clock ticks toward a tax hike on all Americans in 20 days, President Obama predicted Republicans would join Democrats to extend current rates for 98 percent of earners before the end of the year."I'm pretty confident that Republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to trying to protect tax cuts for high-income individuals," Obama said today in an exclusive interview...

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Losing points in Yemen

Despite the indignities of serving in a conflict-mired country and living in a decaying hotel, U.S. diplomats posted to Yemen have one major perk to look forward to: Starwood points. Lots and lots of them, entitling them to dozens of free nights at Sheraton, W Hotels and Westin properties worldwide. Alas, that’s about to end, our colleague Ernesto Londoño reports. The hotel chain is expected...

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Sembawang, Nee Soon retailers hit by fee hike

SINGAPORE: Already facing dwindling profits because of the shopping malls that have sprung up nearby, hundreds of heartland retailers in the Sembawang and Nee Soon Group Representation Constituencies will be hit by higher fees - the increase is up to four-fold - for using the demarcated areas outside their shops. The fee hike, the first in 17 years for shopkeepers in the constituencies,...

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SC refers Zakia Jafri's plea to larger bench

NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench on Monday referred to a larger bench the plea of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri's widow seeking documents on the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the Gulberg Housing Society riot case in Ahmedabad in 2002.A two-judge bench of Justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur said it cannot go into the issue as the SIT probe and related issues concerning the...

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U.K. Dash for Shale Gas a Test for Global Fracking

Thomas K. Grose in London The starting gun has sounded for the United Kingdom's "dash for gas," as the media here have dubbed it.As early as this week, a moratorium on shale gas production is expected to be lifted. And plans to streamline and speed the regulatory process through a new Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil were unveiled last week in the annual autumn budget statement by...

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Syrian Ex-General: Assad Will Use Chemical Weapons

A former top general in Syria's chemical weapons program says he doesn't doubt for a moment that President Bashar al-Assad will deploy his chemical weapons arsenal as he tries to hold onto power and crush the uprising that started almost two years ago."The regime started to fall and deteriorate. It's coming to its end," said retired Major General Adnan Sillou in an interview in...

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Case reviews could test Obama’s ‘evolution’ on same-sex marriage

The Supreme Court gave itself plenty of room to maneuver when it agreed Friday to review the issue of same-sex marriage. The justices could decide one of the great political and civil rights questions of our time, rule narrowly on the two cases it accepted or even punt, on the grounds that the cases are not properly before them. But the court may have made it more difficult for President...

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