Top Australian cleric apologises for abuse

SYDNEY: Australia's most senior Catholic cleric on Monday apologised to those who "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers after a turbulent year for the Church.Sydney Archbishop George Pell said he was shocked and ashamed, following a series of paedophile allegations against priests and claims that they were hushed up.In his Christmas message, Pell said his heart went...

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DRDO mulls 'stress-buster' bunkers for Army in Siachen

NEW DELHI: Soldiers sitting in their bunkers in snow-clad Siachen will get to feel sea waves, chirping of birds and winds passing through forests as part of a DRDO project to break the monotonous environment and sense of isolation faced by them in the world's highest battlefield. As part of its efforts to provide troops with "enriched environment" at isolated locations, DRDO has started working...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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NRA Chief LaPierre: 'Call Me Crazy'

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre fired back at his critics today, defending his proposal to put armed guards in every school in the country as a way to prevent future tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six adults."If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call...

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Advocates fear gun control agenda will divert Obama from immigration reform

President Obama’s pledge to pursue a package of gun control measures next month has immigration advocates concerned whether the effort could delay or distract the White House from moving quickly to fulfill another of his second-term priorities. Latino leaders, disappointed by Obama’s inability to achieve comprehensive immigration reform in his first term, say they understand and support...

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CIA chief decries torture in Osama bin Laden hunt movie

WASHINGTON: Acting CIA director Michael Morell said that "Zero Dark Thirty," the Hollywood take on the hunt for Osama bin Laden, exaggerates the importance of information obtained by harsh interrogations.The movie by Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow tells the story of the decade-long search after September 11, 2001 that climaxed in last year's dramatic and deadly raid in...

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Govt for stricter penalty in ‘rarest of rare’ rape cases

NEW DELHI: Forced on the back foot by unprecedented public fury over the savage gangrape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus last Sunday, the government on Saturday announced its intent to immediately amend the law to provide for death penalty in "rarest of rare" rape cases.Simultaneously, five police personnel found responsible for lapses that led to the gangrape going undetected despite the bus...

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Urban Advocates Say New Gun Control Talk Overdue

For years, voices have cried in the urban wilderness: We need to talk about gun control.Yet the guns blazed on.It took a small-town slaughter for gun control to become a political priority. Now, decades' worth of big-city arguments against easy access to guns are finally being heard, because an unstable young man invaded an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., with a military-style...

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Hagel, under fire as possible nominee, says remarks on gays “do not reflect my views”

President Obama’s leading choice to head the Pentagon, former senator Chuck Hagel, issued an apology Friday for “insensitive” comments he had made about gays, moving to shield his potential nomination from a growing chorus of criticism. Hagel’s apology came a day after the country’s leading gay rights organization, the Human Rights Campaign, described the former Nebraska Republican’s past...

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Hugh Grant wins 'substantial' phone-hacking damages

LONDON: Hugh Grant has accepted a "substantial sum" from Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid publisher over phone hacking by the News of the World, the British actor's lawyer said on Friday.The "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star will donate the damages to the Hacked Off campaign against press intrusion."My aim has always been to ensure that cash is redistributed from Mr Murdoch to help those...

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