Three-way talks seek to pull Syria back from brink

DUBLIN: Surprise talks Thursday between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and the UN peace envoy to Syria failed to reach any "sensational decisions" on ending the conflict.UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said all three agreed the situation was "very, very, very bad" in Syria during the 40-minute meeting in Dublin on the sidelines of an international...

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NH8 stretch on Delhi-Gurgaon border is India’s deadliest road

NEW DELHI: Perhaps, the deadliest stretch in the country falls on the Delhi-Gurgaon border on NH8. Data available with TOI shows that 260 lives were lost on this 40-km stretch last year.While the Gurgaon section killed 160 people in 2011, another 100 died in road crashes on Kapdiwas border and Daruhera stretch. The high rate of fatalities has exposed how safety of road users has been the lowest priority...

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Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans...

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NYC Subway Pusher Charged With Murder

A New York City man was charged today with murder for shoving another man onto subway tracks where he was struck and killed by an oncoming train.Naeem Davis, 30, was charged after being questioned by police since Tuesday about the death of Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Queens, N.Y.The charges include murder second degree: intentional, as well as murder second degree: depraved indifference.He...

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Clashes erupt in Egypt despite proposal to end crisis

CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists fought protesters outside the Egyptian president's palace on Wednesday, while inside the building his deputy proposed a way to end a crisis over a draft constitution that has split the most populous Arab nation. Stones and petrol bombs flew between opposition protesters and supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, and the Interior Ministry said 32 people had...

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Palestinian fury as Israel advances E1 settlement plan

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinians on Wednesday reacted furiously after a controversial Israeli settlement plan passed a first hurdle, warning that the project would end all hopes for peace.Israel's plan for construction in a strip of West Bank land outside Jerusalem called E1 has sparked a major diplomatic backlash, with experts saying it could wipe out hopes for the...

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Congress ‘rebels’ force Telangana meet

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has convened an all-party meeting in New Delhi on December 28 to discuss the Telangana statehood issue. The move is essentially aimed at placating the seven Congress MPs from the region who were growing increasingly restive over the government's indecision on Telangana and had even threatened to boycott the FDI vote in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday...

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Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for longer...

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Obama Sees 'Potential' for Averting the Fiscal Cliff

President Obama says he sees "potential" for averting the "fiscal cliff" in 28 days, but that no deal will get done unless Republicans consent to raise income-tax rates on the top 2 percent of U.S. earners."We're going to have to see the rates on the top 2 percent go up and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it," Obama told Bloomberg TV in his first televised interview...

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NATO warns Syria not to use chemical weapons

BRUSSELS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - NATO told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons in his fight against encroaching rebel forces would be met by an immediate international response. The warning from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen came as U.S. government sources said Washington had information that Syria was making what could be seen as preparations...

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