Six people die as blizzards hit northern Japan

TOKYO: At least six people died in a spate of snow-related incidents as blizzards swept across the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido over the weekend, police and news reports said Sunday.A 40-year-old woman and her three teenage children were found dead late Saturday in a car buried under snow in the town of Nakashibetsu, eastern Hokkaido, a local police spokesman said.They are believed...

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Pawar will be ready to become PM in case of a consensus: Praful Patel

NEW DELHI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar will be certainly ready to become the Prime Minister if there is situation where there is a consensus on the issue, his party leader and Union Minister Praful Patel has said. "And this gossip of merger with Congress, which happens many times, that is never possible," Patel said in an interview to Prabhu Chawla on 'Teekhi Baat' television programme. "If there is...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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Man's Body Recovery Effort Ends; Sinkhole 'Unstable'

Authorities have discontinued the rescue effort for a Florida man who was swallowed by a sinkhole when his home's foundation collapsed and said it is unlikely his body will ever be recovered."We feel we have done everything we can," Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrell said at a news conference this afternoon. "At this point, it's not possible to recover the body."Merell...

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Sydney set to sparkle for gay pride parade

SYDNEY: Up to 300,000 spectators were Saturday expected to brave the rain to watch Sydney's annual Mardi Gras gay pride parade, with an emphasis on the political as the nation prepares for elections.The event, which bills itself as the world's biggest night parade, is celebrating the theme "Generations of Love", focused on its origins in 1978 as a gay rights protest march that ended with...

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Two cops killed in shootout with terrorists in J&K

SRINAGAR: Two local policemen were killed by separatist guerrillas in a hit-and-run attack in Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Saturday. A senior police officer told IANS that militants fired from close range at two constables of an armed battalion near the bus stand in Handwara town, 75 kilometres from here this morning. "The two constables belonging to the Indian Reserve Police (IRP) were...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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Obama Signs Order to Begin Sequester Cuts

President Obama and congressional leaders today failed to reach a breakthrough to avert a sweeping package of automatic spending cuts, setting into motion $85 billion of across-the-board belt-tightening that neither had wanted to see.President Obama officially initiated the cuts with an order to agencies Friday evening.He had met for just over an hour at the White House Friday...

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Higher fines, longer jail term for animal abusers proposed

SINGAPORE: The Animal Welfare Legislative Review Committee is calling for heavier penalties for animal abuse and abandonment. After a year-long review, the committee has submitted its recommendations to the National Development Ministry for consideration. The current penalty for animal abuse is a fine of up to S$10,000, one year in jail, or both. The Committee calls for a more detailed...

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Congress MP Mukesh Gadhvi passes away

AHMEDABAD: Congress MP from Banaskantha, Mukesh Gadhvi, on Friday passed away at a private hospital in Ahmedabad, party sources said.Gadhvi, 50, was admitted to Sterling Hospital ten days back after he suffered a brain stroke. He died of multiple organ failure on Friday, sources said.Gadhvi was a two-time MP from Banaskantha and three-time MLA from Danta.He is survived by wife, two daughters and a...

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