New Delhi : Over 500 million Indians will need new homes in almost a decade, close to the needs of China, North America and Western Europe put together, as the government and urban local bodies focus more on construction than long-term operation and maintenance, says a study.  ”We have to rethink the way we live [...]

Washington : U.S. defense secretary Leon E. Panetta said U.S. forces would end their combat mission in Afghanistan by mid-2013, taking on an “advise and assist” role (NYT) to Afghan security forces. All U.S. troops are expected to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Panetta made the announcement en route to Brussels [...]

London:  Indian-origin Avtar Singh Kolar and his wife Carole Kolar were battered to death in a lump hammer attack in their Birmingham home earlier this month for just two mobile phones and two watches, a media report today said. Suspect Rimvydas Liorancas, 37, who was found dead in his prison cell on Saturday, is believed [...]

Lucknow : A total of 273 candidates filed their nominations for fourth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh while 63 filed for the fifth phase today.   According to the state election office here, 273 candidates filed their nominations for the fourth phase in 56 assembly seats where polling will be held on February 19. [...]

Bangalore: The wife of an IAS officer was on Monday arrested for allegedly assaulting and verbally abusing a woman police inspector during the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) T20 match here. Anu Dubey, wife of Pankaj Kumar Pandey, managing director of Hubli Electricity Supply Company, was granted interim bail till Feb six after being produced before [...]

Cairo  : A 42-year-old French tourist was killed by robbers at a currency exchange shop in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Xinhua reported.  The masked gunmen robbed the shop and exchanged fire with the security forces. Two others, a German tourist and an Egyptian citizen, were injured. The French man was shot [...]

Mangalore: If Muslim girls were Burkha and black dress to cover their young bodies from greedy attention, can Christian girls be trailing? In all churches, women and girls are ordered by priests to have dress code that prohibits body language and barren limbs. As churches are religious centres of assembly for worship of God, the [...]

 Washington:  Solar radiation from a massive sun storm – the largest in nearly a decade – collided with the Earth’s atmosphere on Tuesday, prompting an airline to reroute flights and sky watchers to seek out spectacular light displays. US carrier Delta Air Lines said it had adjusted flight routes for transpolar journeys between Asia [...]

Beijing  :  About 30 Tibetans injured after Chinese police fired into a crowd of protesters in a restive southwestern region were seeking shelter Tuesday in a monastery while military forces surrounded the building, a Tibetan monk said. Chinese authorities said Monday’s unrest was caused by a “mob” and that overseas advocacy groups were twisting the [...]

 Srinagar:  A Sub-Inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) has been killed after being swept away in an avalanche in Kupwara district along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kashmir valley. Five Army and one BSF personnel are still missing as search and rescue operations continue. The avalanche occurred at Farkiyan Gali early [...]