Meteor Blast 'Something We Only Saw in Movies'

A day after a massive meteor exploded over this city in central Russia, a monumental cleanup effort is under way.Authorities have deployed around 24,000 troops and emergencies responders to help in the effort.Officials say more than a million square feet of windows -- the size of about 20 football fields -- were shattered by the shockwave from the meteor's blast. Around 4,000...

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Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test - source

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks, said a source with direct knowledge of the message. Further tests could also be accompanied this year by another rocket launch, said the source, who has direct access to the top levels of...

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US cruise ship passengers' parting gift: bathrobes

WASHINGTON: The 4,000-plus exhausted passengers who lived a hellish four-day ordeal aboard the powerless and drifting Carnival Triumph cruise ship won't be left completely empty handed.The cruise company is making a gift to the travelers of the bathrobes they were using on the ship, the company announced Friday."Of course the bathrobes for the Carnival Triumph are complimentary," it said...

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Vintage steam engine back on Shimla-Kalka heritage track

SHIMLA: The British era steam engine, KC-520, chugged on the Shimla-Kalka heritage track on Friday, after a gap of four years. The only narrow gauge steam engine, which dates back to 1903, KC-520 towed four chartered coaches, carrying around 25 passengers, mainly foreigners, successfully between Shimla and Kathlighat.Railway officials at the Shimla railway station cordoned off the track when the...

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States' choices set up national health experiment

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is unfolding as a national experiment with American consumers as the guinea pigs: Who will do a better job getting uninsured people covered, the states or the feds?The nation is about evenly split between states that decided by Friday's deadline they want a say in running new insurance markets and states that are defaulting to federal...

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Carnival Cruise Ship Hit With First Lawsuit

The first lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines has been filed and it is expected to be the beginning of a wave of lawsuits against the ship's owners.Cassie Terry, 25, of Brazoria County, Texas, filed a lawsuit today in Miami federal court, calling the disabled Triumph cruise ship "a floating hell.""Plaintiff was forced to endure unbearable and horrendous odors on the filthy and...

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Key U.S. general backs keeping Afghan forces at peak strength

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. general nominated to oversee a vast region that includes Afghanistan on Thursday backed keeping Afghan forces at a peak strength of 352,000, contrary to current plans to shrink them after NATO declares the war over next year. General Lloyd Austin, nominated to lead the U.S. military's Central Command, said at his Senate confirmation hearing that a more...

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Smoking out tobacco: The rise of the e-cig

PARIS: The camera zooms in on a bearded man dragging on a cigarette and blowing out a thick cloud of smoke with what seems to be great satisfaction.It resembles the TV smoking ads of yesteryear, now banned in most of the world, yet this modern-day offering is approved for American television viewers."You know what the most amazing thing about this cigarette is? It isn't one," explains...

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They should answer if they can run a government, says Bengal governor

KOLKATA: Under pressure from an angry police force and a stung city, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday reacted in haste and shunted police commissioner R K Pachnanda, making him the scapegoat for the political bungling over sub-inspector Tapas Chowdhury's death.Surajit Kar Purakayastha was named the new police chief.Pachnanda's removal triggered a stinging reaction from governor M K Narayanan,...

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Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction

BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.The findings, published online Thursday in...

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