Afghan policewoman kills coalition contractor in Kabul: NATO

KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan woman wearing a police uniform shot dead on Monday a civilian contractor working for Western forces in the police chief's compound in Kabul, NATO said. The incident is likely to raise troubling questions about the direction of an unpopular war. It appeared to be the first time that a woman member of Afghanistan's security forces carried out such...

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Putin signs helicopter, jet deals with Indian PM

NEW DELHI: Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin signed deals to sell 71 military helicopters and kits to build 42 fighter jets to India on Monday as he sought to firm up ties with a traditional ally.The contract for Mi-17 helicopters was first signed in 2010 and India has now increased the order from 59 to 71, the ministry of external affairs said in its list of deals agreed by Putin...

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Railways running on temporary basis after my departure: Lalu Prasad

ARWAL (BIHAR): Patting his own back, former railway minister Lalu Prasad on Monday claimed that since his departure, the ministry has been running on a temporary basis and asserted he would complete the unfinished projects of his time if he became minister again. "Since the day I left Railway ministry it is running on temporary basis," Prasad told a RJD rally here. Prasad alleged that work of the...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Newtown Inspires Country to Spread Kindness

While the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School have no doubt left the nation shaken, they have also inspired an outpouring of acts of kindness from across the nation and around the world.The central hub of many of these is on display in the U.S. Post Office in Newtown, Conn., a community shaken by the killing of 20 children and six school staff members by 20-year-old Adam...

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Israel says Syria chemical weapons are secure for now

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syria's chemical weapons are still secure despite the fact that President Bashar al-Assad has lost control of parts of the country, a senior Israeli defense official said on Sunday. Amos Gilad told Army Radio that the civil war between Assad and opposition forces fighting to topple him had become deadlocked, but that the Syrian leader showed no signs of heeding international...

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Norovirus kills six in Japanese hospital

TOKYO: The norovirus has killed six elderly people in a rural Japanese hospital and infected dozens of other patients and staff, officials said on Sunday.The winter bug, which causes vomiting and diarrhoea, has killed six patients in their 70s and 80s since December 12, the officials from the Shunko-kai Higashi Hospital in southern Miyazaki prefecture said.Another 24 patients and 14 staff...

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Narendra Modi's development claim 'phoney': Markandey Katju

BHOPAL: Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju on Sunday hit out at Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi describing as " phoney" his claims of development in the state and saying its malnutrition rate was worse than Somalia.Katju said Modi had made tall claims about development in Gujarat but pointed out that the living standards of the common people was still "abysmal".Citing figures,...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Obama, Congress Waving Bye-Bye Lower Taxes?

The first family arrived in the president's idyllic home state of Hawaii early today to celebrate the holidays, but President Obama, who along with Michelle will pay tribute Sunday to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, could be returning home to Washington sooner than he expected.That's because the President didn't get his Christmas...

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