Second leak at North Sea oil platform forces evacuation

LONDON: An oil leak at a North Sea platform caused it to be partially evacuated on Saturday, its Middle East operator said, the second such incident at the installation in less than two months.The Alpha Cormorant platform and the pipeline system it services were shut down as a precaution, operator Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) said in a statement.The company said it had evacuated...

Read More..

Law sacrosanct, let's not take it into our hands

PATNA: "What is illegal in the police raiding a journalist?" an IG of police asked a TV journalist defending Nawada SP Lalan Mohan Prasad and slamming the TOI report, 'Journalist raided after news on SP thumbing nose at judiciary' on February 28. "Nothing," the journalist replied and retorted, "how much it is legal for SP Prasad to sit on a non-bailable warrant of arrest against a sub-inspector...

Read More..

Abandoned Baby's Tooth Used in Search for Parents

Authorities are using the bottom tooth of the week-old infant abandoned in a plastic bag outside an apartment complex in Cypress, Texas, as a clue in the search for her parents.The newborn's early tooth, seen in just one of 2,000 births, is a unique genetic trait that may prove to be a link to her family history, according to investigators.The baby, named Chloe by rescuers, weighed...

Read More..

SpaceX "optimistic" after space capsule mishap

WASHINGTON: SpaceX said it was "optimistic" Friday after a thruster outage delayed the latest resupply mission of its unmanned Dragon capsule en route to the International Space Station.SpaceX and NASA officials said the cargo resupply mission was still on track, but the technical mishap could fuel concerns about the US agency's ambitious plans to cut costs by privatizing elements of the...

Read More..

Tourism ministry seeks VoA facility for 16 more countries

NEW DELHI: Tourism ministry has sought greater travel flexibility by proposing visa-on-arrival (VoA) facilities in 16 more countries. Tourism minister K Chiranjeevi met home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for extension of services to countries like Germany, France, Brazil, South Africa, Russia and other CIS countries. "The extension VoA facilities for tourists to the countries is important as we feel...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

Sequester Begins But Govt. Shutdown Looks Unlikely

Mar 1, 2013 4:13pm Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty ImagIt may not be readily obvious from the blizzard of news out there today on the “sequester,” but a government shutdown became significantly less likely today, even as the automatic budget cuts barreled ahead toward reality.What happened? Both sides – Republicans and Democrats – basically seem to have agreed that...

Read More..

West to send Syrian rebels aid, not arms

ROME (Reuters) - Western powers pledged aid for Syrian rebels on Thursday but stopped short of offering them weapons, disappointing opponents of President Bashar al-Assad clamoring for more arms. More than 70,000 Syrians have been killed in a fierce conflict that began with peaceful anti-Assad protests nearly two years ago. Washington has given $385 million in humanitarian...

Read More..

Groupon CEO "fired" after losses, stock slump

NEW YORK: Groupon said Thursday it was replacing chief executive Andrew Mason, who said he was "fired," following the struggling daily deals firm's share price plunge of 24 percent after bad quarterly results.The company said executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky and vice chairman Ted Leonsis would take over the post of chief executive, effective immediately and that Groupon "will continue...

Read More..

Sariska villagers block tourists’ entry

ALWAR: About 2,500 villagers on Thursday blocked the main entrance of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, protesting their relocation from areas near the sanctuary. Sariska field director RS Shekhawat said the villagers had locked the entrance and didn't allow tourists to enter the park. "We are trying to sort out the problem on a priority basis," Shekhawat said. The villagers, who are on an indefinite sit-in,...

Read More..