World news

Relatives say Cuban woman marks 126th birthday

CEIBA HUECA, Cuba, Feb 03, 2011 (AP) - Relatives and friends of a Cuban woman have celebrated what they say is her 126th birthday, though that claim to longevity is not recognized internationally.Cuba's Prensa Latina agency says Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez has a civil registry document

Cairo protesters defiant after four killed

CAIRO, Feb 03,2011,(AFP) - Gunmen firing on protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square killed four people on Thursday as the thousands demanding President Hosni Mubarak go stood firm in their increasingly bloody 10-day revolt."All (four) were killed by gunshot, with one hit in the head," said Dr Mohammed

Giant cyclone pounds Australia coast

Australia, 3 February 2011,(Reuters) : One of the most powerful cyclones on record slammed into Australia's northeast coast on Thursday, tearing off roofs and bringing down power lines but there were no reports of deaths as first light broke.Cyclone Yasi, packing winds of up to 300 km (186 miles) a

Violence flares in Cairo square

CAIRO, Feb 03,2011 :At least three dead and hundreds injured as Mubarak's backers attack pro-democracy supporters in Egyptian capital. At least three people are believed to have died and more than 1,500 others injured in continuing clashes between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the Egypti

Exercise in older adults shown to improve memory

WASHINGTON, Feb 01, 2011 (AFP): One year of moderate physical exercise can increase the size of the brain's hippocampus in adults aged 55 and more, leading to an improvement in spatial memory, a new study showed.The hippocampus is a brain structure involved in all forms of memory formation.The study

Mubarak says to step down after election

CAIRO, 2 Feb,2011, (Reuters) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he would step down in a few months once a successor is elected, a move that responds to massive street protests but which may not satisfy many who want him out now.A million people, maybe more, rallied across the country

Egypt seeks million-strong march

CAIRO, 1 February 2011,(Reuters): Egypt's anti-government protesters, scenting victory after President Hosni Mubarak agreed to discuss sweeping political reforms, rallied support for what they hope can be a million-strong march for democracy on Tuesday.Mubarak's newly appointed vice-president began

Mubarak swears in new cabinet

CAIRO, 31 January 2011 (AP): Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak swore in a new Cabinet on Monday, replacing one dissolved as a concession to unprecedented anti-government protests.In the most significant change, the interior minister - who heads internal security forces - was replaced. A retired polic

Change is coming to Egypt: El-Baradei

CAIRO, Jan 30, 2011 ( AGENCIES): Top dissident Mohamed El-Baradei told a sea of angry protesters in Cairo on Sunday that they were beginning a new era after six days of a deadly revolt against President Hosni Mubarak.Nobel peace laureate El-Baradei, mandated by Egyptian opposition groups including t

Google co-founder targets Facebook

Google Inc co-founder Larry Page will take over as CEO from Eric Schmidt, a surprise move to make the company more nimble at a time when competition heats up with fast-growing rivals like Facebook.Page's assumption of day-to-day operations marks a return to Google's technological roots, 13 years aft

2010 was second hottest year on record

LONDON/OSLO,19 January 2011(Reuters) : Last year was the world's second hottest behind 1998 in a temperature record dating back to 1850, the director of research at Britain's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Phil Jones said on Wednesday.Jones' unit, compiling data with the Met Office Hadley Centre, is o

Court suspends Spanish city's ban on burqas

MADRID, Jan 18, 2011 (AP): A court in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia has suspended a ban by the city of Lleida on face-covering Islamic veils in municipal buildings.The Superior Justice Tribunal said Tuesday the ban was suspended while the court studies an appeal lodged by a Muslim ass

Tunisia plans unity government, uneasy peace holds

TUNIS,16 January 2011 (Reuters) - Tunisian politicians were trying to form a unity government on Sunday while the army consolidated its grip on the streets of the capital two days after President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali was ousted by violent protests.Tanks were stationed around Tunis and soldiers we

Wikipedia, 10 years old, targets India

With China virtually cut off and Western markets maturing, Wikipedia is targeting India first and possibly Brazil next to reach its goal of 1 billion users, Executive Director Sue Gardner says.The San Francisco-based online encyclopedia, which turns 10 years old on Saturday, also vows to reach that

Huge Karachi rally supports blasphemy laws

KARACHI, Jan 9, 2011: Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched in Pakistan's largest city in opposition to any change to blasphemy laws and to praise the man charged with murdering the provincial governor who opposed the legislation.The rally of up to 50,000 people in downtown Karachi on Sund

More Sweet Than Sour

Washington and New Delhi are inching closer to better tiesAmerica and India will continue to have diplomatic ups and downs, but both countries consider that accommodation is better than confrontation. While Pakistan and Afghanistan are important regionally and internationally, neither Washington nor

South Sudan decides

JUBA, Sudan, Jan 9, 2011 ( REUTERS): Millions of jubilant south Sudanese voted Sunday in an independence referendum expected to see the region splitting away from the north to create Africa's newest nation.People queued for hours in the burning sun outside polling stations in the southern capital Ju

Scientists pinpoint deadly brain tumour's origin

Washington, January 9, 2011 (ANI)A team of researchers have discovered the type of cell that is at the origin of brain tumors known as oligodendrogliomas, which are a type of glioma -- a category that defines the most common type of malignant brain tumour.Investigators found that the tumour originat