Court says Obama exceeded authority in making appointments

President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority by making appointments when the Senate was on a break last year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The court’s broad ruling would sharply limit the power that presidents throughout history have used to make recess appointments in the face of Senate opposition and inaction. A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals...

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Latin America, Europe open summit to boost trade

SANTIAGO: Latin American and European leaders open a two-day summit Saturday to give a fresh impetus to efforts to seal a free trade agreement between their two blocs.Attending the gathering are some 45 leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Cuban leader Raul Castro as well as European Council President...

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Republic Day functions held peacefully in Kashmir Valley

SRINAGAR: The Republic Day functions in the Kashmir Valley passed off peacefully Saturday, with Rural Development Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar saying the gun had only caused destruction. Taking salute at the main parade in the summer capital Srinagar, Sagar said peace was a national agenda which would be pursued notwithstanding "recent provocative developments". Contingents of police, paramilitary...

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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...

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WH, Senators to Begin Push on Immigration Reform

The White House and a bipartisan group of senators next week plan to begin their efforts to push for comprehensive immigration reform.President Barack Obama will make an announcement on immigration during a Tuesday trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, the White House said on Friday. The Senate group is expected make their plans public around the same time, the Associated Press reported.See...

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OPM plans to shake up charity program raise concerns about reduced donations

The Office of Personnel Management wants to shake up the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the charitable-giving system for federal employees, but in the process the agency could risk losing donors and reducing contributions. One rule under review by the Obama administration would “eliminate the use of cash, check and money order contributions. Instead, all donations will be required to...

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Xi Jinping given Japan PM's letter amid islands row

BEIJING: An envoy from Tokyo handed Chinese leader Xi Jinping a personal letter from new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, in a meeting aimed at smoothing relations amid a bitter territorial row.Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the New Komeito party, the junior partner in Japan's ruling coalition, is the most senior Japanese parliamentarian to visit China since the long-running row...

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Won't get fair treatment in BJP without Yeddyurappa: Shobha Karandlaje

BANGALORE: Even as chief minister Jagadish Shettar delays acceptance of her resignation letter from the ministry - purportedly to arm-twist the BJP rebels - Shobha Karandlaje wants to get done with the party at the earliest. In an interview to TOI, Shobha claims she can experiment with her political career by leaving a national party like the BJP.Why did you quit the BJP and RSS, which helped you...

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Deformed Dolphin Accepted Into New Family

In 2011, behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany were surprised to discover that a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)—animals not usually known for forging bonds with other species—had taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The researchers observed the group in...

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It's Official: Women Will Serve in Combat

Women will soon be able to serve in combat, as things officially changed with the stroke of a pen today at the Pentagon.At a joint news conference, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Charman Gen. Martin Dempsey signed a memorandum rolling back a 1994 directive prohibiting women from doing so."They serve, they're wounded, and they die right next to each...

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OPM plans to shake up charity program raise concerns about reduced donations

The Office of Personnel Management wants to shake up the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the charitable-giving system for federal employees, but in the process the agency could risk losing donors and reducing contributions. One rule under review by the Obama administration would “eliminate the use of cash, check and money order contributions. Instead, all donations will be required to...

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Is it a bird? A plane? No, just a guy named Oscar

BUENOS AIRES: He was a self-styled superhero, prowling the gritty outskirts of Buenos Aires wearing a mask and cartoonish outfit and armed only with a flashlight, compass and pepper spray as he took on bad guys.But now his cover is blown, thanks to an alleged shootout with muggers, and the superhero is charged with carrying an unlicensed gun, police said Wednesday.The man who called himself...

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Where will you go when BJP comes to power? Nitin Gadkari threatens I-T officials

NEW DELHI: Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Thursday dared I-T officials and said 'Where will you go once the BJP comes to power?'Addressing his supporters in Nagpur, the former BJP chief said that income tax department should realise that the Congress is on its way out."There will be no Chidambaram or Sonia to save them, once the Congress is out of power," he said.Gadkari said that he had...

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Deformed Dolphin Accepted Into New Family

In 2011, behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany were surprised to discover that a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)—animals not usually known for forging bonds with other species—had taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The researchers observed the group in...

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Pentagon to Allow Women in Combat

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will lift a longstanding ban on women serving in combat, according to senior defense officials.The services have until this May to come up with a plan to implement the change, according to a Defense Department official.That means the changes could come into effect as early as May, though the services will have until January 2016 to complete the...

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Australian man cleared of molestation charge after public apology

SINGAPORE: An Australian man has been cleared of a charge of molesting a purchasing officer.This came after Mr Kevin Francis D'arcy, 59, made a public apology in a local English daily on January 19 as requested by the woman.The incident happened on August 31, 2012 in Boat Quay.Mr D'arcy apparently squeezed the buttock of the 32-year-old woman, who was clubbing with her sister and friend.-CNA/ac !--...

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BJP thanks Nitin Gadkari for expanding party's support base

NEW DELHI: The BJP parliamentary board thanked the party's outgoing president Nitin Gandkari on Wednesday, saying he immensely helped in expanding the party's support base.The parliamentary board met at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in the capital on Wednesday."The parliamentary board places on record its deep sense of appreciation of leadership provided by Nitin Gadkari as the president...

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The Promise and Perils of Mining Asteroids

Encouraged by new space technologies, a growing fleet of commercial rockets and the vast potential to generate riches, a group of entrepreneurs announced Tuesday that they planned to mine the thousands of near-Earth asteroids in the coming decades.The new company, Deep Space Industries (DSI), is not the first in the field, nor is it the most well-financed. But with their ambition to become...

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Al Qaeda Commander Killed for the 3rd Time

The second in command of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate was reportedly killed in an airstrike in Yemen in December, according to a news report by Arabic television network Al Arabiya, the third time the former Guantanamo detainee has been reported dead since 2010.According to the report, Said al-Shihri died last month after sustaining severe injuries from a joint U.S.-Yemeni airstrike...

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At second inauguration, Obama relishes the rituals, as well as the smaller moments

The second time seemed to charm him. The choreography of President Obama’s ceremonial inauguration Monday was nearly identical to that of his swearing-in four years ago: church, motorcade to the Capitol, invocation, oath, address, luncheon, parade, dancing. This time, however, the man taking the oath of office was an experienced president, not a first-term senator. And Obama seemed...

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Japan to ease US, French beef import restrictions

TOKYO: Japan plans to ease restrictions on American and French beef imports imposed due to concerns over mad cow disease, government officials and local media said Tuesday.Japan, which was once the largest buyer of US beef, halted imports after a case of mad cow disease was detected in an American herd in 2003. It now imports meat only from cattle aged under 20 months.Tokyo plans to raise...

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

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Inauguration: 7.5 Things You Should Have Seen

A presidential inauguration is a big, long event that lasts all day and into the night–and who has time to really watch it? People have jobs, ones that don’t let you off for a federal holiday.Everyone (or, at least, some) will be talking about it, which means potential embarrassment for anyone who doesn’t know what happened. Thankfully, ABC employs  news professionals stationed in Washington,...

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After the first black president, who will be second?

President Obama’s historic election in 2008 and his reelection last year proved decisively that race is no longer an insurmountable hurdle to high political office in the United States. But the current pool of possible candidates suggests that the next black president will not be taking the oath of office anytime soon. “In the shadow of Barack Obama, there’s not been a lot of growth,”...

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Japan, US team probes Dreamliner battery maker

TOKYO: Japanese and American safety inspectors were on Monday probing the company that makes batteries for Boeing's Dreamliner after the aircraft's worldwide fleet was grounded over safety fears.Aviation regulators were focusing on the lithium-ion batteries as the cause of a glitch that forced an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight into an emergency landing last week.Despite the investigation...

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IAF chief Browne in Israel to deepen defence ties

JERUSALEM: Amid deepening ties between India and Israel, Chief of Air Staff NAK Browne has held strategic talks with his Israeli counterpart and will meet defence top brass, furthering the ongoing bilateral military cooperation. "This is a part of routine reciprocal visits between chiefs of various wings of the defence forces of the two countries", a defence source here said. However, "the visit...

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

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Obamas Share the Love, Even for Michelle's Bangs

Jan 20, 2013 10:49pm (Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)President Obama used the first public remarks of his second term to address what he called the “most significant” event of this weekend: his wife’s much-talked-about new haircut.“I love her bangs,” Obama told supporters at an inaugural reception at the National Building Museum. “She looks good. She always looks good.”First...

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Biden’s gun task force met with all sides, but kept its eye on the target

Vice President Biden was curt, avoiding confrontation when he sat down with the National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates. He looked across the table in his ornate conference room and asked the NRA official if his group could back a ban on assault weapons. “No,” was James J. Baker’s reply. There was little discussion, no real debate over whether a 1990s ban had worked....

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China 'strongly dissatisfied' with US island remarks

BEIJING: China said it was "strongly dissatisfied" Sunday after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning to Beijing not to challenge Tokyo's control of disputed islands at the centre of a bitter territorial row.China is "strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes" the remarks, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on the ministry's website.The...

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