Co. Paying Just $1,200 for Each Factory Fire Life

A company that makes clothes for Sean Combs' clothing brand ENYCE and other U.S. labels reassured investors that a factory fire that killed 112 people over the weekend would not harm its balance sheet, and also pledged to pay the families of the dead $1,200 per victim.In an announcement Monday, Li & Fung Ltd., a middleman company that supplies clothes from Bangladesh factories...

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Cambodian ex-king to be cremated on February 4

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's beloved former monarch Norodom Sihanouk, who died aged 89 last month, will be cremated on February 4 following an elaborate ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday.The cremation will be preceded by a procession on February 1 that will see Sihanouk's coffin carried from the royal palace in Phnom Penh to a funeral pyre in a nearby park, the premier said in...

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Pakistan violates ceasefire, targets 10 Indian posts in J&K

JAMMU: Violating the ceasefire yet again, Pakistan troops targeted 10 Indian forward posts by firing over 6000 rounds from heavy weaponry along the Indo-Pak border in Poonch district.The firing on Sunday night, which was the heaviest this year, came ahead of the ninth anniversary of the Indo-Pak ceasefire agreement on Monday. The Indo-Pak border truce came into force on November 26, 2003."Pakistan...

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling. Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group...

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GOP Starting to Rebel Against No-Tax-Hikes Pledge

With the fiscal cliff looming for the United States, some Republican members of Congress said today they are ready to break a long standing pledge not to raise taxes."The only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming Greece. And Republicans should put revenue on the table," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said on ABC's "This Week."Read more of the discussion...

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Climate skeptic group works to reverse renewable energy mandates

The Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank skeptical of climate change science, has joined with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council to write model legislation aimed at reversing state renewable energy mandates across the country. The Electricity Freedom Act, adopted by the council’s board of directors in October, would repeal state standards requiring utilities...

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Garment factory blaze kills 109 in Bangladesh

ASHULIA, Bangladesh: Rescue workers in Bangladesh recovered 109 bodies on Sunday after a fire tore through a garment factory, forcing many workers to jump from high windows to escape the smoke and flames.Firefighters battled for several hours to control the blaze, which broke out on the ground floor of the nine-storey Tazreen Fashion plant, 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of the capital...

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Rajya Sabha panel for power to Lokpal to sanction prosecution

NEW DELHI: Lokpal will have power to grant sanction to initiate prosecution against a public servant, a parliamentary committee has recommended, seeking to amend a provision in the bill which said no previous sanction was required for the ombudsman to bring charges. The recommendation of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Lokpal comes against the backdrop of the stand taken by the government...

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling. Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group...

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After Sandy, World Hopes to Hear New US Voice on Climate Change

During a year with a monster storm and scorching heat waves, Americans have experienced the kind of freakish weather that many scientists say will occur more often on a warming planet.And as a re-elected president talks about global warming again, climate activists are cautiously optimistic that the U.S. will be more than a disinterested bystander when the U.N. climate talks resume...

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