Losing points in Yemen

Despite the indignities of serving in a conflict-mired country and living in a decaying hotel, U.S. diplomats posted to Yemen have one major perk to look forward to: Starwood points. Lots and lots of them, entitling them to dozens of free nights at Sheraton, W Hotels and Westin properties worldwide. Alas, that’s about to end, our colleague Ernesto Londoño reports. The hotel chain is expected...

Read More..

Dollar dips as investors expect new Fed stimulus

NEW YORK: The dollar dipped against other major currencies Monday as investors bet the Federal Reserve would provide more stimulus to the lackluster US economy at its rate-setting meeting this week.The euro was buying $1.2939 at 2200 GMT, up from $1.2928 at the same time Friday.Against the Japanese currency, the European currency weakened to 106.53 yen from 106.64 yen late Friday, while...

Read More..

SC refers Zakia Jafri's plea to larger bench

NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench on Monday referred to a larger bench the plea of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri's widow seeking documents on the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the Gulberg Housing Society riot case in Ahmedabad in 2002.A two-judge bench of Justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur said it cannot go into the issue as the SIT probe and related issues concerning the...

Read More..

U.K. Dash for Shale Gas a Test for Global Fracking

Thomas K. Grose in London The starting gun has sounded for the United Kingdom's "dash for gas," as the media here have dubbed it.As early as this week, a moratorium on shale gas production is expected to be lifted. And plans to streamline and speed the regulatory process through a new Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil were unveiled last week in the annual autumn budget statement by...

Read More..

Syrian Ex-General: Assad Will Use Chemical Weapons

A former top general in Syria's chemical weapons program says he doesn't doubt for a moment that President Bashar al-Assad will deploy his chemical weapons arsenal as he tries to hold onto power and crush the uprising that started almost two years ago."The regime started to fall and deteriorate. It's coming to its end," said retired Major General Adnan Sillou in an interview in...

Read More..

Case reviews could test Obama’s ‘evolution’ on same-sex marriage

The Supreme Court gave itself plenty of room to maneuver when it agreed Friday to review the issue of same-sex marriage. The justices could decide one of the great political and civil rights questions of our time, rule narrowly on the two cases it accepted or even punt, on the grounds that the cases are not properly before them. But the court may have made it more difficult for President...

Read More..

Obama meets with top Republican on fiscal cliff

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama and House of Representatives speaker John Boehner met Sunday to discuss the so-called impending fiscal cliff of steep tax hikes and spending cuts.No details of the talks were given, but a statement from Boehner's office said "the lines of communication remain open."That sounded relatively upbeat compared to Boehner's statement on Friday, when he reported...

Read More..

India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

Shreya Roy Chowdhury, TNN Dec 8, 2012, 06.12AM ISTMUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the...

Read More..

Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...

Read More..

Remains of Banda Superstar Jenni Rivera's Jet Reported Found

UPDATED: Multiple reports, including one from Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's Secretary of Communications and Transports, claim that the remains of the private jet carrying Jenni Rivera have been found, with no survivors. Rivera, 43, was one of 7 passengers.Rivera's parents are believed to be en route to Mexico. Her brother, fellow singer Lupillo Rivera, and eldest daughter Chiquis...

Read More..