Key India government ally withdraws from coalition: TV

Key India government ally withdraws from coalition: TV


Key India government ally withdraws from coalition: TV

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:56 PM PDT

Sonia Gandhi speaks with M. Karunanidhi during an election campaign rally in ChennaiNEW DELHI (Reuters) - A key regional ally pulled out of India's ruling coalition on Tuesday in protest against the government's position on a U.S.-backed United Nations resolution on war crimes carried out during Sri Lanka's civil war. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and has often pressured the Indian government to do more to protect Sri Lanka's minority Tamil population. The DMK has 18 seats in the lower of house of parliament as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition, which already rules in a minority. ...


A look at Cyprus' move to seize bank deposits

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 11:01 PM PDT

Protesters who wrote "NO" on their hands protesting outside of the parliament in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, March 18, 2013. A vote on a bailout package for Cyprus that includes an immediate tax on all savings accounts has been postponed until Tuesday evening. Yiannakis Omirou, the speaker of Parliament, said the delay was needed to give the government time to amend the deal reached over the weekend that prompted an outcry from those who thought their money was safe. In order to get euro10 billion ($13 billion) in bailout loans from international creditors, Cyprus agreed to take a percentage of all deposits — including ordinary citizens' savings — an unprecedented step in Europe's 3 ½-year debt crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)PARIS (AP) — Lawmakers in Cyprus are still scrambling for a way to raise €5.8 billion ($7.5 billion) to help pay for an international bailout of the country's banks and government.


Key India government ally withdraws from coalition: TV

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:56 PM PDT

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A key regional ally pulled out of India's ruling coalition on Tuesday in protest against the government's position on a U.S.-backed United Nations resolution on war crimes carried out during Sri Lanka's civil war.

BigLaw Diaspora | Women Who Stayed

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:15 PM PDT

Those senior women who remain in BigLaw today entered the profession at a time when they were not permitted to join, or to even enter the front door, of most "men's" clubs where clients were wooed and landed.

Bus falls off bridge in India, killing at least 37

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:22 PM PDT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A bus packed with passengers crashed through a guard rail and fell off a bridge in western India early Tuesday, killing at least 37 people and injuring another 15, police said.

Aliens: Colonial Marines to Get 4GB Patch

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:06 PM PDT

When Aliens: Colonial Marines (A:CM) was released last month, many fans who had anticipated the smooth, clean graphics of the trailers were disappointed to see blocky, early 21st century textures instead. Now Gearbox has announced a major patch for A:CM that will address all manner of graphical and gameplay issues for the PC.

Guatemalan trial of ex-dictator Rios Montt to begin

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:02 PM PDT

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt is due to go on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity on Tuesday, the first time a country has prosecuted an ex-head of state in a national court on such charges.

Guatemalan trial of ex-dictator Rios Montt to begin

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:02 PM PDT

Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt stands in an elevator after a hearing in the Supreme Court of Justice in Guatemala CityBy Mike McDonald GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt is due to go on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity on Tuesday, the first time a country has prosecuted an ex-head of state in a national court on such charges. For decades, Rios Montt, avoided prosecution for atrocities committed during his 1982-1983 rule in a particularly bloody phase of the country's long civil war, protected as a congressman by a law that grants immunity to public officials. ...


China eyes faster trade talks as trans-Pacific pact advances

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PDT

A crane loads containers at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu provinceBy Aileen Wang and Nick Edwards BEIJING (Reuters) - China will hold three rounds of trade negotiations with Japan and South Korea this year and step up talks with other trading partners, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday, as U.S. efforts to seal a trans-Pacific free trade deal gather pace. China said the first set of talks on a three-way free trade agreement (FTA) with its two neighbors would be staged in Seoul, the South Korean capital, from March 26-28. They will then move to China, with a third leg to be held in Japan, ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told a news conference. ...


China eyes faster trade talks as trans-Pacific pact advances

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will hold three rounds of trade negotiations with Japan and South Korea this year and step up talks with other trading partners, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday, as U.S. efforts to seal a trans-Pacific free trade deal gather pace.

SolForge Starter Decks Roll Out

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:44 PM PDT

SolForge appears to be rolling out in small doses on the way to iOS and PC beta.  An update today added the ability to log in to the game on the iOS client as well as adding four $4.99 starter decks, one for each faction.  These decks and cards will carry over when the game launches.  Each deck is 30 cards and is themed around some of each faction's signature elements.  Based on the decklists, we're assuming that each deck contains two "rares".  Let's take a brief look at each and we'll get into a deeper SolForge analysis post-PAX East.

Arkansas: Replacing Medicaid Expansion with Obamacare's Exchanges Could Require 'No Additional Federal Costs At All'

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:18 PM PDT

In late February, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe (D.) announced that he had struck a deal with the Obama administration to implement Obamacare's expansion of health insurance coverage using the law's subsidized private-sector insurance exchanges, instead of using the 1965-vintage Medicaid program. If implemented, this deal would result in far better health coverage for the poor. But the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that such coverage would cost federal taxpayers 50 percent more than Medicaid would. Yesterday, the Arkansas Department of Human Services released its own fiscal estimate of exchange expansion. Contrary to CBO, the state estimates that expanding the exchanges "would add less than 15% to federal health-care costs in Arkansas," adding that "in some realistic scenarios, there could be no additional federal costs at all." Arkansas' analysis, if correct, could transform the shape and scope of Obamacare's coverage expansion.

Big Data: The Goldilocks Paradox

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:11 PM PDT

Big Data is everywhere but confusion about it still exists. Here's a starting point, big data doesn't happen to you … you're not a victim. Rather it is an opportunity but like anything else you and your organization need to be prepared for it to get real value.

Cyprus Is Pinching Russia

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 08:56 PM PDT

On Monday Wall Street and global markets were shaken by Cyprus's plan to tax bank depositors to help fund a 10 billion Euro bailout of the country. A side effect of the move will pinch Russians.

2 inmates recaptured after helicopter escape

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 07:00 PM PDT

Police vehicles block a road just outside the town of Chertsey, Quebec, Sunday, March 17, 2013, during a search for escaped prisoners. A dramatic daylight jailbreak involving two Quebec inmates climbing a rope into a hovering helicopter swiftly escalated into a large police operation Sunday night in which at least one escapee was tracked down hours after he fled. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)MONTREAL (AP) — Two inmates made a daring daylight escape from a prison northwest of Montreal in a hijacked helicopter, then led police in a car chase and exchanged gunfire at a rural cabin before they were finally recaptured, authorities said Monday.


Thomas Friedman, Iraq war booster

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 03:04 PM PDT

At the end of May 2003, America was on the verge of one of its longest-running, most expensive wars in Iraq. Yet Iraq war boosters were feeling vindicated by the swift march on Baghdad, which had fallen within weeks, and the swift collapse of the regime.

UK probe into Iraq 'atrocities' begins

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:06 PM PDT

Father of man killed in 2004 alleges military tortured his son after detaining him, a charge the UK army denies.

Chinese Investors Get Picky Over Visa Program

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:56 PM PDT

Johannes von Trapp, a scion of the family depicted in "The Sound of Music," is trying to lure foreigners to invest in his New England lodge, dangling U.S. visas as part of the deal. But would-be investors are getting pickier.

Venezuela to Create New Foreign-Exchange Mechanism

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 08:17 PM PDT

Venezuela will create a foreign exchange mechanism giving local people an additional channel to buy U.S. dollars, interim leader Nicolás Maduro said.

Canadian Pension Fund Met With China Infrastructure Quandary

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 08:17 PM PDT

The head of Canadian pension fund CPP Investment Board said finding opportunities to ride Asia's infrastructure boom is proving harder than it seems.

Euro ministers urge Cyprus rethink

Euro ministers urge Cyprus rethink


Euro ministers urge Cyprus rethink

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 03:36 PM PDT

Finance ministers from the eurozone urge Cyprus to rethink a levy on bank savers with less than 100,000 euros, following an outcry among Cypriots.

Report offers clues to Rwandan warlord's sudden surrender at U.S. Embassy

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 01:37 PM PDT

When Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, a Rwandan wanted by the International Criminal court for some particularly horrific war crimes allegedly committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, walked into the U.S. embassy in Rwanda and asked to be transferred to the ICC, it was not at all clear what led him there. Why would Ntaganda, a powerful player who has operated with impunity for years now, suddenly turn himself in, likely to face many years in jail?

Read full article >>

How Recent Popes Differ on Key Issues

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:56 PM PDT

Try to figure out which pope said what about same-sex marriage, relations with other faiths and more.

Steve Coll Named Columbia Journalism Dean

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 01:20 PM PDT

Steve Coll, who will succeed Nicholas Lemann, is a former reporter and managing editor at The Washington Post and a former writer for The New Yorker.

No charges in Russian adoptee death

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:53 PM PDT

Prosecutors in Texas say they will not charge a couple whose adopted Russian son's death was ruled an accident but has sparked outrage in Russia.

At War: Former Pentagon Lawyer Offers Pros and Cons of Drone Court

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:10 PM PDT

The speech by Jeh C. Johnson, the Defense Department's former general counsel, offered a window into the thinking of someone who participated in the inner circles of Obama administration national security decision-making until recently.



Lew to Meet With China's Xi Tuesday

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:15 PM PDT

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will meet Tuesday morning with Chinese President Xi Jinping to begin two days of talks on economic and security issues.

Nations Need $1.6 Billion for TB Fight, Authorities Say

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:30 PM PDT

The World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said they need an extra $1.6 billion a year at minimum to fight tuberculosis in poor countries—a large chunk of it to prevent and treat drug-resistant strains of the ancient airborne disease.

At War: Former Pentagon Lawyer Offers Pros and Cons of Drone Court

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:10 PM PDT

The speech by Jeh C. Johnson, the Defense Department's former general counsel, offered a window into the thinking of someone who participated in the inner circles of Obama administration national security decision-making until recently.

UN chief urges approval of arms trade treaty

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:12 PM PDT

Diplomats are gathering New York to discuss treaty aimed at limiting trade of illegal conventional weapons.

UK parties strike deal on new press watchdog

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:20 PM PDT

Government came under pressure to create a new "robust" regulatory system in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

Nigerian blasts kill at least 25, Islamists suspected

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:45 PM PDT

KANO, Nigeria/PARIS (Reuters) - Five explosions at a bus park in northern Nigeria's main city of Kano killed at least 25 people on Monday, a Reuters witness said, in an area where Islamist sect Boko Haram is waging an insurgency against the government.

Obama: Iran must 'reduce tensions'

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:17 PM PDT

President Obama offers Iran a "practical solution" if it seeks peaceful nuclear capability rather than weapons, in a video marking Persian new year.

Freeze-frame moments of war

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:33 AM PDT

It was the war everyone just wanted to forget. But from a tiny red shoe in the rubble to a resident who rebelled against al Qaeda, CNN's Arwa Damon remembers the many freeze-frame moments caused by war.

Letter From Paris: Solving the Passover Puzzle in Paris

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 03:09 PM PDT

The French are apt to keep religious beliefs private, so you won't find recipes for chopped liver or advertisements for kosher wine in the mainstream media.

Backers of Israeli settlers stake claim in cabinet

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 03:22 PM PDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new governing coalition took office after a parliamentary vote on Monday with powerful roles reserved for supporters of settlers in occupied territory.

Photos of the Day: March 18

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:12 PM PDT

In today's pictures, eggs are dyed for Easter in Germany, police clash with protesters in Paris, a private plane crashes in Indiana, and more.

Turkish Man Charged in New York Woman's Death

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 01:39 PM PDT

A man suspected of killing a New York woman in Istanbul has been charged with murder, Turkey's state-run news agency reported.

Jailed Kurdish rebel to make "historic call" to Turkey

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 01:57 PM PDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan said he would make a "historic" appeal on Thursday, raising expectations of a ceasefire in a 28-year conflict that has riven Turkey, killing some 40,000 people.

UPDATE: Where in the world ... ?

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PDT

Do you know where this photo was taken?