Situation in Punjab under control: Badal

CHANDIGARH - Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today claimed that the violence sparked by the killing of a Sikh preacher in Austria was confined only to a few areas in Jalandhar and the situation is under control.

Members of banned group allegedly tied to Mumbai attack resurface to help NW Pakistan refugees

MARDAN, Pakistan — Members of a charity banned for its alleged links to the Mumbai terror attack have resurfaced in northwestern Pakistan under a new name, distributing food and medicine Thursday among thousands of refugees from the government’s bloody fight against the Taliban.

Warm weather may not halt swine flu

WASHINGTON - New data from Mexico and case numbers so far suggest that if the spread of H1N1 “swine flu” continues elsewhere as it has in the Americas, the virus could infect more than a billion people by July.

Desperation and fear in Pakistani hospitals, refugee camps as fighting rages in Swat Valley

MINGORA, Pakistan — Civilians cowered in hospital beds and trapped residents struggled to feed their children Saturday, as Pakistani warplanes pounded a Taliban-held valley in what the prime minister called a “war of the country’s survival.”

Peel and weep: 2 cents more for first-class mail beginning Monday, except for Forever folks

WASHINGTON — Peel it and weep: It’ll cost an extra 2 cents to mail a letter starting Monday.

Spanish judge presses ahead with probe of Israeli officials over Gaza bomb attack

MADRID — A Spanish judge said Monday he will keep investigating seven current and former Israeli officials over a 2002 air force bombing in Gaza that killed a suspected Hamas militant and 14 civilians.

Mexico detains 12 federal investigators for allegedly helping hit men kill 8 officers

MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities have detained 12 federal police investigators accused of leaking information to hit men who ambushed and killed eight officers in a failed attempt to free a high-level drug cartel member, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office said Thursday.

Economy shrinks at worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace in 1st quarter

WASHINGTON — The economy shrank at a worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace at the start of this year as sharp cutbacks by businesses and the biggest drop in U.S. exports in 40 years overwhelmed a rebound in consumer spending.

Sri Lanka situation will impact on elections

Even as the Maoists continue their desperate, if ultimately futile, attempts to disrupt the polls, perhaps the most uncertain aspect of the present scene is the impact of the suffering of the Sri Lankan Tamils, first, on Tamil Nadu politics and then on government formation at the centre after the general elections.

VA reports a 4th positive HIV test in wake of dirty hospital equipment, vets grow frustrated

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Thousands of veterans were at first shocked to learn they should get blood tests for HIV and hepatitis because three hospitals might have treated them with unsterile equipment. Now, just a couple of months after the Department of Veterans Affairs issued the dire warnings, veterans are growing frustrated by the lack of information from the tightlipped federal agency.

Mercury rises in Kolkata, may touch 42 degrees

KOLKATA - There was no respite for the West Bengal capital from the scorching heat, with the weather officials predicting that the mercury level may touch 42 degrees Celsius Friday.

African sunbirds have evolved to hover over plants for nectar

LONDON - Just like American hummingbirds, African sunbirds have also learnt to hover around a flower to collect nectar, and scientists have found that the tree tobacco plant prompts the birds’ ability to hang around.

Pak not ready to admit to US’ “ISI -Taliban collusion” claims

NEW YORK - Pakistan has rejected allegations made in a New York Times report that its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was “colluding and supporting” Taliban elements against NATO forces in Afghanistan.

‘Prisoner 650 at Guantanamo was indeed Pak terror suspect Dr Aafia’

LONDON - Former terrors suspect Binyam Mohamed in a testimony has said that he witnessed Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafiya Siddiqui during her detention at the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, contradicting the official position forwarded by the US Government that she and her children were not in American custody prior to July 2008

What jumpstarted life on earth - riddle still unanswered

NEW DELHI - How and when did life begin on earth? Did the first microorganisms arrive from space, riding piggyback on meteors that crashed into earth billions of years ago, or was life created from non-living chemicals? An Indian researcher has cast doubt on both the leading theories.