Romney says 2012 race was 'roller coaster'

WASHINGTON: In his first interview since losing his 2012 White House bid, Mitt Romney likened his experience as a presidential candidate to an unpredictable and bumpy roller coaster ride."We were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs. But the ride ends," Romney said, according to advance excerpts of the interview set to air on "Fox News Sunday.""And then you get off....

Read More..

Obama to visit Russia in September

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will visit Saint Petersburg for September's G20 summit and will also hold a meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland in June.The White House made the announcement Friday after the leaders spoke by phone to discuss the Syria crisis amid testy relations between Russia and the United States, which have deteriorated since...

Read More..

Polls close in crucial British by-election

LONDON: Polls closed in the southern English town of Eastleigh on Thursday in a by-election for a new member of parliament in a tight contest that threatens serious repercussions for Britain's main parties.The election pits Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party against its junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, while the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) is hoping...

Read More..

Japan's factory output up 1.0% in January

TOKYO: Japan's factory output for January rose a smaller-than-expected 1.0 per cent from the previous month, official data showed on Thursday.The rise was weaker than a 1.5 per cent expansion expected by the market and a revised 2.4 per cent increase in December.But the ministry maintained a positive view, saying in a monthly report: "Industrial production has bottomed out and shows some...

Read More..

Batman to lose son Robin

NEW YORK: Batman may be able to save the world, but he'll lose his sidekick Robin -- who in his current incarnation as his son -- in the upcoming Batman Incorporated comic book series.DC Comics said the caped crusader's acrobatic young assistant, Batman alter ego Bruce Wayne's son Damian, will die in Wednesday's issue number eight."This master theme of damaged and ruined families was nowhere...

Read More..

NY Times to rebrand Herald Tribune in its own image

NEW YORK: For a decade the International Herald Tribune has been the global edition of the New York Times in all but name. On Monday, the parent company made it official.In a statement, the New York Times Company said the 125-year-old offshoot of the defunct New York Herald Tribune will be rechristened sometime this fall as the International New York Times."The digital revolution has turned...

Read More..

Golf: Kuchar downs Mahan to win WGC Match Play crown

MARANA: Matt Kuchar denied Hunter Mahan a World Golf Championships Match Play Championship title repeat, triumphing over his fellow American 2 and 1 in Sunday's final at Dove Mountain.Kuchar, eliminated by Mahan in the quarter-finals of the elite 64-man event last year, avenged that defeat as he prevented Mahan from joining Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the title.Mahan...

Read More..

Britain's top Catholic in 'inappropriate acts' row: report

LONDON: Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, who is due to vote on Pope Benedict XVI's successor, has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour, the Observer reported on Sunday.Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, contests allegations by three priests and a former priest which were sent to Rome a week before Pope Benedict's...

Read More..

US budget cuts can be avoided: Obama

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama insisted Friday that mandatory government budget cuts set to kick in on March 1 -- known as the sequester -- were not "inevitable."The cuts to defence and domestic spending were mandated in an agreement between Obama and his Republican foes to end a previous budget battle."I never think that anything is inevitable, we always have the opportunity to make...

Read More..

Non-American or European Pope is good, poll finds

WASHINGTON: More than half of Catholics in the United States think it would be a good thing for the next pope to come from South America, Asia or Africa, a Pew Research Center poll said Thursday.Another 20 per cent said it would not matter if Pope Benedict XVI's successor hails from a developing region of the world, while just 14 per cent thought it was a bad idea.Pew's Forum on Religion...

Read More..

Sony bills coming PS4 console as future of gaming

NEW YORK: Sony unveiled a new-generation PlayStation 4 (PS4) system on Wednesday and laid out its vision for the "future of gaming" in a world rich with mobile gadgets and play streamed from the Internet cloud.At a press event in New York, computer entertainment unit chief Andrew House said PS4 "represents a significant shift from thinking of PlayStation as a box or console to thinking...

Read More..

Japan logs worst January trade deficit of $17.4 bn

TOKYO: Japan logged its worst ever trade deficit for January due mainly to heavier fuel import bills, official data showed Wednesday.Finance ministry figures showed the economy suffered a shortfall of 1.63 trillion yen, the worst deficit on record for the month. Comparable data began in 1979.Economists had expected an average shortfall of 1.3 trillion yen.Exports increased 6.4 percent...

Read More..

Greater US military role in Mali likely after polls: senator

BAMAKO: The United States is likely to play a more active military role in Mali, where French-led forces are battling Islamist rebels, after the country holds elections, the chair of a key Senate sub-committee said Monday.Washington has been providing intelligence, transport and mid-air refuelling to France, which launched its intervention last month, but cannot work directly with the...

Read More..

Singapore's NODX up 0.5% on-year in January

SINGAPORE: Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) rose by 0.5 per cent on-year in January 2013, compared to the 16.3 per cent decrease in the previous month.This was due to a rise in non-electronic NODX, which outweighed the decline in electronic NODX.On a year-on-year basis, electronic NODX contracted by 5.6 per cent in January, after the 19.1 per cent decline in the previous month. Meanwhile,...

Read More..

Tennis: Nadal struggles into Brazil Open final

SAO PAULO: Rafael Nadal struggled into the Brazil Open final on Saturday by downing Argentine lucky loser Martin Alund in three sets.The former world number one, who is recovering from a knee injury, battled hard to dismiss his 27-year-old opponent, who is ranked 111 in the world, winning 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 in nearly two hours.Sunday's final will pit the 26-year-old Spanish star against...

Read More..

SEC alleges Swiss insider trading on Heinz buyout

NEW YORK: US regulators Friday obtained an emergency court order to freeze a Swiss bank account they suspect was used for insider trading ahead the Berkshire Hathaway-3G Capital buyout of HJ Heinz.The Securities and Exchange Commission said unknown traders earned $1.7 million in profits through "irregular and highly suspicious" options trades on Heinz shares booked on Wednesday, one day...

Read More..

Obama says public deserves to know more on drones

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said Thursday that Americans needed more than just his word to be assured he was not misusing his powers in waging a secret drone war overseas.The president was asked about the debate over the deadly tactic, a backbone of the US campaign against Al-Qaeda, and whether the Constitution allows the use of drones against Americans who have turned against their...

Read More..

Zuckerberg owns nearly a third of Facebook: US regulators

SAN FRANCISCO: Mark Zuckerberg's stake in Facebook has climbed to nearly 30 percent since the leading social network made its dismal stock market debut, according to a filing Wednesday with US regulators.Zuckerberg owns 632.65 million Facebook shares as compared with the slightly more than 500 million he held in September when the stock's sagging price prompted a promise he would not sell...

Read More..

17 gunmen dead in Thai military base attack

  BANGKOK, Thailand: Scores of heavily-armed gunmen stormed a military base in unrest-plagued southern Thailand, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, in a major assault that left at least 17 militants dead."Some 100 fully armed militants stormed the base, where there were 60 marines," Colonel Pramote Promin, southern army spokesman, told AFP. He said the attack, one of the most ambitious...

Read More..

Anti-whaling group takes battle to top US court

WASHINGTON: The Sea Shepherd conservation group asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to lift an order forcing it to steer clear of Japan's whalers, who are seeking legal reprisals over harassment at sea.Since 2002, Sea Shepherd has annually disrupted Japan's contested hunt in the Southern Ocean but a US court issued an injunction on December 17 for the activists to stay at least 500 yards...

Read More..