IMF grants Mali US$18m emergency loan

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund agreed Monday to provide an US$18.4 million emergency loan to Mali, a move likely to lead other donors to release more funds after having cut off aid following the March 2012 coup.The IMF executive board approved the loan under the Rapid Credit Facility aiming to help the government bridge a huge budget hole as its fights off an Islamist insurgency...

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SC commutes rapist-killer father's death

NEW DELHI: A man, released on parole after being arrested on wife's FIR accusing him of raping his minor daughter, came home and hacked to death his wife and daughter, but the Supreme Court on Monday found it not to be a "rarest of rare" crime and commuted his death penalty to imprisonment for entire life. To deviate from the concurrent view of the trial court and the Punjab & Haryana high court...

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Soldier who lost 4 limbs has double-arm transplant

The first soldier to survive after losing all four limbs in the Iraq war has received a double-arm transplant.Brendan Marrocco had the operation on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his father said Monday. The 26-year-old Marrocco, who is from New York City, was injured by a roadside bomb in 2009.He also received bone marrow from the same dead donor who supplied his new arms. That novel...

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Boy Scouts to Discuss Lifting National Gay Ban

The Boy Scouts of America, under growing pressure from troops across the country to end its 100-year-old ban on gay leaders and members, said today it is "discussing" ending its national discrimination policy, leaving such decisions to the discretion of individual troops."Currently, the BSA is discussing potentially removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual...

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Egypt protesters defy curfew after emergency rule imposed

ISMAILIA/CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - Thousands of Egyptian protesters ignored a curfew on Monday to take to the streets in cities along the Suez canal, defying a state of emergency imposed by Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to end days of violence that has killed at least 51 people. One man was killed in violence late on Monday in Port Said and another was shot dead earlier in Cairo as...

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Asia's gambling apartheid

SEOUL: The casino industry is booming across Asia, offering anyone looking for high-stakes action a wide choice of venues, from high-tech South Korea to the Himalayan nation of Nepal and communist Vietnam.Anyone, that is, except South Koreans, Nepalese or Vietnamese.For conservative Asian countries, the financial pros and social cons of casino gambling pose something of a dilemma - one...

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BJP naming PM candidate could split NDA: Togadia

BHOPAL: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia on Sunday said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should not announce a prime ministerial candidate before the 2014 general elections. Togadia said that such an attempt would weaken the BJP and the NDA alliance. "Announcing the name of PM candidate could work as a strategy in favour of UPA parties. It could split both the BJP and its NDA...

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very...

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Brazil Nightclub Fire: 232 Dead, Hundreds Injured

Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members may...

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Nightclub fire kills at least 232 in Brazil

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 232 people in southern Brazil early on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked and overcrowded exits in the ensuing panic, officials said. The blaze in the university town of Santa Maria was started by a band member or someone from its production team...

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