Education Minister urges schools to maintain long-term partnerships

SINGAPORE: Singapore Education Minister Heng Swee Keat has urged schools here to maintain long-term partnerships, which will enrich the community. He was speaking at Yishun Junior College's (YJC) Celebrating Values Day on Saturday.It is a carnival to raise funds for charities such as the President's Challenge and Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore.YJC has roped in partners...

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BJP gears up for polls; targets Congress on terror and graft

NEW DELHI: BJP president Rajnath Singh today gave a call to his party cadre to put up a united fight in the next general elections to oust the "corrupt, ineffective" UPA as he took on Congress-led government over its alleged failure on internal security, economy and foreign policy fronts. Delivering the inaugural speech at the BJP National Council here, Singh while lauding the achievements of Gujarat...

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We Didn’t Domesticate Dogs. They Domesticated Us.

In the story of how the dog came in from the cold and onto our sofas, we tend to give ourselves a little too much credit. The most common assumption is that some hunter-gatherer with a soft spot for cuteness found some wolf puppies and adopted them. Over time, these tamed wolves would have shown their prowess at hunting, so humans kept them around the campfire until they evolved into dogs....

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Rescuers Search for Man as Fla. Sinkhole Grows

Rescuers early Saturday morning returned to the site where a sinkhole swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom after the home's foundation collapsed.Jeff Bush was in his bedroom when a sinkhole opened up and trapped him underneath his home at 11 p.m. Thursday night.While the sinkhole was initially estimated to be 15 feet deep on Thursday night, the chasm has continued to grow. Officials...

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President Obama’s news conference on the sequester and funding cuts (Transcript)

Here is a running transcript of President Obama’s news conference on the sequestration cuts delivered on March 1, 2013. Remarks are being updated as they unfold: PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good morning, everybody. As you know, I just met with the leaders of both parties to discuss a way forward in light of the severe budget cuts that start to take effect today. I told them these cuts will hurt...

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US manufacturing rises for 3rd straight month: ISM

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 (AFP) - US manufacturing activity expanded in February for the third month in a row, hitting the highest level since 2011, according to the ISM survey of purchasing managers released Friday.The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing sector index rose to 54.2 from 53.1 in January, boosted by a 4.5 percent surge in new orders.Manufacturing appeared to be...

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Firing at Indian posts along LoC

JAMMU: Indian posts along the Line of Control in Mendhar belt of Poonch district came under firing, a BSF official said today.However, there was no report of any causality. There was a firing from across the border on Indian posts in Gagdiayal forward area along LoC last night, the official said. There was small arms and rocket firing, he said adding there was no loss of life or injury to anyone...

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Stinkbug Threat Has Farmers Worried

Part of our weekly "In Focus" series—stepping back, looking closer.Maryland farmer Nathan Milburn recalls his first encounter.It was before dawn one morning in summer 2010, and he was at a gas station near his farm, fueling up for the day. Glancing at the light above the pump, something caught his eye."Thousands of something," Milburn remembers.Though he'd never actually seen a brown marmorated...

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Obama, Congress Fail to Avert Sequester Cuts

President Obama and congressional leaders today failed to reach a breakthrough to avert a sweeping package of automatic spending cuts, setting into motion $85 billion of across-the-board belt-tightening that neither had wanted to see.Obama met for just over an hour at the White House Friday with Republican leaders House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell...

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Harry Reid says it’s still ‘not too late’ to avert sequester

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid said Thursday that it is still “not too late” to avert potentially devastating budget cuts due to start taking effect Friday, and he blasted a Republican plan that he said would embrace the cuts without taking responsibility for them. In a floor speech a day ahead of a White House meeting between President Obama and a bipartisan group of congressional...

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