Washington, June 19 (IANS) The US has decided to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban, senior White House officials have announced. The first meet is due to take place in the coming days in Qatar's capital, where the Taliban have opened their first official overseas office, BBC reported. More »US, Taliban to have direct peace talks
By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced for a second straight day on Tuesday as investors bet the Federal Reserve would temper statements which were interpreted to mean a sooner-than-expected winding down of stimulus efforts. Strong market breadth showed an increased appetite for equities, but trading volume was light, a sign that many market participants were taking a wait-and-see attitude. The Fed's two-day policy meeting started Tuesday, and traders are trying to guess its timeline for scaling back purchases of $85 billion per month of bonds. ... More »Wall St extends rise, investors see no change in Fed policy
LONDON (Reuters) - American Venus Williams has pulled out of this year's Wimbledon because of a back injury, the five-times singles champion said on Tuesday. The 33-year-old has not played since pulling out of the doubles at this year's French Open. "I will not be able to participate in Wimbledon," Williams wrote on her Facebook page. "I am extremely disappointed as I have always loved The Championships." Williams won her last Wimbledon title in 2008. Her sister Serena is the defending champion in this year's tournament which starts on Monday. ... More »Venus Williams pulls out of Wimbledon
Los Angeles, June 19 (IANS) Singer Will.i.am doesn't have a home despite purchasing properties for several close family members and paying off their mortgages. More »I don't have a home: Will.i.am
By Daren Butler and Parisa Hafezi ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - A lone, silent vigil by a man in Istanbul inspired copycat protests on Tuesday, as police detained dozens of people across Turkey in an operation linked to three weeks of often violent demonstrations against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Overnight in Ankara, riot police used teargas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered in and around the government quarter of Kizilay. ... More »Dozens held in Turkey, silent protester goes viral
REUTERS - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Tuesday laid out a new proposal for Dell Inc , calling on the No. 3 PC maker to buy back 1.1 billion shares and allowing the activist to become a larger stakeholder. Icahn said in an open letter to Dell shareholders that he and Southeastern Asset Management would still seek to stop founder Michael Dell's buyout offer for the company, and if successful, elect new directors to the board at a shareholder meeting scheduled for July 18. Those directors in turn would implement a $14 per share tender offer, he said in the letter. ... More »Icahn seeks Dell share buyback, buys Southeastern stock
By Patricia Zengerle and Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency on Tuesday said U.S. surveillance programs had helped disrupt more than 50 possible attacks since September 11, 2001, as sympathetic members of Congress also defended the use of the top-secret spying operations. In the first hearing dedicated to the surveillance programs since former NSA contactor Edward Snowden revealed them earlier this month, members of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee showed little will for significant reforms. Instead, both U.S. ... More »NSA head, lawmakers jointly defend U.S. surveillance programs
By Patrick Johnston REUTERS - Australia and Iran booked their fourth World Cup finals appearances with nervous 1-0 victories in a dramatic finale to Asian qualifying on Tuesday. South Korea joined them and Japan in qualifying for the finals after sneaking through on goal difference and Uzbekistan and Jordan retained hope of making it five Asian sides in Brazil after taking the third spots in the groups to set up a playoff. The teams will meet over two legs in September with the winners taking on the fifth-placed side in South America in a similar playoff in November for a place at the finals. ... More »Australia, Iran and S.Korea head for Brazil
By Zorianna Kit LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - One-eyed green monster Mike Wazowski and his giant blue, furry friend James P. "Sully" Sullivan go back in time as "scaring" students in "Monsters University," as Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar Animation Studios pins its hopes for a blockbuster on the coming-of-age story. "Monsters University," a prequel to 2001 animated film "Monsters, Inc.," will be released on Friday in U.S. theaters, and director Dan Scanlon told Reuters one of the main challenges was to keep the film fresh and surprising for audiences. ... More »Crystal, Goodman head back to school in 'Monsters University'
By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - The outside world may never find out what type of fissile material North Korea used in its nuclear test four months ago, leaving a key question about the explosion unanswered, officials and experts said on Tuesday. The isolated northeast Asian state is believed to have tested plutonium bombs in two previous such blasts, in 2006 and 2009. Any switch to uranium would increase international alarm as it could enable Pyongyang to greatly expand its arsenal. ... More »North Korea nuclear test still shrouded in mystery
REUTERS - General Electric Co joined forces with Amazon Web Services on Tuesday to make a wide range of data on products, including jet engines and gas turbines, available online so they can be analyzed. GE said Amazon Inc is the first online "cloud" service on which it will start creating an "Industrial Internet" to tap a market that analysts say could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the decade. ... More »GE moves into 'Industrial Internet' service with Amazon
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Teen pop star Justin Bieber struck a photographer with his Ferrari sports car while driving away from a comedy club in Los Angeles on Monday night, but the accident was not considered a hit-and-run, police said. Video taken outside the Laugh Factory comedy club showed Bieber behind the wheel of his white Ferrari, surrounded by photographers as he was pulling away. Celebrity website TMZ said Bieber motioned the photographers to clear out of the way but apparently pinned one between his Ferrari and a parked car as he pulled out. He then drove away. ... More »Justin Bieber hits photographer in Los Angeles car scrape
By Paul Sandle and Sophie Sassard LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone faces a battle for Germany's largest cable company, Kabel Deutschland , although rival bidder Liberty Global of the United States has bigger regulatory and funding hurdles to overcome. Liberty Global, which owns Unity Media, Germany's second biggest cable operator, joined the race on Tuesday. It tabled an 85 euro a share offer, according to a person familiar with the matter, days after the British mobile company said it was in talks about a deal. ... More »Vodafone and Liberty face battle for Kabel Deutschland
By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, Prince Muqrin, once told American diplomats the Middle East's so-called Shi'ite Crescent where the Muslim sect holds sway was "becoming a full moon" as Iranian influence spread. For the kingdom's Sunni ruling princes, that fear, revealed in a 2009 U.S. embassy cable released by WikiLeaks, now focuses on Syria. Iran-backed President Bashar al-Assad's forces are advancing with the aid of Lebanese Hezbollah Shi'ite fighters, while Riyadh supports the Sunni rebels fighting against him. ... More »Analysis: Saudi role in Syria driven by fear of Shi'ite "full moon"
By Alexei Anishchuk and Andrew Osborn ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin derailed Western efforts to remove Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad from power at the G8 summit on Tuesday and, hours after meeting U.S. President Barack Obama, said the Kremlin might sell more arms to Syria. In a final communique after two days of intense talks, global leaders called for peace talks to be held as soon as possible to resolve the Syrian civil war. But it did not even mention Assad's name. ... More »Russia's Putin torpedoes G8 efforts to push out Assad
Beijing, June 19 -- Football World Cup winning captain, Argentinian Diego Maradona will take home more than $490,000 (about Rs. 2.85 crore) after a Beijing court ruled in his favour in a dispute involving the illegal use of his name and image in an online game.The court accepted the 52-year-old Argentinian's claim that Hot-Blooded Soccer (HBS) had infringed on his image rights by featuring his cartoon and signature without consent.The game, which was developed by The9 Ltd, had been available on Sina's online game platform, state-run newspaper, China Daily, reported on Tuesday. ... More »Maradona $490,000, Chinese imposters 0
Kolkata, June 19 -- Looks like Biswajit Nandi and Surajit Bhattacharya may be able to participate in the Homeless World Cup football tournament this August in Poznan, Poland.Reactions poured in on Tuesday after Hindustan Times reported how the boys, who live in the red light districts of Kolkata, may not be able to go make the trip because of paucity of funds, R 1.5 lakh to be precise."A lady called us from Delhi today and offered to pay for the expenses of both the boys. ... More »Help for Homeless World Cup duo
India, June 19 -- Veteran BJP leader LK Advani may have come to terms with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi overtaking him as the face of the party, but close aide Sudheendra Kulkarni still hasn't.File photo: Senior BJP leader L K Advani during the last public meeting of his Jan Chetna Yatra at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. HT Photo by Sanjeev VermaIn a strongly-worded letter posted on rediff.com, he condemns Modi and calls party president Rajnath Singh 'foxy'. ... More »Advani aide Kulkarni calls Modi autocrat, Rajnath foxy
India, June 19 -- A new global study has predicted a large increase in the frequency of floods in South Asia and peninsular India due to climate change.The study titled 'Global flood risk under climate change', published online in international journal Nature's website on June 9, predicts a large increase in flood frequency in southeast Asia, peninsular India, eastern Africa and northern half of the Andes.In some parts of the world, however, flood frequency is projected to decrease. ... More »India at high flood risk: Study
India, June 19 -- A 33-year-old management graduate was arrested by the Lajpat Nagar police station on Tuesday evening for allegedly attempting to cheat a high-profile jeweller by posing as the daughter-in-law of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.The accused has been identified as Shikha Bhatia, an alleged habitual offender who was arrested earlier in 2010 by the Anand Vihar police station on the charges of cheating and forgery. ... More »Woman poses as CM's daughter-in-law