World News

THE CLAIM:A person can pay off a sleep debt by sleeping late on weekendsTHE FACTS:Chronic sleep deprivation is a given for most people.

Participation of the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M) in the peace process in Nepal is just a "tactic" and another round of armed clash to capture state power is not far away, Baburam Bhattarai, key ideologue of the movement, said.

Investigators today began piecing together how and why they think an Army psychiatrist facing deployment to Afghanistan gunned down dozens of people yesterday at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, in one of the worst mass shootings ever on an American military base.

The Nation The Best Wall of Defence Since policy makers in Washington D.C. decided to provide financial support to Pakistan to aid in its battle with extremists, the country's urban middle-class has grown increasingly wary of the partnership.

President Pratibha Patil concluded her two-day visit to Cyprus on Saturday with President Demetris Christofias reiterating his country's support for permanent membership to the United Nations Security Council for India and backing India's proposal for an early adoption of a comprehensive convention against terrorism.

After a close acquaintance was diagnosed with breast cancer, I recalled that October is commemorated worldwide as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Nepal's government will deploy the army if the Maoist movement, beginning on November 1, turns violent or cripples the functioning of the state, Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari said on Friday.

BELOW ZERO One embryo as good as multiples for pregnancy Women who receive just one embryo during in-vitro fertilization are as likely to produce a child as those implanted with two, suggests a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

US President Barack Obama travelled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware early Thursday morning to pay his respects as the bodies of 18 American troops killed this week in Afghanistan returned home.

Giving a new twist to the debate regarding India-Nepal Maoist links, Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala on Wednesday claimed that she had evidence of arms flow from Nepal Maoists to their Indian counterparts.

When David Swain was led out of a British Virgin Islands court and into an armoured car on Tuesday evening, it closed a chapter in a mystery that began in March 1999 when his wife's body was found floating in the turquoise waters off the British Virgin Islands.

Taking a common call on the issue of international terrorism, the ninth trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) agreed on stronger measures to counter terrorism in the region, apart from agreeing to share responsibility for stability in Afghanistan.

Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) planned to use a US national to carry out a major terrorist attack in India, US investigating authorities said on Tuesday.

After a tough fight, Indian forces manage to capture Abu Abida, the dreaded warlord who, with the covert support of a neighbouring state, had been pushing in heavily armed insurgents to subvert the country.

Keeping aside their intense battle of nerves on cross-border issues, India and China on Saturday vowed not to allow mutual differences to jeopardise "functional cooperation" in bilateral ties, while observing that a robust partnership between the two Asian giants was in the interest of the region and the world.

For the beauty and cosmetics industry, it seems but a short leap from Hippocrates' ancient dictum 'Let thy food be thy medicine' to the new-age fad of facelifts through foods and beverages laced with substances like collagen.

US formally files for Polanski extradition
London: The US formally asked Swiss authorities to extradite Oscar winning director Roman Polanski, who is wanted for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. The Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in a statement that US authorities had asked for Polanski's extradition, adding that he might appeal against the decision.

A suicide bomber riding a bicycle today struck a security checkpoint near a strategic military complex reportedly linked to Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme at Kamra near Islamabad, killing eight, injuring 15, and raising fresh concerns over the security of the country's nukes.

The planet is warming, but the mood among climate negotiators seems as chilly as ever. On October 9th the penultimate round of talks before December's climate-change summit in Copenhagen ended in Bangkok. Only one session remains, in Barcelona in November. Leaders are now busy lowering expectations, saying that this summit will be a prelude to a "Copenhagen II" in 2010.