Kim Dotcom poised for return with Megaupload successor

WELLINGTON: Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom will launch a new file-sharing site at his Auckland mansion on Sunday, exactly a year after armed police arrested him at the same venue in the world's largest online piracy case.Dotcom's new venture, mega.co.nz, aims to recreate the success of his Megaupload empire, which boasted 50 million daily visitors and accounted for four percent of all Internet...

Read More..

Large study confirms flu vaccine safe in pregnancy

NEW YORK (AP) — A large study offers reassuring news for pregnant women: It's safe to get a flu shot.The research found no evidence that the vaccine increases the risk of losing a fetus, and may prevent some deaths. Getting the flu while pregnant makes fetal death more likely, the Norwegian research showed.The flu vaccine has long been considered safe for pregnant women and their fetus. U.S. health...

Read More..

Notre Dame: Football Star Was 'Catfished' in Hoax

Notre Dame's athletic director and the star of its near-championship football team said the widely-reported death of the star's girlfriend from leukemia during the 2012 football season was apparently a hoax, and the player said he was duped by it as well.Manti Te'o, who led the Fighting Irish to the BCS championship game this year and finished second for the Heisman Trophy,...

Read More..

Sahara hostage siege turns Mali war global

ALGIERS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Islamist fighters have opened an international front in Mali's civil war by taking dozens of Western hostages at a gas plant in the Algerian desert just as French troops launched an offensive against rebels in neighboring Mali. Nearly 24 hours after gunmen stormed the natural gas pumping site and workers' housing before dawn on Wednesday, little was certain...

Read More..

Punggol East 5-year plan won't cost much: RP's Jeyaretnam

SINGAPORE: The Reform Party's candidate for Punggol East, Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam, said the five-year plan he has in mind for residents of the ward will not cost a lot of money.He said this in response to questions from reporters on Thursday on how he intends to fund the plan, which will include a legal clinic to help those in debt, as well as a tuition club.Mr Jeyaretnam, who is Secretary-General...

Read More..

Coast Guard identifies vessel which rammed fishing boat off Kozhikode coast

KOCHI: The Coast Guard on Thursday identified the Panama flag merchant vessel which rammed a fishing boat off Kozhikode coast injuring three fishermen. According to Coast Guard officials, the vessel has been identified as M V Isumo. ''We have directed the vessel to come to Kochi for further inquiry in connection with the incident," the Coast Guard officials said. Officials said that the vessel...

Read More..

Risk to all ages: 100 kids die of flu each year

NEW YORK (AP) — How bad is this flu season, exactly? Look to the children.Twenty flu-related deaths have been reported in kids so far this winter, one of the worst tolls this early in the year since the government started keeping track in 2004.But while such a tally is tragic, that does not mean this year will turn out to be unusually bad. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, and it's...

Read More..

NRA Ad Calls Obama 'Elitist Hypocrite'

Jan 16, 2013 12:04am Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP PhotoAs the White House prepares to unveil a sweeping plan aimed at curbing gun violence, the National Rifle Association has launched a preemptive, personal attack on President Obama, calling him an “elitist hypocrite” who, the group claims, is putting American children at risk.In 35-second video posted online Tuesday...

Read More..

France to stay in Mali until stability restored

BAMAKO/DUBAI (Reuters) - France pledged on Tuesday to keep troops in Mali until stability returned to the West African country, raising the specter of a long campaign against al Qaeda-linked rebels who held their ground despite a fifth day of air strikes. Paris has poured hundreds of soldiers into Mali and carried out 50 bombing raids since Friday in the Islamist-controlled northern half...

Read More..

Punggol East ward saw 3-way fight in 2011 GE

SINGAPORE: In the 2011 General Election, the Punggol East Single Member Constituency (SMC) saw a three-way fight among political parties that contested.The People's Action Party's (PAP) Michael Palmer won over half of the votes. The Punggol East SMC had over 30,000 voters in the 2011 General Election and it was the only constituency that saw a three-cornered fight.Then, the PAP's Michael...

Read More..