Alma Abdulrahman is lying gaunt and unable to move anything below her diaphragm in a hospital bed in Amman. Some bedsores have become so deep she’s having surgery tomorrow. Screws hold together her upper vertebrae, and cigarette burns pock her right shoulder. Her voice fades in and out, hoarse from either weakness or morphine. Six months earlier, she was paralyzed when a regime soldier struck her in the neck with […]

Kolkatta: One year and four months after she was raped and came to be known as the “Park Street rape survivor,” the woman has come forward and revealed her name and identity. Suzette Jordan is 38-year-old single mother of two girls and caregiver of her ailing mother as well. It is an unusually brave decision. Rape survivors usually don’t want to reveal their identity fearing “Why should I hide my […]

In Pic :Flood waters gush around a giant statue of Lord Shiva in the holy city of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand state Media in India are criticising the government’s lack of preparedness in dealing with the monsoon floods, which have killed more than 100 people in the northern parts of the country. Nearly 73,000 people are stranded in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh due to heavy rainfall and landslides, […]

A 98-year-old top Nazi war crimes suspect, accused of overseeing thousands of Jewish deportations during World War II, has been charged with war crimes in Hungary, prosecutors said. Laszlo Csatary, who has been under house arrest since last year, is listed by the Simon Wiesenthal Center as its most-wanted alleged Nazi war criminal. The Nazi-hunting organisation says that Csatary was a senior Hungarian police officer in charge of the Kosice […]

Foodgrain needs to stay fit for round-the-year consumption. Fruits and vegetables must stay fresh until they reach the plate. But forget all-weather warehouses or cold storage facilities, most developing countries dump millions of tonnes of food in the open at the mercy of the elements, birds and rodents. More wheat rots in India than the total production of Australia, which loses less than 1 percent of its grain in storage […]

Within touching distance of her family just hours before they were due to fly back to India. But moments later this 17-year-old girl vanished in the middle of Oxford Street… and has not been seen since Emaan Shah was out shopping with her parents when she went missing The family have been left ‘frantic with worry’ since disappearance on Monday The family were on holiday in the UK and were […]

Garter snakes spread throughout North America. The common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is the only species of snake to be found in Alaska, and is one of the northernmost species of snake in the world, possibly second only to the crossed viper, Vipera berus. The genus is as far ranging due to its less discriminant diet and adaptability to different biomes and landforms, with varying proximity to water. However, in […]

HARYANA HAS emerged as the hub of premium quality basmati rice in the country, accounting for as much as 40 percent of exports. Sushil Jain, president of Rice Export Association, Haryana, says, “Exports from Haryana have nearly doubled in the past two years. The value of the rice produced last year was close to 8,000 crore.” Among the districts, Karnal alone accounts for 50 percent of Haryana’s exports, which is […]

June 11, 2013 CZECH REPUBLIC – Expectations that Central Europe’s flooding would ease this week were put on hold following heavy rainfall over the weekend, as the Vltava and Elbe rivers swelled again to near critical levels in the Czech Republic while the flood wave moving through northern Germany triggered more evacuations. Forecasters are expecting more thunderstorms in parts of southern Germany, just as recovery efforts were beginning to get under way after […]

Some of the world’s rarest big cat species are facing a potentially deadly threat from a virus carried by domestic dogs, a wildlife expert has warned. John Lewis, director of Wildlife Vets International, said there was evidence that Indonesian tigers were at risk. Canine distemper virus has evolved in recent decades from infecting only dogs to affecting other animal groups. Dr Lewis plans to work with Indonesian vets to develop […]