Primitive and Peculiar Mammal May Be Hiding Out in Australia

It’d be hard to think of a mammal that’s weirder than the long-beaked, egg-laying echidna. Or harder to find.Scientists long thought the animal, which has a spine-covered body, a four-headed penis, and a single hole for reproducing, laying eggs, and excreting waste, lived only in New Guinea. The population of about 10,000 is critically endangered. Now there is tantalizing evidence that...

Read More..

Meet Obama's Defense Secretary Nominee

President Obama nominated former Senator Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. secretary of defense. To those who haven't followed the Senate closely in the past decade, he's probably not a household name.Hagel is a former GOP senator from Nebraska and Purple-Heart-decorated Vietnam veteran, but he wouldn't necessarily be a popular pick with Republicans in Congress.At age 21, Hagel and...

Read More..

Historic inauguration on MLK holiday means federal workers lose a quadrennial holiday

Inauguration Day normally entails an extra paid holiday for federal workers in the Washington area, but no such luck applies this year. That’s because the public swearing-in ceremony coincides with another federal holiday — the Jan. 21 observance of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. That means the historic event — the first African American president taking the oath of office on a...

Read More..

Japan says China ships off disputed isles

TOKYO: Four Chinese government ships entered territorial waters around Japan-controlled islands at the centre of a dispute Monday, the Japanese coastguard said.The four marine surveillance ships were seen moving within 12 nautical miles of the islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China, just before midday, the coastguard said in a statement.It was the first time since...

Read More..

Pak soldier killed, India says fired in retaliation

SRINAGAR: Pakistani troops violated ceasefire on Sunday by firing mortar shells towards Indian army posts at Hajipir area in Uri sector near the Line of Control. "They started firing mortar shells towards our posts in Uri sector around 3.15am," an army spokesman said. He said that some shells landed close to civilian habitation though no damage was done. The spokesman added that Indian troops responded...

Read More..

Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

Winner: PlacesPhotograph by Nenad SaljicA full moon illuminates the Matterhorn peak near Zermatt, Switzerland, in the winning image...

Read More..

Pastor Accused of Killing Wives Faces Trial

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday for Pastor Arthur Schirmer, who is accused of killing his second wife and then staging a car accident to hide it.Schirmer, 64, also faces a second trial at a later date for the death of his first wife. He has said he is innocent of all charges.In 2008, the pastor and his wife, Betty, were involved in what appeared at the time to be...

Read More..

After ‘fiscal cliff,’ Obama finishes recharging on Hawaiian holiday

HONOLULU — The place where President Obama vacations each winter is farther from Washington than almost any other place in the United States. So, it is not terribly surprising that less than 45 minutes after Congress passed a bill averting the “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1, Obama was racing back here. The president’s vacation with his family and friends had already been cut short by the protracted,...

Read More..

Indian troops kill Pakistani soldier in Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani soldier was killed and another wounded Sunday when Indian troops stormed a military post on the two countries' de facto border in Kashmir, the military said.It said an exchange of fire was continuing after the Indian incursion across the Line of Control marking the frontier in the Haji Pir sector, 80 kilometres (49 miles) north of Islamabad.Indian troops had crossed...

Read More..

Cold wave continues in J&K

SRINAGAR: There was no respite from the intense cold as the temperatures remained much below the freezing point in the Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh region of the state, said a weather official here Sunday. "The night temperature was minus 4.6 degrees celsius in Srinagar. It was minus 8.0 in Pahalgam and minus 9.0 degrees celsius in Gulmarg today (Sunday)," an official of the Met office told IANS....

Read More..