PM Lee congratulates Workers' Party on by-election win, calls on people to come together as one

Singapore: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has congratulated the Workers' Party and MP-elect Ms Lee Li Lian for winning the Punggol East by-election. He said in a statement issued just after the by-election results were announced that he respects the choice of Punggol East voters. "Now that the Punggol East by-election is over, we should re-focus on national issues" said Mr Lee in his media...

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Jaipur Literature Fest: Jeet Thayil wins 2013 DSC Prize, Muslim groups upset

JAIPUR: Kerala-born writer Jeet Thayil was named the winner of the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for his debut novel "Narcopolis" on Friday, but Muslim groups slammed his selection saying it was done to "provoke" their sentiments. Thayil, who was at the centre of a controversy last year for reading excerpts from "The Satanic Verses" after Salman Rushdie's visit to the Jaipur...

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

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Alleged Doctor Killer Had Anger Issues, Friend Says

Jason Smith, the Philadelphia exterminator who police say showed up at the home of Dr. Melissa Ketunuti this week to solve her rodent problem before strangling her, was a problem child as an adolescent, a family friend told ABC News.The family friend from many years ago, who asked for anonymity, said Smith, 36, had behavior and anger issues, and that he also liked to set things...

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North Korea threatens war with South over U.N. sanctions

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened U.N. sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month. In a third straight day of fiery rhetoric, the North directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbor on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration...

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US scholar urges dramatic rethink on Taiwan

WASHINGTON: With Beijing growing in strength, a US scholar is calling for a major rethink on Taiwan in which the island would cut its troop numbers in half and rebrand its army as a self-defence force.The proposal marks a rare break from the conventional view of American and Taiwanese policymakers that the island needs to close the military gap with Beijing, but its author said an opposite...

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Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde should be tried for sedition: Balbir Punj

BHOPAL: Journalist and Rajya Sabha BJP MP Balbir Punj on Thursday said that Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde should be charged with sedition and tried for treason for his statement linking BJP-RSS to 'Hindu terrorism' at the recently held Jaipur Congress Conclave. Punj was in the Madhya Pradesh capital on Thursday to lead the BJP's protest here seeking Shinde's sacking from the post of the...

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Burger King drops supplier linked to horsemeat

LONDON (AP) — British and Irish burger fans could face a Whopper shortage. Burger King says it has stopped buying beef from an Irish meat processor whose patties were found to contain traces of horsemeat.The fast food chain said in a statement Thursday that it had dropped Silvercrest Foods as a supplier for its U.K. and Ireland restaurants as a "voluntary and precautionary measure."Last week Silvercrest,...

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N. Korea Vows More Nuke Tests Targeting U.S.

In a bellicose statement singling out the United States as the "sworn enemy" of the Korean people, North Korea today announced plans for a third nuclear test and continued rocket launches.The move is seen as a disappointment to those who hoped the country's new leader, Kim Jong-Un, might take a less aggressive path than his predecessor and father, Kim Jong-il.It is also seen...

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North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy". The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North...

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