New York
Wastewater plant in NY offers special Valentine’s Day tour
New York, Feb 11 : New Yorkers have an option of a highly unusual place they can take their Valentine this year - the Newtown Creek Wastewater Plant.
The Department of Environmental Protection is offering a Valentine's morning tour of the city's Newtown Creek Wastewater treatment plant.
"It's a unique date, and one they'll never forget," the New York Daily News quoted plant superintendent Jim Pynn as saying.
Pynn hosts public tours every month, but in honour of the holiday, visitors will get a special candy treat.
"Couples and singles and children and old folks - whoever shows up is welcome to a Hershey kiss," he said.
Uzbek man admits plot to kill Obama
New York, Feb 11 - A 22-year-old Uzbek national has pleaded guilty in a federal court to plotting to kill US President Barack Obama.
Ulugbek Kodirov has been held without bail since he was arrested at a motel in Alabama state in July last year after buying a machine gun from an undercover federal agent, RIA Novosti reported Saturday.
After a hearing in an Alabama federal court Friday, his defence lawyers said the man avoided a possible life sentence by pleading guilty and was now facing up to 15 years in jail at the sentencing due in May.
‘Psychotic’ Indian woman who threw tot in NY river allowed to return to homeland
New York, Feb 11 : A 34-year-old Indian woman who threw herself and her 19-month-old daughter into the frigid Hudson River two years ago after a sudden onset of psychosis, can now return to her country and children.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro sanctioned the reunion after noting that Devi Silvia has been in remission from bi-polar disorder and reliably continuing with medication and treatment.
Silvia nearly killed herself and her daughter Jessica in the failed murder-suicide bid in 2010.
US stocks drop on Greece worries
New York, Feb 11 - US stocks dropped Friday as Greece's crucial international bailout was put on hold by eurozone finance ministers.
Eurozone finance ministers said Greece had to save an extra $430 million in order to be granted bailout funds, while Greek workers staged a nationwide strike against the new austerity plan, Xinhua reported.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department said that US trade deficit widened to $48.8 billion in December, hitting the highest level since July 2008.
Facebook shares value crosses 100 billion dollars mark
New York, Feb 10 : The value of the social-networking site Facebook shares has crossed 100 billion dollars in a pre-IPO rally.
Some 150,000 Facebook shares sold for 44 dollars a piece in the latest auction on SharesPost, a trading platform for stock in private companies. That's a 10 percent jump from last week, when 100,000 shares went for 40 dollars each.
At 44 dollar a share, Facebook would be worth about 103.5 billion dollars, The New York Post reports.
Before the company filed to go public last week, its shares were selling in the low 30 dollars for much of last year on private exchanges like SharesPost and SecondMarket.
US stocks little changed after Greece deal
New York, Feb 10 : US stocks traded in a very narrow range around the breakeven line Thursday as investors felt little thrilled after Greek political leaders had agreed on austerity cuts after a dangerous deadlock.
Investors were taking a close watch on Greece as the nation's prime minister went to Brussels to talk with European leaders, hoping to secure the second round of bailout money to avoid a disastrous default, Xinhua reported.
Domestically, Thursday's jobs data came in better than expected, reassuring investors the battered jobs market was steadily picking up.
US stocks slip
New York, Feb 9 - The US stocks slipped in midday trading Wednesday as investors' concerns mounted amid prolonged debt talks in Greece.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.05 points, or 0.23 percent, to 12,848.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 dipped 1.60 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,345.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 2.40 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,901.68, Xinhua reported.
Deadlines were pushed back again and again as Greek politicians were negotiating with both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund over more fiscal reforms.
Most investors were still hoping a deal would be reached at the last minute to avoid a disastrous default.
Republicans ‘have better sex than Democrats’
New York, Feb 4 : Republicans are more likely than Democrats to achieve orgasm during sex, a new survey has revealed.
According to the 5,000-subject survey released by Binghamton University and Match. com on Friday, 53 per cent of those identifying themselves as single, conservative Republicans said they reached orgasm almost every time they have sex, compared to just 40 per cent of liberal Democrats.
But the findings also suggest while Republicans do get better sex, they don't get to enjoy it that often, the New York Daily News reported.
Those surveyed said they have their fun less frequently than their Democrat counterparts.
Human Rights Watch asks India not to back Syria
New York, Feb 3 - Human Rights Watch has urged India not to stand by Syria as it comes under increasing attack over violation of human rights.
The UN Security Council is considering a Moroccan draft resolution that includes demands that Syria end all rights abuses while putting down pro-democracy protests.
The draft resolution also warns that the perpetrators of rights violations must be held to account.
A majority of the 15 Council members is considered supportive of these efforts, which are also backed by the Arab League, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
Rajat Gupta faces more insider-trading charges
New York, Feb 1 - US prosecutors have expanded their insider-trading case against Goldman Sachs Group's former Indian American director Rajat Gupta, charging him with passing tips to convicted hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam much earlier than alleged before.
In a superseding indictment filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors broadened their description of the insider-trading scheme, saying it began in March
2007 not in 2008 as alleged in October.
New York top cop bans police force from sporting NYPD merchandise
New York, Feb 1 : New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has passed an order banning policemen from wearing unauthorised NYPD merchandise.
The interim order, issued January 19 and "effective immediately," prohibits the city's 35,000 cops from wearing hats, T-shirts or anything else sporting the department's insignia that wasn't issued by the NYPD.
India calls on global community to play constructive role in violence-hit Syria
New York, Feb. 1 : India has called on the international community to play a constructive role in facilitating political dialogue to end the crisis in violence-hit Syria.
In a statement issued here, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Hardeep Puri, said: " The international community, including this Council (U. N. Security Council), should play a constructive role in the process of political dialogue among the Syrians."
US housing prices still falling
New York, Feb 1 - Prices of single-family homes in the 20 largest US metropolitan areas fell 1.3 percent in November from the previous month and 3.7 percent compared with November 2010, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices from Standard and Poor's.
November was the second straight month to see price declines in 19 of the 20 areas studied.
Only Phoenix, one of the cities hardest hit by the housing bust, defied the trend, posting an increase of 0.6 percent, while home prices in Atlanta plunged 11.8 percent over the 12 months ending in November 2011.
Prosecute security forces for torture: Human Rights Watch
New York, Jan 31 : The Indian government should prosecute security personnel for torture to make it clear that torture will not be tolerated, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
Border Security Force (BSF) troopers were captured in a video posted on YouTube brutally beating a Bangladeshi national caught smuggling cattle in West Bengal.
The video, reportedly filmed by a BSF soldier, showed colleagues from BSF's 105th Battalion stripping the Bangladeshi man, Habibur Rahman, tying him up and beating him while laughing and engaging in verbal abuse.
US mom urged daughter to ‘hit harder’ and ‘bite’ during fight with schoolmate
New York, Jan : A woman in US has been arrested for setting up a fight between her daughter and another teenage girl to settle a beef.
According to police, Sandra Padilla Miranda, 38, of Florida has been accused of child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The arrest affidavit posted on The Smoking Gun. com said that Miranda asked her daughter’s enemy to come to their Orlando-area apartment complex after school so the girls could fight, the New York Daily News reported.
Once the opponent arrived, a large crowd gathered and the two, ages 14 and 17, started throwing punches.
Uzbekistan cancels Valentine’s Day
New York, Jan 28 : Uzbekistan has cancelled the celebration of Valentine's Day in the country, describing it as the result of "forces with evil goals bent on putting an end to national values."
According to reports, festivals and concerts have been cancelled in the Central Asian nation.
Instead, residents in the capital of Tashkent can enjoy readings of poems by Mughal emperor Babur, who died in the 16th century, the New York Daily News reported.
Uzbekistan is not the only part of the former Soviet republic that denies the power of Cupid.
Costa Concordia owner offers $14,460 as compensation to each survivor
New York, Jan 28 : The owner of Costa Concordia has offered a flat 14,460 dollars in compensation to all uninjured survivors aboard its cruise ship that ran aground off the Italian coast two weeks ago.
The deal proposed by a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival Corp. would also reimburse those who fled the boat, including some who swam a shore, for the cost of the doomed cruise and any subsequent travel expenses.
The settlement offer by Costa Crociere SpA has been proposed to cover lost luggage and psychological trauma in the deadly crash, The New York Daily News reports.
US stocks mixed
New York, Jan 28 - US stocks traded mixed Friday amid news that the US economy grew slower than expected, and concerns over the ongoing Greece debt negotiations.
The Commerce Department reported that US gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, lower than the expected 3 percent, reports Xinhua.
Meanwhile, the consumer sentiment index rose to an 11-month high in January, climbing to 75, according to the University of Michigan.
Investors were also anxious about Greece's ongoing negotiations with private sector creditors in order to reduce its debt.
Cocaine found in UN headquarters
New York, Jan 27 - More than 35 pounds (15 kg) of cocaine was sent in a bag that turned up at the UN headquarters in New York, CNN reported.
The narcotics were found Jan 16 inside hollowed-out books shipped from Mexico City in a bag that looked like a diplomatic pouch, New York police spokesman Paul Browne said.
"The actual pouch is blue and has a UN symbol, a lock and seal, and words like 'Diplomatic Mail'. This bag was white instead of blue and had no locked seal and no wording of any kind," he said.
The bag was being screened at the UN postal receiving centre when the cocaine was discovered.
50 Cent bets to get naked if NY Giants lose in ‘Super Bowl XLVI’
New York, Jan 27 : Rapper 50 Cent has placed a bet to get naked on Twitter if the NY Giants lose to New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.
The 36-year-old artist, apparently has so much faith in his hometown team, the New York Giants, that he is even willing to wager 1,000,000 dollars on the Giants in the Super Bowl, the New York Daily News reported.
"I'm up 500,000 off the last one. f*ck it ill bet it back Ill put a 1,000,000 on my G MEN. STUNNER you got the # hit me if you want it," he tweeted.
But another tweet uncovered a bet that would cause `The Massacre' star to flash his family jewels for millions to see.