South Africa military plane crashes in mountains

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African military aircraft on an unknown mission to an area near the village where former President Nelson Mandela lives crashed in a mountain range, officials said Thursday. It was unclear whether there were any survivors.The Douglas DC-3 Dakota, a twin-propeller aircraft, had taken off from Pretoria’s Waterkloof Air Force Base on Wednesday night, said Brig. Gen. Xolani...

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Austrian farmers dip into Internet “milking” craze

VIENNA (Reuters) – Dumping a bottle of milk over your head and filming it for a video post on the Internet has become a popular youth craze, but Austrian farmers say the spillage is a crying shame.“Milking”, as the trend is known, is among a variety of tongue-in-cheek stunts in which young people shoot pictures or videos of themselves posing as owls, planks of wood, or famous people and then share...

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Watch: World’s Oldest Person Dies at 116

Home > Video > Most PopularNYC Man Pushed on Subway Tracks, Killed by TrainNYC Man Pushed on Subway Tracks, Killed by TrainPolice are looking for suspect who they say pushed another man off a subway platform.NYC Subway Fight Caught on TapeNYC Subway Fight Caught on TapeVideo shows a group of teenage girls scuffling with police officers.Bystanders Pull Mom, Son From Subway TracksBystanders Pull...

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Fuel rise axed as economy worsens

5 December 2012 Last updated at 10:02 ETPlease turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. George Osborne: “There will be no fuel tax rise this January”Chancellor George Osborne has scrapped a planned 3p rise in fuel duty, but benefits face a further squeeze as he admitted the UK economy was struggling.There will be more money for roads, London’s Underground and schools, but councils were...

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Sri Lanka see backlash from Aussie ‘wounded soldiers’

(Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has warned his team to be wary of a backlash from Australia in their three-test series after the hosts were stung by their series defeat to South Africa earlier this week.Australia’s hopes of snatching the Proteas’ top test ranking ended in a crushing 309-run defeat in the third and final test in Perth on Monday, but Jayawardene took little comfort...

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Swiss spy agency warns U.S., Britain about huge data leak

ZURICH (Reuters) – Secret information on counter-terrorism shared by foreign governments may have been compromised by a massive data theft by a senior IT technician for the NDB, Switzerland‘s intelligence service, European national security sources said.Intelligence agencies in the United States and Britain are among those who were warned by Swiss authorities that their data could have been put in...

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Howard Stern signs on for more “America’s Got Talent”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Shock jock Howard Stern will return as a judge for his second season on NBC‘s summer talent show “America’s Got Talent,” the broadcaster said on Monday, although the high-priced radio host appears to have done little to improve the show’s ratings.NBC hoped Stern, 58, known for this sexually explicit radio interviews, would attract bigger audiences, but the finale in September...

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Two conservative Republicans booted from House budget panel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two of the most conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives have been kicked off the House Budget Committee, a rare move that could make it easier for the panel to advance a deal with Democrats to cut fiscal deficits.Representatives Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan – both favorites of the anti-tax Tea Party movement – are among those Republicans...

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Osborne to announce PFI reforms

4 December 2012 Last updated at 09:21 ETThe government is expected to change the way it raises money for public projects such as schools and hospitals to ensure a better deal for taxpayers.Chancellor George Osborne is set to announce the changes to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement.Under the plans, the taxpayer will take a share of up to 49% in new projects.The current...

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Officials: NATO to decide on missiles for Turkey

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO foreign ministers are expected to approve Turkey‘s request for Patriot anti-missile systems to bolster its defense against possible strikes from neighboring Syria.NATO foreign ministers are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels. Parliaments in both nations must approve the deployment, which would also involve several hundred soldiers.Ankara, which has been highly supportive...

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