GREENVILLE, South Carolina: Raman P. Rama was recently installed as global president of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) at the association's 2012 Annual Convention & Tradeshow in Orlando, Florida. HFTP, founded in 1952, is the global professional association for financial and technology personnel working in hotels, clubs and other hospitality-related businesses.
With 4300 members worldwide, HFTP provides first class...
LONDON: Britain is set to unveil plans to slash its 280 million pounds perannum aid to India by half, amid criticism that its overseas assistance was not justified at a time of cut backs at home, a media report said.
Justine Greening, Britain's International Development Secretary, will unveil plans to slash Britain's controversial 280 million pounds-a-year aid budget to India.
Greening,...
OKLAHOMA CITY: An arts and craft supply company owned by a Christian family has asked a judge to block a portion of the new federal health care law, claiming that mandated coverage for certain birth control pills violates its religious freedom rights.
Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.'s owners believe the use of morning-after and week-after birth control pills are tantamount to...
BATON ROUGE, La.: Gov. Bobby Jindal's top budget adviser scrapped a legislative vote on the governor's proposal to outsource a state employee health insurance plan, when it became clear the contract didn't have enough support to win approval.
Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols pulled the proposed contract between the Office of Group Benefits and Blue Cross/Blue Shield from consideration after...
PHOENIX: A federal appeals court is poised to consider Arizona's earliest-in-the-nation ban of most abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy amid debate over both its legality and its practical impact on women if allowed to take effect.
The case to be argued before a panel of 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges in San Francisco hinges on how far...
LOS ANGELES: A heart disease treatment that many doctors consider to be fringe medicine unexpectedly showed some promise in a federal study clouded by ethical and scientific controversy, causing debate about the results.
The study took 10 years, cost taxpayers $30 million, involved several doctors convicted of felonies and spurred a federal probe into patient safety. Even the lead researchers...
CHICAGO: When 24-year-old Rigoberto Padilla first enrolled in one of Chicago's community colleges in 2007, there were few financial aid options available for illegal immigrants like him.
He was brought to the country from Mexico at age 6 when his family crossed the California border illegally for a new life in Chicago.
Illinois officials expect thousands of young immigrants to apply...
WICHITA, Kan.: Prosecutors charged a Wichita firm with knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant as manager of one of its McDonald's restaurants, the latest prosecution in a widening federal crackdown in Kansas that aims to make employers accountable for using illegal workers to gain a competitive advantage.
A criminal information filed in federal court charges McCalla Corp. with a felony count...
PHOENIX: Police agencies in Arizona have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars training officers to enforce the state's 2010 immigration law, despite claims from supporters that it wasn't going to cost much extra for the state's 15,000 officers to carry out the statute.
An informal survey by The Associated Press of selected police departments and a state agency that trains...