GAINESVILLE: A long line of cars and trucks collided one after another early Sunday on a dark Florida highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were instantly blinded. At least 10 people were killed. When rescuers first arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans because the poor visibility made it difficult to find victims in wreckage that was strewn for nearly a mile, police said.

The US has taken a number of steps to simplify and quicken visa process and target 14% yearly increase in travellers from India that would help further strengthen business and political ties, an American diplomat said on Friday.

ATLANTA: One in every 30 babies born in the United States in 2009 was a twin, compared with one in every 53 in 1980, federal health officials say. Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton and Michelle J.K. Osterman of the National Center for Health Statistics -- part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- said the twin birth rate rose 76 percent from 1980 through 2009, from 18.9 to 33.3 per 1,000 births, mostly due to mothers having children at an older age and getting fertility treatmen

TEXAS: An armed eighth-grader gunned down by US police officers in the hallway of his Texas middle school was brandishing a pellet gun that looked like a firearm, and he refused repeated orders to lower the weapon before the officers opened fire, police say. The carbon-dioxide powered pellet gun 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez was holding looked like a handgun, and the initial report to police that sent officers rushing to Cummings Middle School on Wednesday morning was for a student seen holding a g

CHICAGO: A Chicago gas station attendant and a Keralite was fatally shot dead during a robbery on the city's South Side Saturday. Jojo, 31, of 4856 N. Ridgeway Ave., was shot in the side during a robbery at a BP gas station in the 4300 block of South State Street, according to Fox Chicago. Initially taken in critical condition to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, he was pronounced dead in the afternoon. Jojo was the son of Koduvathara James of Kumarakom. He leaves behind his wife Nimmy and a six-

NEW YORK: United Nations de Cabinet (Chief of Staff) Vijay Nambiar will today inaugurate the year long centenary celebrations of Kerala Kaumudi at the Vaishnava Community Hall in New Hyde Park. The representatives of FOKANA, FOMA, World Malayalee Council and India Press Club will also attend the function. Anju Sreenivasan (Joint Managing Director, Kerala Kaumudi),

WASHINGTON: Two Indian Americans from New Jersey have been indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to import and traffic in counterfeit perfume, according to the US justice department. While Sanjay Anandani, 34, of Clinton was arrested Dec 1 in Secaucus, New Jersey Rohit, 28, of Edgewater, surrendered to authorities a day later.

WASHINGTON: Six Indian American university students have been chosen the American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2012 out of a pool of 830 candidates who had been nominated by their colleges and universities. Ishan Nath, Aysha Bagchi, Nabeel Gillani, Anand Habib, Mohit Agrawal and Tenzin Seldon are among 32 students chosen for the prestigious scholarship for two or three years study at Oxford University at about $50,000 per year.

The holiday shopping season starts in earnest on Thursday, with retailers anxious to see if US consumers are willing to spend despite an endless stream of scary headlines about the fragile economy and their own precarious finances. However, in the eyes of retailers, the shopping period has been churning along for some time as retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Toys R Us started early by offering layaway programs, and others offering major deals to lure shoppers.

CALIFORNIA: General Electric Co plans to hire about 400 people to work in a new software development center it intends to open in San Ramon, California, next year, the largest US conglomerate said on Thursday. The new team, led by Bill Ruh, a GE vice president, will focus on developing software that will help the company's customers use its jet engines, medical imaging devices and other high-end hardware more efficiently.

KANSAS CITY: A priest accused of producing child pornography was welcomed into a young victim's home and included in numerous children's activities because a bishop kept evidence related to the priest a secret, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday. The suit is one in a string of lawsuits and legal actions against Father Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn, the leader of the 134,000-member Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, alleging that Ratigan took advantage of his position as