Blog

Motor racing-Chinese hostess plays down Hamilton champagne incident

By Alan Baldwin MANAMA, April 15 (Reuters) – A Chinese Grand Prix podium hostess who had champagne sprayed in her face by race winner Lewis Hamilton has played down the incident after the Formula One world champion was accused of sexist bullying. “It lasted for only one or two seconds, and I didn’t think too much about it,” Liu Siying, a 22-year-old graduate of the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art

Modi's coal turnaround to ease India's chronic power cuts

By Krishna N. Das NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Fewer power cuts are likely in India this summer after a surge in output at Coal India helped generators amass record stocks, a turnaround for Narendra Modi who had to battle a power crisis within months of becoming prime minister last May. Fast-track mine approvals, tighter production oversight and more flexibility in coal sales have helped power station stocks recover from a

IS seizes parts of Iraq's largest oil refinery: officials

Jihadists from the Islamic State group broke into Iraq’s massive Baiji oil refinery, seized some of its facilities and are hiding among fuel storage tanks, officials said Wednesday. An Iraqi operation backed by coalition air strikes eventually broke the siege in October and retook the town of Baiji, just south of the refinery.