Tourism groups push for easing of US visa criteria to permit more free-spending visitors.   Tight restrictions on travel and visa requirements have hit the United States tourism industry hard, with many travelers choosing to spend their holidays elsewhere. The US State Department has said security remains its top priority when it comes to eligibility criteria for visas. [...]

It’s not really why he signed up to be an astronaut, but like it or not, Mike Barratt and his eyes have become a science project. The eye charts he reads, the red drops that turn his eyes yellow and the ultrasounds being performed on him could determine whether he or any other astronaut ever [...]

Public trust in airlines shaken after at least four pilots test positive for hard drugs amid fears of rise in their use. At least four pilots of Indonesian airlines have been stripped of their flying licences in recent weeks after being tested positive for hard drugs. Two of those pilots were arrested over the drug [...]

February 2012: Photo of the Day                 This post was submitted by The White House / IM.

Iconic skyscraper in Georgia goes under the hammer for a lark as slumping economy continues to strangle property market. The Bank of America Plaza skyscraper in the state of Georgia, the tallest building in the southern US, is just another lamb to the slaughter after it was auctioned off for about half the amount it [...]

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – An estimated 3 billion people — nearly half the world’s population — still use an open fire as their primary source of energy for cooking and heating. But there’s a problem: the smoke. “You have respiratory issues, lung disease, you’ve got pneumonia, and you’ve got longer-term issues like cancer and [...]

Activists in Indonesia demand release of man who wrote on site that he did not believe in God. Human rights activists and religious scholars in Indonesia are demanding the release of a man who wrote on Facebook that he did not believe in God. Alexander An, a 31-year-old civil servant, is facing five years in [...]

Professional snowboarder Michelle Hytner survives an avalanche after she deploys an emergency airbag from her backpack. This post was submitted by CNN / IM.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake strikes island of Negros, killing at least 13 people and leaving dozens missing. A magnitude 6.7 earthquake off the central Philippine island of Negros has killed at least 13 people, including two children, and left more than 40 missing. Following dozens of aftershocks on Monday, government offices and schools were ordered to close. A grade-six pupil died [...]

Today, we’re holding a special session of White House Office Hours to celebrate the second anniversary of Let’s Move!, the First Lady’s initiative to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. At 2:30 p.m. EST, Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, is answering your questions live on Twitter.     Since [...]

Frontrunner for Republican nomination to run for US president wins western state. Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has easily won Nevada’s presidential caucuses, further taking command of the party’s race to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama. Romney’s win on Saturday was his second in a row and third in the first five contests in the [...]

Before we finish the week, we have to pass on at least one more story related to Facebook’s plan to raise about $5 billion with its first sale of shares to the public. It seems that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss – the “Winklevii” twins – could get up to $300 million worth of Facebook shares when the deal [...]

It’s not really haunted, but it is really expensive. The mansion in FX’s American Horror Story is on sale for $17 mil.                   This post was submitted by CNN / IM.

The captains of Wall Street have picked a presidential candidate for 2012 and it is Republican Mitt Romney, rather than Democratic President Barack Obama, campaign donation records show. The records released Tuesday by the Federal Election Commission illustrate a basic shift in political giving at the presidential level by the nation’s financial elite. After a [...]

Hundreds wounded in protests outside interior ministry in Cairo demanding retribution for deaths in football violence. Egyptian police have fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators outside the interior ministry offices in the capital, Cairo, protesting against the security forces’ failure to prevent a football riot that killed more than 70 people. Nearly 10,000 protesters, including [...]

American Airlines told its unions Wednesday it plans to cut 13,000 jobs from the staff of 88,000 at the nation’s No. 3 airline. The cuts will fall most heavily on the airline’s maintenance operations, which will lose 4,600 jobs. More than 4,000 additional ground worker jobs will be eliminated, as will 2,300 flight attendant jobs. [...]