Headlines Around the World that Mattered...

Obama sets firm withdrawal timetable for Iraq

President Barack Obama consigned the Iraq war to history, declaring he will end combat operations within 18 months and open a new era of diplomacy in the Middle East.

Even so, Obama will leave the bulk of troops in place this year, contrary to hopes of Democratic leaders for a speedier pullout. And after combat forces withdraw, 35,000 to 50,000 will stay behind for an additional year and half of support and counterterrorism duties.

Mass grave unearthed in Bangladesh

Forty-eight hours after the sepoy mutiny in Dhaka and a day after the army took control of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in the capital’s Peelkhana area, the extent of the brutality is gradually unfolding.

On Friday, the army recovered the bodies of 34 officers from a single mass grave dug inside the BDR campus. In a gesture aimed at quelling growing army anger against the BDR, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced a two-day mourning.

Obama's vow to affect IT; India against protectionism: FM

As US President Barack Obama vowed to eliminate tax benefits for American firms shipping jobs to foreign countries, India has said it is against any protectionist move as it would affect its IT industry.

"The IT industry will be affected due to the impact of financial meltdown. Substantial numbers of Indian workers are there. We will have to address this issue. We are opposing protectionism, not only here but at every forum," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Karan Thapar in an interview for Devil's Advocate to be telecast on CNN-IBN.

‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you’: Satyam’s campus hires in indefinite freeze

Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services is having serious second thoughts on thousands of campus recruits to whom it had made job offers. It has put off plans to add them on its rolls and added a big if on whether they are wanted at all.

These recruits were given offer letters to join the company before March 2009, but are now being told that Satyam may not even need them, though there is no clear official communication on this.

“In the current scenario, we are reviewing our business opportunities and competency building across industry verticals and competency units to establish our talent building requirements for the future. We currently don’t plan to on –board entry-level talents in the month of March. We plan to communicate appropriately as soon as we finalize our plans in the future,” Satyam said in an e-mail response to queries from Hindustan Times.

TCS warns of job cuts, pay freeze and fewer incentives

Top IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has warned of more job cuts in 2009/10 in the wake of a worsening global economic slowdown, with no pay hikes for employees in the coming year.

Managing Director S. Ramadorai told Hindustan Times the company has frozen lateral entries into the company and was also reviewing the variable pay component of its employees. Campus hiring will go on, but the pace is expected to slow.

TCS currently has 1.44 lakh employees on its rolls. The company has recently confirmed layoffs in the UK. The variable component accounts for 22-35 per cent of a TCS employee’s gross salary, depending on the employee’s rank. Roughly eight per cent of TCS’s revenues go towards this component, Mukherjee said. TCS expects to add 15,000-18,000 people to its workforce over the next 12 months, compared with nearly 8,700 in October-December, 2008.

Mariah Carey splurges $200,000 on furniture

Pop singer Mariah Carey is not discouraged by the recession and is splurging on furniture - she spent over $200,000 as she shopped at the hip Melrose Avenue.

Contactmusic.com reports that she and her entourage closed down Kreiss Showrooms at the well-known Los Angeles street Melrose Avenue so that she and her husband Nick Cannon could shop undisturbed. She was accompanied by Kenneth Bordewick, who is an interior designer and is helping Carey picking up furniture pieces for her Los Angeles home.

Facebook, MySpace 'most popular love-hunting joints'

Forget pubs and nightclubs, social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Friends Reunited have become the newest most popular love-hunting joints, says a new study.

Three quarters of Britons reckon there are fewer stigmas associated with meeting a love-match via Facebook or Bebo than normal internet dating websites.

A spokesman for internet market research company www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the study, said: "Traditionally the pub used to be a central meeting place where many couples met across the bar and got to know each other.

"Now social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have taken over as the dating hot spot with many singletons finding love online.

"The websites also seem to be a breeding ground for rekindling old romances and the results also show that many affairs begin by tracing ex-lovers too."