Year of the Pig begins

Year of the Pig begins
BEIJING -- Asians burned incense in temples thick with clouds of eye-stinging smoke and gathered for feasts of chicken, hot pots and dumplings Sunday as they celebrated the first day of the Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Pig. Asians throughout the world marked the holiday, including in Calcutta, India, above, where Chinese children carried a dragon mask during celebrations. The pig is one of 12 animals (or mythical animals in the case of the dragon) on the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, which follows the lunar calendar. According to Chinese astrology, people born in pig years are polite, honest, hard-working and loyal. They are also lucky, which is why many Chinese like to have babies in a pig year.
JetBlue cancellations
NEW YORK -- JetBlue called off almost a quarter of its flights for today but hoped that would be the last round of cancellations as it struggles to recover from the snowstorm that saw some travelers sitting on grounded planes for hours. The airline had scheduled 600 flights for Presidents Day, more than the 550 to 575 flights it has on a normal Monday, but 139 of them were canceled, JetBlue announced late Saturday. The latest cancellations were needed to make sure all flight crews had gotten the legally mandated amount of rest before returning to service, JetBlue Airways Corp. spokesman Sebastian White said Sunday.
Carnival in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS -- Chilly conditions did not deter the revelers who turned out Sunday to watch the parades roll through the city on the last weekend before Mardi Gras, which is Tuesday. Bryan Young of Hammond hunched over a grill at a spot along Napoleon Avenue, a main parade route, cooking hamburgers and sausages in the 40-degree weather. Several parades rolled Sunday, culminating with the Krewe of Bacchus, one of the most-anticipated events of Carnival. This year, the parade was led by actor James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos." He was an immediate hit, posing with people for pictures and signing autographs before the parade began at dusk.
Gene linked to autism
SEATTLE -- A gene that may affect a child's chances of having autism has been identified by University of Washington scientists and other members of an international research team. In the largest genetic study ever of the disease, the team also found the area of a chromosome where another possible autism gene is located. The discoveries further establish basic concepts about the cause of the devastating disease and offer new hope for developing treatments. "This isn't the end, but it's a major first step," said Gerard Schellenberg, a UW geneticist working at the Veterans Affairs medical center in Seattle and a lead scientist in the project. More than 120 scientists from 19 countries in North America and Europe in the "Autism Genome Project" worked on the new research reported in Sunday's online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.
Bahamian official resigns
NASSAU, Bahamas -- Immigration Minister Shane Gibson resigned Sunday night in a flap over his relationship with Anna Nicole Smith, apologizing to the Bahamian people for any embarrassment he may have caused the country. Photos recently appeared in a Bahamas newspaper showing Gibson in bed with the former Playboy Playmate and embracing her. Both were fully clothed, but the pictures stoked a controversy because Gibson had fast-tracked Smith's application for permanent residency on the island chain. However, Gibson denied any wrongdoing.
Scores die in train fire
NEW DELHI -- A train traveling to Pakistan caught fire early today in northern India, killing at least 64 people, and an explosive device was found near the tracks, a railroad official said. V.N. Mathur, general manager of the Northern Railway, said two suitcases stuffed with flammable material were also found at the scene -- one inside a burned train car and the other on the railroad track. The fire engulfed two cars of the Samjhauta Express, one of two train links between rivals India and Pakistan.
Combined dispatches