Japan suggests hotline to Beijing over island spat

TOKYO: Japan has suggested setting up a military hotline with China to avoid clashes between the two countries, which are at loggerheads over a group of disputed islands, Tokyo's defence minister said Saturday.The proposal came after Tokyo accused a Chinese frigate of locking its weapons-tracking radar on a Japanese destroyer -- a claim Beijing has denied.The incident, which Japan said...

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Afzal Guru hanged: Mobile internet services snapped in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Authorities on Saturday snapped the mobile internet services in Kashmir valley following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru inside Tihar jail in national capital.All the mobile internet connections have stopped functioning this morning as the news about hanging of Guru broke out.Although, no reason has been given for snapping the services, it is believed that the...

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Space Pictures This Week: Sun Dragon, Celestial Seagull

Solar DragonImage courtesy SDO/NASAResembling a dragon's tail, remnants of a solar filament strain to escape the sun's gravity in an image released this week by NASA's Solar Dynamics...

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Northeast Shuts Down as Blizzard Batters Millions

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions battered the Northeast Friday into Saturday, and forecasters feared as much as two feet of snow and strong winds could shut down densely populated cities such as New York and Boston, where cars were ordered off the streets.State officials declared states of emergencies throughout the region, and utilities estimated more than a half-million...

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Lawmakers divided on Postal Service plan

Lawmakers wrestled Thursday with how to address Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe’s announcement that the U.S. Postal Service plans to end Saturday mail delivery in August. Donahoe moved to circumvent Congress’s long-standing resistance to the proposal for five-day delivery, a move the Postal Service thinks will save about $2 billion annually and help ease its financial losses....

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29 killed in Iraq car bombs against Shiites

BAGHDAD: A spate of car bombs in Shiite areas of Iraq, including two blasts minutes apart at a popular bird market, killed at least 29 people on Friday, the latest in a spike in violence amid a political crisis.The attacks, which left nearly 70 others wounded, primarily targeted marketplaces that are often crowded on Fridays, the weekly holiday in Iraq, and took the death toll from a week...

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Raje takes over as BJP president in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Seeking to project a united face, newly appointed state BJP president VasundharaRaje said her priority would be going forward while keeping all the party's stakeholders together. "My priority will be to take everyone along with me like a family," she said in her maiden address after the formal taking over ceremony. "An organisation without workers is like a fish without water so if we are...

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Asteroid to Make Closest Flyby in History

Talk about too close for comfort. In a rare cosmic encounter, an asteroid will barnstorm Earth next week, missing our planet by a mere 17,200 miles (27,700 kilometers).Designated 2012 DA14, the space rock is approximately 150 feet (45 meters) across, and astronomers are certain it will zip harmlessly past our planet on February 15—but not before making history. It will pass within...

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Door-to-Door Search for Suspected Cop Killer

More than 100 police officers were going door-to-door and searching for new tracks in the snow in the hopes of catching suspected cop killer Christopher Dorner overnight in Big Bear Lake, Calif., before he strikes again as laid out in his chilling online manifesto.Police held a news conference late Thursday, alerting the residents near Big Bear Lake that Dorner was still on...

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In the Loop: Interior pick could watch, but not deliver, a State of the Union address

The nomination announcement Wednesday afternoon of Sally Jewell, chief executive of outdoor company REI, to be secretary of the interior would put her eighth in the line of presidential succession should anything happen to President Obama, Vice President Biden, House and Senate leaders and the top four Cabinet officials at State, Treasury, Defense and Justice. Except for one problem: She...

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Emergency calls to SCDF up 9%

SINGAPORE: The total number of calls to the Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) Emergency Ambulance Service rose by over 8 per cent - from 131,806 cases in 2011 to 142,549 cases in 2012.Emergency calls rose 9 per cent from 125,966 cases in 2011 to 137,341 cases in 2012. SCDF said the increase reflects the growing demand for ambulance services from an ageing population. The data was...

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UP CM Akhilesh Yadav inducts 12 new ministers

LUKCNOW: In the first expansion of his ministry after coming to power, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday inducted 12 new ministers, including Vinod Kumar Singh who was dropped after he allegedly manhandled the chief medical officer in Gonda.Among those who were sworn-in were SP spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury, considered close to SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Vinod Kumar...

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Humans Swap DNA More Readily Than They Swap Stories

Jane J. Lee Once upon a time, someone in 14th-century Europe told a tale of two girls—a kind one who was rewarded for her manners and willingness to work hard, and an unkind girl who was punished for her greed and selfishness.This version was part of a long line of variations that eventually spread throughout Europe, finding their way into the Brothers Grimm fairytales as Frau Holle, and...

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Armstrong May Testify Under Oath on Doping

Facing a federal criminal investigation and a deadline that originally was tonight to tell all under oath to anti-doping authorities or lose his last chance at reducing his lifetime sporting ban, Lance Armstrong now may cooperate.His apparent 11th-hour about-face, according to the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA), suggests he might testify under oath and give full details to...

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Strengthening security at the nation’s airports

Most people think of airport security as their walk through the metal detector and the eyeballing by transportation security officers (TSOs). Dan Liddell, whose job it is to protect the flying public at seven airports in central New York, instead sees 17 zones of worker responsibility and hundreds of different tasks. In pursuit of safeguarding the public, Liddell, a federal security director...

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Bill introduced to protect private home buyers

SINGAPORE: Amendments to the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Bill was introduced in Parliament on Wednesday to protect the interests of home buyers of uncompleted private residential properties. Last year, the Housing Developers Rules were amended to better protect home buyers. Developers now have to provide scaled location plans, unit floor plans and detailed breakdowns of...

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Narendra Modi as popular as Nehru: Ashok Singhal

ALLAHABAD: Amid demand by some BJP leaders for projecting Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate, VHP leader Ashok Singhal said on Wednesday the Gujarat chief minister enjoys the same popularity as that of the first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. "It is for the first time since the days of Jawahar Lal Nehru when a leader has come to enjoy such a massive popularity across the...

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The Real Richard III

It's a question that actors from Laurence Olivier to Kevin Spacey have grappled with: What did Richard III, the villainous protagonist of Shakespeare's famous historical drama, really look and sound like?In the wake of this week's announcement by the University of Leicester that archaeologists have discovered the 15th-century British king's lost skeleton beneath a parking lot, news continues...

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Lance Armstrong Under Criminal Investigation

Federal investigators are in the midst of an active criminal investigation of disgraced former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, ABC News has learned.The revelation comes in stark contrast to statements made by the U.S. Attorney for Southern California, Andre Birotte, who addressed his own criminal inquiry of Armstrong for the first time publicly on Tuesday. Birotte's...

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Strengthening security at the nation’s airports

Most people think of airport security as their walk through the metal detector and the eyeballing by transportation security officers (TSOs). Dan Liddell, whose job it is to protect the flying public at seven airports in central New York, instead sees 17 zones of worker responsibility and hundreds of different tasks. In pursuit of safeguarding the public, Liddell, a federal security director...

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MP proposes amendment to motion on White Paper on Population

SINGAPORE: Member of Parliament (MP) for Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency, Liang Eng Hwa, has proposed an amendment to the original motion being debated in Parliament on the White Paper on Population.He said reflecting the concerns raised by Singaporeans, he proposes to amend the motion to further reinforce the point that Parliament supports maintaining a strong Singaporean...

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Kerala rape case: I am innocent, in eyes of God and court too, Kurien says

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three police investigations and the apex court had exonerated him of involvement in the 1996 Suryanelli rape case, Rajya Sabha deputy chairman PJ Kurien said on Tuesday and asserted that he was innocent in the eyes of God too. "Please note that I have been cleared by three different police investigation teams; besides the apex court exonerated me and the final discharge in the...

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