At least 16 die in Egyptian clashes over death sentences

PORT SAID/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 16 people died in a rampage by protesters angry at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, amid a wave of bloody unrest posing a challenge for Egypt's new Islamist rulers. Armored vehicles and military police were deployed on the streets of Port Said after the violence in the Mediterranean city on Saturday. The state news...

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French-led troops seize airport in Mali Islamist bastion

BAMAKO: French-led forces Saturday wrested control of the airport at the Islamist stronghold of Gao, 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) northeast of the Mali capital Bamako, a security source said."Malian and French security forces have secured the airport of Gao and the Wanbary bridge. The two strategic points are under their control," the Malian source said.The airport is located about six...

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Four drown in Kerala houseboat capsize

ALAPPUZHA: Four tourists from Tamil Nadu drowned as the houseboat they were cruising tilted and capsized at Punnamada lake here on Saturday, police said. The boat had 61 tourists and all but the four, including three women and a child, were rescued. They were rushed to a hospital where they were declare dead, sources said. The mishap happened close to the landing point where the tourists were being...

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very...

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Cops Using More Private Cameras to Nab Suspects

Philadelphia detectives were able to quickly make an arrest in the murder and burning of a female pediatrician by viewing surveillance video of nearby stores and a hospital that captured the suspect entering the doctor's home and later getting into his truck.In the hours after Dr. Melissa Ketunuti's body was found strangled and burning in her basement, city's Homicide Task Force...

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North Korea threatens war with South over U.N. sanctions

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened U.N. sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month. In a third straight day of fiery rhetoric, the North directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbor on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration...

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Football: Balotelli going nowhere this month, says Mancini

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has once again rejected speculation linking Mario Balotelli with AC Milan and admits he is struggling to add to his squad ahead of next week's transfer deadline.The Italy striker has made just seven Premier League starts this season after a string of controversial incidents.Balotelli, 22, attempted to take the club to...

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875 police personnel awarded on Republic Day; CRPF tops list

NEW DELHI: A total of 875 police and para-military personnel have been decorated by the President for gallantry and outstanding services on Republic Day eve with CRPF topping the list. Constable Daler Singh (posthumous) from Jammu and Kashmir is the lone recipient of the President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) this time, a Home Ministry statement said today. Police Medal for Gallantry...

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

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New Orleans Ready for 1st Super Bowl Since Katrina

The people of New Orleans have hosted nine Super Bowls since 1970, but Super Bowl 2013 may be one of the most meaningful yet.That, of course, is because it's the first Super Bowl in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005.When the San Francisco 49ers compete against the Baltimore Ravens on Feb. 3, it may rank with the 2002 game, when New Orleans hosted...

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North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy". The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North...

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13 bids for Yishun mixed commercial & residential site tender

SINGAPORE: The tender for a mixed commercial and residential site at Yishun Ring Road/Yishun Avenue 9 has attracted 13 bids.According to the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the highest bid of S$212.1 million was submitted by CEL Property - subsidiary of Singapore-listed Chip Eng Seng Corporation.This translates into about S$8,551 per square metre of gross floor area.The second highest...

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Hindu terror: Congress rallies behind Shinde as BJP wants him sacked

NEW DELHI/BANGALORE: Congress and the government on Thursday slammed BJP for its "unnecessary and unwarranted" agitation over home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remarks on Hindu terror, saying it was a "diversionary tactics" to keep away media attention from its internal affairs. Rejecting BJP chief Rajnath Singh's demand for an apology by Shinde on the issue, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh...

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Women have caught up to men on lung cancer risk

Smoke like a man, die like a man.U.S. women who smoke today have a much greater risk of dying from lung cancer than they did decades ago, partly because they are starting younger and smoking more — that is, they are lighting up like men, new research shows.Women also have caught up with men in their risk of dying from smoking-related illnesses. Lung cancer risk leveled off in the 1980s for men but...

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Majority Favors Obama's Gun Control Plan

Jan 24, 2013 7:00am Charles Dharapak/AP PhotoMost Americans respond positively to the stricter gun control measures Barack Obama proposed last week in the wake of the tragic shootings in Newtown, Conn. – but by less of a margin than such measures receive outside the context of partisan politics.Fifty-three percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll view Obama’s...

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Cameron promises Britons straight choice on EU exit

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Wednesday to give Britons a referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union or leave if he wins an election in 2015, placing a question mark over Britain's membership for years. Cameron ended months of speculation by announcing in a speech the plan for a vote sometime between 2015 and the end of 2017, shrugging off...

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Smaller terror groups drive threat in Indonesia

JAKARTA: With all the major suspects involved in the 2002 Bali bombings killed or imprisoned, smaller groups with more local aims are driving the terrorist threat in Indonesia.Experts highlighted this, as part of discussions into the changing pattern of terrorism, at a forum in Jakarta.Indonesian security forces have so far arrested almost 800 people on suspicion of militancy and sentenced...

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Want to reduce negative politics: Rahul tells party leaders

NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said he wanted to try and reduce the "negative politics" and get into "positive politics", which would take the country forward. Addressing party leaders at the 24, Akbar Road party office here, Gandhi said he wanted to make the Congress party "accessible to as many people... this is my sentiment". He said political discussions...

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Foes of NYC soda size limit doubt racial fairness

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents of the city's limit on the size of sugary drinks are raising questions of racial fairness alongside other complaints as the novel restriction faces a court test.The NAACP's New York state branch and the Hispanic Federation have joined beverage makers and sellers in trying to stop the rule from taking effect March 12. With a hearing set Wednesday, critics are attacking what...

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Te'o Tells Couric He Briefly Lied About Girlfriend

Manti Te'o briefly lied to the media and the public after discovering his online girlfriend did not exist and was a part of an elaborate hoax, he admitted in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Katie Couric.The star Notre Dame linebacker, who has been hounded by the reporters since the story broke Jan. 16, told Couric in a taped interview Tuesday that he was not lying up until...

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Israel goes to polls, set to re-elect Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election that is expected to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a third term in office, pushing the Jewish state further to the right, away from peace with the Palestinians and towards a showdown with Iran. However, Netanyahu's own Likud party, running alongside the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, looks set to have...

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Taxi drivers in S. Korea threaten to go on strike

SEOUL : Taxi drivers in South Korea are threatening to go on a partial strike from January 30.It is in protest against a government decision to block legislation that would give them subsidies for public transport.The so-called "Taxi Bill" was passed in Parliament earlier this month, but was vetoed by President Lee Myung-bak and will go back to Parliament for another vote.If Parliament...

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Chidambaram in Hong Kong, seeks to reassure foreign investors

HONG KONG: India's economy will grow "no better than" 5.7% in the current fiscal year but will regain traction in 2013/2014, the finance minister said on Tuesday, as he sought to reassure international investors that the government remained committed to pro-growth policies and reforms. P Chidambaram made the comments at a media briefing after meeting investors in Hong Kong as part of a four-city...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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