Israel says prefers diplomacy over Gaza invasion option

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel bombed dozens of targets in Gaza on Monday and said that while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that would end Palestinian rocket fire from the enclave. As international pressure mounted for a truce, mediator Egypt said a deal to end the fighting could be close. Twelve Palestinian...

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Sri Lanka orders top judge to attend impeachment case

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's parliament has ordered the country's top judge to attend an impeachment hearing on Friday after rejecting her appeal for more time to prepare a defence.An 11-member parliamentary panel dominated by members of President Mahinda Rajapakse's coalition declined Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake's request for six weeks to respond to 14 charges in the impeachment motion."The...

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Justice Katju reacts to TOI report, asks Prithviraj Chavan to probe Facebook user's arrest

NEW DELHI: Press Council chief Markandey Katju has asked Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan to inquire in to the wrongful arrest of a woman for protesting against a bandh following Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's death. Reacting to a TOI report that had said that a woman had been arrested for protesting against the shut down in Mumbai on the occasion of Thackeray's death on social networking site...

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.Meningitis mainly affects infants...

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Palestinian Civilian Toll Climbs in Gaza

Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip on Monday, driving up the civilian death toll and in one case devastating several homes belonging to one clan — the fallout from a new tactic in Israel's six-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel.Escalating its bombing campaign, Israel on Sunday began attacking homes of activists in Hamas, the Islamic...

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Israel, Gaza fighting rages on as Egypt seeks truce

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip from air and sea for a fifth straight day on Sunday, preparing for a possible ground invasion while also spelling out its conditions for a truce. Palestinian fire into Israel subsided during the night but resumed in the morning, with rockets targeting the country's commercial capital Tel Aviv for a...

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Syria slams "hostile" France as fighting rages

DAMASCUS: Syria on Sunday slammed as "hostile" a French decision to host an ambassador from the opposition National Coalition, as regime forces bombarded southern districts of the capital and clashes raged nationwide.France on Saturday invited the group to send an envoy to Paris, after President Francois Hollande met National Coalition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib."France is acting like...

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Foreign ministry to keep tab on Savita case

NEW DELHI: Following Indian ambassador to Dublin Debashish Chakravarthi's meeting with Ireland deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Ireland, the foreign ministry here briefed Savita Halappanavar's husband Praveen about details of the probe being carried out by the Irish authorities. Halappanavar was also assured that the external affairs minister Salman Khurshid was closely following...

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.Meningitis mainly affects infants...

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Rocket Fired at Tel Aviv, More Strikes in Gaza

Israeli strikes hit two media centers in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as Israel warned it was widening its range of targets to go after military commanders of the territory's Hamas rulers. Palestinian militants meanwhile fired at least one more long-range rocket at Tel Aviv, the fourth day in a row which the Israeli heartland has come under fire.The fifth day of Israel's campaign against...

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