Biden’s gun task force met with all sides, but kept its eye on the target

Vice President Biden was curt, avoiding confrontation when he sat down with the National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates. He looked across the table in his ornate conference room and asked the NRA official if his group could back a ban on assault weapons. “No,” was James J. Baker’s reply. There was little discussion, no real debate over whether a 1990s ban had worked....

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10 Japanese unaccounted for in Algeria crisis

TOKYO: A Japanese engineering firm said Sunday that 10 Japanese and seven foreign workers remained unaccounted for at an Algerian gas plant that was seized by Islamist militants.JGC Corp. said it had confirmed the safety of 61 of 78 workers after Algerian troops stormed the remote gas plant Saturday to end the hostage crisis that killed 23 foreigners and Algerians."We have newly confirmed...

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TOI Social Impact Awards: An ambulance in time saves lives

MUMBAI: Its 868 ambulances have helped save almost 20 lakh Indians in five states over the last seven years. But these numbers don't quite capture how a small company started by five friends has brought about big changes in India's healthscape. Before Ziqitza Health Care started its 'Dial 1298 for an Ambulance' service in Mumbai in 2005, it was difficult to imagine a self-sustaining revenue model...

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

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Algeria Hostage Crisis Over, One American Dead

After the Algerian military's final assault on terrorists holding hostages at a gas complex, the four-day hostage crisis is over, but apparently with additional loss of life among the foreign hostages.One American, Fred Buttaccio of Texas, has been confirmed dead by the U.S. State Department. Two more U.S. hostages remain unaccounted for, with growing concern among U.S. officials...

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Earl Smith is the man behind a military patch that President Obama prizes

AUSTIN — That February morning in 2008 found Barack Obama decidedly out of sorts. He was locked in one battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination that showed no signs of ending — and another with a vicious cold that felt the same way. As he rode the service elevator in the backway of a convention hotel here, the snowy-haired African American operating it turned...

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Japan PM holds Algerian hostage task force meeting

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a meeting Saturday of a government task force on the Algeria hostage crisis after cutting short a trip to Southeast Asia, a report said.After arriving back in Tokyo Abe headed straight to his official residence where the meeting was to be held, Kyodo news agency reported."I would like to firmly respond," Abe was quoted as saying. He called...

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Indo-Pak LoC tension puts Gujarat farmers in a soup

AHMEDABAD: The heat on the Indo-Pak border has squashed tomato prices in Gujarat. Farmers in Kadi, about 40 km north of here, say if trade with the neighbouring nation does not normalize, they will land up in a... what else, tomato soup!Prices of tomatoes in the wholesale markets in Ahmedabad have plummeted from around Rs 300/20 kg on Saturday to Rs 80/20 kg on Thursday. The corresponding fall in...

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

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Armstrong May Have Lied to Oprah: Investigators

Lance Armstrong may have lied to Oprah Winfrey during his so-called confession Thursday night about his doping during the Tour de France bicycle race, investigators told ABC News today.Armstrong, 41, admitted for the first time that his decade-long dominance of cycling and seven wins in the Tour de France were owed, in part, to performance-enhancing drugs and oxygen-boosting...

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House Republicans using retreat as chance for self-reflection

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — House Republicans are cloistered at a tony golf resort here for three days hoping to resurrect their battered political brand, as they prepare for what could be another damaging confrontation with President Obama over federal spending. At their annual retreat, House members said there is general fretting about the damage done to the party’s image by the strident tone...

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Campaigning in Punggol East intensifies as candidates make early start

SINGAPORE: Campaigning in the Punggol East by-election intensifies, with candidates making an early start to catch voters from all walks of life.On Friday morning, Dr Koh Poh Koon of the People's Action Party (PAP) and Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party (RP) were at Rumbia LRT Station, near Rivervale Mall, to catch the morning crowd.They were distributing flyers.Dr Koh told reporters...

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MHA inquiry finds PCR response could have swifter in Nirbhaya case

NEW DELHI: An inquiry by the home ministry into allegations made by Nirbhaya's friend about the "tardy" response of Delhi Police in reaching her to hospital has found that the response time could indeed have been better. The inquiry report by Veena Kumari Meena, a joint secretary in the home ministry, also said Dinesh Yadav, operator of the bus on which the gang rape took place, had been blatantly...

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Opinion: Lance One of Many Tour de France Cheaters

Editor's note: England-based writer and photographer Roff Smith rides around 10,000 miles a year through the lanes of Sussex and Kent and writes a cycling blog at: www.my-bicycle-and-I.co.ukAnd so, the television correspondent said to the former Tour de France champion, a man who had been lionised for years, feted as the greatest cyclist of his day, did you ever use drugs in the course...

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Biden Confirms Support for Second Amendment

Jan 17, 2013 6:41pm Alex Wong/Getty ImagesOne day after President Obama unveiled the administration’s plan to curb gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden today defended their intentions, answering critics who have spoken out against the plan for potentially infringing on the Second Amendment rights of Americans.“The president and I support the Second Amendment,”  Biden...

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GOP wants quick vote on bill to extend freeze on basic federal pay rates

It’s not surprising that House Republicans are continuing their assault on federal employee compensation. But Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s decision to quickly call for a vote on a new bill shows just how strong their determination is to hold down federal pay. Apparently, even a tiny raise after a two-year-plus freeze is too much. No sooner had Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and 28 co-sponsors...

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Sex, Internet, music on tap at Sundance film fest

LOS ANGELES: Sex, the Internet and good old fashioned rock-and-roll will dominate the 29th Sundance Film Festival, the top showcase of independent US cinema that opens Thursday in the snowy mountains of Utah.Founded by Robert Redford, the annual festival in Park City aims to nurture independent filmmakers who might otherwise be eclipsed by output from the major studios -- while Hollywood...

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Tiff over liqour shop stake led to Hindu terror accused Joshi's murder?

NEW DELHI: There could be more personal and local reasons behind the murder of key Hindu terror accused Sunil Joshi than the larger motive of protecting the saffron module from being exposed. Investigations into the December 2007 murder case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have found that a liquor shop on Indore-Dewas road in Madhya Pradesh had become a bone of contention among saffron...

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6 Ways Climate Change Will Affect You

Photograph by AP Photo/Marcio Jose SanchezThe planet keeps getting hotter, new data showed this week. Especially in America, where 2012 was the warmest year ever recorded, by far. Every few years, the U.S. federal government engages hundreds of experts to assess the impacts of climate change, now and in the future. From agriculture (pictured) to infrastructure to how humans consume energy, the National...

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FAA Grounds Boeing 787 Dreamliners

The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets until their U.S. operator proves that batteries on the planes are safe.United is the only U.S. carrier flying the Boeing 787s, which have been touted as the planes of the future. However, several operated by overseas airlines have run into recent trouble, the latest because of a feared...

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Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary gains momentum

Despite all the sound and fury before and after his nomination, Chuck Hagel began his bid to lead the Pentagon as a favorite to win Senate confirmation. And he seems only to be gaining momentum. For sure, the Republican former senator from Nebraska made his share of enemies during his two terms in the Senate, which now must consider his nomination as defense secretary, but he began with...

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SDA's Desmond Lim brands himself as dedicated & determined

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Democratic Alliance's (SDA) Desmond Lim has described himself as a dedicated local and determined leader.Mr Lim is no stranger to the Punggol East ward, having contested there during the 2011 General Election.It was a setback that Mr Lim said would have made others run away from politics.The SDA's secretary-general forfeited his S$16,000 election deposit when he...

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Narayan Rane-Nitin Gadkari bonhomie fuels speculation

NAGPUR: Maharashtra industries minister Narayan Rane agreeing to share the dais with BJP national president Nitin Gadkari at the inaugural function of a workers' housing scheme at Butibori stood out like an oxymoron. What was even more surprising was the senior Congress minister's visit to Gadkari's residence at Mahal before the function. The two leaders had a breakfast meeting before proceeding...

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Mars Rover Finds Intriguing New Evidence of Water

The first drill sample ever collected on Mars will come from a rockbed shot through with unexpected veins of what appears to be the mineral gypsum.Delighted members of the Curiosity science team announced Tuesday that the rover was now in a virtual "candy store" of scientific targets—the lowest point of Gale crater, called Yellowknife Bay, is filled with many different materials that could...

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NY Passes Nation's Toughest Gun Law

Today New York became the first state to pass a gun control law -- the toughest in the nation -- since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre last month.Acting one month and a day since the rampage killing that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law shortly after 5 p.m.Called the New York Safe Act, the law includes...

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On inaugural eve, Obama’s most virulent foes want the celebration stopped

Eldon Bell, a retired Air Force officer and physician, is making no plans to see Barack Obama’s second inauguration, in part because Bell considers the president arrogant and dishonest, but more so because Bell is not yet persuaded that the swearing-in will occur at all. “Whether I watch depends on who’s being inaugurated,” says Bell, 78. “If it’s this guy, probably not, because I don’t...

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Islamists guerrillas flee French air strikes in Mali

BAMAKO: French air strikes forced Islamist guerrillas to flee towns in northern Mali and Paris secured new international support for military action as the militants struck back, seizing a small western town.The Islamists said they had made a "tactical retreat" from Timbuktu and other key towns where they have imposed a brutal version of Islamic law for nearly 10 months.But they struck...

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National Conference may induct Congress MLAs in J&K Cabinet

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah can expand and reshuffle his ministry on Tuesday following a prod from AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday evening. Congress leaders like Saifuddin Soz have been asking for more representation from their party in the Omar-led National Conference coalition government. Abdullah had dropped two Congress ministers, G A Saroori and Peerzada...

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"Fantastic" New Flying Frog Found—Has Flappy Forearms

Scientists have stumbled across a new species of flying frog—on the ground.While hiking a lowland forest in 2009, not far from Ho Chi Minh City (map), Vietnam, "we came across a huge green frog, sitting on a log," said Jodi Rowley, an amphibian biologist at the Australian Museum in Sydney and lead author of a new study on the frog.Rowley later discovered that the 3.5-inch-long (9-centimeter-long)...

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Arias Denied Guilt Despite Sex Photos, DNA

A defiant Jodi Arias insisted she was innocent of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander even after a detective told her that he had nude photos of them together on the day he died."Are you sure it's me? Because I was not there," Arias is heard saying in the police interrogation tape played for the Arizona jury today.When Detective Esteban Flores tells Arias she is seen in...

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