Senators near a deal on background checks for most private gun sales

A bipartisan group of senators is on the verge of a deal that would expand background checks to all private firearms sales with limited exemptions, but significant disagreements remain on the issue of keeping records of private gun sales, according to aides familiar with the talks. An agreement would be a bold first step toward consideration of legislation to limit gun violence in the...

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Britain's top Catholic in 'inappropriate acts' row: report

LONDON: Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, who is due to vote on Pope Benedict XVI's successor, has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour, the Observer reported on Sunday.Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, contests allegations by three priests and a former priest which were sent to Rome a week before Pope Benedict's...

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Ramdev trust, govt keep options open over Feb 27 function

SHIMLA: Having taken possession of 28 acres land leased out to Patanjali Yogapeeth at Sadhupul area of Solan district, the Himachal Pradesh government does not want yoga guru Swami Ramdev to hold his function there on February 27. Fearing stiff resistance from supporters of Swami Ramdev, government had planned to impose section 144 in Sadhupul and surrounding areas and had made heavy deployment...

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Elderly Abandoned at World's Largest Religious Festival

Every 12 years, the northern Indian city of Allahabad plays host to a vast gathering of Hindu pilgrims called the Maha Kumbh Mela. This year, Allahabad is expected to host an estimated 80 million pilgrims between January and March. (See Kumbh Mela: Pictures From the Hindu Holy Festival)People come to Allahabad to wash away their sins in the sacred River Ganges. For many it's the realization...

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Fiery Last-Lap Daytona Crash Injures 28 Fans

A fiery last-lap crash at the Daytona International Speedway injured a number of spectators today, who were seen being carried away from the stands on stretchers.A total of 28 fans were injured, with 14 transported to hospitals and 14 treated at the speedway, Dayton president Joie Chitwood III. All the drivers involved in the crash have been treated and released, Chitwood said.ESPN...

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With campaign, Mark Sanford goes from Appalachian Trail to comeback trail

BLUFFTON, S.C. — In the annals of political redemption stories, it is hard to top the one that former governor Mark Sanford (R) is attempting to write in South Carolina. After a spectacular 2009 scandal that destroyed his marriage, spawned impeachment proceedings and saddled him with the biggest ethics fine in state history, Sanford is making a new start right back where he started his...

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US state sounds alarm over nuclear waste leaks

LOS ANGELES - At least six tanks containing radioactive waste in the US state of Washington are leaking, the state said Friday, urging more federal help to clean up a site used to make Cold War-era bombs.Washington governor Jay Inslee said that the extent of the leaks at the Hanford site -- which first produced fuel for nuclear bombs in World War II and closed down 25 years ago -- was...

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Hyderabad, hotbed of home-grown terror, under lens

NEW DELHI: For the veterans of security establishment the bomb blasts have revived concerns about the critical nature of Hyderabad and surroundings in the growth of home-grown terrorism in India.Officials point out that Hyderabad has been intricately linked to the growth of the present phase of domestic terrorism. When the first definite information about Muslim youth going to Pakistan for terror...

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Space Pictures This Week: Space Rose, Ghostly Horses

Space RoseImage courtesy T.A. Rector and H. Schweiker, UAA/WIYN/NOAO/NSFPlanetary nebula Sh2-174 "blooms" like a rose in a picture released this week by the National Optical Astronomy...

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Jodi Arias' Friends Believe in Her Innocence

Accused murderer Jodi Arias believes she should be punished, but hopes she will not be sentenced to death, two of her closest friends told ABC News in an exclusive interview.Ann Campbell and Donavan Bering have been a constant presence for Arias wth at least one of them sitting in the Phoenix, Ariz., courtroom along with Arias' family for almost every day of her murder trial....

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Group releases list of 90 medical ‘don’ts’

Don’t use feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia. Don’t use drugs to aggressively treat diabetes in those older than 65. Don’t automati­cally use imaging technology for minor head injuries in children and headaches in adults. And don’t give antacids to babies with reflux. Those are among the 90 medical “don’ts” on a list being released Thursday by a coalition of doctor and consumer...

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Uncertainty hangs heavy as Italy braces for elections

ROME: Italy was poised to hold its most important elections in a generation starting on Sunday, as financial markets warned an unclear outcome could plunge the eurozone's third economy back into crisis.Italians will cast their ballots as they grapple with the longest recession in two decades and several rounds of austerity cuts that have caused deep resentment and could favour a low turnout...

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Thousands flock to annual MP 'bhoot mela' to get exorcised

BETUL: It's a mela with a spirited presence. In Malajpur, a village in Betul district some 300 km from Bhopal, an annual fair is devoted to the exorcising of ghosts. Thousands throng here from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and even Andhra Pradesh for the month-long 'bhoot pret ka mela' that will make their lives easier.While exorcism is an old practice in some of India's villages, holding...

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Oldest Known Wild Bird Hatches Chick at 62

Wisdom, the oldest known wild bird, has yet another feather in her cap—a new chick.The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis)—62 years old at least—recently hatched a healthy baby in the U.S. Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, her sixth in a row and possibly the 35th of her lifetime, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) North American Bird Banding Program. (Related:...

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Arias Challenged On Pedophilia Claim

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was challenged today by phone records, text message records, and her own diary entries that appeared to contradict her claim that she caught her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, looking at pictures of naked boys.Arias had said during her testimony that one afternoon in January 2008, she walked in on Alexander masturbating to pictures of naked boys....

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As sequester nears, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale at center of storm

Pentagon comptroller Robert F. Hale is overseeing the Defense Department’s plans to furlough most of its 800,000 civilian workers, but he insists that he still meets with friendly faces as he strides down the building’s corridors. “I teasingly say, ‘When I walk down the hall, people still wave, but with fewer fingers,’ ” said Hale, who is balancing the tension and frustration of the times...

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Sony bills coming PS4 console as future of gaming

NEW YORK: Sony unveiled a new-generation PlayStation 4 (PS4) system on Wednesday and laid out its vision for the "future of gaming" in a world rich with mobile gadgets and play streamed from the Internet cloud.At a press event in New York, computer entertainment unit chief Andrew House said PS4 "represents a significant shift from thinking of PlayStation as a box or console to thinking...

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Jallianwala Bagh massacre: David Cameron's apology that wasn't?

NEW DELHI: David Cameron's statement on the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, marking it as a "deeply shameful event" in British history but stopping short of a full apology, has not impressed historians.Mushirul Hasan, directorgeneral of the National Archives, says, "The present generation is not necessarily responsible for mistakes of the past. By apologizing for what General Dyer did, Cameron has...

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NASA's Mars Rover Makes Successful First Drill

For the first time ever, people have drilled into a rock on Mars, collecting the powdered remains from the hole for analysis.Images sent back from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Wednesday confirmed that the precious sample is being held by the rover's scoop, and will soon be delivered to two miniature chemical labs to undergo an unprecedented analysis. (Related: "Mars Rover Curiosity...

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Newtown Shooter Had Sensory Processing Disorder

From the time he was little, Adam Lanza couldn't bear to be touched. By middle school, the chaos and noise of large, bustling classrooms began to upset him. At 20, just before the Newtown shootings, he was isolated and, the world would later learn, disturbed.All this was revealed in "Raising Adam Lanza," an investigative report by the Hartford Courant in partnership with the PBS...

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Denmark on the radar?

Rufus Gifford, former Democratic National Committee finance chairman and more recently President Obama’s near-legendary 2012 campaign fundraising chief, is said to be the leading pick for ambassador to Denmark. Gifford, an indefatigable — some beleaguered donors have said maybe too indefatigable — fundraiser, was the key person behind the campaign’s $1 billion war chest. The...

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