Patty Murray likely to be a key voice in Senate on budget deal

One of the biggest winners in the sweeping Democratic victories in Senate races this month was a woman whose name appeared on no ballot: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). With a low-key style that contrasts with some of the Senate’s camera hogs, Murray may be the most powerful senator a whole lot of people have never heard of outside of the two Washingtons where she lives and works....

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Gov to work harder at building fan base to support local athletes

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Culture, Community and Youth Ministry will work harder to build up a local fan base to support sports.This includes working with schools to engage parents in cheering for students when they participate in sports.Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong said this at a presidential tea reception Saturday at the Istana with President Tony Tan Keng...

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Namdhari fired at Ponty Chadha's brother Hardeep: Police

NEW DELHI: The police on Saturday told the court that sacked Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari had fired at Ponty Chadha's brother Hardeep.Namdhari was the main conspirator in the shootout, the police said. He has been charged with attempt to murder.Namdhari has been sent to 5 days' police custody by the court in connection with the November 17 shootout case.In a...

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling. Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group...

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'Dallas' Star Larry Hagman Dead at 81

Larry Hagman, who emerged in the 1960s as the slightly befuddled astronaut in "I Dream of Jeannie," then became a major star in the 1980s primetime soap "Dallas," playing evil oil baron J.R. Ewing, has died. He was 81.Warner Bros."Dallas" executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael M. Robin, and the show's cast and crew released the following statement today: "Larry Hagman...

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Polls offer little guidance for politicians tackling ‘fiscal cliff’

Politicians tasked with negotiating a deal next month to avoid the “fiscal cliff” can be thankful that their talks are taking place immediately after a clarifying national election that laid out exactly how the public wants Washington to deal with debt and deficits. Or n...

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Tata Steel to cut 900 British jobs, shut 12 sites

LONDON: India's Tata Steel intends to cut 900 jobs at its British operations and close 12 sites, the firm said on Friday in a major restructuring to respond to "difficult" trading conditions."Tata Steel has today announced restructuring proposals to improve the competitiveness of its UK operations so they can successfully perform in changing markets," it said in a statement."The proposed...

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Hate speech: EC to issue notice to Cong's Shankersinh Vaghela

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission decided on Friday to issue a notice to Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela for allegedly making hate speeches while campaigning in poll-bound Gujarat. The commission, in its meeting chaired by chief election commissioner VS Sampath, decided to issue the notice after prima facie finding that Vaghela had violated the model code of conduct by making speeches in Surat...

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling. Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group...

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Stores Work to Keep Black Friday Safe

With earlier-than-ever deals and 147 million people expected to hit the stores this holiday weekend, retailers such as Best Buy are taking extra steps to avoid the Black Friday shopper chaos -- and inevitable news stories -- of the past.Best Buy officials said they've been prepping for the madness for days.The retailer has created color-coded maps, moved merchandise around to...

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Taiwan teachers abuse students despite ban: poll

TAIPEI: Many Taiwanese teachers beat their students, force them into stress positions or subject them to abusive language despite an island-wide ban on such punishments, a survey said Thursday.More than 95 per cent of students in junior high school reported witnessing teachers imposing this type of irregular punishment in the classroom, said the survey conducted by the non-profit Humanistic...

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NSG commando, injured during 26/11, claims non-payment of financial benefits

NEW DELHI: A former NSG commando, who fought terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was invalidated from service after he became medically unfit, on Thursday claimed he has not got any financial benefits or pension and the money "gifted" to him and his colleagues. Flanked by activist-politician Arvind Kejriwal and his associates, 34-year-old former NSG commando Surender Singh told a press conference...

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling. Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group...

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Egypt's Morsi Wins US, Israeli Gratitude

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is being credited with brokering the cease-fire today between Israel and Hamas, but the international gratitude and praise he is gettting could come with a political price at home.Both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama heaped praise on the Egyptian president. Obama called his Egyptian counterpart today to thank him for...

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Gas leak sparked explosion, killing bus driver: Coroner's Court

SINGAPORE: A gas leak on a bus that sparked an explosion and a fire caused the death of a private bus driver in 2010, according to findings of a Coroner's Court.Mr Chan Beng San, who was then 56 years old, died from medical complications after he suffered extensive burns.State Coroner Eddy Tham released the findings in an inquiry into the death of Mr Chan.The court heard that Mr Chan worked...

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Ajmal Kasab's execution: Taliban shocked, Lashkar says he will 'inspire' more attacks

ISLAMABAD: Mohammad Ajmal Kasab who was executed in Pune's Yerwada jail on Wednesday for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai massacre four years back, was a "hero" who will inspire more attacks, said a senior commander of the Pakistani militant group accused of masterminding the attack. "He was a hero and will inspire other fighters to follow his path," the commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) told Reuters...

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Thanksgiving 2012 Myths and Facts

Before the big dinner, debunk the myths—for starters, the first "real" U.S. Thanksgiving wasn't until the 1800s—and get to the roots of Thanksgiving 2012.Thanksgiving Dinner: Recipe for Food Coma?Key to any Thanksgiving Day menu are a fat turkey and cranberry sauce.An estimated 254 million turkeys will be raised for slaughter in the U.S. during 2012, up 2 percent from 2011's total, according...

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Bus Explodes in Tel Aviv Amid Truce Talks

A bomb ripped through an Israeli bus near the nation's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, wounding at least 10 people, Israeli officials said today.The bus exploded about noon local time Wednesday in one of the city's busiest areas, near the Tel Aviv museum. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were investigating whether the bomb had been planted and left on the...

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Blazing a legal trail to help improve health care

Ariane Tschumi has spent more than a year in government as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF), taking on challenging assignments at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) designed to develop her leadership skills and give her a window into how government operates. She has worked alongside health-care experts designing model programs intended to better health care and lower...

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UBS trader Kweku Adoboli guilty of fraud

LONDON: UBS trader Kweku Adoboli, who gambled away $2.3 billion of the Swiss bank's money, was found guilty of one count of fraud in London on Tuesday.The jury at Southwark Crown Court was still deliberating on one other charge of fraud and four counts of false accounting between October 2008 and September 2011.The Ghanaian-born trader, 32, who stands accused of Britain's biggest ever...

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India big part of my plans, Barack Obama tells PM Manmohan Singh

PHNOM PENH: "India is a big part of my plans," US President Barack Obama said today as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated him in person on his re-election. Singh, who came face-to-face with Obama on three occasions here for the first time after he was re-elected President in the November 6 polls in the US, told him: "Congratulations on your re-election." The two leaders, who attended the...

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Cuba's Oil Quest to Continue, Despite Deepwater Disappointment

An unusual high-tech oil-drilling rig that's been at work off the coast of Cuba departed last week, headed for either Africa or Brazil. With it went the island nation's best hope, at least in the short term, for reaping a share of the energy treasure beneath the sea that separates it from its longtime ideological foe.For many Floridians, especially in the Cuban-American community, it was...

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Clinton Heading to Middle East to Meet With Leaders

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is headed to the Middle East with the hope that she can help bring an end to the escalating violence that has gripped the region for the last week.Clinton is scheduled to arrive in Jerusalem later tonight to meet with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes. Clinton will also meet with...

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China M&A activity in Europe increasing: study

BEIJING : Chinese merger and acquisition activity in Europe in the first quarter of 2012 surpassed that of European firms in China for the first time, a study has shown, highlighting China's growing global impact."Chinese investors feel that the lingering uncertainty in the eurozone increases their chances of securing favourable deals with debt-laden European companies that were until...

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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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Lonesome George Not the Last of His Kind, After All?

The tide may be turning for the rare subspecies of giant tortoise thought to have gone extinct when its last known member, the beloved Lonesome George, died in June.A new study by Yale University researchers reveals that DNA from George's ancestors lives on—and that more of his kind may still be alive in a remote area of Ecuador's Galápagos Islands. This isn't the first time Chelonoidis...

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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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Petraeus scandal puts four-star general lifestyle under scrutiny

Then-defense secretary Robert M. Gates stopped bagging his leaves when he moved into a small Washington military enclave in 2007. His next-door neighbor was Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, who had a chef, a personal valet and — not lost on Gates — troops to tend his property. Gates may have been the civilian leader of the world’s largest military, but...

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Obama lands in Bangkok to launch Asia tour

BANGKOK: US President Barack Obama landed in Thailand on Sunday, intensifying his diplomatic "pivot" to Asia, on a tour which will see him make history by visiting Myanmar in a bid to encourage political reform.He will be the first sitting US president to set foot in the nation, reflecting a dramatic thaw in relations brought about by sweeping political changes under a new reformist government.Obama,...

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Bal Thackerey's funeral procession gets massive live TV coverage

NEW DELHI: At best, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, who died in Mumbai Saturday, was a regional leader. But his charisma and the controversies he was involved in for nearly six decades brought his funeral procession the kind of massive live TV news coverage not witnessed for any other regional leader. All the big guns of TV journalism were there to anchor the coverage of a funeral, which was nothing...

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Lonesome George Not the Last of His Kind, After All?

The tide may be turning for the rare subspecies of giant tortoise thought to have gone extinct when its last known member, the beloved Lonesome George, died in June.A new study by Yale University researchers reveals that DNA from George's ancestors lives on—and that more of his kind may still be alive in a remote area of Ecuador's Galápagos Islands. This isn't the first time Chelonoidis...

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Israel's Iron Dome Proves Effective Defense

Israel said that it will install a fifth "Iron Dome" battery before the end of the year, adding another installation to the country's missile defense system, which has proven itself this week, intercepting more than 150 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.The missile defense system, which can identify enemy rockets, determine if they pose a threat to populated areas, and destroy...

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