Infants' death sparks protest in Kashmir
Srinagar, May 17 (ANI): Locals in Jammu and Kashmir protested here on Thursday against increasing crib deaths due to negligence of the hospital authorities. Reportedly, over 300 infants have died in the...
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Greek caretaker government sworn in
Athens: The Greek caretaker government, which will lead the country to the second round of national polls in June, was sworn in on Thursday morning at a ceremony held at the Presidential mansion in Athens. Headed by Panayiotis Pikrammenos, top judge of the Greek Supreme Administrative Court until his appointment to the post on Wednesday, it is tasked to "preserve order and calm in difficult times for Greece”, the new Premier stressed in talks with President Karolos Papoulias. The debt-ridden...
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We risk being shut out of financial markets, warns Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy
As Madrid's borrowing costs spiked to levels widely seen as unsustainable, Mariano Rajoy warned that there is a "a serious risk that [investors] will not lend us money or they will do so at an astronomical rate." His comments came as investors and policymakers, mindful of the threat of contagion, kept a nervous watch on Greece's woes....
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North Korea 'resuming work' on nuclear reactor
Satellite imagery has revealed that North Korea has resumed work on a light water reactor that analysts believe indicates Pyongyang's intention to push ahead with efforts to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. The Yongbyon nuclear facility in Yongbyon, North Korea in November 2010 (left) and in April 2012 Photo: GeoEye/AP tag --> Julian Ryall in Tokyo 10:11AM BST 17 May 2012 Comments North Korea recently declared that "the day is near at hand" when the light-water reactor, at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, will become operational. Analysts at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said pictures from commercial satellites taken on April 12 and...
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Kashmir horror: 358 kids die in hospital in five months
May 17: Rattled by large number of children’s death in Srinagar’s GB Pant children hospital, Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday ordered a high-level enquiry to probe the alarming death rate in the hospital. The government appointed director of Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Showkat Zargar as the enquiry officer and asked him to submit the report on the reasons behindthe children’s death within a week. Nearly 358 children have died in the hospital since January in both...
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Non-White U.S. Births Become the Majority for First Time
Minority babies outnumbered white newborns in 2011 for the first time in U.S. history, the latest milestone in a demographic shift that’s transforming the nation. The percentage of white newborns fell to 49.6 percent of children younger than a year old from April 2010 to July 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau said today. The trend is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the country’s political alignment, the nature of its workforce and on its economic future. Predominantly white, older enclaves in the Northeast and Midwest will increasingly rely on an expanding population of young Asians and Hispanics in the West and Sun Belt to support Social Security and other retirement programs. “This is a...
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JLo tops list of world's most powerful celebrities
New York, May 17 (IANS/EFE) Jennifer Lopez dethroned Lady Gaga as the world's most powerful celebrity, according to a list published Wednesday by Forbes magazine in which the queen of US television Oprah Winfrey...
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Spain borrowing costs set to rise amid Greece fears
Spain's borrowing costs look set to spike on Thursday when the country's treasury sells up to 2.5bn euros (£2bn; $3.2bn) of three- and four-year sovereign bonds. It could pay buyers about 5% on the longest bond - up from just over 4% at its last auction two weeks ago. The...
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Syria accused of new 'massacre,' UN team evacuated
AFP - Syrian forces were accused of summarily executing 15 civilians, as members of a UN team of observers were evacuated from a shelled town the day after a bomb blast hit their convoy. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, however, accused the West of ignoring violence by "terrorists" and said he would demand an explanation from Annan when he visits Damascus later this month. "After regime forces raided the neighbourhood of Shammas (in the central city of Homs), 15 civilians were found summarily executed," Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP, in what he branded a massacre. The overnight killings came a day the Observatory accused troops of another massacre in...
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Mladic instigated ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, UN court told
AFP - Former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic went on trial accused of carrying out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing and Europe's worst massacre since World War II. Mladic's trial opened at the Yugoslav war crimes court in The Hague, also watched in a live broadcast in Sarajevo by widows and other relatives of victims of the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica where almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were allegedly murdered by Mladic's forces. "Ratko Mladic assumed the mantle of the criminal goal of ethnically cleansing Bosnia," prosecutor Dermot Groome told International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Now 70, Mladic has been indicted on 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and...
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ECB move on Greek banks adds to woes
The European Central Bank has stopped offering liquidity to some Greek banks it does not consider solvent, and international concern about the eurozone rose as Athens called new elections that look set to be won by parties opposing austerity measures. Highlighting the fragile state of Greece's banking system, the ECB said on Wednesday it had stopped providing liquidity to some lenders because their capital was too depleted. "As recapitalisation wasn't in place, the ECB stopped monetary policy operations," a eurozone central bank source told Reuters, declining to be identified. That meant the affected banks can no longer offer assets to the ECB as collateral for loans, and would have to seek...
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Army launches review of PTSD diagnoses
Army leaders said Wednesday they are launching a sweeping, independent review of how the service evaluates soldiers with possible post-traumatic stress disorder after recent complaints that some PTSD diagnoses were improperly overturned. The Army said it will review the diagnoses at all of its medical facilities going back to October 2001. And top Army leaders said they will develop a plan to correct any decisions or policies necessary to make sure that soldiers are receiving the care and treatment they deserve. The latest reviews were triggered by revelations that the forensic psychiatry unit at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state may have reversed...
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Spain's queen cancels UK Jubilee trip over Gibraltar
SPAIN's Queen Sofia has cancelled a planned trip to London tomorrow to attend Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebration lunch due to tensions with Britain over the disputed territory of Gibraltar. "The government considers it is hardly adequate that in the current circumstances,...
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U.S. sends warning to Saleh backers in Yemen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States warned supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday it may freeze their assets if they hamper the transfer of power in the Gulf nation. President Barack Obama signed an executive order allowing U.S. authorities to sanction members of Yemen's government or others who endanger its stability, notably by obstructing a November 23 deal that ultimately brought an end to Saleh's 33-year reign. Government Terrorism Washington, DC Al-Qaeda Barack Obama Ali Abdullah Saleh George Bush U.S. Department of State The Pentagon The order aims to bolster President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has given Washington much greater latitude to attack...
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Afghan shrines last resort for Afghan mentally ill
JALALABAD, Afghanistan - The young man sits nearly naked in a small concrete room, a thick, heavy chain fastened around his ankle and bolted to the wall. Flies swarm around a wound on his wrist where shackles have rubbed the skin raw. His own waste has pooled in the corner, turning the dirt floor into a pungent mud. This is no jail, however, and 23-year-old Jalaludin has committed no crime. The Mia Ali Baba shrine in eastern Afghanistan is a holy place, and those who care for it say that spending 40 days here will, God willing, free Jalaludin from his personal prison: mental illness. For 300 years, the shrine keepers here have been taking in the mentally ill. They say they are upholding the...
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Charles Taylor accuses prosecutors of paying witnesses
Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president convicted of crimes against humanity, accused United Nations prosecutors of paying witnesses to testify against him and threatening them if they refused. Charles Taylor will be sentenced on May 30. He is expected to appeal both his conviction and the sentence Photo: EPA/EVERT-JAN DANIELS By Mike Pflanz, West Africa Correspondent 6:05PM BST 16 May 2012 Taylor made the claims at a sentencing hearing at The Hague in his last opportunity to address the court that last month convicted him on 11 counts including murder, rape and using children as soldiers, before he is sentenced. "Witnesses were paid, coerced and in many cases threatened with...
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Shot soldier Aaron Deans hopes to return to Afghanistan
A soldier who was shot in the back in a Taliban ambush is hoping to return to the front line in Afghanistan. L/Cpl Aaron Deans, 21, of Washington, was driving an armoured vehicle when it came under fire near Lashkar Gah in Helmand...
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European leaders scramble to contain Greek debt crisis
By Chris Isidore @CNNMoneyInvest May 16, 2012: 12:16 PM ET0:00 / 04:49Merkel: We want Greece to stay in euro NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Leaders across Europe rushed to try to reassure nervous investors Wednesday that they were working to prevent Greece from an unprecedented exit from the eurozone and the damage that might cause for other troubled European economies. Greeks rushed to withdraw €800 million from Greek banks late Tuesday, fearful that they would soon be left with only less valuable currency if Greece were to return to the drachma. "There is, of course, no panic, but there is fear that could develop into panic," Greek President Karolos Papoulias said. German Prime...
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Merkel says she wants Greece in euro, would consider growth measures
German Chancellor Angela Merkel insists she wants Greece to stay in the euro and has left open the option of agreeing more measures designed to boost growth. "I want Greece to stay in the euro. I think that would be good for Greece and for all of us,» Merkel said in an interview...
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Modified motorcycles take on larger amounts of fuel in N. Maluku
Residents in North Maluku are modifying their motorcycles to increase the fuel tank capacities following the ban on bulk fuel purchases using jerry cans. In an observation by kompas.com at a...
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China TV blames Dalai Lama for Tibet immolations
ISOLDA MORILLO Associated Press= BEIJING (AP) — China has released a documentary accusing the Dalai Lama of orchestrating a wave of self-immolations by Tibetans, in its most elaborate attempt so far to shape international opinion about the protests against Chinese rule. The documentary shown globally by state broadcaster China Central Television features police surveillance footage of the fiery protests. Mostly lone Tibetans are seen ablaze on small town roads before being blasted by security forces with fire extinguishers or covered with blankets. Tibetans interviewed describe contacting monks living in exile and sending them photographs of would-be protesters — evidence, the documentary...
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Annan urges Syria to stop delaying humanitarian aid
AFP - UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged Syria to stop delaying UN access to more than one million Syrians in need of assistance. The United Nations has been negotiating with President Bashar al-Assad's government since March and the UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said...
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Amnesty cites rights abuses in northern Mali
Amnesty International has accused armed Tuaregs and groups fighting to impose Sharia law in northern Mali of carrying out grave rights abuses such as rape, murder and using child soldiers. A report released on Wednesday by the London-based rights group said government soldiers had also carried out extrajudicial killings, branding the crisis Mali's worst human rights situation in 50 years. Tuaregs fighting for the separatist Azawad Liberation Movement (MNLA) and other groups have seized control of much of the north of the country since a military coup in Bamako in March. "After two decades of relative stability and peace, Mali is now facing its worst crisis since independence in 1960,"...
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Half of South Sudan facing food shortages, warns UN
More than half the population of South Sudan are facing food shortages due to the continuing conflict with Sudan, the UN is warning. It says fighting on the border between the two countries and the shutdown of oil production have had a devastating impact on the South's economy. It adds there are fears the situation in the South, which gained independence from Sudan last July, is worsening. Previous estimates suggest 4.7 million people are at risk of food shortages. In this latest report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) says a complex combination of factors has "raised fears that the South Sudanese are sliding into destitution". Those factors...
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Cannes Film Festival to open amid 'sexism' row
The Cannes Film Festival opens later with US director Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom. His movie, which stars Bill Murray, is one of the 22 movies selected to compete for the festival's biggest prize, the Palme d'Or. However, the celebrations have been marred by criticism that no female directors will be in competition. The only woman to have won the prestigious award was Jane Campion in 1993, with The...
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Facebook IPO plan stands to rake in more than $100 billion and mint several new billionaires
A FRENZY for Facebook built Tuesday as the company hiked its expected opening price for shares to about $38 — making the eight-year-old social media site worth $104 billion. The staggering sum set ahead of Friday’s hotly anticipated IPO would instantly make Facebook more valuable than American corporate icons like McDonald’s, Disney and Kraft. “There are more than 2 billion global Internet users,” Facebook said grandly in its SEC filing, “and we aim to connect all of them.” By August, the social network is expected to sign up a billion people — one of every seven humans on the planet. That staggering reach, and investors’...
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Merkel, Hollande promise joint growth strategy
BERLIN (Reuters) - New French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged differences on Tuesday over how to boost growth in recession-plagued Europe, but pledged to forge a joint approach in time for an EU summit next month. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande gesture after a news conference after their talks in the Chancellery in Berlin, May 15, 2012. Hollande was greeted by a thunderstorm in Paris and storm clouds gathering over the euro zone as France's first Socialist president in 17 years was sworn in on Tuesday before flying to Berlin to plead his case for less austerity in Europe. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz The Socialist...
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Obama, Monti agree to intensify growth, job creation
Tweet WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti agreed on Tuesday on the need to "intensify" growth and job creation, as Washington prepared the ground for this week's G8 summit. The leaders spoke by telephone ahead of the two-day meeting beginning at Camp David, Maryland on Friday, and also discussed strategy in the war in Afghanistan...
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'Rendition' Libyan commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj to form his own party
Abdel Hakim Belhadj, a prominent Islamist commander suing MI6 over his alleged rendition by the CIA in 2004, is poised to emerge as a powerful political force in Libya after announcing that he would form his own party. Libyan Tripoli military commander Abdelhakim Belhaj addresses a rally in Tripoli on September 9, 2011. Photo: AFP/Getty Images By Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent 9:50PM BST 15 May 2012 Abdel Hakim Belhadj, who played a leading role in last year's overthrow of Col Muammar Gaddafi, resigned as the head of Tripoli's military council on Tuesday in order to launch his political platform. A popular figure in Libya, Mr Belhadj will be hoping that his new party -- to...
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New Greek election as talks fail
DEBT-stricken Greece must hold fresh elections after last-ditch talks to form a government collapsed. The new election is likely to prolonging a tortuous crisis which could see Athens exit the troubled eurozone. The new polls, expected on June 17, follow an inconclusive election on May 6 when a majority of Greeks voted against the austerity measures which Athens agreed to in return for a massive EU-IMF bailout late last year. "We are going again towards elections, in a few days, under very bad conditions," said socialist Pasok party leader Evangelos Venizelos, regretting the fact that there was no accord. "The Greek people must now make the right decisions for the good of the...
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Child artiste among those killed in Nepal air crash
Mumbai: Child artiste Taruni Sachdev, 14, and her mother Geeta from Mumbai were among those who were killed in the Nepal plane crash on Monday. Fourteen-year-old Taruni had done a cameo role in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Paa, in which she played his friend and also acted in several South Indian language films. When news of the aircraft crashing on high-altitude Jomsom airport in Nepal was flashed on TV channels, a panic-stricken Harish Sachdev, the father of Taruni, was frantically calling up the Indian Embassy to learn about the details. And when he knew that his wife and daughter were on that ill-fated flight, the grief-stricken father of Taruni tried to book the earliest flight to...
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Corruption, bad governance leading JK to anarchy:Mufti
Srinagar, May 15(Scoop News) –Calling for an all out war against corruption in the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said the present dispensation had degenerated into a coalition of the vested interest that had institutionalized loot at the highest level. “The inefficient functioning of the NC led government had assumed dangerous dimensions with every public service and resource being sold for a price” he told a convention of party workers at Langate in Kupwara...
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Palestinians march in annual mourning ritual
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Thousands of Palestinians are marching in the West Bank to mark the anniversary of their uprooting during the war over Israel's creation. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from their villages in 1948 in what Palestinians mourn as the "nakba," or catastrophe. Today, refugees and their descendants number several million people scattered across the globe. Thousands marched Tuesday in the town of Ramallah, carrying Palestinian flags and posters. Some read: "Return is our right and our destiny." Dozens of youngsters threw stones at Israeli troops near Ramallah, and soldiers fired tear gas to push them back. This year's commemorations come at a...
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Romney to inch closer to clinching party nod
His nomination all but assured, Mitt Romney is set to inch closer to clinching the GOP presidential nomination with a presidential primary in Oregon. Oregon and Nebraska are taking their turns weighing in on the Republican race, though Nebraska's contest is little more than a beauty pageant. The major difference when Republicans go to the polls on Tuesday is the lack of opponents for Romney. Texas Rep. Ron Paul became the last Romney rival to step aside, saying in a...
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Iraqis held illegally in 'closed' prison, rights group claims
Human Rights Watch accuses Iraqi security forces of 'grabbing people outside of the law' and putting them in secret jails Human Rights Watch claims troops controlled by Nouri al-Maliki are running secret jails. Photograph: Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty Images...
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UN Envoy Urges Serbia and Kosovo to Overcome Past Feuds
Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 3:57 pm Press Release: UN News UN Envoy Urges Serbia and Kosovo to Overcome Past Feuds and Seek Stability New York, May 14 2012 - The United Nations envoy in Kosovo today called on both Serbia and Kosovo to put past disputes behind them and focus instead on promoting mutual prosperity and stability, urging the international community, for its part, to ensure that its efforts to help resolve outstanding issues are...
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11 Peacekeepers Wounded in Democratic Republic of Congo: UN
Angry villagers surrounded a UN peacekeeping base in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday and opened fire and hurled stones injuring at least 11 Pakistani peacekeepers, officials said. The villagers had apparently been angry because they were not protected against attacks by militias. But...
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China may use dissident sect against Dalai Lama: Tibet
SHARE AND DISCUSSTweet DHARAMSHALA: The Tibetan government-in-exile on Monday pointed its finger towards a splinter community among Tibetans - the around 5000-strong Dorje Shugden community - after the Dalai Lama had raised an alarm on Sunday over threat to his life. The Dalai Lama has not recognized this community - members of which live underground - and had put a ban on them in 1996, saying they do not conform to the...
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Newsweek magazine dubs Barack 'first gay president'
SHARE AND DISCUSSTweet President Barack Obama has been described as the "The First Gay President" , according to the...
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South Korea president to meet Aung San Suu Kyi
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is visiting Burma, the first time a South Korean leader has visited the country since a bomb attack 29 years ago. The North Korean attack, during a visit by former President Chun Doo-hwan to Rangoon in 1983, killed 21 people. Mr Lee met Burma's President Thein Sein in the capital Nay Pyi Taw on Monday as part of a two-day visit to discuss economic co-operation, officials said. He is due to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon on Tuesday. Details for the trip were kept secret due to security concerns in the wake of strong...
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What happens if Greece exits Europe's single currency
People walk past a monument featuring a replica of the last edition of the Greek currency, the drachma, in the centre of Athens. Photo: AFP/Aris Messinis Europe's ruling elite is now openly talking about whether Greece might leave the euro, breaking a 2.5 year taboo. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the EU President, Jose Manuel Barroso, were among those saying both that if Athens could not abide by the rules they would have to leave. Here three experts analyse the potential consequences – collapsing banks, soaring inflation, but also look at the possible salvation. Costas Lapavitsas Professor of economics, School of Oriental and Asian Studies, University of London Greek exit...
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Nato defends its role over civilian deaths in Libya
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has published evidence that scores of ordinary civilians, many of them women and children, were wrongly targeted in a series of missile attacks throughout last year. In one raid, on the town of Bani Walid, 100 miles south east of Tripoli, five members of the same family were killed, including a nine-year-old girl. In another – the worst single event uncovered by HRW – 34 people were killed when Nato jets levelled four homes in the village of Majer, to the east of the Libyan capital. HRW called on Nato to acknowledge the casualties and pay compensation to the victims. But responding to the allegations yesterday, a Nato spokesman said the organisation had executed its...
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Merkel tells Greece to back cuts or face euro exit
Greece may be forced to leave the euro if the country refuses to implement spending cuts agreed with the European Union, Angela Merkel warned. "I believe it’s better for the Greeks to stay in the euro area, but that also requires that we set out a path on which Greece gets back on its feet step by step," said the chancellor. Photo: AFP tag --> By Robert Winnett, David Blair and Bruno Waterfield 10:00PM BST 14 May 2012 Comments Raising the spectre of a Greek exit, the German chancellor said “solidarity for the euro” was threatened by the ongoing political crisis in Athens. Stock markets around the world fell sharply with fears mounting that a euro break-up could lead to...
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US-Pak have made considerable progress on NATO routes
The US on Monday said it had made "considerable progress" with Pakistan in negotiations on the re-opening of the NATO supply routes to Afghanistan, on the eve of crucial meetings in Pakistan to discuss the issue. "My...
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Israel fears Assad fall may bring Al-Qaeda to Golan
A senior Israeli military official said that Israel is closely tracking events in Syria, fearing the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad's regime could see the Syrian Golan Heights fall to groups like Al-Qaeda. The military official told AFP that such a situation could create a dangerous security vaccum similar to Sinai. "If the Assad regime will fall, the biggest threat is that the northern border, the no-man's land, can be taken over by groups like Al-Qaeda," the official in Israel's northern...
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Americans Train Ugandans For Somalia Mission
KAKOLA, Uganda (AP) â American military advisers in Uganda are drawing on lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan to help train African Union soldiers to fight Somalia's most powerful insurgent group, al-Shabab. Earlier this year, a small contingent of U.S. Marines joined American military contractors at a training base nestled in Uganda's rolling countryside about 2 1/2 hours drive from the capital, helping fill gaps where the al-Qaida-linked fighters have found weaknesses. The base, called Singo, was built by the U.S. and is a key part of the Obama administration's strategy to bring stability to Somalia. The United States has sent in only small units of Special Forces to attack...
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Gay Marriage Statism = Obamacare Statism (Part II)
Thanks to those of you who flattered me with email and Facebook responses to my recent posts (response to Jonah Goldberg and original post) on Marriage Statism vs. Health Care Statism. Three comments I’d like to call out and respond to. And then one new piece of information. Comments: 1) This sentence from Arian Pirayesh is golden and succinctly presents the endpoint I’ve been trying to get at: “Either they get out of the marriage game entirely and...
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Syria Violence In Lebanon: Unrest Spills Into Tripoli, Lebanon
A Sunni gunman fires during clashes, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Monday May 14, 2012. Street battles pitting Lebanese Sunnis who generally support the Syrian uprising, against Alawite supporters of Assad's regime killed at least one person Monday, raising the death toll to four since Sunday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) TRIPOLI, Lebanon -- Firing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Lebanese gunmen clashed in street battles Monday as sectarian tensions linked to the 14-month-old uprising in Syria bled across the border for a third day. At least five people have been killed and 100 wounded in Lebanon's second-largest city since the gunbattles erupted late Saturday,...
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Air crash: Jaya directs medical treatment for injured
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa expressed grief over the death of 15 persons in an aircrash in Nepal on Monday and directed a senior official in Delhi to coordinate with the Indian Embassy to bring the bodies of those belonging to the state. Jayalalithaa...
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Iran tells West to 'correct its manner' ahead of talks
AFP - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday urged the West to "correct its manners" if it wants to win the respect of Iranians, as Tehran and the world powers meet in Baghdad this month to discuss Iran's contested nuclear programme. "If the West corrects its manners and respects the Iranian people, in return it will...
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