Football: Beckham's arrival creates headache for PSG coach

PARIS: The unveiling of David Beckham as a Paris Saint-Germain player was undoubtedly a major media event and marketing ploy but what can the Englishman, now 37, actually offer on the pitch?The fact that Beckham has signed only a five-month contract indicates that football is not the priority, especially as the French season finishes in mid-May and the player has admitted that he will...

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Mercury rises in several parts of north India

NEW DELHI: Most of north India today saw an upward surge in the mercury with minimum temperatures rising as sky remained overcast in many parts amid predictions of rains. Delhi got relief from the dense fog which had hit rail and air traffic yesterday, while temperatures rose above normal under partially cloudy skies. The maximum in Delhi was recorded three degrees above normal at 24.2 degrees...

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Pictures We Love: Best of January

Photograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, APThe magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg...

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Ala. Standoff: Police Mum About Talks With Suspect

As a police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker entered its fifth day, authorities were saying little except that their talks with the 65-year-old loner were continuing through a ventilation pipe.Negotiators were still trying late Friday to persuade Jimmy Lee Dykes to surrender. Police have said they believe the...

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VA study finds more veterans committing suicide

Every day about 22 veterans in the United States kill themselves, a rate that is about 20 percent higher than the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 2007 estimate, according to a two-year study by a VA researcher. The VA study indicates that more than two-thirds of the veterans who commit suicide are 50 or older, suggesting that the increase in veterans’ suicides is not primarily driven by...

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Starbucks opens first store in Vietnam

HO CHI MINH CITY: Starbucks opened its first store in coffee-loving Vietnam on Friday, seeking to compete with local rivals in a country known for its strong cafe culture.Vietnam - the world's second-largest coffee producer - has dozens of local chains as well as small coffee shops on nearly every street corner, presenting a major challenge for Starbucks to break into the crowded market.Around...

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Trinamool MP calls Rushdie 'satan'

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Sultan Ahmed Friday called Salman Rushdie a "satan" and said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had done the right thing if she indeed blocked the writer's visit to Kolkata. "I have no knowledge of what actually happened. But if the chief minister has indeed ordered the police to block Rushdie's entry to the city, then she has done the right thing. We don't...

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Sinkhole Swallows Buildings in China

Photograph from AFP/Getty ImagesThe sinkhole that formed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou (pictured) is, unfortunately, not a new occurrence for the country.Many areas of the world are susceptible to these sudden formations, including the U.S. Florida is especially prone, but Guatemala, Mexico, and the area surrounding the Dead Sea in the Middle East are also known for their impressive sinkholes....

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Police: Suicide Bombing Strikes US Embassy

A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive Friday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a guard at the entrance gate, officials said.U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardione told reporters that a Turkish citizen was also wounded in the 1:15 p.m. blast in the Turkish capital.There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but both Kurdish rebels and Islamic...

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Malaysia Airlines joins oneworld global airline alliance

KUALA LUMPUR: The oneworld global airline alliance on Thursday welcomed Malaysia flag carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) as its newest member.Oneworld's CEO Bruce Ashby said MAS will enhance the alliance's presence in Southeast Asia and turn Kuala Lumpur into its gateway to the region. Mr Ashby said: "We didn't have a member in Southeast Asia. We had Hong Kong, we had Sydney, but we were...

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No 'bad Muslims' in 'Vishwaroopam', can't paint terrorists white: Kamal Haasan

MUMBAI: Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan on Thursday said there are no "bad Muslims" in his movie " Vishwaroopam" but added there was no way he could portray terrorists as "white" characters."I have not shown bad Muslims in my film. The good Muslims in my film are Indian Muslims and the bad ones are terrorists," he told the media here."How can you expect me to paint terrorists white?" Kamal Haasan asked,...

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New Theory on How Homing Pigeons Find Home

Jane J. Lee Homing pigeons (Columba livia) have been prized for their navigational abilities for thousands of years. They've served as messengers during war, as a means of long-distance communication, and as prized athletes in international races.But there are places around the world that seem to confuse these birds—areas where they repeatedly vanish in the wrong direction or scatter on...

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Obama Prods GOP on Immigration Negotiations

Jan 31, 2013 6:00am                                                                        ...

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New towns should take local characteristics into account: experts

SINGAPORE: Singapore will soon see a number of new towns in areas like Bidadari, Tengah and Tampines North.Experts said the development of these places should also take local characteristics and history into account, as this will not only retain the town's history and uniqueness, it will help create a more varied environment in Singapore.Punggol New Town has come a long way. Its transformation...

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India drops to 140th rank in press freedom, lowest since 2002

WASHINGTON: India has dropped nine places to 140th rank in the list of 179 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index, which its authors said is the lowest for the "world's biggest democracy" since 2002."In Asia, India (140th, -9) is at its lowest since 2002 because of increasing impunity for violence against journalists and because internet censorship continues to grow," Reporters Without...

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Timbuktu’s vulnerable manuscripts are city’s "gold"

French and Malian troops surrounded Timbuktu on Monday and began combing the labyrinthine city for Islamist fighters. Witnesses, however, said the Islamists, who claim an affiliation to al Qaeda and had imposed a Taliban-style rule in the northern Malian city over the last ten months, slipped into the desert a few days earlier. But before fleeing, the militants reportedly set fire to several...

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Gunman Kills Bus Driver, Takes Child as Hostage

A gunman shot and killed a school bus driver in Midland City, Ala., Tuesday afternoon and escaped the scene with a 6-year-old passenger, which has prompted a hostage situation that is still going on this morning.The suspected gunman is identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 60-something military veteran, a police source told ABC News. Dykes and the child are in an underground bunker...

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Netizens call for better road safety after Tampines accident

SINGAPORE: Netizens are calling for better road safety following the horrific accident at Tampines on Monday evening which killed two boys. On January 28, two brothers died after they were hit by a cement truck near Dunman Secondary School at Tampines Street 45.The story grabbed attention online and gone viral overnight.Shortly after the accident, gruesome pictures of the aftermath were...

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Delhi still distant for BJP: Manish Tewari

NEW DELHI: Delhi is "still distant" for the BJP, which had lost last two parliamentary elections to Congress-led UPA, Union minster Manish Tewari on Tuesday said."As far as BJP is concerned, in 2004 Atal Behari Vajpayee was their PM candidate and BJP lost and in 2009, (L K) Advani ji was the prime ministerial candidate and it lost again. And presently 2014 is far and for BJP, Delhi is still distant,"...

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Space Pictures This Week: Martian Gas, Cloud Trails

Image courtesy SDO/NASAThe sun is more than meets the eye, and researchers should know. They've equipped telescopes on Earth and in space with instruments that view the sun in at least ten different wavelengths of light, some of which are represented in this collage compiled by NASA and released January 22. (See more pictures of the sun.)By viewing the different wavelengths of light given off by the...

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5 Years Later, What's New on Immigration Reform?

The announcement of a proposal for immigration reform inspired renewed excitement for some involved in the fight Monday, but other players in the debate felt a sense of déjà vu.Monday afternoon, senators introduced a framework of changes previewed over the weekend, with President Obama and a secret group from the House of Representatives expected soon to follow suit.The press...

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Bipartisan group of senators to unveil framework for immigration overhaul

A key group of senators from both parties will unveil on Monday the framework of a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, including a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants. The detailed, four-page statement of principles will carry the signatures of four Republicans and four Democrats, a bipartisan push that would have been unimaginable just...

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PM Lee admits govt lacked 20/20 foresight

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has admitted the government did not have 20/20 foresight, resulting in problems with inadequate infrastructure in the country.He was speaking at the "Singapore Perspectives" conference on governance organised by the Institute of Policy Studies on Monday.Acknowledging the problems of insufficient housing and inefficient transportation network, Mr...

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Jaipur revels in lit fest warmth as curtains come down

JAIPUR: The spirit of democracy won hands down at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 that logged nearly 2,00,000 footfalls up from 1,20,000 in 2012.More people cutting through social divides mingled in a spirit of egalitarian camaraderie in their response to the intellectual rapid-fire as custodians of knowledge from the elite hubs worldwide reached out to connect to the "aam admi" in the Pink City.The...

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Doomed Dolphin Speaks to New York's Vibrant Wildlife

By the time New Yorkers spied a dolphin swimming through the superfund sludge of the Gowanus Canal last Friday, it was too late. The marine mammal didn't even survive long enough for a rescue plan to come together. First sighted on Friday afternoon, the dolphin perished at 6:00 p.m.The reason the marine mammal died, and why the dolphin swam up the...

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Gym Turned Into Morgue for Nightclub Fire Victims

Coffins lined a gymnasium in Santa Maria, Brazil, today as family members tried to identify their loved ones after a fast-moving fire tore through a crowded nightclub Sunday morning, killing more than 230 people and injuring hundreds more.A community gym near the popular Kiss nightclub has been converted to a temporary morgue were family members were led in one by one Sunday...

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Senate’s pragmatic ranks depleted by one with Chambliss’s departure

The trio of Southern gentlemen came to the Senate together in 2003, the leading edge of a renegade Republican class set on shaking up the chamber’s staid ways and aggressively promoting the Bush White House’s conservative agenda. Ten years later, Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) are now establishment dealmakers and elder statesmen — roles...

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New neighbourhood police centre opens in Punggol

SINGAPORE: Punggol constituency saw the opening of a new neighbourhood police centre (NPC).Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean opened the Punggol NPC, making it the 35th across the island.The opening of the NPC is to ensure the safety and security of a fast-growing neighbourhood.The new NPC also introduced the Community Policing System (COPS).Under COPS, more officers will be deployed...

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Not against talks with Centre, says hardline Hurriyat

SRINAGAR: Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference today said they are not against talks with the Centre to resolve the Kashmir issue given that the government approaches them with good intentions. However, the hardline faction, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said the talks should not be aimed at "coercing" people of Kashmir. Reacting to state Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar's Republic...

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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...

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Authorities: 245 Dead in Brazil Nightclub Fire

A fire swept through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing at least 180 people and leaving hundreds injured, police and firefighters said.Sandro Meinerz, a spokesman for the police in the city of Santa Maria, told local media that the fire broke out at the Kiss club while a band was performing. He said at least 200 people were injured.The cause of the fire...

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