Obama, Karzai accelerate end of U.S. combat role in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed on Friday to speed up the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces, raising the prospect of an accelerated U.S. withdrawal from the country and underscoring Obama's determination to wind down a long, unpopular war. Signaling a narrowing of differences, Karzai appeared to give ground...

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Cycling: Armstrong "to admit doping" in Oprah interview

LOS ANGELES: Lance Armstrong plans to admit to doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that will be taped on Monday at the disgraced cyclist's home in Austin, Texas, USA Today reported.In an article posted on its website on Friday night, USA Today cited "a person with knowledge of the situation" as saying Armstrong plans to admit for the first time to doping throughout his career, but...

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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha seeks more time to form government

RANCHI: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Saturday sought more time for the formation of an alternative government in the state. JMM chief Shibu Soren, his son Hemant Soren and other leaders met governor Syed Ahmad at 11.30am. "We had requested the governor to give us some more time for formation of the government in the state," said Hemant Soren while talking to reporters here. Hemant Soren returned...

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Flu season puts businesses and employees in a bind

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half the 70 employees at a Ford dealership in Clarksville, Ind., have been out sick at some point in the past month. It didn't have to be that way, the boss says."If people had stayed home in the first place, a lot of times that spread wouldn't have happened," says Marty Book, a vice president at Carriage Ford. "But people really want to get out and do their jobs, and sometimes...

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CDC: Flu Outbreak Could Be Waning

The flu season appears to be waning in some parts of the country, but that doesn't mean it won't make a comeback in the next few weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Five fewer states reported high flu activity levels in the first week of January than the 29 that reported high activity levels in the last week of December, according to the CDC's...

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India rape accused hunted victim, aimed to kill: police

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The gang of men charged with the rape and murder of an Indian physiotherapy student deliberately tried to find a woman to rape and kill and ended the night with blood on their clothes, a police report seen by Reuters said. Five men, along with a teenager who says he is under 18, gathered for dinner at a dwelling in a south Delhi slum on the evening of December 16...

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Books: Suitable reading with or without 'Unsuitable Men' experience

Though relatively new to the world of women's fiction, Pippa Wright pens a comical read with her latest offering, 'Unsuitable Men'.Set in London, 29-year-old Rory Carmichael is unwillingly launched back into single-hood after the end of her 11-year relationship. After years of perceived domestic bliss with Martin, her boring but reliable 'Mr Right', Rory is stunned by the discovery of...

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Flu season strikes early and, in some places, hard

NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers are turning away visitors or making them wear face masks, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to deal with the feverish patients.Flu season in the U.S. has struck early and, in many places, hard.While flu normally doesn't blanket the country until...

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Judge: Holmes Can Face Trial for Aurora Shooting

Jan 10, 2013 8:45pm (Arapahoe County Sheriff/AP Photo)In a ruling that comes as little surprise, the judge overseeing the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre has ordered that there is enough evidence against James Holmes to proceed to a trial.In an order posted late Thursday, Judge William Sylvester wrote that “the People have carried their burden of proof and have established...

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Analysis: Modi's Gujarat growth model might not work across India

SURAT, India (Reuters) - Turning a single Indian state with a long tradition of entrepreneurship and a solid political majority into an investor-friendly economic powerhouse is one thing. Replicating that experience across a diverse country of 1.2 billion would be a tougher prospect for Narendra Modi, whose leadership of booming Gujarat state has led to his being touted as a potential...

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Developer of project in Sembawang to fix cracks in houses nearby

SINGAPORE: The developer of a project in Sembawang will fix the cracks and damage to 22 houses nearby.The developer is doing this after complaints of cracked walls, sunken driveways and leaking roofs surfaced in April last year from residents around Jalan Legundi.The affected residents linked these to the construction of a three-storey mixed development nearby.Their Member of Parliament...

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Muslim panchayat bans use of cellphones by girls

JAIPUR: After the khaps in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim community panchayat in Rajasthan on Thursday banned girls from using cellphones and also from dancing and singing at weddings, ostensibly in an effort to prevent incidents like Delhi gang rape.Boys and girls have also been prohibited from marrying someone against the wish of their family members or someone from a different community,...

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Retooling Pap test to spot more kinds of cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, doctors have lamented that there's no Pap test for deadly ovarian cancer. Wednesday, scientists reported encouraging signs that one day, there might be.Researchers are trying to retool the Pap, a test for cervical cancer that millions of women get, so that it could spot early signs of other gynecologic cancers, too.How? It turns out that cells can flake off of tumors in...

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Holmes 'Delighted' by Creepy Self-Portraits: Victims

After two days of apparent indifference, accused Aurora shooter James Holmessmiled and smirked at disturbing self-portraits and images of weapons shown in court today, according to the families of victims who watched him."When he sees himself, he gets very excited and his eyes crinkle," Caren Teves said outside of the courthouse, after the hearing. "Your eyes are the window...

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U.S. does not rule out removing all troops from Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration does not rule out a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after 2014, the White House said on Tuesday, just days before President Barack Obama is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The comments by U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes were the clearest signal yet that, despite initial recommendations by the...

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Driverless car concept gains traction at CES

LAS VEGAS: Automakers and technology firms are jumping on the bandwagon of the driverless car, which remains a concept as well as a platform for new technologies to improve safety on the road.At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Toyota and Audi showed off their ideas for autonomous vehicles, in the wake of the push by Google on its driverless car. And others may follow...

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Rajiv Thakur appointed secretary, finance ministry

NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Rajiv Thakur was today appointed secretary in the finance ministry. Thakur, a 1979-batch officer of Gujarat cadre, is presently Additional Secretary and financial adviser in ministry of health and family welfare. Thakur, who will be Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, will succeed Dinesh Kumar Mittal, IAS (UP:77), who retires on January 31, an official...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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Dead Lotto Winner's Wife Seeks 'Truth'

The wife of a $1 million Chicago lottery winner who died of cyanide poisoning told ABC News that she was shocked to learn the true cause of his death and is cooperating with an ongoing homicide investigation."I want the truth to come out in the investigation, the sooner the better," said Shabana Ansari, 32, the wife of Urooj Khan, 46. "Who could be that person who hurt him?"It...

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As Obama, Karzai meet, Afghan peace efforts show flickers of life

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will discuss matters of war, including future U.S. troop levels and Afghanistan's army, when they meet on Friday, but matters of peace may be the most delicate item on their long agenda. After nearly 10 months in limbo, tentative reconciliation efforts involving Taliban insurgents, the Karzai government...

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Japan to buy Europe bonds to soothe debt crisis

TOKYO: Japan's new finance minister said that Tokyo would buy bonds issued by Europe's permanent bailout fund to help soothe the eurozone's debt problems and stabilise the yen.Taro Aso told reporters the new government would tap foreign exchange reserves to pay for the bonds, but declined to say how much it planned to buy.A finance ministry told AFP the bond buying could start as early...

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ED attaches Rs 143 crore assets in Jagan money laundering case

HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 143.74 crore in connection with its probe in the money laundering case against YSR Congress party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy.The attachment order, under criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is the third by the agency after it issued two separate attachment orders of Rs 51 crore and Rs 71 crore...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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Meet Obama's Defense Secretary Nominee

President Obama nominated former Senator Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. secretary of defense. To those who haven't followed the Senate closely in the past decade, he's probably not a household name.Hagel is a former GOP senator from Nebraska and Purple-Heart-decorated Vietnam veteran, but he wouldn't necessarily be a popular pick with Republicans in Congress.At age 21, Hagel and...

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Assad "peace plan" greeted with scorn by foes

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected peace talks with his enemies on Sunday in a defiant speech that his opponents described as a renewed declaration of war. Although the speech was billed as the unveiling of a new peace plan, Assad offered no concessions and even appeared to harden many of his positions. He rallied Syrians for "a war to defend the nation" and...

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