Jan
21

Algeria hostage toll rises with report of Japanese deaths

ALGIERS, Algeria (Reuters) - The hostage death toll from a four-day siege at an Algerian gas plant deep in the Sahara has risen to almost 60, with at least nine Japanese nationals also reported killed in an attack claimed by a veteran Islamist fighter on behalf of al Qaeda. Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal is expected to give details at a Monday news conference about one of the...
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Japan, US team probes Dreamliner battery maker

TOKYO: Japanese and American safety inspectors were on Monday probing the company that makes batteries for Boeing's Dreamliner after the aircraft's worldwide fleet was grounded over safety fears.Aviation regulators were focusing on the lithium-ion batteries as the cause of a glitch that forced an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight into an emergency landing last week.Despite the investigation...
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IAF chief Browne in Israel to deepen defence ties

JERUSALEM: Amid deepening ties between India and Israel, Chief of Air Staff NAK Browne has held strategic talks with his Israeli counterpart and will meet defence top brass, furthering the ongoing bilateral military cooperation. "This is a part of routine reciprocal visits between chiefs of various wings of the defence forces of the two countries", a defence source here said. However, "the visit...
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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...
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Obamas Share the Love, Even for Michelle's Bangs

Jan 20, 2013 10:49pm (Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)President Obama used the first public remarks of his second term to address what he called the “most significant” event of this weekend: his wife’s much-talked-about new haircut.“I love her bangs,” Obama told supporters at an inaugural reception at the National Building Museum. “She looks good. She always looks good.”First...
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Jan
20

Algeria ends desert siege with 23 hostages dead

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - Algerian troops ended a siege by Islamist militants at a gas plant in the Sahara desert where 23 hostages died, with a final assault which killed all the remaining hostage-takers. Believed to be among the 32 dead militants was their leader, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, a Nigerien close to al Qaeda-linked commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar, presumed mastermind...
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China 'strongly dissatisfied' with US island remarks

BEIJING: China said it was "strongly dissatisfied" Sunday after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning to Beijing not to challenge Tokyo's control of disputed islands at the centre of a bitter territorial row.China is "strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes" the remarks, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on the ministry's website.The...
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Centre to conduct study on RTI Act

NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to conduct a study on RTI Act to assess its implementation across the country and find ways to address bottlenecks faced by various stakeholders. The study will analyse public perception about the extent of reduction in corruption as a result of the functioning of the RTI Act and to calculate cost to the government in providing information under the transparency...
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Lilly drug chosen for Alzheimer's prevention study

Researchers have chosen an experimental drug by Eli Lilly & Co. for a large federally funded study testing whether it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in older people at high risk of developing it.The drug, called solanezumab (sol-ah-NAYZ-uh-mab), is designed to bind to and help clear the sticky deposits that clog patients' brains.Earlier studies found it did not help people with moderate...
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Algeria Hostage Crisis Over, One American Dead

After the Algerian military's final assault on terrorists holding hostages at a gas complex, the four-day hostage crisis is over, but apparently with additional loss of life among the foreign hostages.One American, Fred Buttaccio of Texas, has been confirmed dead by the U.S. State Department. Two more U.S. hostages remain unaccounted for, with growing concern among U.S. officials...
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