DIA sending hundreds more spies overseas

The Pentagon will send hundreds of additional spies overseas as part of an ambitious plan to assemble an espionage network that rivals the CIA in size, U.S. officials said. The project is aimed at transforming the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has been dominated for the past decade by the demands of two wars, into a spy service focused on emerging threats and more closely aligned...

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Seven trapped in fiery Japan tunnel collapse

KOSHU, Japan: At least seven people were trapped inside a highway tunnel in Japan after it collapsed on Sunday, setting a car ablaze and raising fears of another cave-in that forced a halt to rescue efforts.Two vehicles were crushed in the original collapse and one other was set ablaze when large concrete ceiling panels fell in inside one of Japan's longest motorway tunnels at nearly five...

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FDI in retail to safeguard international market mafias' interest: BJP

NEW DELHI: India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said retail reform is a step taken by the Congress led-federal government to safeguard the interests of the international market mafias at the cost of national interest.BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday that voting inside the parliament would decide as to who is in favour of national interest and who is working...

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...

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Wikileaks Case: Guards Deny Intimidating Manning

(Brendan Smialkowski/AFP/Getty Images)Bradley Manning’s former guards testified today that they did not intimidate the man accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified cables to the anti-secrets website Wikileaks during  a Jan. 18, 2011 incident that resulted in Manning being placed on a temporary suicide risk watch.Manning’s attorneys cite the event as a key reason why his pre-trial...

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Sen. Ayotte offers GOP an influential new voice

The three Republican senators emerged grim-faced from a basement meeting room in the Capitol on Tuesday and took turns before a bank of televisions cameras, blasting away at the Obama administration for its handling of the deadly attack on an American outpost in Benghazi, Libya. The first two were prominent national security heavyweights, Arizona’s John McCain and Lindsey O. Graham of...

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Ford recalls 89,000 vehicles amid engine fire concerns

NEW YORK: Ford Motor Company on Friday issued a recall of more than 89,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada amid concerns on engine fires.The automaker said the voluntary recall affects SE and SEL models of the 2013 Escape and 2013 Fusion that are equipped with a 1.6-litre engine."Ford is voluntarily recalling these vehicles because of reports of engine overheating, resulting in...

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Curfew lifted in Srinagar

SRINAGAR: With the situation returning to normal, authorities on Saturday lifted the three-day-old curfew imposed in nine police station areas of the city following sectarian clashes."Curfew has been lifted from all nine police station areas of Srinagar city as the situation remained peaceful following imposition of restrictions on Wednesday," a police spokesman said.Curfew was imposed in Nowhatta,...

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...

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Could Outgoing Republicans Hold Keys to 'Cliff' Deal?

Nov 30, 2012 1:45pm AP Photo/Carolyn KasterThe outlook for reaching some sort of bipartisan agreement on the so-called “fiscal cliff” before the Dec. 31 deadline is looking increasingly grim. Shortly after noon today, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, appeared before the cameras to say the talks had reached a “stalemate.”But there may be a glimmer...

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N Korea may test missile next week: US think tank

SEOUL: Fresh analysis of new satellite imagery confirms apparent North Korean preparations for an imminent long-range missile test -- perhaps as early as next week -- a US think tank said on Friday.Speculation over a new test, following a failed launch in April, has intensified in recent weeks and drew a sharp warning on Thursday from the UN Security Council to Pyongyang.The US-Korea Institute...

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Yeddyurappa in tears as he sets out to quit BJP

BANGALORE: Estranged Karnataka BJP strongman BS Yeddyurappa, who is set to resign from primary membership of the party, became emotional on Friday as he recalled his long association with the party even as he trained his guns at BJP leaders for hatching a "conspiracy" against him. "The party has given everything to me. And I have sacrificed my life to build my previous party (BJP)", he said, fighting...

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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNLLooking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand...

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Man Arrested in Fla. Girl's 1993 Disappearance

Police have arrested a 42-year-old man and charged him with murder in the case of a Florida girl who vanished almost 20 years ago.Andrea Gail Parsons, 10, of Port Salerno, Fla., was last seen on July 11, 1993, shortly after 6 p.m. She had just purchased candy and soda at a grocery store when she waved to a local couple as they drove by on an area street and honked, police said.Today,...

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High-powered ‘Fix the Debt’ group draws attention, scrutiny in Washington

In the discussions about the “fiscal cliff” consuming Washington, a powerful new group stands out, touting the virtue of bipartisanship and shared sacrifice. The business leaders who set up the Campaign to Fix the Debt appear nearly every day on network talk shows and have won coveted time with President Obama in pushing for increased tax revenue, reduced government spending, and changes...

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Kai Kai, Jia Jia thrill visitors on Giant Panda Forest opening day

SINGAPORE: The two pandas from China, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, thrilled hordes of visitors on the opening day of the Giant Panda Forest on Thursday.They were active, moving playfully around their enclosure, as visitors snapped photographs and filmed every action of the pandas.Some visitors were at the Singapore Zoo, where the Panda Forest is located, before 8am - one hour before the panda's...

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again. Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite...

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Powerball Numbers Drawn for Nearly $580M Jackpot

5-23-16-22-29-Powerball 6: Those are the winning numbers for an estimated $579 million Powerball jackpot -- the biggest in history.After a feverish day that saw hopeful players buying tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute, lottery officials in Orlando, Fla., drew the winning sequence shortly after 11 p.m.The results likely will be announced sometime after 2 a.m. Thursday...

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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown. Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued...

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Hilton chef charged with corruption

SINGAPORE: A senior chef of Hilton Singapore Hotel was charged with two counts of corruption on Wednesday.Go Choon Heng, 41, allegedly accepted a total of about S$4,500 in bribes, in exchange for furthering the business interests of a seafood supplier, Tay Ee Tiong.He's alleged to have committed the offences on 13 March 2009 and 18 June 2009.In exchange, Go allegedly ensured that Hilton...

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Zee News denies allegations, terms arrests an attack on press freedom

NEW DELHI: Zee News on Wednesday vehemently denied all allegations of extortion levelled against it and described the arrests of two of its senior journalists as a "crude and direct attack on the freedom of the press".In a statement, Zee News accused Delhi Police of acting at the behest of Congress MP Naveen Jindal. The channel accused Naveen Jindal of trying to divert attention from 'coalgate'.Delhi...

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation IndiaA young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian...

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Petraeus Scandal: Socialite Jill Kelley Fighting Back

Tampa socialite Jill Kelley is fighting back. Today, sources close to the woman who was caught in the media crossfire during the David Petraeus sex scandal have released new letters aimed at reclaiming her reputation.In a letter released to reporters by Jill Kelley's spokesperson, Kelley's attorney goes after a New York businessman who claimed Kelley was using her connections...

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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown. Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued...

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Property tax rebate for most HDB flat owners

SINGAPORE: All one- and two-room owner-occupiers of HDB homes do not need to pay property tax in 2013, similar to 2012. For a majority of other HDB flat types, the property tax bill for 2013 will increase by between S$40 and $50, after taking into account a new S$40 rebate.The increase in property tax comes after the revision of Annual Values (AVs) of HDB flats with effect from 1 January...

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Jayalalithaa to meet Karnataka CM to sort out Cauvery river issue

CHENNAI: In a significant development, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa will meet her Karnataka counter part Jagadish Shettar on Thursday to find a solution to the contentious issue of sharing Cauvery river water.Her move came against the backdrop of Monday's Supreme Court suggestion that an amicable solution to the Cauvery row could be thrashed out if both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka chief...

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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

High Horse Photograph by Greg Parker, Your Shot The Horsehead Nebula rears its pretty head in a November 17 photograph submitted to National Geographic's Your Shot photo community.Taken...

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Co. Paying Just $1,200 for Each Factory Fire Life

A company that makes clothes for Sean Combs' clothing brand ENYCE and other U.S. labels reassured investors that a factory fire that killed 112 people over the weekend would not harm its balance sheet, and also pledged to pay the families of the dead $1,200 per victim.In an announcement Monday, Li & Fung Ltd., a middleman company that supplies clothes from Bangladesh factories...

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S'pore's industrial output falls more than expected in Oct

SINGAPORE: Singapore manufacturing output fell more than expected in October as production of electronics and pharmaceuticals slipped.Output fell 2.1 per cent in October from the same month the previous year, led by declines of 6.0 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively in the electronics and biomedical sectors.Economists had forecast a year-on-year drop in total manufacturing output...

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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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