Egyptians vote on divisive constitution

CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on Saturday on a constitution promoted by its Islamist backers as the way out of a prolonged political crisis and rejected by opponents as a recipe for further divisions in the Arab world's biggest nation. Queues formed outside polling stations in Cairo and other cities and soldiers joined police to secure the referendum process after deadly...

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NEA's new partnership to enhance S'pore's radiological operational readiness

SINGAPORE: National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) on collaboration in nuclear and radiation safety, emergency preparedness and response.NEA's partnership with DEMA is meant to enhance Singapore's capabilities in radiological operational readiness and incident response. The partnership will provide a platform...

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Never compared Babri with terror acts: Rehman Malik

NEW DELHI: Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik on Saturday denied he had equated the demolition of the Babri Masjid with terror attacks, and offered an assurance that he would get the death of Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia investigated. Explaining comments he made after landing in New Delhi Friday evening, which were widely reported by the Indian media, Malik told NDTV news channel that...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered...

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Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'

Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then drove her car to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot...

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U.S., rebels urge gloomy Moscow to help oust Assad

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's rebel leadership and the United States seized on Russian pessimism over President Bashar al-Assad's future to urge Moscow to help push its ally into ceding power and end the battles closing in around his capital. "We want to commend the Russian government for finally waking up to the reality and acknowledging that the regime's days are numbered," the U.S. State...

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Enough blood for injured Navy serviceman & others in need

SINGAPORE: Singapore Red Cross and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said injured Navy serviceman Jason Chee is well supported by the National Blood Programme.In a joint statement, they assured well wishers that there is sufficient blood for his surgeries.The statement revealed that the Singapore Red Cross has already been recalling donors who are due for donation and blood donors of...

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Air travellers frustrated by security checks: IATA study

GENEVA: Air travellers are most frustrated by the queuing time for security checks, removing shoes and belts, apart from electronic items and liquids from their carry-on bags, a latest IATA study has said. Interestingly, a significant majority of 75 per cent would rather go through a full body scanner than have a full pat down by a security officer, said the survey by the International Air Transport...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — After health care reform is complete, states that have the most illegal immigrants could be left with a disproportionate number of uninsured people — and a financial burden.Two-thirds of the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants live in eight states. None of them is covered by President Barack Obama's reform law.So when the plan is fully implemented, illegal immigrants...

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What Is a Right-to-Work Law?

This week Michigan became the 24th state in the country to adopt a right-to-work law. The passage of the bill by the state legislature, and eventual signing by Rick Snyder, the state's Republican governor, brought a huge wave of protests in a state with deep union roots.Right-to-work laws have garnered a lot of national attention in recent years as more states have implemented...

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For North Korea, next step is a nuclear test

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea rattled the world on Wednesday by putting a satellite into orbit using the kind of technology that appears to demonstrate it can develop a missile capable of hitting the United States. Its next step will likely be a nuclear test, which would be the third conducted by the reclusive and unpredictable state. Its 2009 test came on May 25, a month after a rocket...

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Fare increases needed to improve service to commuters, says Lui Tuck Yew

SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew has said fare increases are needed to improve service to commuters while keeping public transport operations commercially viable.In a Facebook post, Mr Lui said fare increases are not to boost the short-term profits of Public Transport Operators (PTOs) or improve the salaries of bus drivers.He said that's why the government must work with the...

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Encounter in Sopore

SRINAGAR: An encounter broke out between security forces and militants in a village in Sopore area of north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Thursday. "Exchange of firing has been reported between security forces and militants in Chaerhaar village in Sopore area. Further details of the incident are awaited," a police spokesman said. Official sources said the security forces launched a cordon and...

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Congress examines science behind HGH test for NFL

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee has opened a hearing to examine the science behind a human growth hormone test the NFL wants to start using on its players.Nearly two full seasons have passed since the league and the players' union signed a labor deal that set the stage for HGH testing.The NFL Players Association won't concede the validity of a test that's used by Olympic sports and Major...

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N. Korean Missile Hits Target of Alarming the World

North Korea's successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile hit its target: it bolstered the standing of its young tyrant Kim Jong Un and raised the specter of being able to eventually strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.The pride in the success of the launch -- after several failures -- is a huge boost for Kim Jong Un, 29, who took power one year ago. He has...

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North Korea's new leader burnishes credentials with rocket

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to its opponents. The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver...

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Workers' Party ready to offer voters a choice again

SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party (WP), which contested the 2011 general election in the Punggol East Single Member Constituency (SMC), said it is ready to offer voters a choice again in a by-election.In a statement released on Wednesday, the WP said it has noted the announcement that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Michael Palmer, has resigned from the People's Action Party and, by virtue of...

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Lok Sabha adjourned over coal blocks allocation

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2pm after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) members disrupted proceedings demanding action on alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks. BSP members had approached the Speaker Meira Kumar's podium to raise the issue during question hour earlier, in what appears to be a pressure tactic on the government to get the bill on reservations in job promotions...

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DA investigating Texas' troubled $3B cancer agency

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Turmoil surrounding an unprecedented $3 billion cancer-fighting effort in Texas worsened Tuesday when its executive director offered his resignation and the state's chief public corruption prosecutor announced an investigation into the beleaguered agency.No specific criminal allegations are driving the latest probe into the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, said...

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Gunman 'Tentatively' Identified in Oregon Shooting

A masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two individuals before killing himself, has been "tentatively" identified by police, though they have not yet released his name.The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing, and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering...

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Unknown attackers fire at Cairo protesters, nine hurt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Nine people were hurt when unknown attackers fired at protesters camping at Tahrir Square in central Cairo on Tuesday, according to witnesses and Egyptian media, as opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Mursi's plans to vote on a new constitution geared up for a day of street demonstrations. Police cars surrounded the square, the first time they had appeared...

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Japan researchers invent solar-cell fabric

TOKYO: Clothes that could literally light up your life were unveiled Tuesday by Japanese researchers who said their solar-cell fabric would eventually let wearers harvest energy on the go.The new fabric is made of wafer-thin solar cells woven together that could see people powering up their mobile phones and other electronics with their sweater or trousers.But its creators conceded there...

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Leh freezes at minus 12.4 degrees Celsius

SRINAGAR: The temperature dipped to a bone-chilling minus 12.4 degrees Celsius in Leh town on Tuesday as the mercury dipped below freezing point across the Kashmir Valley as well. The local weather office forecast moderate to heavy snowfall in the Valley between December 13 and 15. "Moderate to rather heavy snowfall is likely to occur in the Valley and the hills of the Jammu region on 13th, 14th...

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New tests could hamper food outbreak detection

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's about to get faster and easier to diagnose food poisoning, but that progress for individual patients comes with a downside: It could hurt the nation's ability to spot and solve dangerous outbreaks.Next-generation tests that promise to shave a few days off the time needed to tell whether E. coli, salmonella or other foodborne bacteria caused a patient's illness could reach medical...

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SEAL Killed in Rescue Mission Identified

The Pentagon has identified Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas Checque as the Navy SEAL who died of injuries sustained in the successful rescue of an American doctor from the Taliban over the weekend.Checque, who hailed from Monroeville, Pa., died of "combat related injuries," according to a Pentagon release. Though the release only said Checque was assigned to "an East Coast-based...

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Analysis: Franco-German chill reshuffles cards in Europe

PARIS (Reuters) - A chill has settled over the Rhine seven months after the election of Socialist French President Francois Hollande, reshuffling the cards in Europe's perpetual power game. The cooling of traditionally close Franco-German relations was partly an intentional step by Hollande to demonstrate that he is not in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's pocket but wants to change...

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