Nelson Mandela successfully treated for gall stones

PRETORIA: South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on Saturday underwent a successful procedure to remove gall stones, a week after he was admitted to hospital for a lung infection, the office of the president said."This morning, 15 December 2012, the former president underwent a procedure via endoscopy to have the gall stones removed," it said in a statement."The procedure was...

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IAEA chief urges 'better communication’ to deal with Kudankulam-like stir

KORIYAMA (FUKUSHIMA): UN nuclear watchdog IAEA chief Yukiya Amano on Saturday called for "better communication and higher transparency" in dealing with Kudankulam-like protests against nuclear power. Even as he sought to distance himself from both sides — protesters as well as votaries of nuclear power —the director-general said that the issue of spent nuclear fuel, which is at the core of protests...

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National GeographicThe aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles...

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School Shooting: Officials Seek Details on Gunman

The FBI is in at least three states interviewing relatives and friends of the elementary school gunman who killed 20 children, seven adults and himself, trying to put together a better picture of the shooter and uncover any possible explanation for the massacre, ABC News has learned.The authorities have fanned out to New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts to interview relatives...

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Susan Rice explains; former Sen. Frist’s divorce; and the FDR flick (read-this roundup)

(Michael Nagle - Getty Images) Here’s what the Loop is reading Friday:In her own words — Susan Rice on why she stepped out of the ring.Divide and conquer — Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist gets to keep his old Senate desk — and the beach house and the stuffed buffalo — in his divorce from wife Karyn.Ladies man? — The new movie about FDR, “Hyde Park on Hudson,” gets it...

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MICE organisers reeling from rising rentals and wages

SINGAPORE : It is a mixed bag for Singapore's Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector. Exhibition venues are raking in the cash, but event organisers have said they are reeling from rising rentals and wages.Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) said attractions such as its Marine Life Park are luring in customers. RWS will pull in 600,000 delegates for 3,000 events this year...

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Chhattisgarh paid Kareena Kapoor Rs 1.40 crore for dance show

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government has admitted that it paid a whopping sum of Rs 1.40 crore to Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor for her performance last month at the state's anniversary function. In a written reply to Congress member Mohammed Akbar in the state assembly, public works department minister Brijmohan Agrawal, who holds the tourism and culture portfolios as well, said that 245 artistes...

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Pictures: Surveying Rain Forest Arthropods

Insects on High Photograph courtesy Jürgen Schmidl, University of ErlangenAfter an exhaustive search for the creepy crawlies living in a small patch of Panama's rain forest,...

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'Active Shooter' Reported at CT Elementary School

A shooting at a Connecticut elementary school this morning prompted the town of Newton to lock down all of its schools and drew SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today.A gunman has been killed, authorities told ABC News.The shooting occurred at the Sandy Creek Elementary School in Newtown, about 12 miles east of Danbury.A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed...

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Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 2012 Christmas card: Fiscal cliff, Gretzky in heaven

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen — your Rep. Loretta Sanchez Christmas card for 2012! (Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez) Over the past decade, the California Democrat’s wacky holiday greetings have drawn a cult following. “I’ve seen them being sold on eBay,” the congresswoman told us. (Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez) Nice topical theme this...

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Ukrainian MPs brawl in parliament as PM re-appointed

KIEV: The Ukrainian parliament Thursday voted to reinstate its prime minister after dozens of opposition and pro-government lawmakers brawled for a second day in the chamber notorious for its fisticuffs.Newly-elected world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko sought to stand above the fray by staying well out of the fighting that came just before parliament voted to re-appoint Prime Minister...

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Yeddyurappa looking at image makeover

MYSORE: Former CM B S Yeddyurappa is seeking an image makeover. On Thursday as he toured Mysore and Mandya districts, he visited Gumbaz, the mausoleum that houses tombs of Mysore rulers Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali, held a convention of minorities at Muslim majority area in Mysore and said he is a changed man. At the minorities meet, he said he will not allow injustice to be meted out to Muslims and...

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Hubble Discovers Oldest Known Galaxy

The Hubble space telescope has discovered seven primitive galaxies formed in the earliest days of the cosmos, including one believed to be the oldest ever detected.The discovery, announced Wednesday, is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign to determine how and when galaxies first assembled following the Big Bang."This 'cosmic dawn' was not a single, dramatic event," said astrophysicist...

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Royal Hoax Nurse Hanged Herself, Left 3 Notes

Jacintha Saldanha, the London nurse who killed herself after she answered a radio-station prank call about Kate Middleton, was found hanging from the neck, and left three notes, according to the coroner's officer.The 46-year-old nurse who worked at London's King Edward VII Hospital was discovered Dec. 7 hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe in her bedroom, Coroner's Officer Lynda...

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PM Lee to nominate new Speaker when Parliament next meets

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will nominate a new Speaker of Parliament when Parliament next meets, following the resignation of Mr Michael Palmer.In the meantime, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mr Charles Chong will serve as Acting Speaker.When asked who is likely to be considered for the post of Speaker, some Members of Parliament (MPs) from the ruling People's Action Party...

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SC verdict on Mulayam's plea against probe in DA case on Thursday

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will pronounce tomorrow its verdict on Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members' plea for review of its order for CBI probe against them for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets. A bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice H L Dattu, which had reserved its order on February 17 last year, will pronounce the verdict on review petition...

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal ObservatoryThis image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon...

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Mall Gunman Wanted to Kill 'Total Strangers'

The masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two and seriously injuring a third before killing himself, was trying to "kill as many people as possible."The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering through a Macy's...

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Taiwan's HTC unveils new rival to iPhone 5

TAIPEI - Taiwan's HTC on Tuesday unveiled a new smartphone boasting a higher resolution display than the iPhone 5 just days before Apple's latest handset goes on sale on the island.The HTC Butterfly features a 5-inch screen with a pixel density of 440 ppi (pixels per inch) and full 1080p HD resolution, compared to the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen at 326 ppi at a lower resolution."We are confident...

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Congress nuances its stand on Rahul's leadership

NEW DELHI: A day after announcing that he will lead the campaign in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress today nuanced its stand saying it will fight the polls under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. "I think party spokesperson P C Chacko has already clarified...Sonia Gandhi is our leader and President of the Congress Party. She will continue to be President. "We are going to fight...

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U.K. Dash for Shale Gas a Test for Global Fracking

Thomas K. Grose in London The starting gun has sounded for the United Kingdom's "dash for gas," as the media here have dubbed it.As early as this week, a moratorium on shale gas production is expected to be lifted. And plans to streamline and speed the regulatory process through a new Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil were unveiled last week in the annual autumn budget statement by...

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Royal Hoax: Station to Give $500K to Nurse's Family

The Australian radio station that employed the DJs who prank-called the London hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated has cancelled their show and will donate at least $500,000 to the grieving husband and children of the nurse who took the call and later apparently killed herself.Australia's 2Day FM released a statement today saying it hopes to "help [Jacintha] Saldanha's...

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Obama heads to Michigan seeking support for fiscal plan

President Obama is traveling to an auto plant in Michigan on Monday to drum up support for his plan to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.                                   Obama...

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US, UK shareholders 'now to pay if bank fails'

LONDON: British and US banking regulators proposed on Monday a joint strategy to ensure that the bankruptcy of big banks won't spark a chain reaction of contagion throughout markets.The two bodies, acting on behalf of the two largest financial centres in the world, stressed that under the proposals, shareholders and not taxpayers would bear the full costs, and top managers would be sacked.At...

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CAPF men will now get more time with family

NEW DELHI: Faced with high attrition rate and suicides in paramilitary forces arising out of work-related stress and alienation from family, the home ministry has given its nod to a proposal to have more camps off the border and troubled areas so that personnel can have regular peace postings and be closer to their families.The proposal sent by the Border Security Force(BSF), has not only asked for...

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...

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Royal Hoax: DJs 'Shattered' After Nurse's Suicide

The two Australian radio DJs who prank-called the London hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated last week said they were "shattered" and "gutted" after the nurse who answered their call apparently killed herself.Shock jocks Mel Greig, 30, and Michael Christian, 25, cried as they spoke to Australia's Channel 9 overnight in their first public interview since Jacintha...

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Mandela "comfortable" after night in hospital

JOHANNESBURG: Nelson Mandela is comfortable, after a restful night in hospital for tests, the South African government said Sunday as the former president spent his second day in hospital.President Jacob Zuma visited the country's first black president and said he had found him "comfortable, and in good care."It was the second time the 94-year-old and increasingly frail Mandela had been...

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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

Shreya Roy Chowdhury, TNN Dec 8, 2012, 06.12AM ISTMUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the...

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