Varun Gandhi acquitted in hate speech case

LUCKNOW: Bringing some relief to Varun Gandhi, a Pilibhit court on Wednesday acquitted the BJP MP in one of the two 'hate speech' cases registered against him in the run-up to 2009 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP leader faced charges under IPC and Representation of People Act for promoting enmity among people and supporting acts prejudicial to communal harmony while making allegedly inflammatory speeches....

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Vt. lye victim gets new face at Boston hospital

BOSTON (AP) — The 2007 chemical attack left the Vermont nurse unrecognizable to anyone who knew her.But now Carmen Blandin Tarleton's face has changed again following a facial transplant this month.Doctors at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston said Wednesday that the 44-year-old's surgery included transplanting a female donor's facial skin to Tarleton's neck, nose and lips, along with facial...

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Newtown Dad's Tearful Plea at Senate Gun Hearing

A father who lost his son in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School sobbed as he testified at a Senate hearing today in favor of an assault weapons ban.Across town Vice President Biden alluded to untold horror of the Newtown tragedy in an appeal for help from the nation's attorneys general.Despite their emotional appeals, the push for gun reforms championed by the White...

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Vatican says Benedict XVI will have title 'pope emeritus'

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "pope emeritus" and can continue to wear the white papal cassock after he steps down this week, the Vatican said Tuesday, revealing details about the final moments surrounding the historic resignation.The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics can still be referred to as "His Holiness Benedict XVI" and will have the additional title...

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Rail Budget 2013: Coach PM gets Bansal to keep it on track

NEW DELHI: Pawan Bansal's induction in the railway ministry last year was ascribed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Fed up with hemorrhaging of railway finances under successive regional chieftains who lorded over the crucial infrastructure ministry, the PM was keen on bringing in someone more in league with his own reformist instincts. Tuesday's rail budget, marked by a focus on restoring fiscal...

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C. Everett Koop, 'rock star' surgeon general, dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. C. Everett Koop has long been regarded as the nation's doctor— even though it has been nearly a quarter-century since he was surgeon general.Koop, who died Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H., at age 96, was by far the best known and most influential person to carry that title. Koop, a 6-foot-1 evangelical Presbyterian with a biblical prophet's beard, donned a public health uniform...

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Tempers Flare at Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Tempers flared between accused murderer Jodi Arias and prosecutor Juan Martinez today as Martinez tried to detail Arias' history of spying on her boyfriends, but Arias complained that his aggressive style of questioning made her "brain scramble."Arias and Martinez, who have sparred throughout two prior days of cross-examination in Arias' murder case, spent more than 10 minutes...

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BP accused of greed, lax safety at US oil spill trial

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: Prosecutors accused BP of letting greed triumph over safety Monday in the opening of a multi-billion dollar trial over the devastating 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.A federal judge in New Orleans is tasked with determining how much BP and its subcontractors should pay for the worst environmental disaster in US history.US prosecutors are determined to prove that...

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Punjab and Haryana high court quashes policy depriving judges of leave travel concession benefits

CHANDIGARH: In a respite to over 400 judicial officers working in various subordinate courts of Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed the instructions issued by the state government depriving the officers of leave travel concession (LTC) benefits. Directing the state to consider the judges of subordinate courts at par with the other employees of the state government in the matter...

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Mediterranean-style diets found to cut heart risks

Pour on the olive oil, preferably over fish and vegetables: One of the longest and most scientific tests of a Mediterranean diet suggests this style of eating can cut the chance of suffering heart-related problems, especially strokes, in older people at high risk of them.The study lasted five years and involved about 7,500 people in Spain. Those who ate Mediterranean-style with lots of olive oil or...

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