Speaker should have expunged abusive proceedings right away: Somnath

CHANDIGARH: Former LokSabha Speaker SomnathChatterjee, who set an example by refusing to follow the party line to vote against the Congress-led government in a crucial July 2008 confidence vote, on Tuesday strongly differed with the handling of the abusive CD row involving Punjab minister BikramMajithia, saying that the expunging of assembly proceedings should not have come as an "afterthought".The...

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Risk to all ages: 100 kids die of flu each year

NEW YORK (AP) — Twenty flu-related deaths have been reported in children so far this winter — one of the worst tolls this early in the year since health officials began keeping track.Still, experts say that doesn't mean this year will turn out to be unusually deadly. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, and it's not clear that will happen this year.The deaths have included a 6-year-old...

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Arias Called Boyfriend 4 Times After Killing Him

Jodi Arias tried to cover her tracks after killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, by making a flurry of phone calls to his cell phone and hacking into his voice mailbox, prosecutors alleged today.Phone records presented in court today showed Arias persistently calling Alexander in the days before the killing. Ten calls were made from Arias' cell phone to Alexander's cell...

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France to stay in Mali until stability restored

BAMAKO/DUBAI (Reuters) - France pledged on Tuesday to keep troops in Mali until stability returned to the West African country, raising the specter of a long campaign against al Qaeda-linked rebels who held their ground despite a fifth day of air strikes. Paris has poured hundreds of soldiers into Mali and carried out 50 bombing raids since Friday in the Islamist-controlled northern half...

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US student could "doodle" way to college money

SAN FRANCISCO: Google on Monday launched a competition that will let a US student "doodle" his or her way to cash for college along with landing grant money to fund technology education at their grade school.The California-based Internet titan announced its sixth annual "Doodle 4 Google" contest in which students from kindergarten to 12th grade vie to create a winning "doodle," a creative...

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Cold wave persists in Himachal

SHIMLA: Cold wave persisted in most parts of Himachal Pradesh even as mercury rose marginally across the state and stayed close to normal level.The high-altitude tribal areas and other higher hills had mild snowfall while some places in mid and lower hills had light rains with Nadaun in Hamirpur district recording 3 mm of rainfall.While tourist spot Manali recorded minimum temperature of minus 0.4...

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Lance Armstrong Apologizes to Livestrong Staff

Lance Armstrong apologized today to the Livestrong staff ahead of his interview with Oprah Winfrey, a foundation official said.The disgraced cyclist gathered with about 100 Livestrong Foundation staffers at their Austin, Texas, headquarters for a meeting that included social workers who deal directly with patients as part of the group's mission to support cancer victims.Armstrong's...

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Mali Islamists counter attack, promise France long war

BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels launched a counteroffensive in Mali on Monday after four days of French air strikes on their northern strongholds, seizing the central town of Diabaly and promising to drag France into a brutal Afghanistan-style war. France, which has poured hundreds of troops into the capital Bamako in recent days, carried out more air strikes...

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Tennis: Australian Open to start in Melbourne

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic will seek an unprecedented third straight title and Serena Williams is hot favourite for the women's trophy when the Australian Open gets under way in Melbourne on Monday.Play starts at 11:00 am local time at Melbourne Park tennis complex for the year's first Grand Slam, with Djokovic in action on day one.The Serb takes to centre court, the Rod Laver Arena, where...

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President rejects mercy plea of man who killed wife, daughter

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected the mercy petition of murder convict Saibanna Ningappa Natikar, making it the second mercy petition that he was rejected so far. Natikar was convicted of killing his wife and daughter. Mukherjee took the decision on January 4. The rejection comes at a time when there is growing concern over crimes against women after the December 16 gang-rape...

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