Chavez working amid chemotherapy: VP

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is still in charge and mulling political, social and economic policies even as he receives a new round of chemotherapy, his vice president said Saturday.Vice President Nicolas Maduro said that the socialist leader, who is convalescing in seclusion at a Caracas military hospital, sent "guidance" to his Cabinet as recently as Friday."He is staying...

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'Maharashtra sisters were sexually assaulted’

MUMBAI/NAGPUR/LAKHNI: A fortnight after the suspicious deaths of three sisters in Bhandara, Maharashtra DGP Sanjeev Dayal on Saturday said that, going by preliminary reports, it appeared that the girls had been sexually assaulted and their bodies bore injury marks. Meanwhile, a senior bureaucrat said it was "shocking" that the post-mortem report was still with health officials and had not been forwarded...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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US Seeks to Confirm Report of Terror Leader's Death

American military and intelligence officials said today they are attempting to confirm a report from the Chadian military of the death of al Qaeda leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the alleged mastermind of the deadly attack on an Algerian natural gas facility in January.If the new report is confirmed, Belmokhtar's death would be a significant victory against a growing al Qaeda threat...

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Chilling documentary accuses Sri Lanka of war crimes

GENEVA: The Sri Lankan military committed numerous war crimes during the final months of the country's 26-year civil war, according to a documentary aired for the first time on Friday, amid vigorous protests from Colombo.Using graphic video and pictures taken both by retreating Tamil Tiger rebels, civilians and victorious Sri Lankan troops, "No Fire Zone -- The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka"...

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Sarabjit Singh's lawyer receives death threat from Pakistani Taliban

LAHORE: The lawyer of Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in a Pakistani prison, on Friday said he had received a death threat from the Taliban for pursuing the case of the Indian national. Awais Shiekh said a letter written by an anonymous activist of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had warned his wife to stop her husband from pursuing the case of Sarabjit. He said the letter read: "I belong...

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

LONDON (AP) — Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk."The additional risk is quite small...

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Obama Signs Order to Begin Sequester Cuts

President Obama and congressional leaders today failed to reach a breakthrough to avert a sweeping package of automatic spending cuts, setting into motion $85 billion of across-the-board belt-tightening that neither had wanted to see.President Obama officially initiated the cuts with an order to agencies Friday evening.He had met for just over an hour at the White House Friday...

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Needy families on public assistance scheme to get higher payouts

SINGAPORE: From April, Public Assistance (PA) recipients can look forward to a higher level of assistance that is flexible and customised to their needs. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will enhance the PA scheme by providing additional assistance, other than a higher direct cash handout.The change will mainly benefit those with special or once-off needs.For example,...

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Sariska villagers block tourists’ entry

ALWAR: About 2,500 villagers on Thursday blocked the main entrance of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, protesting their relocation from areas near the sanctuary. Sariska field director RS Shekhawat said the villagers had locked the entrance and didn't allow tourists to enter the park. "We are trying to sort out the problem on a priority basis," Shekhawat said. The villagers, who are on an indefinite sit-in,...

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Arias Recounts Each Moment of Stabbing, Slashing

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was forced to recount today each detail of how she killed her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, including re-enacting how he allegedly tackled her when she shot him, leaving her crying in her hands on the witness stand.During hours of dramatic cross-examination by prosecutor Juan Martinez, Arias bawled as he asked her about stabbing, slashing and shooting...

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New SDPC mark for cigarettes from 1 March

SINGAPORE: From 1 March, cigarettes sold in Singapore which do not bear the new Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarette (SDPC) mark will be deemed duty-unpaid and illegal.The new SDPC mark features a series of vertical bars around the cigarette stick.The Singapore Customs said this allows enforcement officers and the public to easily differentiate duty-paid cigarettes from duty-unpaid or contraband...

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Assembly polls: Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura to get new govts today

NEW DELHI/KOHIMA/AGARTALA/ SHILLONG: Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura will get new governments today. Counting of votes began at 8am in all the three northeast states.Tight security for Nagaland assembly poll countingAdequate security arrangements have been made for the counting of votes to the 59 assembly seats of the 60-member House in Nagaland today.Peaceful elections were held in the state on February...

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Huge study: 5 mental disorders share genetic links

WASHINGTON (AP) — The largest genetic study of mental illnesses to date finds five major disorders may not look much alike but they share some gene-based risks. The surprising discovery comes in the quest to unravel what causes psychiatric disorders and how to better diagnose and treat them.The disorders — autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive...

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Arias Prosecutor Too Combative, Experts Say

He has barked, yelled, been sarcastic and demanded answers from accused murderer Jodi Arias this week.And in doing so, prosecutor Juan Martinez and his aggressive antics may be turning off the jury he is hoping to convince that Arias killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in June 2008, experts told ABCNews.com today."Martinez is his own worst enemy," Mel McDonald, a prominent...

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Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary

ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions. Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had...

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Yahoo! fuels fresh debate on telecommuting

WASHINGTON: Telecommuting, a growing trend in the US workplace, is coming under fresh scrutiny following news that Yahoo! is curbing the practice.The trend of working from home has been gaining steam for decades, as part of a workplace evolution which allows greater family-work balance and saves energy and commuting costs.An internal Yahoo! memo from chief executive Marissa Meyer posted...

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Rape victim attempts suicide in Gujarat high court

AHMEDABAD: A rape victim attempted suicide in the courtroom of Gujarat high court on Tuesday by consuming pesticide. She was rushed to the Sola Civil Hospital, where her condition is said to be critical. This is the second such incident since January when a rape victim attempted suicide in a courtroom.In this case, the 27-year old woman had moved Gujarat HC to appeal against a city sessions court's...

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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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Arias Liked Some Kinky Sex, She Admits

Though accused murderer Jodi Arias said she sometimes felt "like a prostitute" at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, she admitted today that she often enjoyed their sex life and even suggested sex acts they could try.Prosecutor Juan Martinez, after a day of aggressive questioning and bickering with Arias, asked her about her own suggestions for her sex life with...

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DKNY apologizes for using photos without permission

NEW YORK: Donna Karan New York apologised Monday for having displayed, without permission, portraits taken by a New York photographer in its Bangkok shop windows.The fashion house also announced, in its statement, that it was donating $25,000 to a charity chosen by and in the name of the photographer, Brandon Stanton.Stanton, who was alerted to the Bangkok display by a fan, wrote a post...

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Isro does it again, 7 SATS in orbit

A five-minute delay to pre-empt an encounter withdebrisdid not dampen the spirit at Sriharikota on Monday as the satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C20 took to the skies to catapult seven satellites into orbit,including Indo-Frenchsatellite SARAL.While initially the control room at Sriharikota was bristling with activity, a deadsilence prevailed as launch time drew close. While initially the launch time...

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Koop, who transformed surgeon general post, dies

With his striking beard and starched uniform, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop became one of the most recognizable figures of the Reagan era — and one of the most unexpectedly enduring.His nomination in 1981 met a wall of opposition from women's groups and liberal politicians, who complained President Ronald Reagan selected Koop, a pediatric surgeon and evangelical Christian from Philadelphia,...

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