Jan
27

Iraq inks oil exploration deal with Kuwait Energy

BAGHDAD: Iraqi energy officials on Sunday signed an oil exploration deal with a Kuwait-led group, finalising a deal that was altered to expel a Turkish firm amid worsening ties with Ankara.A contract was inked with Kuwait Energy and Dragon Oil of the United Arab Emirates to explore a 900-square-kilometre (350-square-mile) block thought to contain oil in south Iraq, near the country's border...
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Declaring PM candidate before elections could split BJP-NDA: VHP

BHOPAL: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader PraveenTogadia on Sunday said that the BJP should not announce a prime ministerial candidate before the 2014 general elections. Togadia said that such an attempt would weaken the BJP and the NDA alliance. Announcing the name of the prime ministerial candidate could work as a strategy in favour of the UPA parties. It could split both the BJP and its NDA alliance...
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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...
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Brazil Nightclub Fire: 245 Dead, Hundreds Injured

A blaze raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing 245 people as the air filled with deadly smoke and panicked party-goers stampeded toward the exits, police and witnesses said. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.Witnesses said that a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the fire.Police...
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Jan
26

At least 55 dead in Venezuela prison riot: hospital

CARACAS: At least 55 people were killed and 90 others wounded in clashes between prison gangs and security guards at a facility in northwest Venezuela, a hospital director said Saturday.Television images had earlier shown National Guard troops surrounding the Uribana prison in Lara state as inmates in bloody clothes were taken out of the building.Behind the barriers, relatives of the prisoners...
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Mild tremor felt in Kutch

AHMEDABAD: A mild tremor measuring 3.2 on Richter Scale today shook Kutch, rekindling memories of the devastating earthquake which had hit the same day in 2001. The tremor was recorded late evening with its epicentre 11 km North-West from Bhachau taluka of Kutch, officials of the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said. However, no loss of life or damage to property was reported, they said....
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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...
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Cops Using More Private Cameras to Nab Suspects

Philadelphia detectives were able to quickly make an arrest in the murder and burning of a female pediatrician by viewing surveillance video of nearby stores and a hospital that captured the suspect entering the doctor's home and later getting into his truck.In the hours after Dr. Melissa Ketunuti's body was found strangled and burning in her basement, city's Homicide Task Force...
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Jan
25

US scholar urges dramatic rethink on Taiwan

WASHINGTON: With Beijing growing in strength, a US scholar is calling for a major rethink on Taiwan in which the island would cut its troop numbers in half and rebrand its army as a self-defence force.The proposal marks a rare break from the conventional view of American and Taiwanese policymakers that the island needs to close the military gap with Beijing, but its author said an opposite...
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India to test subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay in February

BANGALORE: Nirbhay, the subsonic cruise missile, will be flight-tested in February. This was revealed by VK Saraswat, scientific adviser to the defence minister, at a briefing on Aero India 2013. The six-metre-long missile that weighs a tonne has been designed and developed in Bangalore. "The missile has a good loitering capability, control and guidance with high degree of accuracy for maximum...
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