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Drone strikes are legal and extend to US citizens as well, says Obama
WASHINGTON - In a major counter-terrorism speech, President Barack Obama Thursday defended the covert US drone program and stressed that despite the controversies around it, the strikes are legal and save lives. He also said the use of lethal force extends to U.S. citizens as well. This disclosure comes a day after his administration acknowledged publicly for the first time that four US ...
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Two civilians among 13 dead in Pakistan car bomb
QUETTA, Pakistan - At least 13 people, including two civilians, were killed in a car bomb targeting a police vehicle in western Pakistani city of Quetta Thursday, police officials said. The bombing also injured at least 20 people in the capital of Baluchistan province, riven by Islamist militancy and a violent separatist insurgency. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the ...
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Kerry holds talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials
JERUSALEM - US Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday separately began meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials but appeared doubtful about his success on getting the two warring sides back to peace negotiations. This is Kerry's fourth trip to the Middle East in as many months of his assuming the office of the top US diplomat. He was been trying to revive a peace process that has been ...
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Meeting of Syrian opposition leaders begins in Istanbul
ISTANBUL - Syrian opposition leaders Thursday began their three-day meeting in this Turkish capital city to decide on their participation in talks aimed at end the civil war in the country. As the meeting began in Istanbul a prominent Syrian figure in the opposition proposed a transition plan for the country that requires President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to a senior aide and ...
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Private firms may travel to lunar surface NASA report
A study of future human missions has indicated corporate researchers could be living on the moon by the time NASA astronauts head off to visit an asteroid in the 2020s. The study by Bigelow Aerospace, commissioned by NASA, shows "a lot of excitement and interest from various companies" for such ventures, Daily Mail quoted Robert Bigelow, founder and president of the Las Vegas-based firm, as ...
Movie Review
The Butterfly Effect
In his first dramatic role, MTV and tabloid mainstay Ashton Kutcher drops his male bimbo persona and delves headfirst into the gloom and doom of The Butterfly Effect, playing Evan Treborn, a tortured young man who finds that he has the inexplicable ability to travel back in time and alter the future. The title of the movie is derived from a popular simplification of chaos theory: If a butt ... ...
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Condom handout at Russian WWII monument slammed
A prominent Russian lawmaker Friday called for public condemnation of a recent handout of condoms by AIDS activists at an monument in honour of soldiers who died in World War II. "The most serious reaction to such things is not the introduction of new administrative bans, but a sharp condemnation by society," said Olga Batalina, head of the Russian parliament's committee on family ...
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India aim to finish AFC Cup on good note
India's women's football team will aim to finish the AFC Cup qualifiers on a "good note" when they take on Palestine in their final match here Saturday. India have lost their previous two matches against Myanmar and Chinese Taipei, respectively, but have in no way embarrassed themselves. In the last match India fought bravely only to be thwarted in the final minutes of the game, losing 1-2 ...
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Putin Obama to meet in June September
President Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will meet at the G8 summit in June and during the US president's visit to Russia in September, a Kremlin aide said Friday. "The first meeting will be in Lough Erne (Northern Ireland) on the sidelines of the G8 Summit and then (during) Obama's visit [to Russia] in September, early September," Putin aide Yury Ushakov said. Obama's visit will take place ...
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BBC editor apologises for Muslim remark
Nick Robinson, the BBC's political editor, Friday apologised for directly quoting a Whitehall source who described the Woolwich killers as being "of Muslim appearance". Robinson said he was sorry for using the phrase, which "was both liable to be misinterpreted and to cause offence", during the BBC News at Six broadcast Thursday. The corporation received dozens of complaints after using the ...
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Japan PMs residence not haunted Government
The Japanese government has denied rumours which said the prime minister's official residence was haunted. The denial came after a query by an opposition lawmaker, who wanted to know if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had not yet moved into his official residence, five months after coming to power, because of rumours that the building was haunted by the ghosts of young military officers who died ...

