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Twister that hit Oklahoma caused $2 bn in damage
MOORE, Oklahoma - Rescue workers were combing through the battered remains of buildings left behind in the path of the gigantic tornado that killed two dozen people, including nine children, in Oklahoma on Monday. Officials say the search for survivors is nearly over as efforts turn towards recovery. Gary Bird, fire chief of the badly hit Moore suburb, said he was "98% sure" there were no ...
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FBI kill Florida man known to Boston bombing suspects
MIAMI - A man known to the Boston Marathon bombers was shot and killed Wednesday by an Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent after he turned violent during questioning, the investigating agency said. The Orlando Sentinel newspaper identified the man as Ibragim Todashev, 27. He was killed in the early morning incident in Orlando, Florida. The FBI said the shooting occurred in Orlando, ...
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US Senate panel clears key immigration reform bill
WASHINGTON - A US Senate panel has cleared a proposed legislation that relaxes restrictions on IT companies to hire foreign techies, thus clearing one of the major hurdles to ushering changes in American immigration law in a generation. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill after its authors won a bipartisan support with three Republicans joining 10 Democrats in the 18-member ...
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Iran allows eight candidates for presidential race
TEHRAN - Iran has approved eight candidates for the presidential election due next month, rejecting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's top aide in a major setback to the hawkish leader of the Islamic republic. Ahmadinejad criticised the decision to remove Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei from the final candidate list and said it was an act of "oppression". He announced plans to take up the case with ...
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North Korean special envoy visits China to win confidence
PYONGYANG, North Korea - In an indication that North Korea may give diplomacy a chance to end regional tension, its leader Kim Jong Un Wednesday sent a special envoy to China to win the confidence of its most important ally. The trip by Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae, a senior Workers' Party official and the military's top political officer, comes after months of ignoring Chinese warnings to ...
Movie Review
Bringing Up Baby
When I watch screwball comedies like "Bringing Up Baby," there is a certain part of me that laments the fact that our culture has become so jaded and cynical that a movie like this could never be made again. Oh sure, there have been some attempts in the last ten to twenty years, most notably two Madonna vehicles: "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985) and "Who's That Girl?" (1987), the second of which ... ...
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12 killed in Pakistan bombing
Twelve people were killed in Pakistan's Quetta city Thursday when a car packed with 100 kg explosives blew up just as a vehicle carrying security personnel was passing by. The deafening explosion took place in Bhosa Mandi area of Quetta Thursday morning, DawnNews reported. Fayyaz Sumbal, a senior police official, said militants targeted the police's Rapid Response Force (RRF) vehicle through a ...
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Ricky Martin calls for gay rights law in Puerto Rico
Singer Ricky Martin called Wednesday in a letter sent to the Puerto Rican House of Representatives for the legislative body to approve a bill which would prohibit discrimination due to sexual orientation on the island. The letter, which was released by Martin's representatives in San Juan, was made public at a time when the bill has run into opposition by a group of lawmakers in the lower ...
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Santos reject Barcelona Neymar bid
Santos have rejected a 20 million-euro offer from Barcelona for Brazil star Neymar. The Brazilian outfit, which last week turned down Barcelona's initial 18 million-euro bid for the striker, made the decision after a meeting of the club's board Wednesday night, reports Xinhua. "Santos has analysed the the proposal and it doesn't meet our requirements," Santos vice-president Odilio Rodrigues ...
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Lydia Davis bags Man Booker Prize
American short story writer Lydia Davis was declared the winner of the fifth 60,000 pounds Man Booker International Prize at aceremony held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Her inventive, carefully-crafted and hard to categorise works saw off the challenge from nine other contenders from around the world, a press release Wednesday evening said. India's U.R. Ananthamurthy was also ...
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Home sales fall in Spain
The 54,512 home sales recorded in Spain in this year's first quarter represent a decline of 21.5 percent from the same period in 2012, the development ministry said. Foreigners were the buyers in 17 percent of the transactions. The decline in the first quarter reflects the impact in the sector of the end of the tax deduction for buying a primary residence and the increase in the levy on new ...

