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Obama welcomes Iran's election of moderate president
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has urged Iran's newly elected president to prove to the world that the Islamic republic was not pursuing a nuclear weapon programme as the White House welcomed election of a moderate leader as a hopeful sign. "I think it says that the Iranian people want to move in a different direction," Obama said of the election results in Iran that saw a surprising ...
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Widespread anti-graft protests rock Brazil
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Anti-graft protests swept Brazil's main cities as some 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets against alleged mis-governance, forcing President Dilma Rousseff Tuesday to acknowledge the need for better public services and effective administration. The assurance from Rousseff came a day after biggest protests rocked at least ten Brazilian cities, including Sao ...
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No breakthrough in talks between UK and Ecuador over Assange
LONDON - Talks between the United Kingdom and Ecuador have ended without any breakthrough over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's fate with the Andean nation vowing not to succumb to diplomatic pressure and was ready to consider request from Edward Snowden, another whistleblower, for asylum. As the fugitive anti-secrecy advocate marks one year holed up in the London embassy of Ecuador, ...
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Gaddafi's son to stand trial in Libya in August
LONDON - Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of deceased Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, will stand trial in August along with Gaddafi's last prime minister and a former intelligence director, the prosecutor's office has announced. The men will be tried for crimes against the Libyan people during the 2011 uprising that toppled the former regime. Notorious former spy chief Abdullah ...
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Leaders of G8 call for peace in Syria and pledge humanitarian aid
ENNISKILLEN - The Group of Eight industrialised nations called for a swift end to the bloody civil war in Syria and urgent peace talks but stopped short of calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in its joint statement at the end of talks Tuesday. Despite the lack of consensus among the G8 on the fate of Assad, as well as the use of chemical weapons by his regime, Canadian ...
Movie Review
Megamind
The superhero genre has been turned inside out so many times at this point that you would think there is nothing left to do with it, but first-time screenwriters Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons have managed to pull off a clever coup in the computer-animated comedy Megamind by avoiding ... ...
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Shenzen to be first Chinese city to begin carbon trading
BEIJING - China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, is set to launch Tuesday its first carbon trading scheme as a pilot project in the southern city of Shenzhen as part of efforts to cut emissions in its key cities. Carbon emissions trading schemes are meant to encourage companies to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by setting a limit or a cap, on the level of emission that can be ...
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Surveillance programmes thwarted terror plots US NSA chief
Two phone and Internet surveillance programmes run by the US National Security Agency (NSA) helped disrupt over 50 potential terrorist attacks against the US and its allies, the agency's chief said Tuesday. Two classified programmes, one collecting US phone records and the other mining Internet data, were revealed last week after leaks from defense contractor Edward Snowden. The Congress panel ...
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Havent heard from Brand post-divorce Katy Perry
Singer Katy Perry says she has not communicated with her ex-husband Russell Brand post receiving a text from him asking for divorce. The couple's marriage ended in December 2011, just 14 months after they tied the knot in India. Their split was made legal in July 2012, but the pop star claims she hasn't heard from Brand since then, reports femalefirst.co.uk. "He's a very smart man, a magical ...
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General Motors recalls 231000 SUVs over fire risk
US General Motors Co. is set to recall about 231,000 older SUVs over fire risks and has urged owners to park them outside garages until they are repaired, a media report said. The Detroit-based automaker agreed to recall 193,000 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, SAAB 9-7x, Isuzu Ascender and 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL in the US, reported ...
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US Taliban to have direct peace talks
The US has decided to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban, senior White House officials have announced. The first meet is due to take place in the coming days in Qatar's capital, where the Taliban have opened their first official overseas office, BBC reported. US officials told reporters the first formal meeting between the US and Taliban representatives was expected to take place in Doha ...

