IMF chief praises Malawi reforms for economic recovery

LILONGWE, Malawi: IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Saturday praised Malawi's President Joyce Banda for "bold" economic recovery reforms, saying the measures will lead to a turn-around despite their unpopularity."Notwithstanding the current hardships, many of my interlocutors were confident the ongoing reforms will turn the economy around, an optimism that I share," said Lagarde, wrapping...

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Views of a living Mars take the rouge off

This could have been Mars back before the dinosaurs built a super space ramp to our planet, at least according to software engineer and artist Kevin Gill.(Credit:Kevin Gill)What if the Red Planet weren't always in that constant state of blushing? Kevin Gill, a software engineer who also re-engineers planets every now and then, imagines Mars might long ago have looked quite a bit more like the aqua-green...

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India police deny they delayed helping rape victim

An Indian family lights candles in memory of a gang-rape victim in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Passers-by refused to stop to help a naked, bleeding gang-rape victim after she was dumped from a bus onto a New Delhi street, and police delayed taking her to a hospital for 30 minutes, the woman's male companion said in an interview. / AP Photo/Altaf Qadri NEW DELHI Police in New...

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City Answers Gang-Rape Cover-Up Allegations

As Steubenville, Ohio, prepares for the high-profile rape trial of two high school football players, officials, battling allegations of a cover-up, announced the creation of a new website today to debunk rumors and create what they said would be a transparent resource for the community."This site is not designed to be a forum for how the Juvenile Court ought to rule in this matter,"...

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Venezuela lawmakers elect Chavez ally as Assembly chief

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan lawmakers re-elected a staunch ally of Hugo Chavez to head the National Assembly on Saturday, putting him in line to be caretaker president if the socialist leader does not recover from cancer surgery. By choosing the incumbent, Diosdado Cabello, the "Chavista"-dominated legislature cemented the combative ex-soldier's position as the third most powerful...

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Oil prices mixed; WTI up on US crude supply drop

NEW YORK: Oil prices were mixed Friday, with the New York WTI higher on data showing crude supplies unexpectedly shrank sharply in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer.New York's main West Texas Intermediate contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, rose 17 cents from Thursday to close at US$93.09 a barrel.In London trade, Brent North Sea crude for February settled...

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India rape victim's friend recalls brutal attack

NEW DELHI The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a bus in New Delhi recounted in a television interview for the first time Friday how the pair was attacked for 2 1/2 hours before being thrown on the side of the road, where passers-by ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them. Play VideoIndian women protest brutality The Dec. 16 attack has outraged Indians...

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Pharmacy Blames Cleaners in Meningitis Outbreak

Jan 4, 2013 11:41am Credit: Minnesota Department of Health/AP PhotoThe pharmacy at the heart of the fungal meningitis outbreak says a cleaning company it hired should share the blame for the tainted steroid injections that caused more than 600 illnesses in 19 states, killing 39 people.Click here to read about the road to recovery for fungal meningitis victims.The...

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Abbas sees Palestinian unity as Fatah rallies in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave. "Soon we will regain our unity," Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions,...

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Fiat says to boost stake in Chrysler to 65.17%

ROME: Italian auto giant Fiat on Thursday said it was exercising its option to increase by 3.3 percentage points its stake in US automaker Chrysler to 65.17 per cent for US$198 million.Fiat said the value of the purchase from a trust run by the US auto union UAW to pay health care benefits for Chrysler retirees was its estimate, which still had to be determined by a US court.In July, the...

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Facebook tests VoIP, adds voicemail-like service

Click to enlarge.(Credit:Facebook)iPhone users in Canada can now use Facebook to make voice calls, the social network revealed today. The company is testing the ability to make VoIP calls -- the same service Skype provides -- using its Messenger app. Those in Canada can start a call with a contact by tapping the "i" button in the top right corner and hit "Free Call." Users will have to update the...

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FTC: Google does not violate antitrust laws

Google hasn't violated any antitrust laws, the Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday, but it has agreed to make some changes in how it treats its rivals as part of a settlement to end the 19-month investigation into its business practices. The FTC's investigation focused on allegations that Google has been abusing its dominance in Internet search. Google's rivals say the company has been highlighting...

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Sandy Hook Parents Cope With Students' Return

Sandy Hook parents put their children on school buses this morning and waved goodbye as the yellow bus rolled away, but this first day back since the pre-Christmas massacre is anything but normal for the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School.Erin Milgram, the mother of a first grader and a fourth grader at Sandy Hook, told "Good Morning America" that she was going to drive...

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Syria rebels in push to capture air base

AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - Rebels battled on Thursday to seize an air base in northern Syria, part of a campaign to fight back against the air power that has given President Bashar al-Assad's forces free rein to bomb rebel-held towns. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the 21-month-old uprising and civil war, the United Nations said this week, sharply raising the death toll estimate...

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US shooting relatives blast theatre offer

LOS ANGELES: Relatives of victims massacred by a gunman in a Colorado movie theatre criticised Wednesday an invitation to its re-opening as a "ridiculously offensive" publicity ploy.Family members of nine of the 12 people who died in Aurora, outside Denver in July said the invitation's timing was particularly painful over the Christmas holiday, and called for others to boycott the "special...

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Records made of ice, cool again

The new single by Shout Out Louds is too cool for school(Credit:Co.Design)You don't have to the Audiophiliac (CNET's resident hi-fi guru Steve Guttenberg) to know that vinyl is cool again, but one band has taken this idea to its extreme. Swedish indie band Shout Out Louds has announced the first ten copies of its new single "Blue Ice" will be made out of, appropriately, ice.The band, with the help...

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Sandy Hook survivors welcomed at new school

A man waves to a child on a bus on the first day of classes after the holiday break, in Newtown, Conn.,Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. / AP Photo/Jessica Hill Updated 1:21 p.m. ETMONROE, Conn. The children who escaped last month's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown were welcomed Wednesday to a school in a neighboring town that was overhauled specially for them. Play VideoOrientation...

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Christie Calls Boehner's Sandy Decision 'Disgusting'

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said today that it was "disgusting" that the House adjourned without voting on a $60 billion relief package for the victims of superstorm Sandy and put the blame squarely on a fellow Republican -- House Speaker John Boehner.Christie, who is considered a possible Republican presidential candidate four years from now, said there was "only one group...

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Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

DAMARA, Central African Republic (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and agreed to start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally backed troops. The Seleka rebels had pushed to within striking distance of Bangui after a three-week onslaught and threatened to oust President Francois Bozize, accusing him of reneging...

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Football: I'm not retiring any time soon says Fergie

LONDON: Alex Ferguson has quashed retirement talk by revealing he has no plans to step down as Manchester United manager in the near future.Ferguson, who turned 71 on Monday, has been forced to deal with questions about his retirement plans since the time he reversed his decision to leave the club in 2002.With Pep Guardiola due to end his post-Barcelona sabbatical in a few months, Jose...

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Windows 8, Google+, Bluetooth: My geeky 2013 resolutions

Finally diving into Windows 8 tops Eric Mack's list of resolutions for 2013.(Credit:Microsoft)I could have been a better geek in 2012. When it comes down to it, there just aren't enough hours in a day to do all the gaming, social networking, rooting, modding, and general geekery we'd like to. When forced to make the choice between a family vacation or staying home to indulge in nerdy pleasures like...

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The art of Senate "fiscal cliff" deal

Nobody said it would be easy. Senators voted in the pre-dawn hours of New Year's Day to pass the long-sought agreement on the "fiscal cliff" and the House readies for its turn as soon as today, which, if the House passes it, would officially avert the tax hikes and spending cuts that technically took effect at midnight (the deal, when signed by the president, will make the new tax rates and spending...

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New School for Sandy Hook Duplicated to the Crayons

The students and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary School will return to school on Thursday for the first time since the shooting rampage that left 20 young students and six adults dead. The students will be in a new building where their old classrooms have been completely recreated.Instead of returning to the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., they will be...

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At least 61 crushed to death in Ivory Coast stampede

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - At least 61 people were crushed to death in a stampede after a New Year's Eve fireworks display at a stadium in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan early on Tuesday, officials said. Witnesses said police had tried to control crowds around the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium following the celebrations, triggering a panic in which scores were trampled. "The estimate...

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Oil prices rise on US cliff deal hopes

NEW YORK: Oil prices surged higher on Monday after US politicians signaled a last-minute compromise deal was in view to avert driving the economy over a fiscal cliff toward recession.New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, gained $1.02 from Friday to close at $91.82 a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for February settled at $111.11 a barrel, up 49 cents.Over the...

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Infiniti teases Q50, an update to the G sedan

Infiniti's teaser photo reveals some radically new styling for the G sedan replacement.(Credit:Infiniti)Infiniti says it will unveil a new sport sedan, called the Q50, at the upcoming Detroit auto show. The model introduces the brand's new naming strategy, and is billed as a replacement for the current G sedan.Typical for pre-auto show teasers, all we get is an image of the newcar's headlight. However,...

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Lovie Smith fired as Bears coach after 9 seasons

LAKE FOREST, Ill. The Chicago Bears fired coach Lovie Smith on Monday after the team missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons. Smith was informed of the decision by general manager Phil Emery on the day after the Bears beat Detroit to finish 10-6 but still didn't make the playoffs. 10 PhotosNFL coaches, GMs sacked in firing frenzy Smith led the Bears to a Super Bowl, but also saw...

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