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Massive tornado rips through Oklahoma killing dozens
WASHINGTON - A massive tornado ripped through parts of Oklahoma city and its suburbs in the United States killing at least 24 people, including nine children, besides leaving scores homeless. As winds at over 320 kilometers per hour (kmph) flattened homes and businesses and severely damaged a hospital and two elementary school, the death toll was earlier said to be more than 90 but it was ...
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Thein Sein praised for reforms in Myanmar but urged to end violence against Muslims
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama praised the reforms of Myanmar leader Thein Sein but urged him to end violence against Muslims. Sein is the country's first president to visit the White House in almost half a century. Speaking from the US capital Monday Obama said he recognized Sein's work to guide Myanmar down "a long and sometimes difficult, but ultimately correct, path to ...
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Roadside bombing kills six Afghan policemen in Herat
KABUL, Afghanistan - At least six Afghan policemen guarding a strategically important dam were killed in a roadside bombing Tuesday in the war-torn country's western province of Herat, officials said. They said that suspected Taliban insurgents triggered the explosion when a police patrol vehicle heading to Herat city was travelling in the Chashti Shareef district of the province. "There ...
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Top court overturns genocide conviction of former dictator
GUATEMALA CITY - The constitutional court of Guatemala has ordered that the genocide trial of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt should be taken back to the middle of proceedings, thus overturning his conviction and sentencing to 80 years in prison. The ruling on Monday doesn't annul the entire trial of the case but the top court has ordered that whatever happened after April 19 should be ...
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After two weeks detention North Korea frees Chinese boat and 16 fishermen
PYONGYANG - A Chinese boat and 16 fishermen held by armed North Koreans for more than two weeks have been released, easing the latest tension in relations between the neighbouring allies. Owner Yu Xuejun, who was not on board the boat when it was seized on 5 May, wrote on his microblog that his captain called him at 3.50am to say the crew and boat were set free and that they were on their way ...
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Barroro voices concern over estimated one trillion euro tax evasion
BRUSSELS - Voicing concern about tax evasion that is estimated at one trillion euros, European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso said Tuesday that EU leaders will meet at a one-day summit on Wednesday to negotiate solution. The European Union can't afford to let tax evasion go on the way it is. Such large amounts of money, currently sitting in tax havens, would be greatly beneficial ...
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German central bank sees signals of economic pick up in Q2
FRANKFURT - Germany's central bank Deutsche Bundesbank expects the country's economy to improve "markedly" in the second quarter relying on signals of pick up in industrial orders and likelihood of weather related downturn in construction sector no longer impacting investment sentiments a development that could boost the wider eurozone as it struggles to get out of recession. "Overall ...
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HNL cancer drug trial discontinued by Pfizer
NEW YORK - Pharma major Pfizer has discontinued the development of cancer candidate inotuzumab ozogamicin, which is part of a class of therapies called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), in the haematological cancer non-Hodgkin lymphoma after it failed to show benefit in overall survival during phase III trials. Pfizer has notified the study investigators and appropriate regulatory authorities ...
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Merger pact by GrubHub and Seamless to stave off rivals
WASHINGTON - GrubHub Inc. and Seamless North America LLC, two of the biggest online services for food-delivery in the U.S., have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their companies to take on rivals in the growing market for online meal orders. The merger will create a combined company well positioned to drive more orders to restaurants, deliver a better experience for hungry ...
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Mortgage lending in UK rises highest in four years
LONDON - The UK housing market seems to be picking up with gross mortgage lending up 4.3 per cent in April over previous month to 12.1 billion pounds, the highest in over four years, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The mortgage lending was 21% higher than April 2012, but this data is skewed by the end of the stamp duty concession on 24 March, 2012. Under the stamp duty ...
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North Korea fires short range weapons
PYONGYANG - North Korea continued to fire short range projectiles into waters off its east coast for a third straight day on Monday, officials here said, despite warnings from the US and South Korea against increasing tensions. The North has conducted six such firings since Saturday, in what are believed to be tests of short-range guided missiles or rockets from multiple launchers, officials ...
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Papering over border differences China and India agree to boost trade
NEW DELHI - India and China Monday played down a recent border stand-off and agreed to maintain peace along their disputed boundary as well as boost economic relations. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who decided to make India the first stop of his maiden foreign jaunt as premier, stressed that the population of the two nations comprised one third of the world. Both countries have ...
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Musharraf gets bail in Bhutto assassination case
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Former Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf was Monday granted bail in a case related to the assassination of ex premier Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf has been under house arrest because he is accused of failing to provide adequate security for Bhutto who was murdered in a bomb and gun attack in December 2007 while campaigning for elections. The assassination ...
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Multiple bombings in Iraq leave over 60 dead
BAGHDAD, Iraq - More than 60 people, including Iranian Shia pilgrims, were killed in a series of car bombings and shootings across Iraq Monday, officials said. The worst hit in Monday's violence was Baghdad where eight car bombs and a roadside bomb ripped through bus stops, marketplaces and other crowded areas in Shia neighbourhoods. The attacks left 12 people dead and 109 wounded, a senior ...
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Hezbollah loses 23 militants in clash with Syrian rebels claim activists
BEIRUT, Lebanon - At least 23 elite fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, fighting alongside the Syrian government troops, were killed near the Lebanese border Monday, an activist group said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks Syria's war, said more than 100 Hezbollah members also have been wounded in the fighting around the opposition-held ...
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Blogging platform Tumblr acquired by Yahoo for $1.1 bn
NEW YORK - Yahoo promised "not to screw it up" as it formally announced its acquisition of the popular Tumblr blogging platform for $1.1bn in cash, giving the company a much-needed base in social media to reach a younger generation of users. The relaxed wording of the memo for one of the internet giant's biggest acquisitions was echoed in the memo sent by David Karp, Tumblr's 26-year-old ...
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US drugmaker Actavis buying Warner Chilcott in $8.5bn deal
WASHINGTON/ DUBLIN - Actavis Inc, the largest US generic drug maker by market value, is acquiring Dublin-based Warner Chilcott in a deal worth $8.5billion (5.6billion pounds) including $3billion net debt, to create the third-biggest specialty pharmaceutical company in the country. Under the deal, Actavis, which itself has been the subject of bid speculation, would be offering $5billion in ...
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Bombardier unveils Challenger 350 mid sized business jet
GENEVA - Canadian aeroplane maker Bombardier has expanded its leading Challenger family of business jets with the launch of the new Challenger 350 aircraft in collaboration with global leader in private aviation, US firm NetJets. The launch on Monday was held at a special event here at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE). Bombardier said deliveries of the ...
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$254mn Eskom wind power project gets South African regulator's nod
JOHANNESBURG - The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted power producer Eskom a licence for its Sere wind farm in the Western Cape, paving the way for the company to start construction of its $254.3 million (R2.4-billion) project. Sere is the Nama word for "cool breeze". The wind farm project is scheduled to become fully commercially operational by the end of ...
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Morgan Stanley India to sell wealth management arm to StanChart
MUMBAI - The UK based Standard Chartered (StanChart) Monday announced plans to acquire the Indian private wealth management business of US multinational financial services firm Morgan Stanley for an undisclosed amount as part of plans to expand operations. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals. "Standard Chartered India has agreed to acquire Morgan Stanley's onshore private ...
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Liberal Pundits Gather in West Wing
ezraklein & other lefty columnists headed into the West Wing as a group. POTUS coffee? Carney meeting? Anyone? - Ari Shapiro ...
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IDF soldier killed while clearing Israeli minefield
An IDF soldier was killed while taking part in the clearing of a minefield in the southern Golan Heights.The soldier was of the Engineering Corps. His family has been notified.Ground Forces Commander Maj.-Gen. Guy Tzur appointed a committee of inquiry to investigate the incident.The mine exploded for unknown reasons during an advanced training phase of the Engineering Corps, a senior army ...
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Egyptian army secures Sinai in hunt for Islamists
Rafah near the border with Gaza on Thursday in the latest setback for the Cairo government's efforts to reinstate law and order in the Sinai ...
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US envoy Hussein to combat Holocaust denial
United States Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is to travel to Poland on Wednesday to visit Jewish communities, the site of the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and other Holocaust historical ...
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Israel warns Syria of consequences if Golan fire continues
The head of Israel's armed forces warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday of "consequences" if fire continues from Syrian territory against Israeli troops in the occupied Golan ...
Malaysia Feature
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Malaysia's 10th MP sets focus on education
On the 10th of June, 2010, the 10th Malaysia Plan was revealed to Malaysia’s news media, outlining what is essentially the government’s budget plans for the next five years. The 10th Malaysia Plan will therefore be in effect during 2011 to 2015. Malaysia is a vast country and the plan is therefore vast as well, a thick and complicated document, but one of the most important aspects of the plans announced in parliament were those that involve the education departments of the country.
Malaysia has an extensive public schooling system, operated under the belief that every child has a right to equal and fair opportunity in the country, a right that is enshrined in the constitution. The government spends around RM 7 billion on public education throughout the country, and in the 10MP, extremely important plans were outlined, aimed at increasing pre-school attendance from 67% of the population currently, to 87% by 2012. Read more
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