Brazil night club owner attempts suicide

SANTA MARIA: An owner of the Brazilian night club where 235 people perished in a weekend fire tried to commit suicide, police said Wednesday, as the number of survivors seeking medical treatment after the disaster continued to rise.Elissandro Sphor tried to kill himself with a plastic shower hose, said senior police official Lilian Carus in the town of Cruz Alta 125 kilometres from Santa...

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Asaram foot-in-mouth again, turns abusive

JABALPUR: Within days of a tsunami of protest over his remark that the Delhi gang-rape victim should have pleaded with her rapists that she was their sister, controversial godman Asaram said during a satsang here that doctors who carry out abortions are "haraami" (illegitimate) and that women who charge their in-laws with dowry harassment are 'manchali' (giddy, frivolous). Asaram said this in presence...

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Phoenix Gunman Shoots Three at Office Complex

A gunman shot and wounded three people at an office building in Phoenix, Ariz., today and police are now searching for the shooter, authorities told ABC News.One of the victims is in critical condition, the others received non-life threatening injuries, according to police.Police are clearing the office complex in the in the 7310 block of 16th Street, near Glendale Avenue.Officials...

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Water Demand for Energy to Double by 2035

Marianne Lavelle and Thomas K. Grose The amount of fresh water consumed for world energy production is on track to double within the next 25 years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects.And even though fracking—high-pressure hydraulic fracturing of underground rock formations for natural gas and oil—might grab headlines, IEA sees its future impact as relatively small.By far the...

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British paper sorry for 'inexcusable' Israel cartoon

LONDON: The acting editor of Britain's Sunday Times newspaper apologised Tuesday for a "grotesque" cartoon that sparked accusations of anti-Semitism when it was printed on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.Martin Ivens met with representatives of the Jewish community to say sorry for last Sunday's image by veteran cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, which showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...

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Mamata, Gurung in war of words over Gorkhaland

DARJEELING: Mamata Banerjee got a cold welcome in Darjeeling on Tuesday. In a clear sign of the bonhomie being put on ice, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and the chief minister crossed swords at a public meeting at Darjeeling Mall. While Gurung expressed his annoyance over the state government's stepping on new Hills council's toes, Mamata was irked by the display of Gorkhaland posters...

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Palin and Fox Part Ways, but Is She Really Over?

Sarah Palin's break up with Fox News should not have been, well, breaking news, as she had publicly complained in August on Facebook that the network had canceled her appearances at the Republican National Convention. And going back even further, Palin didn't give Fox the scoop in October 2011 when she announced she wasn't going to run for president. Still, the news of the...

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Space Pictures This Week: Martian Gas, Cloud Trails

Image courtesy SDO/NASAThe sun is more than meets the eye, and researchers should know. They've equipped telescopes on Earth and in space with instruments that view the sun in at least ten different wavelengths of light, some of which are represented in this collage compiled by NASA and released January 22. (See more pictures of the sun.)By viewing the different wavelengths of light given off by the...

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Bipartisan group of senators to unveil framework for immigration overhaul

A key group of senators from both parties will unveil on Monday the framework of a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, including a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants. The detailed, four-page statement of principles will carry the signatures of four Republicans and four Democrats, a bipartisan push that would have been unimaginable just...

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IMF grants Mali US$18m emergency loan

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund agreed Monday to provide an US$18.4 million emergency loan to Mali, a move likely to lead other donors to release more funds after having cut off aid following the March 2012 coup.The IMF executive board approved the loan under the Rapid Credit Facility aiming to help the government bridge a huge budget hole as its fights off an Islamist insurgency...

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