Obama to refocus attention on immigration, gun control

President Obama signaled Friday a desire to refocus his attention on second-term priorities, such as immigration and gun control, after weeks of fruitless wrangling with Republicans over his fiscal agenda. “What I want to try to do is make sure that we’re constantly focused . . . on how are we helping American families succeed,” Obama said at a news conference after failing to strike a...

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One dead, dozens hurt in Egypt Nile Delta clashes

CAIRO: One person was killed and dozens injured in overnight clashes between police and protesters in Egypt's Nile Delta city of Mansura, a security official told AFP on Saturday.A week of demonstrations in Mansura turned violent late on Friday when police fired tear gas at protesters outside the governorate headquarters, witnesses said."One protester died while 30 protesters and 10 policemen...

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Tihar officials refuse RTI query on Afzal Guru

LUCKNOW: Can disclosure of certain details on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, hanged at New Delhi's Tihar Jail "affect relations with a foreign state"? The prison department certainly thinks so. It would "pre-judicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an...

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Black Hole Spins at Nearly the Speed of Light

A superfast black hole nearly 60 million light-years away appears to be pushing the ultimate speed limit of the universe, a new study says.For the first time, astronomers have managed to measure the rate of spin of a supermassive black hole—and it's been clocked at 84 percent of the speed of light, or the maximum allowed by the law of physics."The most exciting part of this finding is...

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Obama Signs Order to Begin Sequester Cuts

President Obama and congressional leaders today failed to reach a breakthrough to avert a sweeping package of automatic spending cuts, setting into motion $85 billion of across-the-board belt-tightening that neither had wanted to see.President Obama officially initiated the cuts with an order to agencies Friday evening.He had met for just over an hour at the White House Friday...

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Sequester hits federal agencies. Now what for federal employees?

Now what? Congress has failed the country — again. Unable to avoid $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts, known as the sequester, the process of slicing agency spending starts Friday.What does that mean for federal employees? What options do they have?Agencies will begin informing staff members of furloughs that could last up to 22 days through September, when the fiscal year...

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Football: Giggs signs new one-year deal at Man Utd - club

LONDON: Ryan Giggs, who is set to make his 1,000th appearance in senior football this weekend, has signed a new one-year contract at Manchester United, the club announced on Friday.The English Premier League leaders said the deal keeps the 39-year-old Wales winger at Old Trafford until June 2014 and sees him complete a 23rd season as a first-team player.Coach Alex Ferguson told manutd.com:...

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Sushilkumar Shinde identifies Bhandara rape victims, names expunged

NEW DELHI: The names of the three minor girls who were raped and murdered in Maharashtra's Bhandara district had to be expunged on Friday after home minister Sushilkumar Shinde identified them in the Rajya Sabha, attracting the ire of the opposition BJP.Shinde read out a statement on the gruesome incident in Maharashtra where three minor sisters were kidnapped, raped and murdered last month. Their...

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Scarred Duckbill Dinosaur Escaped T. Rex Attack

A scar on the face of a duckbill dinosaur received after a close encounter with a Tyrannosaurus rex is the first clear case of a healed dinosaur wound, scientists say.The finding, detailed in the current issue of the journal Cretaceous Research, also reveals that the healing properties of dinosaur skin were likely very similar to that of modern reptiles.The lucky dinosaur was an adult...

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Sequestration: Surrender is in the Air

The budget ax is about to fall, and there's little lawmakers in Washington are doing to stop it.Despite a parade of dire warnings from the White House, an $85 billion package of deep automatic spending cuts appears poised to take effect at the stroke of midnight on Friday.The cuts – known in Washington-speak as the sequester – will hit every federal budget, from defense to education,...

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