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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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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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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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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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Top court overturns genocide conviction of former dictator
GGUATEMALA 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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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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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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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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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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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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Some Owls Are More Equal Than Others
The crusade to save the spotted owl continues. It began with limiting timber sales on federally managed lands in order to preserve the owl's preferred habitat. As a ...
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Top IRS Official to Take the 5th
IRS official in the division that reviews nonprofit groups will invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions before a House committee investigating the agency's improper screening of conservative nonprofit groups," reports ...
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Five Serbs Released From Libya After 21 Months
Officials say five Serbia citizens have returned home after spending 21 months in captivity in Libya. Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said the men flew back to Serbia on May 21 following months of negotiations. The five, who said they were working on road construction in Libya, were seized by rebels during the uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi. They were accused of being ...
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Study Drone Strikes Unlikely To Destroy Islamist Networks
Drone strikes in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas are unlikely to eliminate Islamist extremist networks, according to a new study. Brussels-based International Crisis Group, in a report released May 21, said the U.S. drone campaign may "disrupt" the abilities of Islamic militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to launch attacks, but they cannot destroy their ...
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Indian Leaders Offer More Aid To Visiting Karzai
India has offered more aid to Afghanistan after international forces withdraw next year. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee told his visiting Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, on May 21 that New Delhi is proud to help his country. A statement from Mukherjee's office noted that "India is prepared to increase bilateral contribution to institution-building, training, and ...
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Delay in mine project shadows hopes for Afghan economy
KABUL, Afghanistan - The giant copper mine that the Afghan government has made the centerpiece of its plans for building an economy nearly from scratch is at least five years behind schedule and the state-owned Chinese company that won the bidding has missed key deadlines in its still-secret contract with the Afghan government and is trying to renegotiate the deal, according to several officials ...
Columbus Examined
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Oliver the special gorilla
Oliver, a 21-year-old gorilla at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, has been to New York, Tennessee, Georgia and most recently Ohio. He is well-travelled because he is special for a number of reasons, and because of these reasons, he is also difficult to socialize, which is so important to his development and the survival of his species.
Oliver, the newest edition to the Western lowland gorilla population at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, is an extremely well-travelled primate; he’s probably seen more of the country than many humans. Read more
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