Fitch Ratings warns US over budget fighting

WASHINGTON: Ratings agency Fitch warned Washington on Wednesday that continued political fighting over the government budget and deficit-cutting measures could lead to the US losing its AAA grade.With the government two days away from enacting the harsh "sequester" budget cuts because political parties cannot agree a more moderate compromise, Fitch said that the policy deadlock could lower...

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House panel against considering mercy plea of rape-murder convicts

NEW DELHI: Two months after questioning the rationale behind commuting death sentences of five rape-murder convicts to life imprisonment during then President Pratibha Patil's tenure, a Parliamentary committee has now suggested that the mercy petitions should not be by and large considered for such criminals. Though the Committee is not in favour of completely knocking out the provision of mercy...

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Bring on the Cuts: Some Want the Sequester

Mark Lucas wouldn't mind seeing America's defense budget cut by billions."There's quite a bit of waste within the military," Lucas, who serves as Iowa state director for the conservative group Americans for Prosperity (AFP), told ABC News. "Being in there for 10 years, I've seen quite a bit of it."With the budget sequester set to kick in on Friday, the former Army ranger is among...

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Rental market for private homes may soften: analyst

SINGAPORE: Landlords of private homes may see the rental market softening when higher property taxes kick in next year, as these investors grapple with higher holding costs. Owning luxury or investment homes will incur higher property taxes starting January 2014. For private homes not occupied by owners, new marginal property tax rates of 12 to 20 per cent will be levied in addition to...

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Afzal Guru 'justified' Parliament attack in letter written four years ago

SRINAGAR: Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru had in a letter, purportedly written by him over four years ago, said that there was no need to be ashamed of the December 13 attack on Parliament, but had stopped short of owning any responsibility for it.In the letter written to editor of a local Urdu weekly, Guru, who was hanged in Delhi's Tihar jail on February 9, asked Hizbul Mujahideen...

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Koop, who transformed surgeon general post, dies

With his striking beard and starched uniform, former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop became one of the most recognizable figures of the Reagan era — and one of the most unexpectedly enduring.His nomination in 1981 met a wall of opposition from women's groups and liberal politicians, who complained President Ronald Reagan selected Koop, a pediatric surgeon and evangelical Christian from Philadelphia,...

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'93 WTC Bombing Crushed Lives, Not Memories

Edward Smith remembers vividly the call from the morgue 20 years ago today, that his pregnant wife had died in the World Trade Center bombing hours before she was supposed to start her maternity leave."It seems like kind of yesterday sometimes," he told ABC News, "but it seems like a long time ago, too."Today marks the 20th anniversary of the 1993 WTC bombing, which was overshadowed...

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Football: Cahill bemoans Chelsea fixture pile-up

LONDON: Chelsea centre-back Gary Cahill thinks the club's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are being hindered by what he describes as "ridiculous" fixture congestion.The European champions lost 2-0 at Manchester City on Sunday to give hope to the teams bidding to pip them to a top-four berth.Tottenham Hotspur could climb above Chelsea into third place with victory at West Ham...

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Chopper scam: CBI names ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi as suspect

NEW DELHI: Armed with documents from Italy, CBI today named former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi in its preliminary enquiry (PE) into allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, the second former defence services chief to figure in a scam probe. Besides the former IAF chief, 10 others including his cousins — Julie, Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi have also been named along with four companies...

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FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent...

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