Syria envoy calls for political change to end conflict

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The international envoy seeking a solution to Syria's 21-month-old conflict said on Thursday political change was needed to end the violence which has killed 44,000 people, and called for a transitional government to rule until elections. Speaking in Damascus at the end of a five-day trip during which he met President Bashar al-Assad, Lakhdar Brahimi did not spell out...

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India to name and shame rapists: minister

NEW DELHI: The Indian government said on Thursday it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to publicly shame them, in a new measure to combat growing crime against women.Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, India's junior home minister, said the campaign would begin first in New Delhi, where the brutal gang-rape of a student on December 16 by six...

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ZTE officially unveils high-end Nubia Z5

The ZTE Nubia Z5(Credit:ZTE)Though it isn't slated for the U.S. anytime soon, ZTE's ultra high-end device, the Nubia Z5, finally launched today.The handset comes in black or white, and has a 5-inch 1080p touchscreen with a 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution and 443ppi. The display itself is manufactured by Sharp.Its aluminum uni-body design measures 5.43-inches tall, 2.71-inches wide, and it has a thin,...

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World's longest high-speed rail line opens in China

BEIJING China on Wednesday opened the world's longest high-speed rail line that more than halves the time required to travel from the country's capital in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub in southern China. The opening of the 1,428-mile line was commemorated by the 9 a.m. departure of a train from Beijing for Guangzhou. Another train left Guangzhou for Beijing an hour later. China has massive...

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Storms Spawn 34 Tornado Reports Across South

Severe Christmas day weather tore across the deep South, spinning off 34 possible tornadoes and killing at least three people in its path, while extreme weather is forecast throughout today for parts of the East Coast.The storm first pounded Texas, then touched down in Louisiana and blasted through homes in Mississippi. In Mobile, Ala., a wide funnel cloud was barreled across...

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Syria to discuss Brahimi proposals with Russia

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dispatched a senior diplomat to Moscow on Wednesday to discuss proposals made by envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to end the conflict convulsing his country, Syrian and Lebanese sources said. Brahimi, who met Assad on Monday as part of a series of planned talks with Syrian officials and dissidents in Damascus this week, is trying to arrange a peaceful...

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Woman conscious after motorcycle accident in Woodlands

SINGAPORE: The 46-year-old woman knocked down by a motorcycle on Saturday is alert and conscious.A spokesperson from the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital says she is currently stable and is recovering.The accident happened between the junction of Woodlands Avenue 6 and Avenue 7.The motorcyclist beat the red light and collided into the woman.The woman was flung some distance on impact. She was admitted...

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Netflix outage mars Christmas Eve

Netflix's video streaming service suffered a Christmas Eve outage on "many but not all devices" across the Americas, according to the company.The outage continued into Christmas morning for some customers. The company tweeted at 8:45 a.m. PT that the service was "back to normal streaming levels."Netflix first started responding to tweets about disrupted service before 1 p.m. PT yesterday. About three...

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Pope decries slaughter of "defenseless" in Syria

VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace to the world Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria and urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate. Delivering the Vatican's traditional Christmas day message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful...

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Winter Storms, Tornado Threats for Christmas in US

Forecasts of snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened to complicate Christmas Day travel around the nation's midsection Tuesday as several Gulf Coast states braced for a chance of twisters and powerful thunderstorms.A blizzard watch was posted for parts of Indiana and western Kentucky for storms expected to develop Tuesday amid predictions of up to 4 to 7 inches of snow in coming...

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