Jack's Newswatch

#1 — BBC | Ukraine’s Tymoshenko bloc ‘contesting election result’

Members of Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc say they will contest in court the conduct of Ukraine’s presidential vote after her apparent defeat, media reports say.

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#2 — BBC | Met Commander Ali Dizaei jailed for corruption

Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei has been sentenced to four years for assaulting and falsely arresting a man in a dispute over £600.

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#3 — CNN | Ripples of Dubai killing spread across region

Dubai, UAE (CNN) — A shadowy figure murdered in his Dubai hotel room by a hit squad that the police say operated with European passports. It sounds like the plot of a John Le Carré spy novel, but this is reality and the hunt is on for the killers of top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

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#4 — CNN | Snow-weary region expects second wallop

(CNN) — The mid-Atlantic region continued digging out Monday from the weekend’s record blizzard, but snow-weary residents learned of a new winter storm due in the area on Tuesday.

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#5 — Fox | Afghans Warned to Keep Their ‘Heads Down’

KABUL —  NATO and Afghan officials on Tuesday urged Taliban militants holding a southern town to lay down their arms and warned civilians there to “keep your heads down” as U.S. and Afghan troops prepare their first major offensive of the U.S. troop surge.

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#6 — Fox | Criminal Probe Launched in Deadly Connecticut Plant Blast

Authorities looking for the cause of an explosion that killed five people at a power plant under construction launched a criminal investigation Monday, saying they could not rule out criminal negligence as the cause.

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#7 — Times | Sri Lanka opposition leader held for ‘plotting coup’

The former Sri Lankan army chief hailed last year as a national hero for defeating the Tamil Tigers was in jail last night facing possible execution.

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#8 — Times | Chinese police arrest six as hacker training website is closed down

A hacker training website that recruited thousands of people to launch cyber attacks was closed in what police claim was the largest operation of its kind.

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#9 — Times | Journalists arrested in Iran crackdown

Iran has arrested ten more journalists in the past several days, opposition sources reported yesterday, in an apparent crackdown before expected protests this week.

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#10 — Telegraph | China jails earthquake activist for five years

A Chinese activist who sought to document shoddy construction that contributed to deaths in China’s devastating 2008 earthquake has been sentenced to five years in prison for subversion, his lawyer said.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

#1 — BBC | Yanukovych heading to Ukraine election win

Ukraine’s pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych appears to be heading for a narrow victory in the country’s presidential election.

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#2 — BBC | Connecticut power plant gas explosion kills five people

A huge explosion has rocked a power plant in the US state of Connecticut, killing at least five people and injuring 12, the local mayor has said.

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Fox | Marshals Seek Cause of Deadly Conn. Explosion

#3 — CNN | Snowbound mid-Atlantic gets set for a new round

(CNN) — As the mid-Atlantic tried to dig itself out of a record-setting blizzard, a second weather system lumbered toward it, promising to dump more snow this week.

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#4 — Fox | Obama Hasn’t Ruled Out NYC Trial for 9/11 Planner

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Sunday he has not ruled out a New York federal court trial for Sept. 11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, but he was taking into account the objections of the city’s mayor and police commissioner.

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#5 — Fox | Palin Urges Obama to Take a ‘Do-Over’ on Emanuel, Holder

Sarah Palin said President Obama needs to take a “do-over” on his choice for White House chief of staff, pressing Saturday for Rahm Emanuel’s firing after he used the word “retarded” to lambast a group of Democrats in a strategy session last year.

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#6 — Fox | Space Shuttle Blasts Off on Last Night Flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Endeavour and six astronauts rocketed into orbit Monday on what’s expected to be the last nighttime launch for the shuttle program, hauling up a new room and observation deck for the International Space Station.

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#7 — DM | White Cliffs of Dover to be sold to the French

For generations Dover has stood as an indomitable symbol of Britain’s freedom and independence.

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#8 — Times | Expenses prosecution MPs cast out of Labour

Three Labour MPs facing criminal charges over their Commons expenses were cast out of the party today amid a row over whether they should be allowed to claim parliamentary privilege to avoid prosecution.

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#9 — Times | Nato starts operation to seize violent regions in Afghanistan

British and Afghan soldiers in Helmand province prepare to take part in a major Nato operation.

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#10 — Telegraph | University funding row: thousands of jobs ‘will be cut’

More than 15,000 university posts could be axed over the next few years as a result of budget cuts, it has been claimed.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

#1 — BBC | Ukraine begins tense presidential election run-off

Ukrainians are voting in a presidential election run-off, after a bruising campaign and warnings of mass street protests and demonstrations.

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#2 — BBC | Ethiopia jet flight recorder ‘retrieved’ in Lebanon

Lebanese search teams have retrieved a flight recorder from the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed in the Mediterranean, army sources say.

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#3 — BBC | US snowstorm causes power cuts in Washington DC region

Hundreds of thousands of people remain without power in Washington DC and nearby states after a blizzard blanketed the area with record snows.

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#4 — Fox | Moon Base Alpha: If Not U.S., Then Who?

Forty years ago the U.S. raced to plant the first foot on the moon. Now, as India, Russia, South Korea and China compete to return for further exploration, the U.S has all but dropped out — and even Buzz Aldrin thinks that may be okay.

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#5 — Fox | La. Lieutenant Governor Elected New Orleans Mayor

NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor of New Orleans on Saturday, replacing term-limited Ray Nagin and becoming the majority-black city’s first white mayor since 1979.

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#6 — Fox | Experts Say World Food Program’s Afghan Relief Effort Overpriced

The United Nations’ World Food Program, or WFP, is preparing to launch a mammoth, three-year relief operation in Afghanistan this year for 7.4 million people at a cost of $1.2 billion — but less than half of that amount will actually go to purchasing food for the war-ravaged country.

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#7 — Times | Toyota drivers warn of new risk

TOYOTA is facing a raft of legal actions alleging that drivers have been seriously hurt and even killed because of problems with their cars’ electronic throttle control systems.

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#8 — Times | Google leaps language barrier with translator phone

GOOGLE is developing software for the first phone capable of translating foreign languages almost instantly — like the Babel Fish in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

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#9 — Times | Special forces assassins infiltrate Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan

AMERICAN and British troops poised to assault the Taliban stronghold of Marjah have begun targeting insurgent leaders for assassination.

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Telegraph | Afghanistan: 4,000 British troops set for biggest battle with Taliban

#10 — Telegraph | Foreign student visa numbers to be slashed

The number of foreign students given visas is to be slashed in an attempt to clamp down on widespread abuse of the system.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

#1 — BBC | Australia signs huge China coal deal

An Australian firm has signed a $60bn (AUS$69bn; £38bn) deal to supply coal to Chinese power stations.

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#2 — BBC | Death sentences of Calcutta US attackers is upheld

A court in India has upheld the death sentences of two men convicted of involvement in a 2002 shooting attack on a US cultural centre in Calcutta.

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#3 — CNN | Travel grinds to halt after powerful Mid-Atlantic snowstorm

Washington (CNN) — A powerful snowstorm pounded the nation’s capital and other mid-Atlantic states early Saturday, snarling down traffic and bringing travel to a virtual standstill.

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#4 — Fox | Conservative Activists Battle for Control of ‘Tea Party’ Name

A coalition of tea party activists in South Florida is accusing a well-known local radio host of trying to hijack their movement.

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Times | Tea Party turns nasty: ‘It’s our country – let’s take it back’

#5 — Fox | Anti-Whaling Ship Collides With Japanese Boat Off Antarctica

SYDNEY —  Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd’s ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica on Saturday — the second major clash this year in the increasingly aggressive confrontations between the two sides.

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#6 — NY Times | Debt Crisis in Euro Zone Is Severe Political Test for Bloc

PARIS — What began with worries about the solvency of Greece in the face of high deficits, fake budget figures and low growth has quickly become the most severe test of the 16-nation euro zone in its 11-year history.

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#7 — DM | Scientists invent wafer-thin plastic that can store electricity

The battery, which has powered our lives for generations, may soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.

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#8 — Times | Accused MPs argue they are above the law

Three Labour MPs charged yesterday with theft over fraudulent expense claims declared that they were above the law and would fight attempts to put them on trial.

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#9 — Times | Ukraine’s presidential showdown in danger of erupting on streets

The bitter rivals to become President of Ukraine staged their final election rallies last night amid rising fears that the contest will boil over into a challenge for power on the streets.

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#10 — Telegraph | Taliban prepare defences against US and UK offensive

A wall of booby-trapped mines has been laid by the Taliban to protect their last strongholds in central Helmand as they prepare to hold off a major allied assault, British commanders have disclosed.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

#1 — BBC | Northern Ireland justice powers to be devolved in April

A deal between NI’s biggest parties, the DUP and Sinn Fein, could see policing and justice powers devolved to Northern Ireland on 12 April.

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#2 — BBC | Sweden wants explanation on Baltic nuclear ‘dumping’

The Russian military allegedly dumped nuclear waste into the Baltic Sea in the early 1990s, according to a report on Swedish television.

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#3 — CNN | Blizzard headed toward mid-Atlantic region

(CNN) — Residents in the mid-Atlantic states have rushed to stores for shovels, ice-melting chemicals and other emergency supplies ahead of a storm that is expected to wallop the region with as much as 24 inches of snow Friday.

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#4 — Fox | Toyota CEO to Address Quality Control at Press Conference

TOKYO —  Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda will speak about quality control Friday in his first — and long awaited — news conference since the automaker issued massive global recalls last month.

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#5 — Fox | Millions in Stimulus Spending Being Doled Out for Questionable Jobs

Federal agencies are spending stimulus money at the rate of $196 million an hour. And they will do so every hour for the next eight months until a September 30, 2010, deadline.

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#6 — Fox | Scott Brown Sworn In as New Massachusetts GOP Senator

It is official: Massachusetts has a Republican representing the state in the Senate.

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#7 — NY Times | U.S. Military Faults Leaders in Deadly Attack on Base

KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States military on Friday issued a long-awaited report on how Taliban insurgents managed to overrun an American Army combat outpost and kill eight soldiers last October in one of the worst single ground attacks in recent years.

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#8 — Times | MPs braced for criminal charges over expenses

The first criminal charges to result from the expenses scandal are expected to be announced today by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

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#9 — Times | Turkish teenager buried alive

The father and grandfather of a Turkish teenager are to face trial for burying her alive because they were concerned that her friendship with boys had brought dishonour on their family.

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#10 — Telegraph | US confirms Barack Obama will meet Dalai Lama

US President Barack Obama will meet the Dalai Lama in Washington later this month, US officials have confirmed, despite warnings from China that the meeting would further inflamed already strained diplomatic relations.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

#1 — BBC | China hits back at US over trade and currency

China has hit back at the US a day after President Barack Obama promised to take a tougher line with Beijing over currency and trade.

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#2 — BBC | Toyota rues Prius brake software ‘clash’

Troubled carmaker Toyota has admitted a software problem in the new Prius’s brakes, but says it has now been fixed.

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CNN | How to stop vehicle with stuck gas pedal

#3 — BBC | Vegetative state patients can respond to questions

Scientists have been able to reach into the mind of a brain-damaged man and communicate with his thoughts.

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#4 — CNN | Scott Brown could be sworn in Thursday

(CNN) — The election victory of Massachusetts Sen.-elect Scott Brown is expected to be certified Thursday, which could allow him to be sworn in as early as Thursday afternoon to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

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#5 — Fox | Gov’t to Pay More Than Half of U.S. Health Costs

WASHINGTON — For all the hue and cry over a government takeover of health care, it’s happening anyway.

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#6 — Fox | House Faces Tough Vote on $1.9T More Debt

WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives are counting on new budget deficit curbs to help smooth the way for a bill allowing the government to go $1.9 trillion deeper into debt over the next year — or about $6,000 more for every U.S. resident.

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#7 — NY Times | Research Group’s Report Urges Radical Changes in Russia

MOSCOW — A liberal-leaning policy organization that advises President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Wednesday recommended a startling agenda of long-term changes, including restoration of elections for governors, an end to censorship of the news media, Russian membership in NATO and dissolution of the Federal Security Service, successor to the Soviet-era K.G.B.

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#8 — Times | IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri under pressure to go over glacier error

The head of the UN’s climate change body is under pressure to resign after one of his strongest allies in the environmental movement said his judgment was flawed and called for a new leader to restore confidence in climatic science.

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#9 — Times | Video shows fighter jets shooting down US missionaries

A video has emerged showing a bungled CIA operation that led to the shooting down of a light plane carrying American missionaries in Peru.

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#10 — Telegraph | Millions of people ‘waste their time by jogging’

Millions of people who strive to keep fit by jogging, swimming or going to the gym are wasting their time, scientists said.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

#1 — BBC | France refuses a citizenship over full Islamic veil

The French government has refused to grant citizenship to a foreign national on the grounds that he forced his wife to wear the full Islamic veil.

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#2 — BBC | Barack Obama is to skip a US-EU summit due in May

US President Barack Obama is to stay away from a Spanish US-EU summit scheduled for May, in what some see as a blow to Europe’s diplomatic prestige.

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#3 — CNN | You lost your house – but you still have to pay

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — As terrible as it is to lose your house to foreclosure, at least it’s a relief to put your biggest financial headache behind you, right?

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#4 — CNN | Pilot error caused 2009 crash near Buffalo, NTSB rules

Washington (CNN) — Confronted with signs that his plane was entering an aerodynamic stall, the pilot of Continental Flight 3407 pulled on the plane’s control column when he should have pushed — a simple but inexplicable error that led to the death of 50 people, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled Tuesday evening.

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#5 — Fox | Obama Backs Down After Anti-Vegas Remarks

LAS VEGAS — Nevada lawmakers lashed out at President Barack Obama on Tuesday after he made another reference to Las Vegas while explaining how people should make tough choices on spending.

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#6 — Fox | Medical Journal Retracts Article Linking Vaccines and Autism

LONDON  —  A major British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a flawed study linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disease.

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#7 — NY Times | With Raw Recruits, Afghan Police Buildup Falters

KABUL, Afghanistan — The NATO general in charge of training the Afghan police has some tongue-in-cheek career advice for the country’s recruits.

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#8 — Times | North Korea ’struggling against civil unrest’

North Korea is struggling to contain civil unrest and runaway inflation caused by a drastic revaluation of its currency, which is threatening new food shortages in the already hungry nation, according to reports in South Korea.

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#9 — Times | Fury as giant Belo Monte Amazon rainforest dam is approved by Brazil

Brazil has approved the controversial construction of a giant hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon, defying a 20-year protest by indigenous and environmental campaigners who say that the project will devastate the surrounding rainforest and threaten the survival of local tribes.

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#10 — Telegraph | Pakistan blast kills eight including foreigners

A bomb blast in northwest Pakistan has killed eight people, including four foreign aid workers and children at a school which had just been rebuilt after a previous Islamist attack.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

#1 — BBC | France Concorde crash trial set to begin

US airline Continental and five individuals go on trial in France later over the crash of an Air France Concorde nearly 10 years ago.

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#2 — BBC | China warns Obama not to meet Dalai Lama

China has warned the US president that it will harm ties between the two countries if he meets the Dalai Lama.

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#3 — CNN | Gates to present specifics on abandoning ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy

Washington (CNN) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates will go before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday to unveil the Pentagon’s plan for rolling back the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding gay soldiers.

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#4 — CNN | Obama budget includes money to house Guantanamo detainees in U.S.

Washington (CNN) — President Obama is asking for more than $230 million in the 2011 budget to buy and prepare an idle Illinois prison to house terrorism suspects now detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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#5 — Fox | White House Confirms Course Change for NASA

WASHINGTON — The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is canceling NASA’s current space shuttle replacement- and lunar exploration-plan and is prepared to fight any congressional effort to save it, the nation’s top budget official said Jan. 31.

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#6 — NY Times | Huge Deficits May Alter U.S. Politics and Global Power

WASHINGTON — In a federal budget filled with mind-boggling statistics, two numbers stand out as particularly stunning, for the way they may change American politics and American power.

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#7 — Times | Treasury loses as top earners dodge 50p tax

High earners will cost the public purse hundreds of millions of pounds through tax dodges as they avoid the new 50p rate of income tax, a minister indicated yesterday.

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#8 — Times | Carriers versus tanks: Royal Navy joins battle for resources

The commitment to spend £20 billion on a replacement for Britain’s Trident nuclear submarines risks damaging the Royal Navy as it faces possible cutbacks in its manpower and fleet, defence experts have told The Times.

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#9 — Times | Herbal remedies ‘can work against heart disease drugs’

Herbal remedies taken by millions of Britons can pose a serious risk to health by interfering with medicines commonly prescribed for heart disease, doctors say.

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#10 — Telegraph | Tony Blair ‘was warned about humanitarian crisis’

Tony Blair was warned by Clare Short just weeks before the Iraq war began that the US was unprepared for running the country after the invasion, the inquiry into the conflict has heard.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

#1 — BBC | Israel disciplines top officers on white phosphorus

Israel has revealed it has disciplined two senior army officers for using white phosphorus shells during an offensive in Gaza.

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#2 — BBC | Beyonce is queen of Grammy Awards

Pop star Beyonce was the big winner at the prestigious Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, winning six prizes.

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#3 — CNN | 13 dead, 13 injured in Juarez shooting, Mexican police say

(CNN) — As many as 15 gunmen stormed into a house party in Juarez, Mexico, in the early hours of Sunday morning and opened fire, killing at least 13 people and injuring 13 others in one of the deadliest attacks the city has seen this year, a police official said.

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#4 — Fox | U.S. Missile Shield in Gulf Ups Ante With Iran

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran rose Monday after the Obama Administration quietly increased the capability of land and sea-based missile defenses in several Gulf nations to protect American allies against a potential Iranian strike.

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#5 — Fox | Obama Offers Budget With Deficits as Far as Number-Crunchers Can See

As President Obama prepares to unveil his $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal year 2011, which begins Oct. 1, the White House is projecting the current fiscal year will end with a $1.6 trillion deficit, congressional sources confirmed to Fox News.

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#6 — Fox | Lawmakers Look for Cheap, Safe Spot for 9/11 Trials

The Obama administration is looking for other options than New York City for the trial of Sept. 11 conspirator Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four co-conspirators while refusing to say that the Big Apple is off-limits.

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#7 — NY Times | U.S. Arms for Taiwan Send Beijing a Message

WASHINGTON — For the past year, China has adopted an increasingly muscular position toward the United States, berating American officials for the global economic crisis, stage-managing President Obama’s visit to China in November, refusing to back a tougher climate change agreement in Copenhagen and standing fast against American demands for tough new Security Council sanctions against Iran.

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#8 — DM | ‘Burglars give up any human rights’: Cameron

David Cameron backed the rights of homeowners to protect themselves yesterday by warning that burglars surrender their ‘human rights’ the moment they break in.

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Times | Brown goes into battle with billions for defence

#9 — Times | Barack Obama’s former mentor criticises ‘complacent Administration’

President Obama’s self-confidence borders on complacency. He is ill served by senior staff, especially his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. He does not appear to be learning on the job as he did when campaigning for the White House. His Administration is too deferential to Congress, too reliant on the President’s personal charm, and as a result is regarded by its enemies as weak and ineffectual.

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#10 — Telegraph | Liquid glass: the spray-on scientific revelation

Liquid glass, a revolutionary invisible non-toxic spray that protects against everything from bacteria to UV radiation, could soon be used on a vast range of products.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

#1 — BBC | Snow causes German traffic chaos with three deaths

Heavy snow and high winds have caused traffic chaos across Germany with at least three deaths reported nationwide.

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#2 — BBC | Warning over tax return deadline e-mail ‘phishing’ scam

Tens of thousands of fraudulent e-mails have been sent out ahead of Sunday’s tax return deadline, officials say.

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#3 — CNN | Forces mistakenly exchange fire in Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — As talk emerged about a secret meeting of U.N. and Taliban officials, the battlefield lit up in Afghanistan, with a joint Afghan-international force and Afghan soldiers exchanging fire when both sides mistook the other for enemy combatants.

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#4 — Fox | Pakistan Taliban Chief Reportedly Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

The head of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone attack, Pakistan state television reported Sunday.

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#5 — Fox | TARP Cop: Some Bailout Goals Still Unmet

The government’s top bailout cop said Sunday that more than a year after the financial crisis hit, many of the goals of Washington’s $700 billion bank rescue program remain unmet and that policymakers still have not addressed fundamental problems that triggered the crisis, leaving the financial system vulnerable to another collapse.

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#6 — Fox | Sarah Palin’s PAC Raked in $1.4M in Last Six Months of 2009

The political action committee for the former Alaska governor and the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee raised $1.4 million dollars in the last six months of 2009.

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#7 — NY Times | Site for Terror Trial Isn’t Its Only Obstacle

For much of President Obama’s first year in office, his national security team worked to devise a secure plan to send dozens of Yemeni detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — the largest single group at the prison camp — home to Yemen, perhaps to a rehabilitation program.

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#8 — Times | Godfather Colin Gunn used Facebook to run empire from jail

ONE of Britain’s most dangerous gangsters has been using Facebook to threaten and intimidate his enemies from a maximum security prison.

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#9 — Times | Hamid Karzai fails Taliban who gave up arms

THE room the Taliban commander Mullah Mohammad now calls home, after bringing his 21 fighters to join the Afghan government’s reintegration programme earlier this month, is barely more comfortable than the mountain redoubt he left.

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#10 — Telegraph | ICC proposes powers to try politicians who wage ‘illegal wars’

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague is proposing to take new powers to put politicians who launch “illegal wars” on trial.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

#1 — BBC | Machu Picchu tourist airlift ends with 1,300 flown out

Police in Peru say they have airlifted the last of the tourists stranded near the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu after floods destroyed road and rail links.

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#2 — BBC | Google phases out support for IE6

Google has begun to phase out support for Internet Explorer 6, the browser identified as the weak link in a cyber attack on the search engine.

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#3 — CNN | Honda recalls 646,000 Fits for fire hazard

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Honda announced a recall for 646,000 2007 and 2008 Fit, City and Jazz models worldwide, after a fire hazard involving a power window switch resulted in a death in South Africa.

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#4 — Fox | China to Suspend U.S. Military Exchanges Over Arms Deal

Chinese state media says the defense ministry is suspending military exchanges with the United States over its planned $6.4 billion arms sale to neighboring Taiwan.

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#5 — Fox | Obama Urges GOP to Join Dems on Job-Creation Efforts

In a remarkably sharp face-to-face confrontation, President Obama chastised Republican lawmakers Friday for opposing him on taxes, health care and the economic stimulus, while they accused him in turn of brushing off their ideas and driving up the national debt.

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#6 — Fox | Climate Chief Knew of False Glacier Claims Before Copenhagen

The chairman of the leading climate change watchdog was informed that claims about melting Himalayan glaciers were false before the Copenhagen summit, the Times of London reports.

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#7 — Fox | Jury Finds Man Guilty of Murder in Kansas Abortion Provider’s Death

WICHITA, Kan. —  Jurors swiftly convicted an abortion opponent of murder Friday for shooting to death one of the only doctors to offer late-term abortions in the U.S., a killing the gunman claimed was justified to save the lives of unborn children.

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#8 — NY Times | U.S. Drops Plan for a 9/11 Trial in New York City

The Obama administration on Friday gave up on its plan to try the Sept. 11 plotters in Lower Manhattan, bowing to almost unanimous pressure from New York officials and business leaders to move the terrorism trial elsewhere.

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#9 — Times | US economy soars 5.7 per cent in fourth quarter

The United States economy grew at 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, the fastest rise in six years and far ahead of analysts’ expectations of 4.8 per cent.

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#10 — Telegraph | Bear chases man after being shot with tranquilliser dart

A man who shot a marauding bear with a tranquilliser gun had an almighty scare when the beast awoke as he approached, and proceeded to attack him.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

#1 — BBC | Machu Picchu airlift rescues hundreds

About 1,400 tourists have been airlifted from near the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru following floods that destroyed road and rail links.

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#2 — BBC | Taliban talks plans gather pace after London summit

Plans to engage the Taliban in talks are gathering pace, with Afghanistan inviting members to a peace council and reports of a secret UN meeting.

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#3 — CNN | Winter storm system moves through Midwest

(CNN) — A strong storm dumped snow and sleet on Oklahoma and Texas on Thursday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power, canceling flights and causing dozens of traffic accidents.

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#4 — Fox | White House Considers Moving 9/11 Trial Out of New York City

Bowing to intense and deepening bipartisan opposition to conducting the criminal trials for the 9/11 hijackers in the heart of New York City, the Obama White House has begun discussing alternate locations with the Justice Department, senior administration officials told Fox News.

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Telegraph | Bloomberg withdraws support for 9/11 trials in NY

#5 — Fox | Israel Assassinates Top Hamas Commander

DAMASCUS, Syria —  Hamas claimed on Friday that Israeli agents assassinated one of the Palestinian militant group’s veteran operatives in a killing allegedly carried out last week in Dubai, and vowed to retaliate.

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#6 — Fox | Official: Russia Tests New Stealth Fighter Jet

MOSCOW —  A stealth jet fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight in Russia on Friday, an important step in the country’s efforts to modernize its aging Soviet-era arsenals.

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#7 — DM | You cannot be serious!

Apple say the iPad is a ‘magic and revolutionary’ product but already the device is being ridiculed by bloggers and industry insiders.

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#8 — Times | US Congress to investigate Toyota after 19 deaths

The US House of Representatives has announced an investigation into Toyota’s faulty accelerator pedals and other problems that may have caused 19 deaths over the past decade and triggered a global recall of nearly eight million vehicles.

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#9 — Times | Bills Gates pledges $10bn for a ‘decade of vaccine’

Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, is to make the largest ever single charitable donation with a pledge of $10 billion for vaccine work over the next decade, it was announced today.

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#10 — Telegraph | Venezuela’s vice-president resigns as Chavez’s problems grow

Venezuela’s vice-president, who was also defence minister, resigned on Monday, adding to the political problems facing President Hugo Chavez.

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Popularity: 2% [?]