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Superstorm Sandy Damage Tops $71 Billion

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 11:00 pm (UTC-5)
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Damage from superstorm Sandy that struck the U.S. East Coast last month will cost more than $71 billion in three northeastern states. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday that damage from the storm totaled $42 billion across his state. He said the tally includes the more than $32 billion needed for repairs and $9 […]

Tags: , , Posted in US

Israeli Defense Minister Barak Quits Politics

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 9:40 pm (UTC-5)
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Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is quitting politics. In a surprise move Monday, Mr. Barak announced he will not run in the country’s January elections, but will stay in his post until a new government is formed. The 70-year-old former prime minister said he has “exhausted dealing with political life” and wants to spend more […]

Tags: , , , Posted in Middle East

Eurozone, IMF Reach Deal on Greek Bailout

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 9:25 pm (UTC-5)
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Eurozone finance ministers have reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund on reducing Greece’s debt and releasing immediate bailout money, in an effort to help the country avoid bankruptcy. Greece’s international lenders Monday agreed to reduce its debt to 124 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. The original goal had been 120 percent. […]

Tags: , , , , Posted in Europe

Iraqi Federal, Kurdish Officials to Discuss Withdrawing Troops From Disputed Region

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 8:30 pm (UTC-5)
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Iraqi officials representing the country’s central government and autonomous Kurdish region have pledged to defuse recent tensions between them by discussing ways of withdrawing their troops from a disputed region. Iraqi military spokesman Dhia al-Wakeel said the federal and Kurdish officials made the pledge Monday, at a Baghdad meeting attended by a senior U.S. military […]

Tags: , Posted in Middle East

Colony of Microbes Thriving in Dark, Frozen Antarctic Lake

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 5:30 pm (UTC-5)
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Where there is water, there is life… even when the water is 13 degrees below zero Celsius and six times saltier than the ocean. A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes an ancient community of bacteria in the salty, pitch dark and subfreezing environment beneath nearly 20 meters of ice […]

Tags: , , , Posted in Science

The Nose Knows: Simple Scents Increase Sales, Performance

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 4:10 pm (UTC-5)
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Smells can evoke memories. The scent of a certain perfume can prompt visions of a first love, perhaps. Smells can provide comfort, as any practitioner of aromatherapy will tell you. And smells can encourage you to buy something – which is why clever realtors often bake cookies in homes they’re trying to sell. Marketing experts […]

Tags: , , Posted in Science

Medvedev: Support of Syria Rebels ‘Unacceptable’

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 2:05 pm (UTC-5)
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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has criticized France’s support for Syria’s opposition, calling the decision “unacceptable.” Speaking to reporters ahead of a visit to France on Monday, he said the move to recognize the new opposition coalition as the “sole legitimate representative” of the Syrian people amounted to “regime change.” “What will be the fate […]

Tags: , , Posted in Europe

Eurozone Finance Ministers Meet on Greek Bailout

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 1:10 pm (UTC-5)
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Eurozone finance ministers are trying to reach a deal on immediate bailout money for Greece in an effort to help the country avoid bankruptcy. Monday’s meeting in Brussels is the third time in as many weeks that the ministers from the 17-nation group have attempted to reach an agreement to release a $40 billion rescue […]

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Cough Syrup Kills 13 in Pakistan

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 12:15 pm (UTC-5)
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Officials in Pakistan say at least 13 people have died after drinking cough syrup that is suspected of being toxic. The deaths occurred in the eastern city of Lahore over the last three days. Police officials said Monday that most of those who were sickened by the cough syrup were drug addicts. Authorities have shut […]

Tags: , , Posted in South Asia

Bangladeshi Garment Workers Protest Deadly Blaze

Posted November 26th, 2012 at 12:10 pm (UTC-5)
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Thousands of garment workers took to the streets of Bangladesh on Monday to protest a factory blaze that killed at least 110 people. Demonstrators blocked a major highway and some threw stones at a factory nearby on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. Hundreds of workers were trapped in the fire that began late […]

Tags: , , , Posted in South Asia