Giant penguin fossils found in Antarctica

BUENOS AIRES: Argentine experts have discovered the fossils of a two-metre (6.5 foot) tall penguin that lived in Antarctica 34 million years ago.Palaeontologists with the Natural Sciences Museum of La Plata province, where the capital Buenos Aires is located, said the remains were found on the icy southern continent."This is the largest penguin known to date in terms of height and body...

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Manmohan, Cabinet learned of Kasab hanging through TV, Shinde says

NEW DELHI: No one from the Union Cabinet or even United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi were kept in the loop about Ajmal Kasab's scheduled hanging on Wednesday morning. Only President Pranab Mukherjee and the home ministry knew of the decision, according to home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.Shinde told NDTV that the UPA chairperson "was not part of the decision" and his Cabinet...

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OB/GYNs back over-the-counter birth control pills

WASHINGTON (AP) — No prescription or doctor's exam needed: The nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.Tuesday's surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women's advocates to make the pill more accessible.But no one expects the pill to be sold without a prescription...

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Bus Explodes in Tel Aviv Amid Truce Talks

A bomb exploded on an Israeli bus near the nation's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, wounding at least 10 people, Israeli officials said today.The bus exploded about noon local time Wednesday in one of the city's busiest areas, near the Tel Aviv museum. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were investigating whether the bomb had been planted and left on the bus...

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Tel Aviv bus blast shakes Gaza truce efforts

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A bomb exploded on a bus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, potentially complicating efforts by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to pursue an elusive truce between Israel and Hamas, as Israeli air strikes shook the Gaza Strip. After talks in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Clinton held a second meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

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Aung San Suu Kyi becomes UNAIDS ambassador

GENEVA: Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been appointed an ambassador of the UN's programme on HIV and AIDS and has been tasked with fighting discrimination against people living with the disease, the agency said Tuesday."It is a great honour to be chosen as a champion for people who live on the fringes of society and struggle every day to maintain their dignity and basic human...

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P Chidambaram feels Congress has advantage in Karnataka

BANGALORE: Union finance minister P Chidambaram feels Congress has a great opportunity to capture power in the forthcoming assembly elections in Karnataka. Addressing the party office-bearers at KPCC office here on Tuesday, he said the split in the BJP (former CM B S Yeddyurappa's decision to quit the BJP) and other problems had provided a perfect platform for the Congress to emerge victorious....

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make...

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Spokesman: Gaza Ceasefire to Be Announced

A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will be announced tonight, almost a week after the assassination of Hamas' top military commander led to the worst violence between Gaza and Israel in four years.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told ABC News the news would be announced at 8 p.m. in Cairo (1 p.m. ET), where Egypt has been trying to broker a peace deal. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and...

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Gaza truce agreed, Hamas says, to take effect in hours

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza conflict will go into effect later on Tuesday, a Hamas official said. There was no immediate Israeli comment. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier he was open to a long-term deal to halt Palestinian rocket attacks on his country. "An agreement for calm has been reached. It will be declared at...

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