Tennis: Nadal advances to semi-finals in comeback event

VINA DEL MAR, Chile: Rafael Nadal, playing his first event after a seven-month injury layoff, advanced to the semi-finals of the $410,200 Vina del Mar ATP claycourt tournament with a straight-sets triumph on Friday.The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain ousted seventh-seeded countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 6-4.Top seed Nadal will face either French third seed Jeremy Chardy or...

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'Friends' among 100s on ex-President's 'pleasure trips'

MUMBAI: On each of her well-documented tours, former President Pratibha Patil travelled with close to 100 people, which included, besides officials, members of her family as well as friends who joined in as 'Presidential guests'.Patil found herself in an embarrassing situation when it was discovered that the government had stopped footing a bill of Rs 225 crore for her jaunts as the country's head.Now,...

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

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'Stay Home': Northeast Shuts Down as Blizzard Hits

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions is set to strike the Northeast, starting today and could bring more than two feet of snow and strong winds that could shut down densely populated cities such as Boston and New York City.A storm from the west will join forces with one from the south to form a nor'easter that will sit and spin just off the East Coast, affecting more...

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Iran's Khamenei rebuffs U.S. offer of direct talks

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden last week, saying they would not solve the problem between them. "Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem," Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of...

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North Korea nuclear test could "tie hands" of South: Ban Ki-moon

UNITED NATIONS: UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that a nuclear test by North Korea could blow up hopes of an eventual reconciliation by "tying the hands" of the South's incoming president.Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said incoming South Korean president Park Geun-Hye is "very much committed" to improving relations with North Korea."If they conduct this nuclear...

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Suryanelli sex scandal: 17-year-old Kerala rape haunts Congress

KOTTAYAM: A day after an AICC spokesperson said the Congress high command will look into the allegations against Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien in the Suryanelli sex scandal , the victim's mother sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi, seeking her intervention for an impartial probe. In a letter faxed to the Congress president on Thursday, the victim's mother narrated the trauma her daughter and...

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Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.Blacks were five times more likely than whites...

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Tunisian government out after critic's killing causes fury

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's ruling Islamists dissolved the government on Wednesday and promised rapid elections in a bid to calm the biggest street protests since the revolution two years ago, sparked by the killing of an opposition leader. The prime minister's announcement that an interim cabinet of technocrats would replace his Islamist-led coalition came at the end of a day which had...

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Football: Bengtson lifts Honduras over US

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras: Jerry Bengtson scored in the 79th minute to give Honduras a 2-1 victory over the United States on Wednesday in the North American qualifying final-round opener for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.The New England Revolution striker knocked in the decider, aided by a blunder from a US defensive unit with relatively few World Cup qualifying caps while American veteran...

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