SDA's Desmond Lim brands himself as dedicated & determined

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Democratic Alliance's (SDA) Desmond Lim has described himself as a dedicated local and determined leader.Mr Lim is no stranger to the Punggol East ward, having contested there during the 2011 General Election.It was a setback that Mr Lim said would have made others run away from politics.The SDA's secretary-general forfeited his S$16,000 election deposit when he...

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Narayan Rane-Nitin Gadkari bonhomie fuels speculation

NAGPUR: Maharashtra industries minister Narayan Rane agreeing to share the dais with BJP national president Nitin Gadkari at the inaugural function of a workers' housing scheme at Butibori stood out like an oxymoron. What was even more surprising was the senior Congress minister's visit to Gadkari's residence at Mahal before the function. The two leaders had a breakfast meeting before proceeding...

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Risk to all ages: 100 kids die of flu each year

NEW YORK (AP) — How bad is this flu season, exactly? Look to the children.Twenty flu-related deaths have been reported in kids so far this winter, one of the worst tolls this early in the year since the government started keeping track in 2004.But while such a tally is tragic, that does not mean this year will turn out to be unusually bad. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, and it's...

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Arias Denied Guilt Despite Sex Photos, DNA

A defiant Jodi Arias insisted she was innocent of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander even after a detective told her that he had nude photos of them together on the day he died."Are you sure it's me? Because I was not there," Arias is heard saying in the police interrogation tape played for the Arizona jury today.When Detective Esteban Flores tells Arias she is seen in...

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West African army chiefs to approve Mali troops plan

BAMAKO (Reuters) - West African defense chiefs will on Tuesday approve plans to speed up the deployment of African troops against Islamist rebels in northern Mali, with some regional soldiers seen arriving next week. France has already poured hundreds of troops into Mali and carried out days of air strikes in a vast desert area seized last year by an Islamist alliance that combines al...

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Islamists guerrillas flee French air strikes in Mali

BAMAKO: French air strikes forced Islamist guerrillas to flee towns in northern Mali and Paris secured new international support for military action as the militants struck back, seizing a small western town.The Islamists said they had made a "tactical retreat" from Timbuktu and other key towns where they have imposed a brutal version of Islamic law for nearly 10 months.But they struck...

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National Conference may induct Congress MLAs in J&K Cabinet

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah can expand and reshuffle his ministry on Tuesday following a prod from AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday evening. Congress leaders like Saifuddin Soz have been asking for more representation from their party in the Omar-led National Conference coalition government. Abdullah had dropped two Congress ministers, G A Saroori and Peerzada...

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Hospitals crack down on workers refusing flu shots

CHICAGO (AP) — Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as U.S. hospitals increasingly crack down on employees who won't get flu shots, with some workers losing their jobs over their refusal."Where does it say that I am no longer a patient if I'm a nurse," wondered Carrie Calhoun, a longtime critical care nurse in suburban...

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Golden Globes Live Blog: Moore, 'Game Change' Win

The women of the night. Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBC/AP Photo.9:05 p.m. ET: Camera pans to Tommy Lee Jones who is not at all amused by Wiig and Ferrell.9:03 p.m. ET: Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell are doing a hilarious bit about how they know absolutely nothing about any of the best supporting actress movie nominees. Of Judy Dench in “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”: “And she’s on that tractor...

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France bombs Islamist strongholds in north Mali

BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - French fighter jets pounded Islamist rebel strongholds deep in northern Mali on Sunday as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako, awaiting a West African force to dislodge al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the country's north. The attacks on Islamist positions near the ancient desert trading town of Timbuktu and Gao, the largest city in the north, marked...

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