Obama to nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary

President Obama plans to nominate former senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and Vietnam veteran, to be secretary of defense, according to a person close to the process and a senior administration official. The White House informed the Hagel camp over the weekend that Obama intends to announce the nomination Monday. Hagel’s successful nomination would add a well-known Republican...

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New highs for SGX's derivatives & commodities markets in 2012

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Exchange's derivatives and commodities markets achieved record highs in 2012.However as in most global markets, trading activities declined. Turnover dropped 12 per cent in 2012 to S$321.5 billion.However securities market performance, as measured by the Straits Times Index, was up 20 per cent last year. In December, turnover was up 39 per cent from a year earlier...

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Raj Thackeray blames rising crime on migrants; Lalu retaliates

MUMBAI/PATNA: Speaking at a Global Konkan Mohatsav function in Goregaon, MNS chief Raj Thackeray once again spoke against people from Bihar on Sunday: "Our sympathies are with the victim. But who are the accused involved in the Delhi gang-rape?" One of the accused in the gang-rape has been arrested from Bihar. Attacking other political parties, Raj said, "Not a single party wants to take this up."Raj...

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Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

Winner: PlacesPhotograph by Nenad SaljicA full moon illuminates the Matterhorn peak near Zermatt, Switzerland, in the winning image...

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Hagel to Be Obama's Defense Secretary Nominee

Jan 6, 2013 4:52pm (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama will nominate former senator Chuck Hagel to be his next Secretary of Defense tomorrow.Senior officials within the administration and Capitol Hill confirmed the pick to ABC News today after the Nebraska Republican had emerged as a frontrunner among potential candidates several weeks ago.Hagel,...

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After ‘fiscal cliff,’ Obama finishes recharging on Hawaiian holiday

HONOLULU — The place where President Obama vacations each winter is farther from Washington than almost any other place in the United States. So, it is not terribly surprising that less than 45 minutes after Congress passed a bill averting the “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1, Obama was racing back here. The president’s vacation with his family and friends had already been cut short by the protracted,...

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Football: Wolves sack Solbakken after FA Cup exit

LONDON: Stale Solbakken was sacked as manager of Championship side Wolves on Saturday, just hours after the club had been dumped out of the FA Cup by non-league Luton.The struggling side, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, also terminated the contracts of assistant manager Johan Lange and Patrick Weiser, the first team coach.Wolves are currently 18th in the Championship,...

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Prices double as private vaccines flood market

NEW DELHI: The Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) seems to have slipped almost entirely into the grip of the private sector as the government's vaccine institutes that were reopened in February 2010 after being shut down two years ago are yet to contribute in any significant way. In the process, the cost of most vaccines has more than doubled since 2006-07. Barring oral polio vaccine, the cost...

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Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

Winner: PlacesPhotograph by Nenad SaljicA full moon illuminates the Matterhorn peak near Zermatt, Switzerland, in the winning image...

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City Answers Gang-Rape Cover-Up Allegations

As Steubenville, Ohio, prepares for the high-profile rape trial of two high school football players, officials, battling allegations of a cover-up, announced the creation of a new website today to debunk rumors and create what they said would be a transparent resource for the community."This site is not designed to be a forum for how the Juvenile Court ought to rule in this matter,"...

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