Five accused of rape in India appear in court for charges

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Five men accused of the rape and murder of an Indian student appeared in court on Monday to hear charges against them after two of them offered evidence possibly in return for a lighter sentence in the case that has provoked widespread anger. The five men, along with a teenager, are accused of raping the 23-year-old physiotherapy student after she boarded their bus...

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Indonesia police investigate baby-for-sale online ad

JAKARTA: Indonesian police on Monday said they are investigating an advertisement offering two babies for sale at US$1,000 each after it was spotted on the popular auction and shopping website Tokobagus.com."We are still investigating the existence of the online advertisement," Jakarta police spokesman Rikwanto told reporters."We have asked Tokobagus how the advertisement came to be posted,...

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Nintendo chief Iwata: Wii U sales 'not bad'

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said in an interview published today that the Wii U's sales aren't so bad."At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn't as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom," Iwata told Reuters in an interview published today. "But sales are not bad, and I feel it's selling steadily."There does appear to be...

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Shell oil-drilling ship under tow again

ANCHORAGE, Alaska A Shell oil-drilling ship that ran aground near a remote Alaska island is under tow again.The Unified Command for the operation in Anchorage says the Kulluk is being towed at about 5 mph to shelter in Kodiak Island's Kiliuda Bay. Officials won't estimate its arrival because of weather conditions early Monday — winds of about 18 mph and 15-foot ocean swells.There's a salvage crew...

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Hagel Nomination Stirs Bipartisan Opposition

Two weeks before his inauguration, and with more "fiscal cliffs" on the horizon, President Obama is embracing a showdown with Congress over his pick to lead the Pentagon in his second term.Obama will nominate former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense at a formal White House announcement later today, administration officials said.The president will...

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Assad "peace plan" greeted with scorn by foes

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected peace talks with his enemies on Sunday in a defiant speech that his opponents described as a renewed declaration of war. Although the speech was billed as the unveiling of a new peace plan, Assad offered no concessions and even appeared to harden many of his positions. He rallied Syrians for "a war to defend the nation" and...

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US drones kill 12 Taliban in Pakistan: officials

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan: US drones fired a volley of missiles at militant hideouts in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 12 Taliban fighters near the Afghan border, security officials said.The missile attack took place in Babar Ghar village in South Waziristan, a tribal district bordering Afghanistan which is a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants."US drones fired...

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Dropped call: Mobile biggies conspicuous by absence at CES

Escalator up to the South Hall entrance of the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES 2012.(Credit:Sarah Tew/CNET) LAS VEGAS -- Mobile is supposed to be a hot category in tech, right? You'd never know it looking at the announcements that are slated to start pouring in this week.Many of the major companies in the mobile industry have opted to skip or limit their presence at this year's Consumer Electronics...

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Pelosi: "Not enough" revenue in "fiscal cliff" deal

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., argued that additional revenue must be included in upcoming deficit reduction deals, calling the revenue secured by the "fiscal cliff" deal "significant" but "not enough." "The President had originally said he wanted $1.6 trillion in revenue," she said on "Face the Nation." "He took it down to 1.2 as a compromise in this legislation. We get $620 billion...

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Assad Calls On Syrians to Defend the Country

President Bashar Assad called on Syrians to defend their country against religious extremists seeking to destroy the nation, dismissing any prospect of dialogue with the "murderous criminals" he says are behind the uprising even as he outlined his vision for a peaceful settlement to the civil war.In a one-hour speech to the nation in which he appeared confident and relaxed, Assad...

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