Senate’s pragmatic ranks depleted by one with Chambliss’s departure

The trio of Southern gentlemen came to the Senate together in 2003, the leading edge of a renegade Republican class set on shaking up the chamber’s staid ways and aggressively promoting the Bush White House’s conservative agenda. Ten years later, Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) are now establishment dealmakers and elder statesmen — roles...

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Major floods hammer northern Australia

SYDNEY: A man was missing in raging floodwaters and hundreds of homes were evacuated in northeastern Australia as storms pelted Queensland state on Sunday, with the army put on standby as the weather worsened.Towns and cities devastated by floods in Queensland two years ago which claimed 35 lives were bracing for another devastating inundation as ex-tropical cyclone Oswald hammered the...

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Freedom of expression finds voices at literature festival

JAIPUR: To the Kashmiri, the British, the Scot and the Indian, freedom of speech and expression mean different things. Yet, on Saturday, their contexts coalesced at the Jaipur Literature Festival, where the debate circled around the ways in which governments and private interests reacted to free expression, especially on the World Wide Web. In a well-debated session panelists and the audience also...

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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...

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Newtown Families March for Gun Control in DC

Jan 26, 2013 4:59pm (YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, D.C. — Near-freezing temperatures didn’t stop several thousand gun-control activists from bearing their pickets today, carrying signs emblazoned with “Ban Assault Weapons Now” and the names of gun violence victims in a demonstration organized as a response to the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. last month.Walking...

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Court says Obama exceeded authority in making appointments

President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority by making appointments when the Senate was on a break last year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The court’s broad ruling would sharply limit the power that presidents throughout history have used to make recess appointments in the face of Senate opposition and inaction. A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals...

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Obama, Hollande hold phone talks on Mali offensive

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama voiced support Friday for France's military intervention in Mali and vowed to work with French counterpart Francois Hollande to tackle extremism across North Africa.The two presidents discussed other "shared security concerns," including Algeria, Libya and Syria, during telephone talks, the White House said in a statement."The president expressed his...

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Tight security in Delhi for Republic Day celebrations

NEW DELHI: A thick security blanket was thrown around the capital today with thousands of armed personnel keeping a tight vigil to thwart any possible terror strike or any untoward incident during the Republic Day celebrations. Snipers with sophisticated arms were on high-rises while hundreds of police personnel kept the eight km parade route from Rajpath to Red Fort under their watch to ensure...

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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty ImagesIf you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders. Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns...

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WH, Senators to Begin Push on Immigration Reform

The White House and a bipartisan group of senators next week plan to begin their efforts to push for comprehensive immigration reform.President Barack Obama will make an announcement on immigration during a Tuesday trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, the White House said on Friday. The Senate group is expected make their plans public around the same time, the Associated Press reported.See...

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