US shooting relatives blast theatre offer

LOS ANGELES: Relatives of victims massacred by a gunman in a Colorado movie theatre criticised Wednesday an invitation to its re-opening as a "ridiculously offensive" publicity ploy.Family members of nine of the 12 people who died in Aurora, outside Denver in July said the invitation's timing was particularly painful over the Christmas holiday, and called for others to boycott the "special...

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Football: I'm not retiring any time soon says Fergie

LONDON: Alex Ferguson has quashed retirement talk by revealing he has no plans to step down as Manchester United manager in the near future.Ferguson, who turned 71 on Monday, has been forced to deal with questions about his retirement plans since the time he reversed his decision to leave the club in 2002.With Pep Guardiola due to end his post-Barcelona sabbatical in a few months, Jose...

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Oil prices rise on US cliff deal hopes

NEW YORK: Oil prices surged higher on Monday after US politicians signaled a last-minute compromise deal was in view to avert driving the economy over a fiscal cliff toward recession.New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, gained $1.02 from Friday to close at $91.82 a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for February settled at $111.11 a barrel, up 49 cents.Over the...

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Nobel medicine laureate Levi-Montalcini dies aged 103

ROME: Nobel medicine laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini, a neurologist and developmental biologist, died on Sunday at her home in Rome aged 103.She was the oldest living Nobel laureate at the time of her death.Levi-Montalcini shared the prize with colleague Stanley Cohen in 1986 for their ground-breaking discovery of growth factors.The Nobel committee cited the pair for advancing "our knowledge...

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Italy's Monti to lead centrist coalition in February polls

ROME: Italy's caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti said Friday that he will contest February elections at the head of a centrist coalition, driving a wedge between centre-left and centre-right parties."I agree to assume the role of head of the coalition, and I will commit myself to guaranteeing the success of this operation," Monti said after meeting for four hours with representatives...

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Football: Forest hire former Villa boss McLeish

LONDON: Nottingham Forest's Kuwaiti owners appointed former Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish as their new manager on Thursday just 24 hours after sacking Sean O'Driscoll.Forest chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi insisted he wanted a manager with Premier League experience when he made the surprise decision to dismiss O'Driscoll following the Championship team's 4-2 win over Leeds on Wednesday.And Al...

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'Thunderbirds' creator Gerry Anderson dies aged 83

LONDON: Gerry Anderson, the British director and creator of the cult sci-fi animation series "Thunderbirds", died on Wednesday aged 83, his son announced.Anderson had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease since 2010 and his health had deteriorated in the past six months, causing him to be moved into a care home in October, Jamie Anderson said.The animator created "Joe 90", "Stingray"...

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Netanyahu launches re-election bid centred on Iran

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday put Iran at the top of his re-election campaign, pledging that halting Tehran's nuclear programme would be his first priority as premier."Who do (Israeli voters) think is the most suitable candidate to deal with the Iranian threat? With the missile threat? With the threat of terror?" he asked supporters in Jerusalem in a speech...

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Syria's Assad meets envoy as regime suffers blow

DAMASCUS: Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held "constructive" talks in Syria on Monday with President Bashar al-Assad, as jihadists seized an area populated by the embattled leader's Alawite community.The opposition National Coalition, meanwhile, accused Damascus of committing a "massacre" of dozens of civilians in the bombing of a bakery -- an allegation fended off by the Assad regime.As...

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US gun advocates seek deportation of Piers Morgan

WASHINGTON: US gun rights advocates have signed a White House petition calling for British CNN host Piers Morgan to be deported for allegedly attacking the Second Amendment rights of ordinary Americans.The outspoken former British tabloid editor has launched something of a personal crusade for greater gun control measures in the wake of the December 14 massacre at Sandy Hook elementary...

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Football: Downing ends drought as Liverpool thrash Fulham

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool winger Stewart Downing finally ended his Premier League goal drought as the Reds swept to a 4-0 victory over Fulham at Anfield on Saturday.Downing had gone 44 league matches without a goal since joining from Aston Villa in a £20 million deal in 2011 that has been widely ridiculed as a major mistake by then Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish.Brendan Rodgers, who replaced...

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Cricket: New Zealand trounced in first match

DURBAN: South Africa sent New Zealand crashing to an eight-wicket defeat with 47 balls to spare in the first Twenty20 international at Kingsmead on Friday.Fast bowler Rory Kleinveldt took two early wickets to start a slide from which New Zealand never recovered. They were bowled out for 86 after winning the toss.Kleinveldt took the key wickets of Rob Nicol and captain Brendon McCullum...

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Tennis: Levine drops US to represent Canada

MONTREAL: Jesse Levine, ranked 104th on the ATP Tour, will represent his native Canada and no longer compete for the United States, Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday.The 25-year-old left-hander was born in Ottawa and spent the first 13 years of his life growing up in Canada's capital city before moving with his family to Florida.Levine reached a career-high of 69th in the rankings last...

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Twitter tops 200 million active users

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter said Tuesday the number of active users of the service has topped 200 million, in a sign of the sizzling growth of the messaging platform.News of the milestone came in a tweet, of course, from the official Twitter account: "There are now more than 200M monthly active twitter users. You are the pulse of the planet. We're grateful for your ongoing support!"The number...

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Newtown buries school massacre dead

NEWTOWN, Connecticut: Funerals began Monday in the little Connecticut town of Newtown after the school massacre that took the lives of 20 small children and six staff, triggering new momentum for a change in America's gun culture.The first burials, held under raw, wet skies, were of two six-year-old boys among those shot in Sandy Hook Elementary School. On Tuesday, the first of the girls,...

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Football: Real Madrid held by Espanyol, pressure builds on Mourinho

MADRID: A late goal from substitute Juan Albin gave Espanyol a 2-2 draw against stuttering Real Madrid who will be 13 points off La Liga leaders Barcelona if they beat second-placed Atletico Madrid later Sunday.The pressure is now firmly on coach Jose Mourinho with the reigning champions unable to beat relegation-threatened Espanyol.Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for Madrid on the stroke...

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US police seek clues in school shooting

NEWTOWN, Connecticut: US police indicated on Saturday they are homing in on the mystery of what triggered the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a school by a young lone gunman.Police have yet to make public the identities of the dead or almost any of the details of what happened inside Sandy Hook Elementary School just after classes started Friday.The motives of the shooter, identified...

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Oil prices advance on China data

NEW YORK: Oil prices rose Friday, lifted by upbeat Chinese manufacturing data and a weaker US dollar.New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery, rose 84 cents from Thursday to settle at US$86.73 a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for January leaped US$1.24 to close at US$109.15 a barrel in London trade."January Brent crude oil expires today, with late book...

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SHINee conclude their final concert of 2012 in S'pore, release new Jap single

SINGAPORE: Korean boy band SHINee have released a new Japanese single "1000 Years, Always by Your Side" on Wednesday, despite just concluding their final concert of the year last weekend in Singapore.While Singapore fans were not lucky enough to be able to hear their new single live at the SHINee World II concert at the Indoor Stadium, they did, however, got to see the quintet perform...

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Berlusconi sows confusion with support for Monti as PM

ROME: Italy's Silvio Berlusconi sowed confusion Wednesday saying he could abandon his re-election bid if Prime Minister Mario Monti decided to run as leader of a centre-right coalition, a stunning twist to his two-decade political career."If Monti runs for leader, I would take a step back," Berlusconi said, a day after he criticised his successor for failing to revive the Italian economy...

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