Marines beat a retreat in Beyonce lip-sync flap

WASHINGTON: The US Marine Corps beat a hasty retreat Tuesday from a furore over whether Beyonce lip-synched "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Barack Obama's public inauguration ceremony.First, the New York Times quoted a US Marine Band spokeswoman as saying that, just before Beyonce took the stage Monday, the musicians learned a version of the national anthem it had pre-recorded...

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Alagiri breaks ice with Karunanidhi after succession drama

CHENNAI: Union fertilizer minister M K Alagiri on Tuesday called on his father, DMK chief M Karunanidhi, for the first time after the party patriarch publicly identified his younger son M K Stalin as his political heir. Sources said the meeting between Karunanidhi and Alagiri at the DMK leader's Gopalapuram residence in Chennai lasted more than an hour. Alagiri's son Durai Dhayanidhi was also...

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Space Pictures This Week: Solar Tantrum, Petroglyphs at Night

Photograph by Tony Rowell, Your ShotThis image of Native American petroglyphs, or rock art, shot against the Milky Way, was taken in California's eastern Sierra Nevada on January 14.Petroglyphs—one of many forms of rock art—are created by scraping, rubbing, or chiseling designs into the patina coating desert rocks. Depending on the conditions surrounding a piece of rock art, these designs can endure...

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Left Turn? Obama Speech Invigorates Progressives

A presidential campaign that was largely about jobs and the economy gave way during Monday's inaugural ceremonies to a sweeping affirmation of progressivism and call for "collective action." Now, liberal allies of President Obama say they're closely watching to see whether the second-term president follows through on issues with which he has struggled before.Obama's groundbreaking...

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Loyal cheerleader Biden becomes target of speculation on presidential bid

So close to that presidential microphone . . . yet so far away. As President Obama delivered his 2,000-word inaugural address Monday outside the Capitol, his chief governing partner, Vice President Biden, looked on from his chair just to the left, always the loyal and supportive cheerleader. But for Biden, who mounted two unsuccessful bids for the White House, Inauguration Day served...

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Football: Sundram to be interim Lions coach for Jordan game

SINGAPORE: V Sundramoorthy has been named the caretaker coach for the Lions for their opening Asian Cup group qualifying match against Jordan in Amman next month, while the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) continues its search for Radojko Avramovic's successor.In a media statement, FAS president Zainudin Nordin said that the LionsXII head coach was appointed because of his experience."Having...

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Train fares to go up from today

NEW DELHI: Rail travelers will have to pay more from Tuesday.Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had announced across the board hike in passenger fares to raise an additional fund to the tune of Rs 6,600 crore in a year.The hike, which has come after a decade, will generate additional Rs 1,200 crore this fiscal.Though the minister had ruled out any hike in passenger tariff in the Rail Budget 2013-14...

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and...

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Obama's 2nd Term: Who's Time Is 'Our Time'?

Jan 21, 2013 12:50pm Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty ImagesANALYSIS By RICK KLEINPresident Obama used a brief pause in the partisan warfare that’s scarred his time in office to return to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, with his own declaration of urgency and a call to action that reflects shared sacrifice and responsibility.This was no centrist conciliator. It...

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Obama developing second-term strategy

Amid his fiscal negotiations with Congress and the shootings in Newtown, Conn., President Obama has managed to hold several “think-big” meetings recently with senior advisers in the Roosevelt Room, and this month he dined with historians in the White House, searching for a rough road map for second-term leadership. As one senior administration official described the brainstorming sessions,...

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