French gay marriage law clears hurdle

FRANCE'S National Assembly has overwhelmingly approved the first and most important article of a controversial law that will allow gay couples to get married and adopt children. Deputies voted 249-97 in favour of article one of the draft legislation,...

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Illegal fireworks blamed for road collapse

A TRUCK that exploded and caused an elevated stretch of highway to collapse in central China, killing 10 people, was loaded with holiday fireworks that were illegally produced and transported, authorities say. Local authorities have shut down...

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Palestinians evicted from West Bank camp

PALESTINIANS and activists have been forcefully removed from a new camp near a West Bank village, after a third attempt at the novel form of protest against Jewish settlement. An AFP correspondent said the army used tear gas and violence on...

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Scandal-hit Spain PM denies graft claims

SPAIN'S Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has denied allegations that he received undeclared payments from his ruling party, as he sought to douse a major corruption scandal. Rajoy vowed on Saturday not to resign despite the publication of documents...

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Iran rial hits all-time dollar low

IRAN'S currency has plummeted to an all-time low, registering a more than 21 per cent drop in a span of two weeks against the US dollar, currency tracking websites and money changers say. The rial was traded at between 39,000 and 40,000 per US...

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German teen shooter's dad avoids jail time

A GERMAN court has handed down an 18-month suspended sentence to the father of a 17-year-old boy who went on a rampage at his former school, shooting 15 dead before turning the gun on himself. The court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart...

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Spain's PM moves to ease graft scandal

SPAIN'S government has leaped to calm a growing corruption scandal over alleged undeclared payments in the ruling party, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy set to speak out after being named in the affair. The government run by Rajoy's conservative...

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Mexico digs for answers in oil HQ blast

RESCUERS dug through the night while investigators searched for answers after an explosion rocked the headquarters of Mexican state-run oil giant Pemex, killing 32 people. Another 121 people were injured in the explosion on Thursday, which sent...

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US stocks gain after mixed jobs data

US stocks have added solid gains in early trade after a mixed jobs report showed lower-than expected job generation in January, but revisions pushed last year's numbers sharply higher. Thirty minutes into trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial...

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Man charged over Sydney break-in

A MAN has been charged over an alleged break-in at a home in Moorebank, in Sydney's southwest, that left an elderly man in critical condition in hospital. A 78-year-old man and his wife returned to their Moorebank home at midday on Monday to...

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US consumer spending flat in December

US consumers held tight to their wallets in December, the key holiday shopping season, despite a rise in incomes, according to Commerce Department data. Household spending edged up 0.2 per cent from November, only half the growth of the prior...

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Marriage is good for the heart: study

MARRIED people are less prone to heart attacks than singletons and more likely to recover if stricken, according to a Finnish study. Researchers collected data on 15,330 people in Finland between the ages of 35 and 99 who suffered "acute coronary...

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Arnie calls for 'sexy' environmentalism

ARNOLD Schwarzenegger has called for an end to "doom and gloom" environmentalism as he hosted the first conference of his new green movement fostering action by local governments and individuals. "If we want to inspire the world, it is time for...

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Indon party chief arrested over corruption

INDONESIA'S anti-graft agency has arrested the head of the country's largest Islamic-based party, which is part of the coalition government, on suspicion of corruption, its spokesman says. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said Prosperous...

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China convicts Tibetan burning 'inciters'

A CHINESE court has convicted two Tibetans of murder for inciting others to burn themselves to death, giving one a suspended death penalty and the other 10 years in prison, state media report. The judgments were believed to be the first of their...

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Egypt opposition urge talks amid violence

EGYPTIAN opposition leaders are calling for urgent talks on the political crisis gripping the country, as a fresh eruption of violence killed two more people in Cairo. Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading figure in the National Salvation Front, called...

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US man kills bus driver, kidnaps child

A GUNMAN has boarded a school bus in the southern US state of Alabama, shot and killed the driver and kidnapped a young boy, police say. The area around where the hostage-taking occurred on Tuesday has been evacuated, said Sergeant Rachel David,...

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Dow, S&P fall slightly after poor US GDP

US stocks were mostly lower in opening trade after government estimates showed the economy shrunk in the fourth quarter last year largely due to a cut back in government spending. Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was...

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Israel hits Syria convoy near Lebanon

ISRAELI have forces carried out an air strike on a weapons convoy from Syria near the Lebanese border, security sources have told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The attack came after Israel expressed concerns that Damascus's stockpile...

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German beer drinking hits new low

GERMANS are emptying fewer beer steins these days. Consumption of the national beverage fell by 1.8 per cent last year to the lowest level since West and East Germany reunified in 1990. The German government statistics agency reported on Wednesday...

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Mozambique military on flood duty

MOZAMBIQUE'S military has been called in to help tackle severe flooding that has killed 48 people and is likely to spread to the country's central and northern regions, officials say. The armed forces have begun helping with clean-up operations...

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Ford earns $1.6b in 4Q, warns of Euro loss

FORD has earned better-than-expected profits in 2012 as record results in North America trumped losses in Europe. It will have to do even better at home this year as the losses in Europe mount. Ford earned $US5.7 billion ($A5.50 billion) for the...

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Smog again envelops huge swathes of China

RESIDENTS across huge swathes of northern China are battling through choking pollution at extreme levels, as Beijing was plunged into toxic twilight for the fourth time this winter. Visibility was reduced to around 200 metres in parts of the capital,...

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US stocks flat ahead of confidence data

US stocks are treading in place ahead of a key consumer confidence report, despite a series of better-than-expected company earnings. In the first five minutes of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10.75 points (0.08 per cent) at...

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Top Bolshoi ballerina 'flees Russia'

ONE of the Bolshoi ballet's best known ballerinas has fled Russia for Canada after receiving threats, it has emerged, as the chief of the troubled company prepares to leave for Germany to receive treatment for wounds sustained in an acid attack. ...

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Yemen suicide bomb kills 10 soldiers

A SUICIDE car bomb at a checkpoint in central Yemen has killed at least 10 soldiers, as the army leads an offensive on al-Qaeda militants suspected of holding European hostages. The attack targeted a checkpoint manned by members of a battalion...

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Switzerland knew of Holocaust in 1942

SWISS officials knew in May 1942 that Jews were being exterminated in Nazi concentration camps, yet decided to tighten their asylum policies in the following months, Swiss television has reported. "As of May 1942, we can prove that information...

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US to raise Sri Lanka human rights at UN

THE US will bring a fresh resolution to the UN Human Rights Council in a bid to force Sri Lanka to deliver on promises to investigate its troops for war crimes, top US diplomats say after talks with Colombo. "The US has decided to sponsor a procedural...

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Apple, Android have smartphone 'duopoly'

ANDROID and Apple smartphones captured a whopping 92 per cent of global sales in the fourth quarter, giving the two systems an effective duopoly, a research firm says. Strategy Analytics said global smartphone shipments grew 38 per cent annually...

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Israel lashes UK cartoon of Netanyahu

ISRAEL'S parliamentary Speaker has lashed out at a cartoon published in Britain's Sunday Times showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall with Palestinian blood and bodies. "For the people of Israel, this is a cartoon which recalls...

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Lockyer Creek residents warned to move

RESIDENTS in low-lying areas in the Lockyer Valley in southeast Queensland have been urged to evacuate and seek higher ground before major flooding hits. The state's Department of Community Safety said early on Monday morning that an emergency...

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Pro-gay marriage rally hits Paris streets

THOUSANDS of supporters of a French government-sponsored bill that would legalise marriage and adoption for same-sex couples are marching in Paris. Demonstrators waved banners emblazoned with phrases such as "Equality of rights is not a threat"...

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20 missing from Russian fishing ship

A RUSSIAN fishing vessel has capsized in the Sea of Japan, and emergency officials say 20 Russian and Indonesian crew members are missing. The far eastern branch of Russia's emergency services says 10 crew members were found in a lifeboat and...

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One dead in Egypt clashes

A TEENAGER has died and more than 400 people have been hurt in Egypt's Port Said as rioting sparked by death sentences handed to supporters of a local football team rocked the canal city for a second day. Crowds attempted to storm three police...

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UAE to put on trial 94 Islamists

THE United Arab Emirates is to put on trial 94 Islamists accused of plotting against the Gulf state, attorney-general Salem Kobaish has announced. He said the accused, whose arrests were announced in July, will go on trial for "having created...

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