Scientists Seek Foolproof Signal to Predict Earthquakes

Twenty-three hundred years ago, hordes of mice, snakes, and insects fled the Greek city of Helike on the Gulf of Corinth (map). "After these creatures departed, an earthquake occurred in the night," wrote the ancient Roman writer Claudius Aelianus. "The city subsided; an immense wave flooded and Helike disappeared."Since then, generations of scientists and folklorists have used a dizzying...

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Obama Poised to Name New Defense, Treasury Chiefs

With the "fiscal cliff" crisis behind him, President Obama is poised to name two new key players to his cabinet, with at least one announcement expected early next week.The announcement of who will replace outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta could come as soon as Monday, sources told ABC News.Meanwhile, the president is also eyeing a replacement for outgoing Treasury Secretary...

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Federal agencies bracing for cuts after ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

The fiscal pact Congress reached hours into the new year will delay $109 billion in automatic across-the-board spending cuts for two months. But it will make a down payment on those reductions that will affect federal operations this year and next. The eleventh-hour agreement to avoid a “fiscal cliff” of higher taxes put off the major cuts known as a sequester until March 1,...

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New US Congress faces broader fiscal battles

WASHINGTON: The 113th US Congress, featuring dozens of new faces in the House and Senate, convened Thursday fresh from the year-end "fiscal cliff" fiasco, as lawmakers cast a wary eye towards the tough budget battles ahead.Twelve freshman senators and 82 newly-elected congressmen took the oath of office, with President Barack Obama's Democrats enjoying modest gains in both chambers.But...

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Chiranjeevi urges Vietnam to facilitate film shoots

NEW DELHI: Agreeing to ease visa restrictions between India and Vietnam, tourism minister K Chiranjeevi pitched for strengthening of ties with Hanoi and suggested the south-east Asian country assist in promoting Indian shoots in their country.Addressing a seminar on trade and investment organized by the Embassy of India in Hanoi in coordination with Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam Chamber...

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Pictures We Love: Best of December

Photograph by Paula Bronstein, Getty ImagesElephants are likely one of the last things jittery coffee junkies think about while waiting for their latest shot of caffeine.But these ponderous pachyderms are essential in the production of the latest brew from Black Ivory Coffee, a Thai company. The elephants, pictured above going for an early morning bath in northern Thailand on December 10, ingest Thai...

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Senate Panel Probes Bin Laden Movie Torture Scenes

The Senate Intelligence Committee has launched a new probe to determine how much the CIA may have influenced the portrayal of torture scenes shown in "Zero Dark Thirty," the Hollywood dramatization of the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden.The probe, as first reported by Reuters and confirmed to ABC News by a spokesperson for the committee's chairman, will attempt to answer two...

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Al Jazeera eyes Gore-founded TV group: report

WASHINGTON: The Qatar-owned media group Al Jazeera is in talks to buy Current TV, a struggling cable channel founded by former US vice president Al Gore, The New York Times reported Wednesday.The deal could allow Al Jazeera broader entry into US homes, by acquiring the cable group available in around 60 million American households, the report said.Contacted by AFP, Current Media did not...

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Khurshid defends stay in Nilgiris resort

CHENNAI/UDHAGAMANDALAM: External affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said there was nothing wrong in his staying in a private resort in the Nilgiris which was ordered to be closed by the Madras high court as it fell on the elephant corridor.Speaking to TOI, Khurshid said the Supreme Court had granted a stay on the high court order, allowing the resort to continue its operations. "If the...

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Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska, Prompts Massive Response

Photograph courtesy Jonathan Klingenberg, U.S. Coast GuardWaves lash at the sides of the Shell* drilling rig Kulluk, which ran aground off the rocky southern coast of Alaska on New Year's Eve in a violent storm.The rig, seen above Tuesday afternoon, was "stable," with no signs of spilled oil products, authorities said. But continued high winds and savage seas hampered efforts to secure the vessel...

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