Bipartisan group of senators to unveil framework for immigration overhaul

A key group of senators from both parties will unveil on Monday the framework of a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, including a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants. The detailed, four-page statement of principles will carry the signatures of four Republicans and four Democrats, a bipartisan push that would have been unimaginable just...

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Cycling: UCI disbands independent Armstrong commission

LONDON: The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced Monday it had disbanded the independent commission it had set up to investigate any alleged involvement by the global governing body in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.The UCI said it had pulled the plug on the commission, which only met in public for the first time last week, because both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and...

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Telangana Cong MPs to send resignation to Sonia

HYDERABAD: At least seven Telangana Congress MPs precipitated matters on Monday saying that they would send their resignations to party president Sonia Gandhi, even as ministers from the Telangana region said they would wait before they take a similar step. Their decision to send their resignations to Sonia and not the Speaker is being seen as an ultimatum to the Congress high command to act before...

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Urban Heat May Warm Faraway Places

The massive amounts of heat produced by cities may be heating up rural areas 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away, atmospheric researchers have found in a new modeling study.Scientists have long invoked the "urban island heat effect" to explain why cities are generally hotter than suburban and rural areas. More people, as well as more cars, houses, and paved surfaces, turn energy into heat,...

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Immigration Plan Includes Path to Citizenship

A bipartisan group of senators on Monday formally unveiled their proposal to drastically overhaul the nation's immigration system, with the hope of passing a bill out of the Senate by late spring or early summer."We believe this will be the year Congress finally gets it done," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) one of the members of the so-called "Gang of Eight" said during a press conference...

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Fired workers protest at South Korean embassy in Iran

TEHRAN: Around 1,000 workers laid off by Iran's Entekhab group demonstrated outside the South Korean embassy in Tehran on Sunday after an acquisition deal for Daewoo Electronics fell through because of sanctions.Entekhab had to let them go when it shut down a manufacturing line, the company said.Three months ago, employees demonstrated at the embassy in the hope that Seoul would intervene...

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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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Brazil Nightclub Fire: 232 Dead, Hundreds Injured

Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members started...

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Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) won’t seek reelection

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a five-term senator and one of his party’s most outspoken liberals, will not seek reelection in 2014, presenting Democrats and Republicans with key tests of their midterm electoral strategies. Harkin’s surprise announcement Saturday makes him the third senator up for reelection this cycle to announce his retirement. Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Saxby...

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Sailing: Olympic sailing champion visits Singapore

SINGAPORE: Xu Lijia, the 25 year old who became the first Chinese to win a gold medal in the dinghy class after finishing first in the laser radial class at the 2012 London Olympics, is in town.The Chinese athlete shared her experiences with local sailors at a talk, which attracted 500 participants. The talk also saw the launch of the Character Development Through Sailing programme.The...

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