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  • U.S. Senate panel OKs changes sought by tech firms in immigration bill Reuters
    U.S. Senate panel OKs changes sought by tech firms in immigration bill

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel voted on Tuesday to make it easier for U.S. companies to hire foreign workers as part of a broad immigration bill being debated in Congress. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted for the amendment, which would loosen requirements that employers recruit Americans ahead of foreigners for high-tech jobs. The compromise was brokered by Democratic Senator Charles Schumer to win over Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican whose support is seen as important to bring other conservatives on board with broader immigration reform. ...

  • U.S. Senate panel approves sweeping immigration bill Reuters

    By Rachelle Younglai and Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would bring about the biggest changes in U.S. immigration policy in a generation, setting up a spirited debate in the full Senate next month. By a vote of 13-5, the panel approved the nearly 900-page bill that would put 11 million illegal residents on a 13-year path to citizenship while further strengthening security along the southwestern border with Mexico, long a sieve for illegal crossings. ...

  • U.S. Senate panel approves immigration bill Reuters
    U.S. Senate panel approves immigration bill

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday passed a sweeping immigration bill that would give millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 in favor of the legislation that, if enacted, would represent the most significant overhaul of the U.S. immigration system since 1986. The full Senate is expected to start working on the legislation in June. The House of Representatives has not yet begun advancing its version of the bill. (Reporting by Caren Bohan, Richard Cowan, Rachelle Younglai; editing by Christopher Wilson)

  • China's bird flu outbreak cost $6.5 billion Reuters
    China's bird flu outbreak cost $6.5 billion

    By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The H7N9 virus appears to have been brought under control in China largely due to restrictions at bird markets, but caused some $6.5 billion in losses to the economy, U.N. experts said on Tuesday. Health authorities worldwide must be on the lookout to detect the virus, the experts said, which could still develop the ability to spread easily among humans and cause a deadly influenza pandemic. ...

  • Moore shows that as cities grow, tornado damage grows with them Reuters
    Moore shows that as cities grow, tornado damage grows with them

    By Ben Berkowitz and Julie Steenhuysen REUTERS - Moore, Oklahoma, has had the bad luck of being hit by two highly destructive tornadoes, both in the month of May, 14 years apart. But the Moore that got struck on Monday is not the same as in 1999. Like a lot of towns across America and in the so-called "Tornado Alley," rapid growth has made it a bigger target, vulnerable to more damage. The tornado, with winds that may have topped 200 miles (322 km) per hour, killed at least 24 people and injured hundreds more, with many of the casualties children from two schools that were destroyed. ...

  • Attacks in Iraq kill over 40, sectarian tensions high Reuters
    Attacks in Iraq kill over 40, sectarian tensions high

    By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - A series of bomb and gun attacks across Iraq killed more than 40 people on Tuesday, a day after over 70 died in violence targeting majority Shi'ites that has stoked fears of all-out sectarian war with minority Sunnis. Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past week as sectarian tensions, fuelled by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, threaten to plunge Iraq back into communal bloodletting. Ten years after the U.S. ...

  • Discovery of alleged Russian plot points to growing jitters Reuters
    Discovery of alleged Russian plot points to growing jitters

    By Timothy Heritage OREKHOVO-ZUYEVO, Russia (Reuters) - As Russia congratulated its forces for foiling an alleged Islamist plot on Moscow, the discovery of the plan also pointed to the growing security threat before the 2014 Winter Olympics. Monday's killing of two suspected militants and arrest of a third in a sleepy town near Moscow was quickly followed by the killing of one of the leaders of an Islamist insurgency being waged in Russia's North Caucasus. ...

  • Whole neighborhoods razed by Oklahoma tornado that killed 24 Reuters
    Whole neighborhoods razed by Oklahoma tornado that killed 24

    By Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Rescuers went building to building in search of victims and thousands of survivors were homeless on Tuesday after a massive tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, wiping out whole blocks of homes and killing at least 24 people. The death toll was lower than initially feared, but nine children were among the dead, including seven who died at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit on Monday in the deadliest tornado to strike the United States in two years. ...

  • Iran bars candidates for presidential election Reuters
    Iran bars candidates for presidential election

    By Marcus George DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian authorities barred two potentially powerful and disruptive candidates from running in next month's presidential election on Tuesday, ensuring a contest largely among hardliners loyal to the clerical supreme leader. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a veteran companion of the Islamic Republic's founder, a former president and thought potentially sympathetic to reform, was denied a place on the ballot by the Guardian Council of clerics and jurists, state media said. ...

  • Microsoft unveils Xbox One with Spielberg, Activision tie-up Reuters
    Microsoft unveils Xbox One with Spielberg, Activision tie-up

    By Bill Rigby and Malathi Nayak REDMOND, Washington (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp unveiled the "Xbox One" on Tuesday, its first new gaming console in eight years, and its strongest push so far to dominate consumers' living rooms with an array of exclusive media content. The Xbox One took four years to develop and will be the launchpad for a "Halo" live-action video series produced by Steven Spielberg. It will be sold worldwide "later this year," games unit chief Don Mattrick told reporters at an event at the software company's campus near Seattle, without providing details on timing or pricing. ...

  • UK opposition party leader says Google tax behaviour "wrong" Reuters
    UK opposition party leader says Google tax behaviour "wrong"

    By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Google Inc's tax affairs will come under renewed scrutiny in Britain on Wednesday when the leader of the opposition Labour party accuses the Internet company of wrongly going to "extraordinary lengths" to avoid paying tax. In comments designed to politically outflank Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of next month's G8 summit on what has become a high-profile issue, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, will say he is disappointed that Google pays so little tax. "I can't be the only person here who feels disappointed that such a great company as Google ... ...

  • Is Sony un-Japanese enough to entertain change? Reuters
    Is Sony un-Japanese enough to entertain change?

    By Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - Few foreign activist investors have made much headway in forcing change in Japan, where a conservative corporate culture favours long-standing ties with banks, business partners and workers rather than shareholders seeking value. Struggling electronics giant Sony Corp , though, with more foreign and fewer bank shareholders, may prove something of an exception. That's the hope, at least, of Californian billionaire Daniel Loeb, whose Third Point hedge fund has built up a more than 6 percent stake in Sony, making it the group's biggest stockholder. ...

  • Clippers cut ties with head coach Del Negro Reuters
    Clippers cut ties with head coach Del Negro

    REUTERS - The Los Angeles Clippers have decided to part ways with head coach Vinny Del Negro, announcing on Tuesday they will not offer him a new contract to lead the National Basketball Association team. Del Negro compiled a 128-102 record with the Clippers in three seasons, guiding them to the playoffs in 2012 and 2013. The Clippers finished the 2012-13 season with a franchise-high of 56 wins, including a 17-game winning streak, and were fourth-seeded in the Western Conference playoffs before falling 4-2 to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. ...

  • Analysis: New MLS club faces challenge to make mark in New York Reuters

    By Simon Evans MIAMI (Reuters) - For a brief but dazzling spell in the 1970s, New Yorkers fell in love with soccer as Pele and the Cosmos showcased the world's most popular game in a city long dominated by baseball and American football. Now Major League Soccer hopes that a new team, called the New York City Football Club and formed by an alliance of English Premier League club Manchester City and baseball's grandest club the New York Yankees, can not only recapture that excitement but this time, sustain it. ...

  • U.S. tax official at center of scandal won't testify - lawyer Reuters

    By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official at the center of a scandal about the targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny, plans to assert her constitutional right not to answer questions from a congressional committee on Wednesday. "She has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course," Lerner's attorney, William Taylor, wrote on Monday to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is holding hearings into the IRS scandal. ...

  • Delevingne turns down DiCaprio's advances? IANS

    Paris, May 22 (IANS) Model Cara Delevingne reportedly ignored actor Leonardo DiCaprio's advances at the ongoing 66th Cannes International Film Festival.

  • Syria asserts right to respond to Israeli violations IANS

    Damascus, May 22 (IANS) They Syrian government has said that it holds the right to respond to any Israeli violation against its sovereignty.

  • Iran allows eight contenders for presidential election IANS

    Tehran, May 22 (IANS) Iranian legislative body has approved eligibility of eight presidential candidates for the June 14 poll in the country, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

  • Russia to scrap world's biggest n-subs IANS

    Moscow, May 22 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia will decommission and scrap two of the world's largest submarines by 2018, a defence industry source has said.

  • Chennai through to fourth consecutive IPL final IANS

    New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Blistering unbeaten knocks by David Hussey and Suresh Raina took two-time champions Chennai Super Kings to their fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) final in six seasons with a comprehensive 48-run win over Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Tuesday.

  • Miranda Kerr feels good in husband's clothes IANS

    Los Angeles, May 21 (IANS) Supermodel Miranda Kerr likes to wear her husband Orlando Bloom's clothes because it makes her feel closer to him.

  • Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians IANS

    New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Scoreboard of qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Tuesday.

  • IPL: CSK beat Mumbai by 48 runs, reach finals IANS

    New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Chennai Super Kings secured yet another final berth after a convincing 48-run win over Mumbai Indians in qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Tuesday.

  • Oklahoma tornado toll lowered to 24 from 91 IANS

    Washington, May 21 (IANS) As rescuers searched for survivors of Monday's devastating tornado that pulverized a vast swath of the Oklahoma City suburbs, authorities revised the death toll down to 24 from 91. Nine of the fatalities are children.

  • Aam Aadmi Party criticises new CAG's appointment IANS

    New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Tuesday criticized the appointment of former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma as the new Comptroller and Auditor General, accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of accusing of weakening constitutional institutions.

  • UPA losing ground, PM's image taking beating, say opinion polls IANS

    New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) On the eve of the fourth anniversary of UPA-II, opinion polls have not brought any cheer to the government, predicting slide in the ruling alliance's tally amid rising dissatisfaction among large sections of urban voters over its performance.

  • Get Raj, Prithviraj back to make 'Awara' again: Ranbir Kapoor IANS

    Mumbai, May 21 (IANS) Actor Ranbir Kapoor Tuesday said he was not aware of any plans for his father Rishi Kapoor and him to reprise his great-grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor and grandfather Raj Kapoor's roles in "Awara", saying one will have to get them and Nargis back to this world to make the film again.

  • Jessica murder: Court decision on hostile witnesses Wednesday IANS

    New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday is likely to pronounce its verdict whether to prosecute Bollywood actor Shyan Munshi and 18 others on charges of perjury for turning hostile during their deposition in model Jessica Lall's murder trial.

  • Delhi cop run over by truck IANS

    New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) A 40-year-old Delhi Traffic Police constable was killed by a speeding truck here Tuesday morning, police said. The errant truck driver was arrested.

  • Mamata plans to ban online lottery IANS

    Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced Tuesday that the government would ban online lottery "Online lotto".