Lone Star College Evacuated After Shots Fired

A shooting on the campus of Lone Star College in Houston, Texas, this afternoon caused the school to be locked down and evacuated while police searched for suspects.The college said today that shots were fired on the campus and at least two people were shot. Two individuals with multiple gunshot wounds are in serious condition at Ben Taub Hospital, according to ABC News affiliate...

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Algeria says 37 foreigners died in siege led by Canadian

ALGIERS (Reuters) - A total of 37 foreigners and an Algerian died at a desert gas plant and five are still missing after a four-day hostage-taking coordinated by a Canadian gunman, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said on Monday. Sellal also told a news conference that 29 Islamists had been killed in the siege, which Algerian forces ended by storming the plant on Saturday, and...

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Obama issues inaugural call for unity, equality

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama issued a impassioned call for equality and national unity as he was inaugurated for a second term Monday, warning political "absolutism" must not thwart renewal and change.Obama was publicly sworn in for another four White House years before a flag waving crowd of hundreds of thousands on Washington's National Mall. Then he delivered an address steeped...

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Over 50% primary students will attend private schools by 2020, reveals survey

NAGPUR: A national survey has revealed that over 50% of students will pay for primary education by the year 2020. NGO Pratham has cited annual rise in private school admissions as a measure for reaching this conclusion. Their Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is one of the country's most respected and valued surveys. The report states that "we have believed for a long time -and this is the...

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President Obama Calls for 'Collective Action'

Invoking the nation's founding values, President Obama marked the start of his second term today with a sweeping call for "collective action" to confront the economic and social challenges of America's present and future."That is our generation's task, to make these words, these rights, these values -- of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- real for every American,"...

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Veteran jihadist claims bloody Algeria siege for al Qaeda

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - A veteran Islamist fighter claimed responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for the Algerian hostage crisis, a regional website reported on Sunday, tying the bloody desert siege to France's intervention across the Sahara in Mali. Algeria said it expected to raise its preliminary death tolls of 23 hostages and 32 militants killed in the four-day siege...

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French launches "total reconquest" of Mali's north

BAMAKO: French troops on Sunday consolidated gains in Mali's Islamist-held north as Paris said the aim was its "total reconquest" and Russia, Canada and Germany offered vital aid for the offensive.The French advance towards the jihadist strongholds came amid reports that the Al-Qaeda linked militants were abandoning some of their positions and converging on the mountainous region of Kidal,...

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Qadri draws mixed reactions from Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri, the cleric who has been creating waves in Pakistan by challenging the government with his 'long march', has a love-hate relation with Hyderabadis with followers who swear by him as a 'reformer' and others who bitterly criticise him for allegedly siding with BJP's Narendra Modi, the Gujarat chief minister. Qadri last year said Muslims in Gujarat should 'forget...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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President Obama Sworn In for Second Term

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden today officially embarked on their second term, taking the Constitutionally mandated oath of office in two separate private ceremonies inside their homes.Shortly before noon in the Blue Room of the White House, Obama raised his right hand, with his left on a family Bible, reciting the oath administrated by Chief Justice John...

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