Safety concerns cloud S. Korea nuclear drive

GORI, South Korea: South Korea has big plans to become a major nuclear energy player, but they are unfolding at a time when the global industry is under intense scrutiny after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.And its ambitions have not been helped by a series of domestic scandals and forced reactor shutdowns in 2012 that rattled public confidence and exposed a glaring lack of regulatory transparency.Around...

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Doomed balloon riders nearly landed, then shot upward

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Conflicting reports emerge over company's safety recordA British passenger and the pilot are hospitalizedThe balloon carried tourists from the UK, Hong Kong, Japan, France and HungaryA gas explosion caused the balloon to fall about 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet)Were you there? Have you taken such a trip before in Egypt? Send us your experiences.(CNN) -- The view from above southern...

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Kelly wins Dem. nod for ex-Rep. Jackson Jr.'s seat

CHICAGO Former Illinois legislator Robin Kelly captured the Democratic nomination Tuesday in the race to replace disgraced ex-U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., after a truncated campaign season where she got a boost from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC. The nomination all but assures that she'll sail through the April 9 general election and head to Washington, because the district is...

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Inside Organized Retail Crime Raids

We used to call it shoplifting, but these days the foot soldiers of retail crime rings are known as boosters. Police even have an acronym for these operations: ORC, which stands for Organized Retail Crime."It's just like a Fortune 500 company," said Sergeant Eric Lee of the Gardena Police Department in Gardena, Calif. "All of this is just organized."Watch the full story on "Nightline"...

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Vatican 'Gay lobby'? Probably not

STORY HIGHLIGHTSBenedict XVI not stepping down under pressure from 'gay lobby,' Allen saysAllen: Benedict is a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government However, he says, much of the pope's time has been spent putting out firesEditor's note: John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.(CNN) -- Suffice...

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World powers, Iran bid to break nuclear stalemate

ALMATY, Kazakhstan: World powers meet negotiators from Iran in Kazakhstan on Tuesday in the hope of reaching a breakthrough in the decade-long crisis over its nuclear programme, despite low expectations after years of dashed hopes.They are hoping to coax concessions out of Iran by advancing a new offer but Tehran has already doused expectations by installing new centrifuges and saying...

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Senate Republican: Pentagon overstating forced cuts

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the overall amount of defense spending will actually still rise despite the cuts.STORY HIGHLIGHTSTexas senator believes cuts may not be as bad for defense as the Pentagon saysJohn Cornyn could face criticism from fellow Republicans with GOP strong on defensePentagon would absorb half of the automatic, government-wide spending cutsCuts due to take effect on Friday absent...

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Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at 96

C. Everett Koop, who raised the profile of the surgeon general by riveting America's attention on the then-emerging disease known as AIDS and by railing against smoking, has died in New Hampshire at age 96. The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth said in a release that Koop died peacefully in his home in Hanover on Monday. They did not disclose a cause of death Koop wielded the previously low-profile...

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Americans Targeted for Allegedly Running Underage Prostitution in Philippines

Arthur Benjamin is sitting at the edge of a small stage, wearing a lavender Hawaiian shirt and nursing a bottle of San Miguel Light beer. The 6-foot-6 mustachioed Texan lazily watches the half dozen or so girls dancing rather unenergetically around the stage's pole."I forgot your gift again, it's in the car," Benjamin says to one of the girls on stage, shouting above the pop music...

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Vatican 'Gay lobby'? Probably not

STORY HIGHLIGHTSBenedict XVI not stepping down under pressure from 'gay lobby,' Allen saysAllen: Benedict is a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government However, he says, much of the pope's time has been spent putting out firesEditor's note: John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.(CNN) -- Suffice...

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