‘Argo’ wins best picture on shared Oscars night
Ben Affleck’s Iran hostage drama “Argo” won the
coveted best film Oscar on Sunday, as other key prizes were shared
among several films at the 85th Academy Awards, Hollywood’s biggest
night. Taiwan-born Ang Lee won best director for spectacular 3D
fantasy “Life of Pi,” while Daniel Day-Lewis won a record third best
actor trophy for “Lincoln” and Jennifer Lawrence was crowned best
actress for “Silver Linings Playbook.”
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Karzai orders withdrawal of US special forces from two provinces
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered the
withdrawal of US Special Forces from Wardak and Logar provinces
within two weeks, accusing them of fuelling “insecurity and
instability.” “In today's national security council meeting, Afghan
President Hamid Karzai ordered the ministry of defense to kick out
the US Special Forces from Wardak and Logar provinces within two
weeks,” presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said during a press
conference on Sunday. Faizi added that US forces and “illegal armed
groups created by them” were causing “insecurity and instability”
and harassing local people in the two provinces.
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Found: Prehistoric Indian Ocean mini-continent
Scientists said Sunday they had found traces of
a micro-continent hidden underneath the Indian Ocean island of
Mauritius. The slab, dubbed Mauritia, was probably formed around
61-83 million years ago after Madagascar split from India, but
eventually broke up and became smothered by thick lava deposits,
they said. In a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience,
scientists analysed beach sand on Mauritius that contained ancient
zircons between 660 million and about two billion years old.
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