Needy families on public assistance scheme to get higher payouts

SINGAPORE: From April, Public Assistance (PA) recipients can look forward to a higher level of assistance that is flexible and customised to their needs. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will enhance the PA scheme by providing additional assistance, other than a higher direct cash handout.The change will mainly benefit those with special or once-off needs.For example,...

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Do Not Track privacy bill reintroduced in Senate

Senator Jay RockefellerA new bill intended to grant more privacy protections to Internet users was introduced today by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller. Dubbed "Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2013," the bill would make it law for all Web browsers, online companies, and app makers to give users a choice of opting out of being tracked online, according to The New York Times. Advertisers and data brokers commonly...

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Federal budget cuts free illegal immigrants from detention

(CBS News) -- The federal budget cuts expected to take effect this Friday are not simple. For example, hundreds of illegal immigrants are being released from detention because the administration says it can't afford to keep them. Until recently, Fredi Alcazar was one of those detained. An illegal immigrant from Mexico, Alcazar spent a month in jail after a traffic stop near Atlanta last December....

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Arias Prosecutor Too Combative, Experts Say

He has barked, yelled, been sarcastic and demanded answers from accused murderer Jodi Arias this week.And in doing so, prosecutor Juan Martinez and his aggressive antics may be turning off the jury he is hoping to convince that Arias killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in June 2008, experts told ABCNews.com today."Martinez is his own worst enemy," Mel McDonald, a prominent...

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New SDPC mark for cigarettes from 1 March

SINGAPORE: From 1 March, cigarettes sold in Singapore which do not bear the new Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarette (SDPC) mark will be deemed duty-unpaid and illegal.The new SDPC mark features a series of vertical bars around the cigarette stick.The Singapore Customs said this allows enforcement officers and the public to easily differentiate duty-paid cigarettes from duty-unpaid or contraband...

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Firefox and Tizen make a move for Android

Likely by Samsung's design, the Tizen OS looks reminiscent of Android.(Credit:CBS Interactive)Alongside a myriad of new tablets and phones, Mobile World Congress 2013 also gave us our first real look at Mozilla's Firefox OS and the Samsung and Intel collaboration, Tizen OS. While Android might dominate the smartphone landscape today, it's only five years old. I can recall plenty of headlines in 2007...

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Debate over Voting Rights Act changes in Ala.

(CBS News) -- On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Both sides agree the south have changed in the past half-century. At issue is, has it changed enough? In Shelby County, Alabama, the question is whether the state's racist past must forever define it. (Watch: Voting Rights Act challengers take aim at "Section 5", below) Fifty years ago,...

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Arias Liked Some Kinky Sex, She Admits

Though accused murderer Jodi Arias said she sometimes felt "like a prostitute" at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, she admitted today that she often enjoyed their sex life and even suggested sex acts they could try.Prosecutor Juan Martinez, after a day of aggressive questioning and bickering with Arias, asked her about her own suggestions for her sex life with...

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Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's stunned political parties searched for a way forward on Tuesday after an inconclusive election gave none of them a parliamentary majority and threatened prolonged instability and a renewal of the European financial crisis. The results, notably the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo, left the center-left bloc with a majority...

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Yahoo! fuels fresh debate on telecommuting

WASHINGTON: Telecommuting, a growing trend in the US workplace, is coming under fresh scrutiny following news that Yahoo! is curbing the practice.The trend of working from home has been gaining steam for decades, as part of a workplace evolution which allows greater family-work balance and saves energy and commuting costs.An internal Yahoo! memo from chief executive Marissa Meyer posted...

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