Argentina is to attempt to forge an alliance with an independent Scotland as part of its campaign to claim to the Falkland Islands, it has been reported.

As Alex Salmond makes plans for a referendum on independence, Argentina is considering sending a delegation of officials to Scotland.

According to The Sun, president Cristina Kirchner’s political aide Carlos Kunkel said yesterday: “We are analysing the possibility of sending a delegation.”

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AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday brought 22 new Catholic churchmen into the elite club of cardinals who will elect his successor, in a greatly simplified ceremony that took account of evidence the 84-year-old pontiff is slowing down.

Benedict presided over a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica to formally create the 22 cardinals, who include the archbishops of New York, Prague, Hong Kong and Toronto as well as the heads of several Vatican offices.

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“At first,” our resident energy enthusiast kicks us off with just such a tale, “the conservative approach was to estimate that the Marcellus wells would be productive for about two-three years and then the decline curve would kick in.

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ABUJA, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Pirates shot dead the captain and the chief engineer on a cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria on Monday, an International Maritime Bureau (IMB) official said, the latest in a string of attacks on vessels off the coast of Africa’s No. 1 oil producer.

“Armed pirates chased and fired upon a drifting bulk carrier. Vessel raised alarm and headed towards Lagos. All crew except the bridge team took shelter in the citadel. Due to the continuous firing the captain and the chief engineer were shot,” a notice on the IMB website said.

The attack. about 110 miles south of the commercial hub and main Nigerian port Lagos, comes two days after pirates on two boats in the same stretch of water fired shots at a different cargo vessel and chased it for 25 minutes before giving up, the website said.

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Bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression) affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health — and that includes many famous people. Long before rumors surfaced about Britney Spears’s mental-health problems, connections were drawn between bipolar disorder and celebrities. The erratic behavior of creative people is often attributed to this condition, since bipolar disorder is characterized by disabling mood swings during which a person goes from a high, manic phase to a low, depressed one. Though it’s difficult to verify if this condition actually crops up more often among artists and celebrities, many famous people, both now and in years past, are thought to be bipolar. Here’s a closer look at ten of them.

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Forbes Russia conducted a poll of the most respected oligarchs in Russia this week. Epic Win did not make the cut.

Ah, the Russian oligarch. One part Bond villain, one part international playboy/film investor throwing the best parties in Monaco.  DirecTV loved these characters so much, they made the fictional Moscovite billionaire Epic Win the face of their ad campaign in 2010.

They’re not without their fair share of detractors. Even within the family of Russia’s oligarchs, there’s a lot of soap opera-style fighting.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin once blamed them for destroying the Russian economy post-communism. Then he learned to like the oligarchs that didn’t have political ambitions.

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Virgil Harms, 84, recently marked his 50th year as mayor of Paoli, Colo. (Joe Amon, Denver Post / December 8, 2011)

By David Kelly, Los Angeles TimesFebruary 11, 2012, 7:48 p.m.

In these increasingly partisan times, Mayor Virgil Harms, a lifelong Democrat in a sea of Republicans, recently celebrated half a century in office, a job he’s won without spending a dime or sullying a reputation.

Having no opponent, of course, helps.

“I suppose if they didn’t want me, they’d tell me,” said the 84-year-old farmer and chief executive of Paoli, a tiny town near the Nebraska border. “If someone else wanted the job, I’d let them have it.”

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By Peter Grier, Staff writer / February 12, 2012

Abraham Lincoln may be the greatest of all US presidents. He ended slavery, won the Civil War, and ensured that the United States would remain united in the modern world. His face is printed on the five-dollar bill and stamped on the penny. The Lincoln Memorial is one of the nation’s iconic sites.

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2:24am UK, Monday February 13, 2012

James Matthews, Scotland correspondent

Talks aimed at thrashing out the arrangements for a referendum on Scottish independence will be held later.

The Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond will meet in Edinburgh.

It is the first of a series of discussions designed to resolve disagreements on how the ballot should proceed.

Prime Minister David Cameron is also due to hold a meeting with Mr Salmond over the coming days.

There are a number of key outstanding differences between the Holyrood and Westminster.

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