Disaster_Accident

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Vistors to the Mall (from left) Andy Dimitriou of Chicago, Judy Franklin of Las Vegas and her sister Janice Hoffman of Chicago, and Michael Franklin of Las Vegas walk up to a temporary barrier to get a closer look at the closed National Monument. as the National Park Service announces that Perini Management Services, Inc. of Framingham, Mass. will be the contractor tasked with repairing the earthquake damage to the Washington Monument at a press conference, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, September 26, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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National Park Service Superintendent Bob Vogel announces details Wednesday for the repairs on the earthquake-damaged Washington Monument. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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associated press Traffic is slow at a Staples office supply store in Miami. Staples is speeding up the closure of more than a dozen U.S. stores and plans to close 45 stores in Europe.

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Residents help battle the Temprano fire in Murrieta, Calif., near Warm Springs Park and Preserve on Sept. 23, 2012. The Southern California wildfires have destroyed 20 homes and threatened several hundred more in rural areas. (Associated Press/The Press-Enterprise, Frank Bellino)

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Law enforcement authorities work at the site of a Sept. 22, 2012, crash where a heavily drunk driver killed seven people at a bus stop in Moscow. Five orphaned teens were waiting for a bus with their guardians when a car careened into them, killing all seven. (Associated Press)

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Bodies of climbers killed in an avalanche at Mount Manaslu lie covered with numbers at the Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital in Katmandu, Nepal, on Sept. 24, 2012. The avalanche killed at least nine mountaineers and injured others. (Associated Press)

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“President Obama has spent his entire term waging a regulatory war of red tape and government mandates on coal miners, coal jobs and the millions of people who rely on low-cost coal-fired electricity.” - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, Washington Republican. (Associated Press)

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“Look!” signs at 110 of New York City’s most dangerous crosswalks remind distracted pedestrians to look both ways before stepping off the curb. It’s all an effort to cut down the number of vehicle-pedestrian accidents in the city. (Associated Press)

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A mountain climber (center) injured in an avalanche is rescued at the base camp on Mount Manaslu in northern Nepal on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. The avalanche swept away climbers on a Himalayan peak and left at least nine dead and six others missing, officials said. (AP Photo/Simrik Air)

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta laughs Sept. 21, 2012, with Auckland War Memorial Museum director Roy Clare (left) in an elevator at the museum in Auckland, New Zealand, after presenting medals to New Zealand Defense Force Service members for their service in Afghanistan. (Associated Press)