Syria backs plan for talks to end conflict

DAMASCUS: Syria's government on Monday welcomed any initiative for talks to end bloodshed in the country, after UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said he had a peace plan acceptable to world powers.The Damascus regime's stand, expressed by Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi, came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity led by Brahimi to find ways to end the 21-month conflict.But the violence...

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Online services for Madden NFL 11, others get the ax

Electronic Arts has once again announced that a wide array of its games will soon no longer be playable online.The company has updated its Online Service Updates page to announce that Madden NFL 11 for thePlayStation 3,Xbox 360, andWii will lose its online playability on January 11. FIFA Soccer 11, NBA Live 10, and NHL 11 are among the other titles that will no longer be playable. EA has several...

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Pregnant U.S. woman missing in Afghanistan

KABUL The father of a pregnant American woman missing in Afghanistan has broken his silence over her disappearance to make a desperate plea for her safe return. James Coleman, father of 27-year-old Caitlan Coleman, told The Associated Press his daughter was traveling with her Canadian husband when she vanished in early October. The last communication came from Caitlan's husband, Josh, who said...

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Deal or No Deal, 'Cliff' Debate Will Linger Into 2013

Dec 31, 2012 6:00am AP Photo/ Evan VucciAnalysisThe fiscal cliff is just the beginning.Regardless of whether Democrats and Republicans reach some kind of last-minute bargain to avoid the worst effects of tax hikes and spending cuts, the disaster that has been the fiscal cliff negotiations has broad implications for the Washington agenda in 2013 and beyond.The tone...

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Assad's forces battle to retake Damascus suburb

AMMAN (Reuters) - Elite Syrian government troops backed by tanks battled on Monday to recapture a strategic Damascus suburb from rebels who have advanced within striking distance of the center of Syria's capital. Five people, including a child, died from army rocket fire that hit the Daraya suburb during the fighting, opposition activists said. Daraya is part of a semi-circle of Sunni...

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Hotel occupancy rates rise during festive period

SINGAPORE: Despite the grim economic outlook, occupancy rates of hotels and budget hostels rose during the festive period this year. Hotels which Channel NewsAsia spoke to say on average, room occupancy rates are more than 90 per cent.Tan Ningxi, marketing communications manager at Royal Plaza on Scotts said: "During this festive period, our business travellers will be home for the holidays....

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Windows 8 wrestles with PC's legacy

I spend precious little time in Metro when using a traditional laptop.(Credit:Microsoft)I'm by no means the first one to say this butWindows 8 and older PCs make an odd couple. But let me back up for a second. Before the release of Windows 8 on October 26, I tested Windows 8 ontablets only, such as the Intel-based Samsung slate that Microsoft sold in its stores. And I was impressed with Metro. That...

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Fifth victim of Russia plane crash dies

Russian police investigators and emergency services teams work at the Tu-204 jet crash site near the Vnukovo airport outside Moscow on December 29, 2012. Four people were killed and four were injured when a Russian-made airliner overshot a runway on landing at a Moscow airport and crashed onto a nearby highway, officials said. / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images MOSCOW Investigators on Sunday...

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NYC Subway Pusher Held For Hate-Crime Murder

A woman who allegedly told New York City police she pushed a man onto the subway tracks because she hated Hindus and Muslims has been charged with murder as a hate crime.Erica Menendez, 31, allegedly told police that she "pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up."Menendez...

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Body of India rape victim cremated in New Delhi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The body of a woman, whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India, arrived back in New Delhi on Sunday and was cremated at a private ceremony. Scuffles broke out in central Delhi between police and protesters who say the government is doing too little to protect women. But the 2,000-strong rally was confined to...

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Skiing: Fenninger wins women's World Cup giant slalom

SEMMERING, Austria: Austria's Anna Fenninger won the women's World Cup giant slalom on Friday going fastest on both legs of the race.She was quickest on the first leg 00.56 seconds ahead of Tessa Worley of France and 00.90 second clear of overall World Cup leader Tina Maze of Slovenia.With gusting winds and poor visibility making the going tough for all the skiers, Maze, who had won four...

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Snapchat, Poke videos don't quite disappear as promised

Snapchat videos vanish after a few seconds, at least that's how it's supposed to work.(Credit:Snapchat)Snapchat and Poke videos shared with other people are supposed to go poof after a few seconds, but their vanishing act isn't exactly working.Snapchat and Facebook's Poke apps are designed for folks who want to share photos and videos with their socially-networked friends. The appeal of both apps...

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Putin signs bill barring adoptions of Russian kids by Americans

Updated 6:45 a.m. EST MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children, part of a harsh response to a U.S. law targeting Russians deemed to be human rights violators. Although some top Russian officials, including the foreign minister, openly opposed the bill and Putin himself had been noncommittal about it last week, he signed it less than...

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Man Killed After Being Pushed in Front of NY Subway

Detectives in New York are searching for a female suspect who fled a subway station after a man was fatally pushed in front of a train on an elevated platform in Queens, N.Y.At 8:04 p.m. on Thursday an unnamed man was standing on the northbound platform at 40th Street and Queens Blvd., waiting for the 7 train. Witnesses told police that a woman was walking back and forth on...

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Syria opposition leader rejects Moscow invitation

ALEPPO PROVINCE, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition leader has rejected an invitation from Russia for peace talks, dealing another blow to international hopes that diplomacy can be resurrected to end a 21-month civil war. Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's main international protector, said on Friday it had sent an invitation for a visit to Moaz Alkhatib, whose six-week-old...

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Second Morsi minister resigns in Egypt

CAIRO: Egypt's legal and parliamentary affairs minister announced his resignation on Thursday, the day after President Mohamed Morsi vowed a government reshuffle to tackle the country's troubled economy.Mohammed Mahsoub said he was stepping down because "many policies and efforts contradict my personal convictions," according to his letter published on the Facebook page belonging to a...

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Samsung's Galaxy Note to get Android 4.1 Premium Suite

Owners of the originalGalaxy Note can soon look forward to a host of new features courtesy of Samsung'sAndroid 4.1 Premium Suite.Touted on the Galaxy Note Web page, the upgrade will deliver Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, to the original Note. But the Premium Suite kicks in several of its own options.A Multi Window feature lets you view and perform multiple tasks on the same screen. A Popup Note helps...

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Former President Bush stays in ICU, fever lingers

(CBS News) Former President George H.W. Bush remains in the intensive care unit of Houston's Methodist Hospital on Thursday, after battling a bronchitis-like cough and fever for over a month. Doctors say his condition is improving since he suffered a setback on Christmas Day but also say they are having trouble keeping the former president's fever under control. He was reportedly put on a liquid...

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Newtown Shooter's DNA to Be Studied

Geneticists have been asked to study the DNA of Adam Lanza, the Connecticut man whose shooting rampage killed 27 people, including an entire first grade class.The study, which experts believe may be the first of its kind, is expected to be looking for abnormalities or mutations in Lanza's DNA.Connecticut Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver has reached out to University of Connecticut's...

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Peace envoy Brahimi, Syria diplomats in Moscow talks

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will host Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi this week after Syrian officials held talks in Moscow on Thursday as part of a diplomatic drive to try to agree a plan to end the 21-month-old conflict, Russia's foreign ministry said. Talks have moved to Moscow, a long-time Syria ally, after a flurry of meetings Brahimi held in Damascus this week, but the international...

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Low-cost carriers to continue to drive growth in aviation industry: analysts

SINGAPORE : Low-cost carriers are driving growth in the aviation industry this year, accounting for a billion dollar increase in the profits forecast for airlines in 2012. And Singapore Airlines (SIA) has latched on to the trend with its newly-minted low-cost carrier Scoot, in a bid to remain competitive. Low-cost carriers have continued to enjoy healthy profits, with the number of economy...

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HTC's global One S gets Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean

Android 4.1.1, also known as Jelly Bean, will finally make its way to some global version of the HTC One S. It's still unclear when the U.S. version of theOne S, sold by T-Mobile USA, will get the update. PocketNow was the first to pick up on the new software release. HTC phones have been slow to get the latest version of Android, partly because the company has chosen to heavily customize their products...

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Obama cuts Hawaii trip short to address "fiscal cliff"

KAILUA, Hawaii President Barack Obama is cutting short his traditional Christmas holiday in Hawaii to return to Washington as lawmakers consider how to prevent the economy from going over the so-called fiscal cliff, the White House said Tuesday. Obama will fly back to the nation's capital Wednesday night, just five days after arriving in Hawaii, White House officials said. In the past, the president's...

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Storms Spawn 34 Tornado Reports Across South

Severe Christmas day weather tore across the deep South, spinning off 34 possible tornadoes and killing at least three people in its path, while extreme weather is forecast throughout today for parts of the East Coast.The storm first pounded Texas, then touched down in Louisiana and blasted through homes in Mississippi. In Mobile, Ala., a wide funnel cloud was barreled across...

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Syria to discuss Brahimi proposals with Russia

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dispatched a senior diplomat to Moscow on Wednesday to discuss proposals made by envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to end the conflict convulsing his country, Syrian and Lebanese sources said. Brahimi, who met Assad on Monday as part of a series of planned talks with Syrian officials and dissidents in Damascus this week, is trying to arrange a peaceful...

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Thai court jails ex-trader over royal health web rumours

BANGKOK: A Thai court jailed a former equity trader for four years on Tuesday for posting false Internet messages about the king's health that sent stocks plunging in 2009, an official said.Katha Pajariyapong, 39, was found guilty of three counts of breaching the kingdom's controversial computer crime laws in messages posted under his username on the Sameskybooks.org Internet forum.The...

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LG's 2013 home theater line doubles down on sound bars, Bluetooth speakers

CES 2013 is still weeks away, but LG is getting a jump on the show by announcing its full line of home theater products on Christmas Day. Its home audio offerings are anchored by four new sound bar models, with all but the entry-level NB2030A featuring built-in Bluetooth and a wireless subwoofer. The top two models come in a new, larger size, designed to match 47-inch TVs, which reflects the rising...

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Pope decries slaughter of "defenseless" in Syria

VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace to the world Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria and urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate. Delivering the Vatican's traditional Christmas day message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful...

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