Foreign Minister Blames Sanctions for Syria’s Troubles

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Receiving a high-level United Nations delegation on Saturday in Damascus, Syria’s foreign minister blamed international sanctions for his country’s problems and called on the United Nations to help lift the measures, which were imposed to punish the government for its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that spiraled into armed conflict. Government forces continued airstrikes...

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Jenna von Oy Keeps Newtown Hometown In Her Prayers

By Jenna von Oy 12/15/2012 at 03:00 PM EST My husband Brad and I christened our daughter Gray at St. Rose of Lima Courtesy of Jenna Von Oy Every school shooting I've ever heard about has been exceedingly heartbreaking and has stirred feelings of both rage and sorrow in me. Each one is tragic...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered...

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Actor decapitated student, killed girlfriend, DA alleges

Clinging to keepsakes and memories more than two years after their children were killed, the parents of two slain Orange Coast College students say the pain of reliving the details of their deaths in court can't match their desire for justice.On Thursday, the families of Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23, and Samuel Herr, 26, sat in Orange County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing to determine...

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Europe Court Finds Violation in C.I.A. Rendition

BERLIN — A German man who was mistaken for a terrorist and abducted nine years ago won a measure of redress on Thursday when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that his rights had been violated and confirmed his account that he had been seized by Macedonia, handed over to the C.I.A., brutalized and detained for months in Afghanistan. In a unanimous ruling, the 17-judge panel, based...

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Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 might not launch until 2014

Nintendo (NTDOY) says its kickstarted the next generation of video game consoles with the Wii U. But considering its graphics and processing power are comparable to Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3, hardcore gamers are holding out for the next Xbox, tentatively dubbed “Xbox 720,” and next-generation PlayStation, tentatively called...

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President Obama Cries While Speaking About Children Killed in Connecticut Shooting

By Rennie Dyball 12/14/2012 at 03:45 PM EST President Barack Obama on Dec. 14 Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty He addressed the nation as a father himself. President Barack Obama cried as he shared his condolences about the horrific Connecticut elementary school shooting,...

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APNewsBreak: Texas cancer probe draws NCI scrutiny

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The National Cancer Institute confirmed Friday that federal officials are taking a closer look at a troubled $3 billion cancer-fighting effort in Texas that is under a criminal investigation over a lucrative taxpayer-funded grant awarded by the state agency.The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has coveted status as an NCI-approved funding entity — an exclusive...

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Man sought to videotape girlfriend's murder for Christmas, DA says

A south Orange County man who solicited his ex-girlfriend's murder and asked that the killing be videotaped so he could watch it on Christmas was sentenced Thursday to 31 years to life in state prison. Mark Alan Jarosik, a Ladera Ranch resident, was in custody at the time of the murder solicitation, being held on suspicion of raping his former girlfriend.Jarosik, 46, was found guilty in...

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Avigdor Lieberman of Israel Charged With Breach of Trust

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's powerful foreign minister was charged Thursday with breach of trust for actions that allegedly compromised a criminal investigation into his business dealings, throwing the country's election campaign into disarray just weeks before the vote. While Avigdor Lieberman was cleared of more serious allegations against him, the indictment sparked immediate calls for the...

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Selling flak jackets in the cyberwars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove of classified documents, some see a lawless Internet.But Matthew Prince, chief executive at CloudFlare, a little-known Internet start-up that serves some of the Web’s most controversial characters, sees a business...

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The X Factor: Who Stole the Show at the Semi-Finals?

TV Watch The X Factor By Tim Nudd 12/13/2012 at 03:30 PM EST Carly Rose Sonenclar, Emblem3, Tate Stevens and Fifth Harmony Ray Mickshaw/FOX (4) There may not be a front-runner following Wednesday's semi-finals on The X Factor, but there does seem to be a weakest...

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'Evil' actor killed college students, girlfriend says

A woman authorities say helped her then-fiance after he allegedly killed two people said at a news conference Tuesday night that she is "completely innocent." Rachel Mae Buffett, 25, addressed the media at her brother's Long Beach wine bar flanked by her brothers, sister and mother. She declared her innocence and vowed to assist Costa Mesa police in their ongoing investigation into the...

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Most Googled in 2012: Whitney, PSY, Sandy

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The world’s attention wavered between the tragic and the silly in 2012, and along the way, millions of people searched the Web to find out about a royal princess, the latest iPad, and a record-breaking skydiver.Whitney Houston was the “top trending” search of the year, according to Google Inc.’s year-end “zeitgeist” report. Google‘s 12th annual roundup is “an in-depth look at the...

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Prince William Attends The Hobbit Premiere Without Kate

By Simon Perry 12/12/2012 at 03:40 PM EST With wife Kate resting as she copes with her pregnancy illness, Prince William stepped out solo on Wednesday evening for the premiere of The Hobbit in London.The dashing young royal told guests at the special screening of the tale from Middle Earth that Kate would have "loved" to have attended the...

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Congress examines science behind HGH test for NFL

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee has opened a hearing to examine the science behind a human growth hormone test the NFL wants to start using on its players.Nearly two full seasons have passed since the league and the players' union signed a labor deal that set the stage for HGH testing.The NFL Players Association won't concede the validity of a test that's used by Olympic sports and Major...

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Doctor caught with 1,000 child porn images, police say

A Santa Ana foot doctor was arrested Tuesday on a warrant accusing him of possessing more than 1,000 images of child pornography on his company computer. Dr. Pete Thomas, 58, of Coastline Podiatry in Santa Ana, surrendered to a judge Tuesday and was booked into Santa Ana jail before being released on $50,000 bail, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. The images were first discovered...

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Afghan Army Still Needs Support, Pentagon Says

WASHINGTON — As President Obama considers how quickly to withdraw the remaining 68,000 American troops in Afghanistan and turn over the war to Afghan security forces, a bleak new Pentagon report has found that only one of the Afghan National Army’s 23 brigades is able to operate independently without air or other military support from the United States and NATO partners. The report, released...

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Web host Go Daddy appoints former Yahoo executive as CEO

(Reuters) – Go Daddy, one of the world’s biggest Internet hosting firms, appointed Yahoo Inc‘s former Chief Product Officer Blake Irving as chief executive.He will take over from interim CEO Scott Wagner on January 7. Irving left Yahoo, where he headed a centralized products group that straddled several client types, on April 27.“Blake Irving’s deep technology experience and his history of developing...

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Man Builds Full-Scale Replica of Noah's Ark

People Pets By Stephen M. Silverman 12/11/2012 at 02:15 PM EST Johan Huibers and his ark Peter Dejong/AP He may have trouble finding two animals of every kind, but Johan Huibers of the Netherlands isn't one to be dissuaded.After 20 years, the professional builder...

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APNewsBreak: DA investigating Texas cancer agency

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas prosecutor responsible for investigating public corruption among state officials said Tuesday that he has opened an investigation into the state's troubled $3 billion cancer-fighting agency.Gregg Cox, director of the Travis County district attorney's public integrity unit, told The Associated Press that an investigation has begun into the Cancer Prevention and Research...

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Actor's girlfriend says he killed, dismembered college students

Hours before he played the romantic lead in a community theater play opposite his real-life fiancee, authorities allege Daniel Patrick Wozniak shot and killed his neighbor.Not long after that evening’s performance, he slipped out of the Costa Mesa apartment he shared with his then-fiancee, Rachel Buffett, 25, and killed a second person , according to police, prosecutors and Buffett's account...

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Changing of the Guard: Signals of a More Open Economy in China

Carlos Barria/ReutersIn November, Xi Jinping made his official debut as party chief at the 18th party congress, which military officers attended. BEIJING — In a strong signal of support for greater market-oriented economic policies, Xi Jinping, the new head of the Communist Party, made a visit over the weekend to the special economic zone of Shenzhen in south China, which has stood as a symbol of...

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Karina Smirnoff Appears on Don't Trust the B-- in Apt. 23

She's acting with the stars of Don't Trust the B–– in Apt. 23!Dancing with the Stars pro Karina Smirnoff, who recently made it to week nine with Apolo Ohno in the all-stars season, will appear an upcoming episode of the ABC sitcom. On the show, James Van Der Beek is participating in Smirnoff's popular televised ballroom dance competition. And he's up against Smirnoff and her partner, Dean Cain, who's...

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Surprise: New insurance fee in health overhaul law

WASHINGTON (AP) — Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed...

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