Arab League chief says Palestinians to petition UN

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby says two decades of talks with Israel have been “a waste of time” and that Palestinians will soon take a new statehood bid to the U.N.“We will return to the U.N. Security Council,” he said in Ramallah Saturday after meeting Palestinian officials. “Palestine will be cooperating with Arab and EU countries to change the equation (in the peace...

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Facebook’s SnapChat Intimidator Was Great for SnapChat’s Business

This probably isn’t the outcome Facebook was hoping for. After Facebook created Poke, its very obvious SnapChat intimidator, the rival app saw a big boost in numbers. RELATED: Facebook’s SnapChat-Style Sexting App Is Called Poke (Seriously)The people over at Bloomberg Businessweek looked at the hard numbers and concluded (with charts!) that SnapChat saw a huge uptick in attention after Facebook...

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Praying Hitler in ex-Warsaw ghetto sparks emotion

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A statue of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees is on display in the former Warsaw Ghetto, the place where so many Jews were killed or sent to their deaths by Hitler’s regime, and it is provoking mixed reactions.The work, “HIM” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, has drawn many visitors since it was installed last month. It is visible only from a distance, and the artist doesn’t...

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Analysis: After “fiscal cliff” dive, more battles, new cliffs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Whether or not the “fiscal cliff” impasse is broken before the New Year’s Eve deadline, there will be no post-cliff peace in Washington.With the political climate toxic in Congress as the cliff’s steep tax hikes and spending cuts approach, other partisan fights loom, all over the issue that has paralyzed the capital for the past two years: federal spending.The first will come...

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Senate leaders work to avoid New Year's fiscal cliff

By Richard Cowan and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:22pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators burrowed into their offices on Saturday to see if they could stop the U.S. economy from falling off of a "fiscal cliff" in just three days when the biggest tax increases ever to hit Americans in one shot are scheduled to begin.Aides...

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2 arrested after Guinea treasury chief killed

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Officials in the West African nation of Guinea say they’ve arrested two suspects in the case of the killing of the country’s treasury chief, who was shot to death nearly two months ago.Authorities paraded the pair in front of journalists Friday. Aissatou Boiro was killed as she was driving home. She had launched an investigation into the loss of 13 million francs ($ 1.8 million)...

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It’s Easy to Save Videos From Facebook Poke Permanently

Apps like Snapchat and Facebook Poke let users send short messages, photos or videos that automatically self-destruct after a few seconds. However, it’s actually very easy for a recipient to save some of those messages permanently — and without the sender knowing.Both apps will alert the sender if the recipient takes a screengrab of whatever was sent, of course, but by connecting your phone to a PC...

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Fans to join Beyonce onstage at Super Bowl

NEW YORK (AP) — All the single ladies — and fellas — will have a chance to join Beyonce onstage at the upcoming Super Bowl.Pepsi announced Friday that 100 fans will hit the stage when the Grammy-winning diva performs on Feb. 3 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. A contest that kicks off Saturday will allow fans to submit photos of themselves in various poses, including head bopping, feet...

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India gang rape victim dies in Singapore hospital

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An Indian woman whose gang rape in New Delhi triggered violent protests died of her injuries on Saturday in a Singapore hospital, bringing a security lockdown in Delhi and recognition from India‘s prime minister that social change is needed.The Indian capital braced for a new wave of protests, closing metro stations and banning vehicles from the city centre district...

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Obama ‘optimistic’ Senate leaders will reach fiscal cliff deal this weekend

(Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)Following talks with congressional leaders that yielded no news of  a "fiscal cliff" agreement, President Barack Obama on Friday evening pressured lawmakers to reach a deal this weekend as the public's patience wears thin."America wonders why it is that in this town for some reason they can't get stuff done in an organized timetable, why everything always has to wait for...

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China tightening controls on Internet

BEIJING (AP) — China‘s new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.The measures suggest China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November share their predecessors’ anxiety about the Internet’s potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their...

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8 Ways to Keep Your Screens Looking Brand New

1. Toddy Gear Smart ClothsToddy Gear brings coutre to screen cleaning with its line of Smart Cloths. Elegantly designed with dual-sided 100% microfiber cleaning surfaces, these are more than just cleaning tools — they’re a fashion statement. $ 14.99 Cleaning Pro Tip: Press gently when cleaning screens, LCD monitors in particular, because too much pressure can damage pixels or cause them to burn out...

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Elvis Presley, The Beatles top list of most-forged autographs

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Elvis Presley and The Beatles top the list of most-forged celebrity signatures in 2012, with less than half of their autographs for sale certified as genuine, memorabilia authenticators PSA/DNA said on Thursday.The King and The Fab Four British rockers, who topped the list two years ago when it was last released, joined notable figures such as former U.S. President John F....

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Former President George H.W. Bush remains in intensive care

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Former President George H.W. Bush remained in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital on Thursday, but his longtime chief of staff issued a reassuring message, urging the media and the public to “put the harps back in the closet.”Bush, 88, a Republican who during his one term in office led a coalition of nations that ejected Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, was admitted...

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Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf dies

H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the retired general credited with leading U.S.-allied forces to a victory in the first Gulf War, has died at age 78, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News.He died today in Tampa, Fla., a U.S. official told the Associated Press.Schwarzkopf, sometimes called "Stormin' Norman" because of his temper, actually led Republican administrations to two military victories: a small one...

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Afghan bomber attacks near major US base

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A vehicle driven by a suicide bomber exploded at the gate of a major U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing the attacker and three Afghans, Afghan police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.Police Gen. Abdul Qayum Baqizai said a local guard who questioned the vehicle driver at the gate of Camp Chapman was killed along with two...

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‘We Are Young’ Performed on Vintage Computer Parts

Old computer parts find new life as rock stars with a little help from YouTube user BD594. The “band” — we’ll just call ‘em the Ctrl-Alt-Deletes — perform a delightfully geeky rendition of the hit fun. song “We Are Young.”[More from Mashable: If Santa Were a Hipster]Vintage hard drives provide the beat as a Yamaha CX-5 tickles the ivories and an HP Scanjet 3C plays frontman with the vocals. Pssh,...

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Just A Minute With: Hugh Jackman on “Les Miserables”

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Australian actor Hugh Jackman says his background in musical theater and action films made him feel “like all the stars were aligning” when he took on the starring role of Jean Valjean in the new movie version of “Les Miserables.”Jackman, 44, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Wolverine in the “X-Men” movie franchise, spoke to Reuters about the demands of the role in British...

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Meningitis, West Nile occupy U.S. health officials in 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The year started in the United States with a mild flu season but ended up being marked by deadly outbreaks of fungal meningitis, West Nile virus and Hantavirus.Tainted steroid medication has been cited as the cause of the meningitis outbreak that killed 39 people.Weather contributed to the worst outbreak of West Nile virus since 2003 and an unusual outbreak of Hantavirus in California’s...

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Former President George H.W. Bush in intensive care

Former President George H.W. Bush continues to fight a stubborn fever in the intensive care unit at Houston Methodist Hospital."Following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, President Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital on Sunday where he remains in guarded condition," Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath revealed in a prepared statement. "Doctors at Methodist...

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Toronto reaches skyward, but how dark the clouds?

TORONTO (Reuters) – Barry Fenton walked to the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows in his 30th-floor uptown Toronto penthouse suite and declared, “This is the best view of the city.”To the south, a mass of steel-and-glass skyscrapers glinted in the bright autumn sun. Several cranes were in motion on unfinished buildings, a common sight in a city in the midst of a residential building boom.“If you look...

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How ‘Doctor Who’ Kept Its Big Christmas Secret Off Twitter

Tonight Doctor Who fans get to gorge on their annual Christmas fix — a full-length special episode the series has produced every year for the holiday since 2005. This time, however, there’s some extra spice in the form of a new regular cast member: Jenna-Louise Coleman debuts in “The Snowmen” as the Doctor’s next companion.Except it’s not her debut. Coleman actually made her first appearance in the...

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