Connecticut Shooting: Bodies Removed from School, Positively Identified

By Mike Fleeman 12/15/2012 at 10:25 AM EST Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance Mary Altaffer/AP A horrific day turned to a night of unspeakable grief as parents received formal notifications that their children were killed in the Connecticut school massacre.The...

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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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Wall Street Week Ahead: Holiday "on standby" as clock ticks on cliff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the "fiscal cliff." Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff - nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown...

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Egyptians vote on divisive constitution

CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA (Reuters) - Egyptians queued to vote on Saturday on a constitution promoted by its Islamist backers as the way out of a prolonged political crisis and rejected by opponents as a recipe for further divisions in the Arab world's biggest nation. Soldiers joined police to secure the referendum after deadly protests during the buildup. Street brawls erupted again on Friday...

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RIM shows how BlackBerry 10 touch screen keys could rival its traditional keyboards [video]

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The Hobbit Is a Great Adventure That Takes Too Long to Arrive

By Alynda Wheat 12/14/2012 at 10:00 AM EST     The elegance of The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien's rousing tale of Bilbo Baggins helping a passel of dwarves reclaim their mountain home is that the epic spans just a few hundred pages. Moviegoers, on the other hand, could have first breakfast, second...

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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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Wall Street steady on "cliff" apprehension, Apple drops

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Friday, with the Nasdaq weighed by a 3-percent drop in shares of tech giant Apple, amid investor worries about a lack of progress by politicians in ongoing fiscal negotiations. Apple was down 2.8 percent at $515.11 as UBS cut its price target to $700 from $780. The stock has tumbled in recent months for a variety of reasons, including...

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U.S., rebels urge gloomy Moscow to help oust Assad

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's rebel leadership and the United States seized on Russian pessimism over President Bashar al-Assad's future to urge Moscow to help push its ally into ceding power and end the battles closing in around his capital. "We want to commend the Russian government for finally waking up to the reality and acknowledging that the regime's days are numbered," the U.S. State...

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Home invasion victim gets help over Xbox headset

NORTH APOLLO, Pa. (AP) — Police say a Pennsylvania man used his Xbox headphones to call for help after being bound with duct tape and menaced with a gun during a home invasion.Investigators say the 22-year-old suburban Pittsburgh man was playing video games in an upstairs bedroom when he heard his front door open. The man initially thought it was a family member but saw an armed man wearing a ski...

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Paul McCartney Goes Grunge & 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief's Top Five Moments

By Maggie Coughlan 12/13/2012 at 11:00 AM EST Mick Jagger and Kanye West Larry Busacca/Getty; Dave Allocca/Startraks Let's hear it for New York!On Wednesday night, some of music's biggest stars came together for the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison...

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Dozens sue pharmacy, but compensation uncertain

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dennis O'Brien rubs his head as he details ailments triggered by the fungal meningitis he developed after a series of steroid shots in his neck: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, exhaustion and trouble with his speech and attention.He estimates the disease has cost him and his wife thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses and her lost wages, including...

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Wall Street little changed as caution tempers data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened little changed on Thursday after data showed first time claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, but investors were cautious about making aggressive bets in the midst of ongoing "fiscal cliff" negotiations. Shares of Best Buy Co surged almost 18 percent after a report that the company's founder is expected to make a fully financed offer to...

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Russia says Syrian rebels might win

MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels are gaining ground and might win, Russia's Middle East envoy said on Thursday, in the starkest such admission from a major ally of President Bashar al-Assad in 20 months of conflict. "One must look the facts in the face," Russia's state-run RIA quoted Mikhail Bogdanov as saying. "Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled...

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Lidl Christmas dinner offer goes viral on Twitter

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Discount retailer Lidl faces a 200,000-euro ($ 260,000) Christmas dinner bill after an offer of chicken vol-au-vents and ice cream cake for the poor went viral.The supermarket launched a Twitter campaign in Belgium on Monday, saying it would hand out five four-course Christmas dinners to food banks for each tweet on a hash tag.Lidl had expected to hand out about 1,000 of the 20-euro...

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Byron Allen Welcomes Third Child

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 12/12/2012 at 08:30 AM ET Howard Wise/JPI It’s a boy for Byron Allen!The comedian/producer, 51, and his wife, television producer Jennifer Lucas, welcomed their third child on Tuesday, Dec. 11, his rep confirms to PEOPLE.Arriving at 11:31 a.m., Lucas Byron Allen...

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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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Wall Street climbs on stimulus anticipation

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose for a sixth day on Wednesday as investors anticipated that the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce a fresh stimulus plan to support the economy at the end of a two-day monetary policy meeting. The Fed is expected to announce a new round of bond buying later on Wednesday to boost a fragile economic recovery threatened by political wrangling over the government's...

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North Korea launches rocket , raising nuclear arms stakes

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents. The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver...

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Top 2012 searches include Whitney, PSY, Sandy

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The world’s attention wavered between the tragic and the silly in 2012, and along the way, Web surfers searched in huge numbers 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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Miranda Lambert & Luke Bryan Win Big at American Country Awards

By Mark Gray 12/11/2012 at 10:55 AM EST Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan Scott Kirkland/PictureGroup; Dave Proctor/Startraks Luke Bryan may want to "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye," but he'll savor Monday night.The headlining country artist was the big winner at the fan-voted...

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New tests could hamper food outbreak detection

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's about to get faster and easier to diagnose food poisoning, but that progress for individual patients comes with a downside: It could hurt the nation's ability to spot and solve dangerous outbreaks.Next-generation tests that promise to shave a few days off the time needed to tell whether E. coli, salmonella or other foodborne bacteria caused a patient's illness could reach medical...

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Tech shares propel Wall Street higher; Fed eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street opened higher on Tuesday, lifted by gains in shares of technology companies as investors picked up some recent laggards, including Apple. Unexpected improvement in data out of Europe set the positive tone early as investors cast around for catalysts. The U.S. stock market has entered a traditionally quiet period heading into the end of the year, with thinner...

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IMF loan to Egypt delayed as crisis deepens

CAIRO (Reuters) - A vital $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan to Egypt will be delayed until next month, its finance minister said on Tuesday, intensifying the political crisis gripping the Arab world's most populous nation. As rival factions gathered in Cairo and Alexandria for a new round of demonstrations, Finance Minister Mumtaz al-Said said the delay in the loan agreement...

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