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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Nelson Mandela successfully treated for gall stones

PRETORIA: South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on Saturday underwent a successful procedure to remove gall stones, a week after he was admitted to hospital for a lung infection, the office of the president said."This morning, 15 December 2012, the former president underwent a procedure via endoscopy to have the gall stones removed," it said in a statement."The procedure was...

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Cop charged with buying $15 iPhone - from undercover cop

To you, 15 bucks.(Credit:CNET)This morning, I saw a uniformed cop jaywalking with two lady friends who seemed not to be his next of kin. Well, this is Miami. He hesitated for a moment and then seemed to think: "Well, why not?"I found it charming to see an officer of the law bend the rules in such a human way.I wonder, though, whether the fellow officers of an NYPD Internal Affairs sergeant found it...

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Egyptians vote on Islamist-backed constitution

CAIRO Egyptians were voting Saturday on a proposed constitution that has polarized their nation, with President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist supporters backing the charter, while liberals, many secular Muslims and Christians oppose it.With the nation divided by a political crisis defined by mass protests and deadly violence, the vote has turned into a dispute over whether Egypt should move toward...

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School Shooting: Officials Seek Details on Gunman

The FBI is in at least three states interviewing relatives and friends of the elementary school gunman who killed 20 children, seven adults and himself, trying to put together a better picture of the shooter and uncover any possible explanation for the massacre, ABC News has learned.The authorities have fanned out to New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts to interview relatives...

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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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MICE organisers reeling from rising rentals and wages

SINGAPORE : It is a mixed bag for Singapore's Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector. Exhibition venues are raking in the cash, but event organisers have said they are reeling from rising rentals and wages.Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) said attractions such as its Marine Life Park are luring in customers. RWS will pull in 600,000 delegates for 3,000 events this year...

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iPhone, iPad 2013 sales estimates cut by analyst

Apple faces a few challenges that could take a bite out of iPhone andiPad sales next year, at least in the opinion of one analyst.In an investors note out today, UBS analyst Steven Milunovich slashed his iPhone sales estimates for the March, June, and September 2013 quarters by 5 million. Sales estimates for the iPad were cut by 2 million for the same period.The analyst now expects Apple to sell 41...

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Elementary school shooting wounds 1 in Conn.

State and Newtown police, ambulance, and emergency response personnel responded to the Sandy Hook Elementary School, following reports of a shooting, Dec. 14, 2012. / The Newtown Bee Updated at 11 a.m. ET A person was shot at a Connecticut elementary school Friday morning, CBS Hartford affiliate WFSB-TV reports. The school superintendent's office says the district has locked down schools...

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'Active Shooter' Reported at CT Elementary School

A shooting at a Connecticut elementary school this morning prompted the town of Newton to lock down all of its schools and drew SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today.A gunman has been killed, authorities told ABC News.The shooting occurred at the Sandy Creek Elementary School in Newtown, about 12 miles east of Danbury.A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed...

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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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Ukrainian MPs brawl in parliament as PM re-appointed

KIEV: The Ukrainian parliament Thursday voted to reinstate its prime minister after dozens of opposition and pro-government lawmakers brawled for a second day in the chamber notorious for its fisticuffs.Newly-elected world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko sought to stand above the fray by staying well out of the fighting that came just before parliament voted to re-appoint Prime Minister...

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For the Pope on Twitter, many slings and arrows

Now there's speaking truth to power.(Credit:Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)When you come down from on high and mix with us, les miserables, it can be a touch depressing.For though you try to take us seriously, we may not feel the same way. And, well, social media allows us to express our feelings without fear of permanent damnation.Pope Benedict XVI, famously a recent convert to Twitter, is discovering...

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Etan Patz suspect: He was alive when I left him

NEW YORK Pedro Hernandez told New York City Detectives that, when he left Etan Patz's body in a doorway, he believed the little boy was still alive. The 1979 disappearance of the six year old became the most symbolic kidnapping case since the murder of the Lindberg baby, stirring the movement that put missing children on milk cartons and billboards. The stunning revelation and other new details...

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Royal Hoax Nurse Hanged Herself, Left 3 Notes

Jacintha Saldanha, the London nurse who killed herself after she answered a radio-station prank call about Kate Middleton, was found hanging from the neck, and left three notes, according to the coroner's officer.The 46-year-old nurse who worked at London's King Edward VII Hospital was discovered Dec. 7 hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe in her bedroom, Coroner's Officer Lynda...

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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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PM Lee to nominate new Speaker when Parliament next meets

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will nominate a new Speaker of Parliament when Parliament next meets, following the resignation of Mr Michael Palmer.In the meantime, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mr Charles Chong will serve as Acting Speaker.When asked who is likely to be considered for the post of Speaker, some Members of Parliament (MPs) from the ruling People's Action Party...

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Dayton Audio's almost-too-good-to-be-true Sub-800 subwoofer

The best I can say about most cheap subwoofers is they make bass. The bass won't be the deepest, most powerful, or the clearest, or blend all that well with most speakers, but all subs make bass. Better subs, like the $449 Hsu Research VTF-1 MK2, generate deeper, less distorted sound, so you can actually hear distinct bass notes, and can play louder and fill larger rooms better than most cheap subs.Dayton...

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Motive unclear in Oregon mall shooting that left three dead

PORTLAND, Ore. A masked gunman wearing camouflage opened fire Tuesday in a busy Portland mall, leaving the gunman and two others dead and one person injured, and forcing the mall's Santa Claus and hundreds of Christmas shoppers and employees to flee or hide among store displays. Austin Patty, 20, who works at Macy's, said he saw a man in a white mask carrying a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest....

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Mall Gunman Wanted to Kill 'Total Strangers'

The masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two and seriously injuring a third before killing himself, was trying to "kill as many people as possible."The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering through a Macy's...

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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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Taiwan's HTC unveils new rival to iPhone 5

TAIPEI - Taiwan's HTC on Tuesday unveiled a new smartphone boasting a higher resolution display than the iPhone 5 just days before Apple's latest handset goes on sale on the island.The HTC Butterfly features a 5-inch screen with a pixel density of 440 ppi (pixels per inch) and full 1080p HD resolution, compared to the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen at 326 ppi at a lower resolution."We are confident...

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Microsoft Office on iPad: More hints emerge

Microsoft officials have stopped bothering to deny that there will be some kind of Office support on theiPad. But the Softies still aren't sharing when this support will arrive or in what form.Reports that Microsoft was developing Office for iPad began circulating, courtesy of The Daily, earlier this year. Reporters at The Daily claimed a Microsoft representative demonstrated privately to them Word,...

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Mandela "responding" to treatment for infection

JOHANNESBURG South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela is suffering from a recurring lung infection and is responding to medical treatments, the nation's presidency said Tuesday. The ailing Mandela, 94, has been hospitalized since Saturday for medical tests at 1 Military Hospital near South Africa's capital, Pretoria. 34 PhotosNelson MandelaThe announcement ended speculation about what was...

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