North Korean leader, in rare address, seeks end to confrontation with South

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an end to confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53 conflict, in a surprise New Year speech broadcast on state media. The address by Kim, who took over power in the reclusive state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place...

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N.Korea leader vows "radical" economic shift

SEOUL: North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un called for a "radical turnabout" in the impoverished country's economy in a rare New Year's address Tuesday that also urged improved relations with the South.While the heart of his lengthy speech was devoted to turning the North into an "economic giant" and raising living standards, Kim stressed that military power remained a national priority."The...

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Reddit's visitors skyrocket in 2012 with 37 billion page views

Whether readers want to learn the complexities of how the Mars Curiosity rover was able to enter the Red Planet's atmosphere or just see photos of cats being weird, they can go to Reddit. The social news site announced today its end-of-year stats and it appears that users are frequenting the site at an ever-increasing rate. Reddit revealed that in 2012 it received 37 billion page views, 400 million...

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Clinton's blood clot: Was concussion to blame?

Update: 10:20 P.M. EST -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's physicians released more information about her condition in a statement Monday afternoon: "In the course of a routine follow-up MRI on Sunday, the scan revealed that a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis had formed. This is a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear," Clinton's...

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Fiscal Cliff Deal Reached; Biden Pitches It to Dems

The so-called "fiscal cliff" came tonight -- but now there is a specific deal on the table to try to soften it after the fact, according to congressional sources.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the deal would get a vote in the Senate tonight. The House would not vote before Tuesday, having adjourned for the evening before word of the agreement spread."It is a compromise,...

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Chavez suffers new post-surgery complications

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is suffering more complications linked to a respiratory infection that hit him after his fourth cancer operation in Cuba, his vice president said in a somber broadcast on Sunday. Vice President Nicolas Maduro flew to Cuba to visit Chavez in the hospital as supporters' fears grew for the ailing 58-year-old socialist leader, who has not...

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Gang hits gem-cutting plant in Brazil, takes hostages

BRASILIA: Military police killed the leader of a gang that had spectacularly blasted its way into a gem-cutting plant on Sunday, traded fire with police and made off with nine hostages who were later safely freed.Three of the assailants died in the assault in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a military police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.The dead included Elisandro Falcao,...

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Huawei linked to plan to sell restricted equipment to Iran

Already considered a threat to U.S. national security, Huawei is again finding itself under scrutiny, linked to an offer to sell embargoed computer equipment to Iran.A major partner of the Chinese telecommunications gear maker offered to provide 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million) of Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran in 2010, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. However, Huawei says neither...

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Nine killed in Oregon tour bus crash

Updated 9:09 p.m. ETLA GRANDE, Ore. A tour bus careened through a guardrail along an icy Oregon highway and several hundred feet down a steep embankment Sunday, killing nine people and injuring more than 20 others, authorities said. The charter bus carrying about 40 people lost control around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84, according to the Oregon State Police. ...

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Hillary Clinton Hospitalized With Blood Clot

(MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images)By DANA HUGHES and DEAN SCHABNERSecretary Hillary Clinton was hospitalized today after a doctors doing a follow-up exam discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago.She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours, Deputy...

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Body of India rape victim arrives home 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 early on Sunday. The unidentified 23-year-old medical student died from her injuries on Saturday, prompting promises of action from a government that has struggled to respond to public outrage. She had suffered...

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Italy upbeat at end of 2012 after year of market tension

ROME: Italy is ending 2012 on an upbeat note, with renewed financial market confidence and optimism among analysts that the worst of the financial crisis is over, despite expectations of political uncertainty in the run-up to a general election in February.The Treasury's borrowing rates were slightly higher at short, medium and long-term debt auctions last week, but were well below levels...

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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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Woman charged with murder in NY subway shove

Last Updated 9:37 p.m. ET NEW YORK A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform into the path of a train because she has hated Muslims since Sept. 11 and thought he was one was charged Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said. Erika Menendez was charged in the death of Sunando Sen, who was crushed by a 7 train in Queens on Thursday night, the second time...

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Woman Charged With Murder in NYC Subway Push

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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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...

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Gang-rape victim's body to be flown back home later Saturday

SINGAPORE: The body of an Indian woman who died in a Singapore hospital after a brutal gang-rape in New Delhi will be flown back on a chartered plane later Saturday, India's ambassador said."The requisite formalities (including the issue of the death certificate) for sending the body to India are being completed," Indian High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan told reporters, hours after the...

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New iOS app shows NY subway arrival times

Now arriving...(Credit:New York MTA)New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority finally joined the smartphone era today by releasing an iOS app showing train arrival times for seven subway lines.Available for the iPhone, theiPod Touch, and theiPad, MTA Subway Time will display train arrival times for 156 stations on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 lines and the S shuttle line. Though officially in...

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Police ID man pushed to death at NY subway station

Updated 10:27 PM ET NEW YORK New York City police have identified a man they say was shoved to his death in front of a subway train by a woman. Police said Friday that Sunando Sen was pushed from the platform the night before. The 46-year-old Sen was from India and lived alone in Queens. Investigators identified him through a smartphone and a prescription pill bottle he was carrying when he was...

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Epic Journey: Did Moses' Exodus Really Happen?

In the Bible, he is called Moses. In the Koran, he is the prophet Musa.Religious scholars have long questioned whether of the story of a prophet leading God's chosen people in a great exodus out of Egypt and the freedom it brought them afterwards was real, but the similarities between a pharaoh's ancient hymn and a psalm of David might hold the link to his existence.Tune in...

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CAR appeals for French help against rebels, Paris balks

BANGUI (Reuters) - The president of the Central African Republic appealed on Thursday for France and the United States to help push back rebels threatening his government and the capital, but Paris said its troops were only ready to protect French nationals. The exchanges came as regional African leaders tried to broker a ceasefire deal and as rebels said they had temporarily halted their...

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Football: Bosses on notice as owners eye Premier promotion

LONDON: Henning Berg, sacked by Blackburn after just 57 days, and Sean O'Driscoll, dismissed by Nottingham Forest just six months into his reign, became the latest managers to discover that patience is an increasingly rare quality among chairmen chasing the dream of a lucrative place in the Premier League.Owen Coyle, booted out by Bolton in October after a slow start to the season, and...

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Autonomy founder fires back at HP after news of DOJ inquiry

Autonomy founder Mike Lynch(Credit:HP)Autonomy founder and former CEO Mike Lynch is firing back at Hewlett-Packard after the release of HP's annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. The report states that the federal government opened an inquiry into HP's acquisition of Autonomy in November and hints that Autonomy's accounting is partially to blame. "It is extremely disappointing...

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Classes delayed for Sandy Hook Elementary kids

NEWTOWN, Conn. The children at the Sandy Hook Elementary school won't be returning to classes for another week, but officials from the town, school district and local agencies are doing their best in the meantime to keep them occupied following a massacre at their school two weeks ago. The students have not attended school since a gunman killed 20 of their schoolmates and six adults on Dec. 14....

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