World Briefing | Africa: South Africa’s President Gives a Biting Critique of Pets

President Jacob Zuma, left, said in a speech that the idea of having a pet was part of “white culture” and that people should focus on family welfare, the newspaper The Star reported Thursday. The president’s office sought to clarify the remarks, saying that he was encouraging “the previously oppressed African majority” to uphold its own culture. It also suggested the way in which the comments were...

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Apple still said to account for 87% of North American tablet traffic as Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 gain

Apple’s (AAPL) share of the global tablet market is in decline now that low-cost Android slates are proliferating, but the iPad still appears to be the most used tablet by a huge margin. Ad firm Chitika regularly monitors tablet traffic in the United States and Canada and in its latest report, Apple’s iPad was responsible for almost 90% of all tablet traffic across the company’s massive network.[More...

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Jason Hoppy Wears Wedding Ring After Split from Bethenny Frankel

TV Watch 12/28/2012 at 10:45 AM EST Jason Hoppy in New York City Dec. 27 Adam Nemser/Startraks Four days after Jason Hoppy and Bethenny Frankel announced their split, his wedding ring is still in the picture.Hoppy was photographed at a café in New York City Thursday...

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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

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Wall Street skids as U.S. heads for "fiscal cliff"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track for a fifth straight decline, as President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders were to make a last-ditch attempt to steer the United States away from driving off the "fiscal cliff." Obama and lawmakers will meet at the White House Friday afternoon for talks before a New Year's deadline to keep large tax...

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Temple Run was downloaded more than 2.5 million times on Christmas Day

Title Post: Temple Run was downloaded more than 2.5 million times on Christmas DayRating: 100%based on 99998 ratings.5 user reviews.Author: Fluser SeoLinkThanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comm...

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Jenna von Oy Blogs: The Teething Twilight Zone

Cuddling with Gray – Courtesy Jenna von Oy Celebrity blogger Jenna von Oy is a new mama!Best known for her roles as Six on Blossom and Stevie on The Parkers, von Oy is also a musician who has released two albums and is set to publish a book, The Betweeners.von Oy, 35, wed Brad Bratcher on Oct. 10, 2010, and resides in Nashville with her husband and five dogs.They welcomed their first child, daughter...

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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

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Wall Street falls as senator sees "fiscal cliff" fall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks declined on Thursday after the leader of Senate Democrats warned the United States appeared headed over the "fiscal cliff" and data showed consumer confidence fell to a four-month low. With only a few days left before devastating tax hikes and spending cuts go into effect, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said about the fiscal cliff, "It looks like where we're...

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Syrian General Defects in a Public Broadcast

Aref Heretani/Reuters.Mannequins were set up to confuse snipers loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the old city of Aleppo on Sunday.Syria’s embattled leadership suffered a new setback on Wednesday with the publicly broadcast defection of its military police chief, the highest-ranking officer to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against him began nearly two years ago. ...

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Carlyle takes on KKR in race for Reynolds and Reynolds: sources

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Private equity firms Carlyle Group LP and KKR & Co LP have emerged as the lead contenders to take over Reynolds and Reynolds, a software company hoping to sell itself for $ 5 billion, three people familiar with the matter said.Dayton, Ohio-based Reynolds, which provides business management software for auto dealers in North America and Europe, had hired technology-focused...

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Kim Kardashian Tries a New Hair Color

Stylewatch Style News Now 12/26/2012 at 11:30 AM ET SPW/Splash News Online. Inset: StartraksThe bangs may have been fake (turns out they were just clip-ins), but Kim Kardashian‘s new hair shade is definitely for real.Just before...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Wall Street down on soft retail data, "cliff" worries suspected

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Socks fell on Wednesday as retailers dropped sharply after a report that showed holiday shoppers were less enthusiastic than last year, with investors saying worries about the "fiscal cliff" may have kept them away from stores. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 29.08 points, or 0.22 percent, to 13,110.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx>...

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No Easy Route If Assad Opts to Go, or Stay

BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria sits in his mountaintop palace as the tide of war licks at the cliffs below. Explosions bloom over the Damascus suburbs. His country is plunging deeper into chaos. The United Nations’ top envoy for the Syrian crisis, Lakhdar Brahimi, met with Mr. Assad in the palace on Monday in an urgent effort to resolve the nearly two-year-old conflict....

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Just got a new iPhone, iPad or Android device for Christmas? Gameloft cuts popular iOS and Android games to 99¢

Title Post: Just got a new iPhone, iPad or Android device for Christmas? Gameloft cuts popular iOS and Android games to 99¢Rating: 100%based on 99998 ratings.5 user reviews.Author: Fluser SeoLinkThanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comm...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Yen on defensive on U.S. fiscal worry, helps Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Uncertainty over whether U.S. lawmakers will strike a deal by an end-of-year deadline to avert a severe fiscal retrenchment undermined the yen and bolstered Japanese shares on Tuesday in low volume, with many participants away on Christmas holiday. The dollar rose to a 20-month high of 84.965 yen early on Tuesday in Asia, as Japanese markets caught up with global investors...

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Despite Billions in Aid, Reconstruction in Haiti Stalls

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8 New Etiquette Rules for Using Gadgets in the Office

As the use of personal technology increases at work, it’s important to observe some new etiquette rules about how we use it. Here are eight of the most important rules to follow at work when it comes to cell phones, email, and other modern technology.1. Using speaker phone when others can hear you. Playing back your voicemail messages on speaker phone or conducting an entire call on speaker phone...

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Dylan Smith, Hero of Superstorm Sandy, Drowns Off Puerto Rico

By Stephen M. Silverman 12/24/2012 at 11:00 AM EST Dylan Smith, one of PEOPLE's Heroes of the Year for using his surfboard to help rescue six lives during Superstorm Sandy in late October, drowned this weekend in a surfing accident in Puerto Rico, say news reports.The body of the 23-year-old lifeguard from Queens,...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Start of "Santa rally" dampened by "cliff" worries

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Monday as caution over the potential for volatility driven by worries about the U.S. "fiscal cliff" dampened enthusiasm at the start of a seasonally strong period for equities. The S&P 500 index <.spx> declined 0.9 percent on Friday, its biggest drop in more than a month, as a Republican plan to avoid the cliff - $600 billion in tax...

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IHT Rendezvous: Adding More Bricks to the Great Firewall of China

HONG KONG — China appears to have reinforced its Internet firewall in recent days, blocking some of the leading services that allow people on the mainland to access forbidden sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.International business transactions also are being affected, Internet analysts said. The New York Times Web site remains 100 percent blocked on the mainland, along with the Chinese-language...

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Sip This! Try This Naughty Hot Chocolate for Christmas

By Alison Schwartz 12/23/2012 at 10:15 AM EST Santa’s Naughty Hot Chocolate Courtesy Bailey's There's nothing all that hot about winter (mainly because these guys are wearing sweaters).But Brooke Parkhurst and James Briscione, the chefs behind newlywed kitchen...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

Read More..