Dec
23

Syria jets kill tens as international envoy visits

BEIRUT (AP) — A government airstrike on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed more than 60 people on Sunday, activists said, casting a pall over a visit by the international envoy charged with negotiating an end to the country’s civil war.The strike on the town of Halfaya left scattered bodies and debris up and down a street, and more than a dozen dead and wounded were trapped in tangled...
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Top Comments: Mashable Readers React to Instagram’s Terms of Service

Monday, Dec. 17: Instagram Updates TOSReaders had varying reactions to Instagram‘s updates. Some felt that they were fair: If you don’t like the terms of service, argued some users, you have the option not to use the service. Others were far more outraged.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: Why xkcd Is Wrong About Instagram]This week, the top comments on Mashable brought into focus...
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South Africa’s Mandela responding to treatment in hospital

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who is 94, continues to respond to treatment two weeks after being taken to hospital, the government said on Saturday.The Nobel Peace laureate, who has been treated for a lung infection and gallstones after being hospitalized on December 8, was visited by South African President Jacob Zuma, presidency spokesman...
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Former President George H.W. Bush remains hospitalized

(Reuters) – Former President George H.W. Bush, who has been hospitalized for a month undergoing treatment for bronchitis, may not be released from a Houston hospital in time to celebrate Christmas at home as doctors had hoped.Bush, 88, remained in stable condition and doctors were optimistic he would make a full recovery, George Kovacik, a spokesman at Methodist Hospital, said in an emailed statement...
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NRA’s LaPierre: New gun laws won't work

LaPierre speaks at Friday's press conference. (Getty)Two days after suggesting a "good guy with a gun" be stationed at every school in the country in response to the deadly shootings in Newtown, Conn., National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre blasted critics of his plan.In an interview broadcast on Sunday's "Meet The Press," LaPierre reiterated the statements he made Friday...
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NRA’s defiant LaPierre dismisses critics of school gun plan

LaPierre speaks at Friday's press conference. (Getty)Two days after suggesting a "good guy with a gun" be stationed at every school in the country in response to the deadly shootings in Newtown, Conn., National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre blasted critics of his plan.In an interview broadcast on Sunday's "Meet The Press," LaPierre reiterated the statements he made Friday...
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3-day trip becomes 3-week ordeal for 2 Jamaicans

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — It was supposed to be a three-day fishing trip at most. It turned into a three-week ordeal, drifting under an intense sun for hundreds of miles in the Caribbean in a small boat with a broken motor.The two Jamaican fishermen survived by eating raw fish they caught and drinking water from melted ice they had brought to preserve their catch. The Colombian navy finally plucked...
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“Hobbit” fever beats Tom Cruise at box office

(Reuters) – The big-budget “Hobbit” fantasy movie ruled movie box office charts for a second straight weekend, fending off Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise in new crime drama “Jack Reacher.”“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” hauled in nearly $ 37 million from theaters in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates of Friday-through-Sunday ticket sales. The film is the first of three...
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Former President George H.W. Bush remains hospitalized

(Reuters) – Former President George H.W. Bush, who has been hospitalized for a month undergoing treatment for bronchitis, may not be released from a Houston hospital in time to celebrate Christmas at home as doctors had hoped.Bush, 88, remained in stable condition and doctors were optimistic he would make a full recovery, George Kovacik, a spokesman at Methodist Hospital, said in an emailed statement...
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Video games and shooting: Is the NRA right?

After a week of silence following the Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 20 first graders and six staff in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association blamed the entertainment industry – specifically the producers of violent video games for inciting what has become a pattern of gun violence in the United States.In describing the industry, NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, “There exists...
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