Israel Sticks to Tough Approach in Conflict With Hamas

TEL AVIV — With rockets landing on the outskirts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday and the Egyptian prime minister making a solidarity visit to Gaza, the accelerating conflict between Israel and Hamas — reminiscent in many ways of so many previous battles — has the makings of a new kind of Israeli-Palestinian face-off. The combination of longer-range and far deadlier rockets in the hands...

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Review: Nintendo Wii U blows up dual-screen gaming

When Nintendo first broached the idea of multiple-screen video games in 2004, many critics were skeptical that players could focus on two images at once. Yet the handheld DS, blending one touch-sensitive screen with a slightly larger video display, became a runaway hit.Turns out the portable DS may have just been a dress rehearsal for Nintendo‘s latest...

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It's a Girl for Chad Lowe

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 11/17/2012 at 12:20 AM ET Chelsea Lauren/WireImage It’s a girl for Chad Lowe.The Pretty Little Liars star and wife Kim welcomed their second daughter on Thursday, Nov. 15, the actor announced via Twitter.“It’s a girl!!! And she’s as beautiful as her mommy and [3½-year-old]...

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.Meningitis mainly affects infants...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Going off "cliff" with a bungee cord

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The 1987 crash. The Y2K bug. The debt ceiling debacle of 2011. All these events, in the end, turned out to be buying opportunities for stocks. So will the "fiscal cliff," some investors say as they watch favorite stocks tumble during the political give-and-take happening in Washington. The first round of talks aimed at avoiding the "fiscal cliff" caused...

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Israel Girds for Ground Assault in Gaza; Egypt’s Premier Visits

GAZA CITY — After a morning of heavy rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, the Israeli military seemed to be edging closer toward a ground invasion of Gaza on Friday, saying forces were “on standby” and “ready to enter should it be decided that a ground operation is necessary.” In a statement, the Israeli military said paratrooper and infantry brigades had completed final preparations for a...

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Sina banks on Weibo but weak fourth quarter guidance spooks investors

(Reuters) – Chinese Internet company Sina Corp said its fourth quarter will be hit by a softer economy and posted weaker-than-expected sales guidance, despite a stronger revenue contribution from its hot microblogging platform Weibo.Shares in Sina fell 7 percent after it forecast adjusted net revenue of $ 132 million to $ 136 million in the current quarter,...

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Miss America Contestant, 24, to Undergo Preventative Double Mastectomy

By Dahvi Shira 11/16/2012 at 07:30 AM EST Allyn Rose is more than just another pretty face.The Miss America contestant, who will represent Washington, D.C., in the Jan. 12 pageant live on ABC, lost her mom to breast cancer at age 16. Now, at only 24 years old, Rose has decided she will undergo a double mastectomy...

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Migration officials say cholera in Haiti on rise

GENEVA (AP) — The world's largest agency that deals with global migration says cholera is again on the rise in Haiti.The International Organization for Migration says Haitian officials have confirmed 3,593 cholera cases and another 837 suspected cases since Hurricane Sandy's passage.IOM spokesman Jumbe Omari Jumbe told reporters Friday in Geneva "the numbers are going up" particularly in camps around...

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Stock futures rise after report on fiscal talks

For a president who rarely shows emotion, Barack Obama’s surprisingly personal blast at Republican critics of Susan Rice, his U.N ambassador, suggested two things. One, Obama genuinely admires Rice and thinks she’s being unfairly criticized for giving an controversial explanation of the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack that later didn’t hold up. And two, he may well intend to name her his second-term secretary...

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Attacks Resume After Israeli Assault Kills Hamas Leader

KIRYAT MALACHI, Israel — Israel and Hamas widened their increasingly deadly conflict over Gaza on Thursday, as a militant rocket killed three civilians in an apartment block in this small southern town. The deaths are likely to lead Israel to intensify its military offensive on Gaza, now in its second day of airstrikes. In Gaza, the Palestinian death toll rose to 11 as Israel struck what...

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Texas Instruments cuts 1,700 jobs, winds down tablet chips

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Texas Instruments is eliminating 1,700 jobs, as it winds down its mobile processor business to focus on chips for more profitable markets like cars and home appliances.Texas Instruments said in September it would halt costly investments in the increasingly competitive smartphone and tablet chip business, leading Wall...

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Guy Fieri Defends Restaurant After New York Times Attack

By Stephen M. Silverman 11/15/2012 at 08:15 AM EST After being fricasseed by The New York Times in a blistering restaurant review that a chef wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy, Guy Fieri says he's not canceling his subscription to the paper.But the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host – the 10th...

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Booze calories nearly equal soda's for US adults

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol? It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from soft drinks, a government study found.Soda and other sweetened drinks — the focus of obesity-fighting public health campaigns — are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults consume, on average. Alcoholic beverages account for about...

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Stock futures turn negative after data

FANLING, Hong Kong, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Tiredness caught up with Rory McIlroy on Thursday and the world golf number one could shoot only a three-over-par 73 on the opening day of the Hong Kong Open. McIlroy, who this week became only the second player to win the money-list titles in both Europe and the United States, admitted that he was exhausted after a year in which he has won four titles, including...

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Changing of the Guard: China’s ‘Princelings’ Wield Sway to Shape Politics

Philippe Lopez/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesOfficers of China's People's Liberation Army watched planes perform at an exhibition on Tuesday. BEIJING — When Maoists were trying to keep control of China in the 1970s, a powerful general from the south came to the aid of moderates, helping to arrest the radicals and throw them in jail. The bold actions of the general, Ye Jianying, paved the way...

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Microsoft and Google financials could surface at trial

(Reuters) – Microsoft and Google‘s Motorola Mobility unit squared off on Tuesday at a trial with strategic implications for the smartphone patent wars and which could reveal financial information the two companies usually keep under wraps.The proceeding in a Seattle federal court will determine how much of a royalty Microsoft Corp should pay Google Inc...

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Channing Tatum Is PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive!

By Antoinette Coulton and Julie Jordan 11/14/2012 at 08:00 AM EST He may have bared (almost) all of that incredibly chiseled body in this year's Magic Mike but 2012's Sexiest Man Alive Channing Tatum was still modest when he heard the news. "My first thought was, 'Y'all are messing with me,'" says Tatum, who married actress Jenna Dewan-Tatum...

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Report: FDA wanted to close Mass pharmacy in 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a decade ago, federal health inspectors wanted to shut down the pharmacy linked to a recent deadly meningitis outbreak until it cleaned up its operations, according to congressional investigators.About 440 people have been sickened by contaminated steroid shots distributed by New England Compounding Center, and more than 32 deaths have been reported since the outbreak began...

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Stock futures rise, helped by Cisco results

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, indicating that equities could rebound after a series of weak sessions on strong results from Cisco and two retail chains. The S&P 500 has fallen 3.8 percent over the past five trading days, with most of the losses driven by uncertainty over the looming U.S. "fiscal cliff" and concerns about Europe's economic troubles. ...

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