IHT Rendezvous: An Online Plea to China's Leader to Save Tibet's Culture

BEIJING — Nearly 90 scholars of Tibet at universities and institutes around the world, from Melbourne to Warsaw to Vancouver, have issued a plea to Xi Jinping, China’s new Communist Party leader, to reverse state language policies and practices that “jeopardize the continuing viability” of Tibetan civilization, something many experts say is stoking resentment of Chinese rule in Tibet.The scholars...

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Stars Tweet Over Gun Control Following Elementary School Shootings In Connecticut — Updated

Celebrities were outraged over the tragic elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Friday, and many immediately turned to Twitter, to share their sadness.And some even urged America’s leaders to address gun control.PLAY IT NOW: Edward Norton Discusses Tragic Colorado Shootings“Gun control is our only road to freedom. Freedom from the fear of senselessly losing children. I’m so saddened. WE...

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Gunman's Father and Brother Are 'in Shock,' Says a Source

By Diane Herbst 12/14/2012 at 08:50 PM EST State police personnel lead children to safety away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shannon Hicks/Newtown Bee/Reuters/Landov The father and older brother of the gunman who was blamed for the Connecticut school shooting are being questioned by...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Holiday "on standby" as clock ticks on cliff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the "fiscal cliff." Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff - nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown...

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Panetta Orders Deployment of U.S. Anti-Missile Units in Turkey

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta signed an official deployment order on Friday to send 400 American military personnel and two Patriot air defense batteries to Turkey as cross-border tensions with Syria intensify. The American batteries will be part of a broader push to beef up Turkey’s defenses that will also include the deployment of four other Patriot batteries...

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Online gambling companies struggle to clear EU hurdles

LONDON (Reuters) – A partnership stuck on Friday between bwin.party Digital Entertainment and a Belgian casino group has defused one of many disputes pitting online gambling companies against governments across Europe.The agreement came a month after bwin.party’s co-CEO was questioned by Belgian authorities in an escalating license dispute the company said was costing it 700,000 euros ($ 916,000)...

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Jane Krakowski: Santa Made My Son Scream

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 12/13/2012 at 04:00 PM ET Neilson Barnard/GettyNot everyone finds Santa Claus so jolly — namely, Jane Krakowski‘s 20-month-old son, Bennett Robert.“We went and saw Santa for the first time last weekend,” the actress told PEOPLE at a Bank of America charity event...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered...

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Stock futures briefly turn negative after CPI data

Driving in the rural town of Veazie, Maine, after midnight, a woman accidentally hits what she thinks is an oversized cat. She puts the unconscious animal in her car and drives several miles. In the town of Bangor, Maine, the cat regains consciousness. That’s when the...

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IHT Rendezvous: 'Secret' Arms Deals Provoke Germans

LONDON — There is at least one European export sector that continues to find a ready market around the world — weapons.In the week in which the European Union received the Nobel Prize for Peace in Oslo, protestors in the Norwegian capital were not alone in pointing out the irony that its member states account for a third of global arms exports.It is an irony that has a particular resonance in Germany...

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iPad mini deemed a ‘game changer,’ outgrew Kindle Fire by nearly 50%

Smaller tablets in the 7-inch range have been on the market for more than two years now, but it looks like it took Apple (AAPL) just one month to vault to the top of the category. Mobile advertising firm Millennial Media recently published the findings of a study pitting the iPad mini against Amazon’s (AMZN) popular Kindle Fire, which has been an extremely popular iPad alternative since it first launched...

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John McAfee Deported from Guatemala, Back in U.S.

By Tim Nudd 12/13/2012 at 07:50 AM EST John McAfee in Guatemala Guatemala's National Police/AP The latest chapter in the John McAfee saga was written Wednesday, as the anti-virus software pioneer was released from Guatemalan custody and flown to Miami, where...

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Dozens sue pharmacy, but compensation uncertain

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dennis O'Brien rubs his head as he details ailments triggered by the fungal meningitis he developed after a series of steroid shots in his neck: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, exhaustion and trouble with his speech and attention.He estimates the disease has cost him and his wife thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses and her lost wages, including...

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Stock futures climb after data

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has not ruled out an attempt at retaining the title next year. "As it stands, I'm probably going to try and win a second Tour de France, so I don't know, maybe we'll have two leaders (with Chris Froome)," the Team Sky rider, who became the first Briton to win the race, told BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday. "We are resetting the goals,...

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Here’s the Pope’s First Tweet

The long wait is over and we’ve finally got the first words of Twitter wisdom from Pope Benedict XVI. Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.— Benedict XVI (@Pontifex) December 12, 2012Ok, so not that funny, but it was all spelled right and we got blessed by a pope, so that’s a good start. And...

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Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel (and One Direction) Had You Searching, Says Google

By Maggie Coughlan 12/12/2012 at 08:00 AM EST Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel; Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Everyone loves a wedding ... and Google has the data to prove it!According to the Google Zeitgeist – an in-depth look at the stories, people and topics...

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DA investigating Texas' troubled $3B cancer agency

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Turmoil surrounding an unprecedented $3 billion cancer-fighting effort in Texas worsened Tuesday when its executive director offered his resignation and the state's chief public corruption prosecutor announced an investigation into the beleaguered agency.No specific criminal allegations are driving the latest probe into the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, said...

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Stock futures gain as investors anticipate fresh Fed stimulus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures rose on Wednesday, setting Wall Street up for a sixth day of gains, as investors anticipated the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce a fresh stimulus plan to support the economy at the end of a two-day monetary policy meeting. The Fed is expected to unveil a new round of bond buying later on Wednesday to boost a fragile economic recovery threatened by...

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IHT Rendezvous: IHT Quick Read: Dec. 11

NEWS Besieged by economic woes and insistent questions about its future, the European Union accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday with calls for further integration and a plea to remember the words of Abraham Lincoln as he addressed a divided nation at Gettysburg. Andrew Higgins reports from Oslo.North Korea said on Monday that a technical issue had been found in the rocket it had planned to launch...

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BlackBerry Messenger 7 adds free Wi-Fi voice calling, split-screen multitasking and more

Research in Motion (RIMM) updated its BlackBerry Messenger to version 7 on Monday, adding a new key feature called “BBM Voice” that “will allow customers to make free voice calls to their BBM contacts around the world over a Wi-Fi connection.” BBM 7 also introduces multitasking with split-screen, which allows users to BBM, check email, or use other apps while on a BBM Voice call; new compatibility...

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Amanda Seyfried: 'Everyone Wants to Have Sex' with Channing Tatum

By Maggie Coughlan 12/11/2012 at 08:00 AM EST Amanda Seyfried has worked with a lot of good-looking men, but there's one in particular who rises to the top of her list."Channing [Tatum] was amazing. He's a superstar," the actress, 27, tells the January issue of InStyle about PEOPLE's 2012 Sexiest Man Alive. Seyfried,...

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New tests could hamper food outbreak detection

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's about to get faster and easier to diagnose food poisoning, but that progress for individual patients comes with a downside: It could hurt the nation's ability to spot and solve dangerous outbreaks.Next-generation tests that promise to shave a few days off the time needed to tell whether E. coli, salmonella or other foodborne bacteria caused a patient's illness could reach medical...

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Stock futures rise after German data; Fed eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures were higher on Tuesday after unexpectedly cheery data out of Europe and as the Federal Reserve was set to kick off its two-day policy meeting. Though the pace of talks in Washington to avert impending U.S. tax hikes and spending cuts quickened, senior politicians on both sides cautioned that an agreement on all the outstanding issues remained uncertain....

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Romania Faces Upheaval as Ponta Coalition Wins Vote

PARIS — Romania’s center-left government overwhelmingly won parliamentary elections, according to partial results released Monday, an outcome that threatened to push the country into further political upheaval because of bitter rivalry between the prime minister and the president. The central electoral office said the center-left alliance led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta won about 59 percent...

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