In Chaos in North Africa, a Grim Side of Arab Spring

WASHINGTON — As the uprising closed in around him, the Libyan dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi warned that if he fell, chaos and holy war would overtake North Africa. “Bin Laden’s people would come to impose ransoms by land and sea,” he told reporters. “We will go back to the time of Redbeard, of pirates, of Ottomans imposing ransoms on boats.” In recent days, that unhinged prophecy has acquired...

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Google CEO Page on Apple’s ‘thermonuclear’ Android war: ‘How well is that working?’

Google (GOOG) CEO Larry Page seems unimpressed by Apple’s (AAPL) “thermonuclear war” against his company’s operating system. In an interview with Wired posted Thursday, Page was asked to respond to reports about the late Steve Jobs being “competitive enough to claim that he was willing to ‘go to thermonuclear war’ on Android.” Page responded with one sentence: “How well is that working?” Wired...

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Five Things to Know About The Lumineers

By Marisa Laudadio 01/19/2013 at 06:00 PM EST From left: Wesley Schultz, Neyla Pekarek and Jeremiah Fraites Alan Poizner/PictureGroup You already know their hit song "Ho Hey" with its catchy shout-it-out chant that sticks in your head – but what's behind Denver-based...

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Lilly drug chosen for Alzheimer's prevention study

Researchers have chosen an experimental drug by Eli Lilly & Co. for a large federally funded study testing whether it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in older people at high risk of developing it.The drug, called solanezumab (sol-ah-NAYZ-uh-mab), is designed to bind to and help clear the sticky deposits that clog patients' brains.Earlier studies found it did not help people with moderate...

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Police swarm Kardashian home; 'swatting' call suspected

Authorities on Saturday said they were investigating whether the Kardashian family is the latest victim of a celebrity "swatting" incident, in which a crank caller alleges violence is occurring at a star's home.The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded to a crank call Friday at the Malibu home where the Kardashian family lives.There was no one home when deputies arrived, but they...

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British Leader Sees Wider Threat in Algeria Attack

Oli Scarff/Getty ImagesPrime Minister David Cameron en route to Parliament to deliver a statement on the Algeria hostage crisis. LONDON — With more than 60 hostages still missing and many feared dead, Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament on Friday that the Qaeda-linked attack on a remote Algerian gas installation demonstrated the need for Britain and its Western allies, including the United...

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RIM offers Android developers up to $2,000 to port apps to BlackBerry 10 this weekend

RIM (RIMM) really wants Android developers to bring their apps over to BlackBerry 10, and it’s got the cash to prove it. Via AndroidGuys, it seems that RIM will hold a “BlackBerry 10 Last Chance Port-A-Thon” that will pay Android developers $ 100 for every approved app they port over to BlackBerry 10, with a limite of 20 different paid apps per developer. RIM says that the “port-a-thon” will start...

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The Wire's Robert F. Chew Dies of Heart Failure

01/18/2013 at 06:30 PM EST Robert F. Chew, best known for his role on the hit HBO show The Wire, has died from heart failure, according to The Baltimore Sun. He was 52.Chew, who played Proposition Joe on the cable show, passed away in his sleep on Thursday at his home in Baltimore, his sister Clarise Chew tells...

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Flu season 'bad one for the elderly,' CDC says

The number of older people hospitalized with the flu has risen sharply, prompting federal officials to take unusual steps to make more flu medicines available and to urge wider use of them as soon as symptoms appear.The U.S. is about halfway through this flu season, and "it's shaping up to be a worse-than-average season" and a bad one for the elderly, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers...

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Man molested girls, gave them tattoos, police allege

Authorities were looking Thursday for more possible victims of a Mission Viejo tattoo artist arrested for allegedly molesting two teenage girls after giving them free tattoos and alcohol in his apartment, deputies said.Edder Giovani Nieves-Vera, 29, met one of the 14-year-olds through Facebook and promised to give her a tattoo, alcohol and drugs, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange...

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China Objects After Shell Is Fired From Myanmar

BANGKOK — China said Thursday that it had expressed “grave concern” to the Myanmar government after a shell, apparently fired during fighting between Myanmar troops and ethnic rebels, landed in Chinese territory, and a Chinese government spokesman called for an immediate cease-fire. The Chinese response was unusually strong given the close ties between the two countries in recent years, and...

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The aggressively priced Lumia 620 is Nokia’s make or break model

Nokia (NOK) has started pricing the Lumia 620 in Asia nearly 20% below the rival Windows mid-market model, the HTC (2498) 8S. This is remarkably aggressive considering the 620 has a higher pixel density and twice as much internal memory. The 620 is the keystone phone for Nokia. It is launching before RIM (RIMM) gets its new budget BlackBerry phones out and before Samsung (005930) or LG (066570) enter...

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See Personal Pics of Rosie O'Donnell's Daughter Dakota

After welcoming her fifth child, the comedian gives fans an intimate glimpse into her mommy joy in a series of personal photos Credit: Courtesy of Rosie O'Donnell Updated: Thursday Jan 17, 2013 | 12:00 PM EST By: Shanelle Rein-Olowokere Subscribe Now ...

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Will Obama's order lead to surge in gun research?

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Nearly as many Americans die from guns as from car crashes each year. We know plenty about the second problem and far less about the first. A scarcity of research on how to prevent gun violence has left policymakers shooting in the dark as they craft gun control measures without much evidence of what works.That could change with President Barack Obama's order Wednesday to ease research...

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Woman repeatedly raped inside Nordstrom, police allege

Prosecutors said one of the five people charged in connection with the take-over robbery at a Nordstrom Rack department store in Westchester raped one of the female hostages. Prosecutors offered no details. But a district attorney's office spokeswoman said the victim was sexually assaulted "multiple times." Raymond Sherman Jr., 34, who authorities said was the most violent in the group,...

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Netanyahu Issues Veiled Barb in Response to Reported Criticism From Obama

JERUSALEM — Days before an Israeli election that he is expected to win, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday directed a veiled barb at President Obama, who was quoted this week as denouncing Mr. Netanyahu’s policies. Relations between the two leaders have long been marked by tension that has erupted on occasion into open hostility, particularly over the handling of the Iranian nuclear...

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NVIDIA’s ‘Project SHIELD’ Console Faces Three Challenges

Despite being announced at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show, NVIDIA’s Project SHIELD isn’t the first game-console-in-a-controller to be announced this year. That honor goes to the GameStick, an indie project being funded on Kickstarter. As relative newcomers to the gaming scene, GameStick‘s creators face an uphill battle for acceptance, from both potential buyers and game developers.But despite...

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Mariah Carey Reveals Who Impressed Her During American Idol Auditions

TV Watch By Patrick Gomez 01/16/2013 at 06:30 PM EST Mariah Carey Mario Anzuoni/Reuters/Landov Mariah Carey is famous for her amazing five-octave vocal range – but did any contestants on American Idol have the guts to sing a Carey song right to the diva herself?Last...

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Large study confirms flu vaccine safe in pregnancy

NEW YORK (AP) — A large study offers reassuring news for pregnant women: It's safe to get a flu shot.The research found no evidence that the vaccine increases the risk of losing a fetus, and may prevent some deaths. Getting the flu while pregnant makes fetal death more likely, the Norwegian research showed.The flu vaccine has long been considered safe for pregnant women and their fetus. U.S. health...

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Woman repeatedly raped inside Nordstrom

Prosecutors said one of the five people charged in connection with the take-over robbery at a Nordstrom Rack department store in Westchester raped one of the female hostages. Prosecutors offered no details. But a district attorney's office spokeswoman said the victim was sexually assaulted "multiple times." Raymond Sherman Jr., 34, who authorities said was the most violent in the group,...

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Nalagaat, Israeli Troupe of Deaf-Blind Actors

TEL AVIV — Next time you’re alone in a dark, quiet room, shut your eyes. Block out all sound. For the deaf and blind performers of Nalagaat, an acclaimed Israeli theater ensemble, the impregnable darkness and silence is just reality, a black canvas on which to work. In the troupe’s “Not by Bread Alone,” which is to have its United States premiere at the Skirball Center for the Performing...

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Why the Atlantic removed the Scientology advertorial

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The Atlantic apologized on Tuesday for posting a sponsored advertorial from the Church of Scientology, celebrating its leader David Miscavige.The sponsored post, which went live Monday at 9:25 a.m. PT, touted 2012 as “milestone year” for the secretive church, which has been steeped in controversy throughout the years.It was taken down about 8:30 p.m. and replaced by a message...

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Prince Harry Named Most Eligible Bachelor by Town & Country Magazine

By Maggie Coughlan 01/15/2013 at 06:30 PM EST While Prince Harry may not be no. 1 in line for the throne, the young royal has been named the top bachelor of 2013.Prince Harry, 28, beat out 39 famous faces – including George Clooney and Taylor Swift's summer romance, Conor Kennedy – to be named Town & Country's most eligible bachelor. Despite...

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Risk to all ages: 100 kids die of flu each year

NEW YORK (AP) — How bad is this flu season, exactly? Look to the children.Twenty flu-related deaths have been reported in kids so far this winter, one of the worst tolls this early in the year since the government started keeping track in 2004.But while such a tally is tragic, that does not mean this year will turn out to be unusually bad. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, and it's...

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