Venezuela, Despite Myriad Problems, Seizes On a Hat

Carlos Garcia Rawlins/ReutersVice President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela wore a patriotic cap to a parade Monday in Caracas. CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela seems to lurch from one crisis to another. President Hugo Chávez has virtually disappeared since going to Cuba for cancer surgery more than eight weeks ago. Last month, 58 people were killed in a prison when inmates clashed with soldiers. Inflation...

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Tiger Woods & Lindsey Vonn Are 'Spending More Time' Together: Source

Buzz By Steve Helling 02/09/2013 at 06:00 PM EST Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn Mick Tsikas/Reuters/Landov; Luis Guerra/Ramey It was quite the gesture. After Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury during the Alpine World Championships in Austria, she got a bit...

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

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State fires contractor on tech project

SACRAMENTO – The state has fired the contractor on one of its biggest and most troubled technology projects after deep problems...

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IHT Rendezvous: French Communists Abandon Hammer and Sickle

LONDON — The Communist Party of France has sparked a revolution among the comrades by removing the hammer and sickle from their membership cards.The iconic symbol of the international proletariat has been replaced with the star of the multi-party European Left alliance, much to the horror of traditionalists at the party’s 36th congress that opened near Paris on Thursday.What was billed by the party...

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Nigella Lawson: Inside Her Kitchen

By Liza Hamm 02/08/2013 at 05:15 PM EST One day British cook Nigella Lawson found herself inspired while watching an episode of MTV Cribs. "I saw Missy Elliott had the world's biggest fridge, and I thought, 'One day I've got to have that fridge!' " says Lawson, as she gestures toward the 7-ft.-tall Sub-Zero...

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Dorner eludes manhunt as snow, cold intensify in Big Bear

Fat snowflakes kept falling and temperatures dropped in Big Bear Friday afternoon, but officials said the intensifying weather...

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China Makes Arrests in Crackdown on Immolations

HONG KONG — The police in a restive Tibetan area have arrested 12 people and detained dozens more accused of playing a part in acts of self-immolation by Tibetan monks and others protesting Chinese rule, the state-run news media said Thursday, as the government stepped up its campaign of attributing the protests to a plot inspired by the exiled Dalai Lama. The announcement of the crackdown...

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Milla Jovovich Adopts Two Puppies

People Pets 02/07/2013 at 06:00 PM EST Sweet Potato and Maya Papaya with Milla Jovovich (inset) Courtesy Milla Jovovich; Inset: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Milla Jovovich's doggy family just got bigger!The actress announced on Facebook Thursday that she'd brought home...

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Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.Blacks were five times more likely than whites...

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Police on high alert after ex-LAPD cop's alleged serial shootings

Authorities across Southern California were on high alert Thursday morning as a massive manhunt was underway for an ex-Los Angeles police officer sought in connection with a double homicide and the shootings of three police officers, one of whom was killed.Local, state and federal authorities are involved in the search for Christoper Jordan Dorner, 33, who is believed to threatened "unconventional...

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At War Blog: Interview With Gen. John R. Allen on Leaving Afghanistan

The New York Times interviewed Gen. John. R. Allen on Sunday, a week before his scheduled departure from Afghanistan after 19 months as the commander of the American and allied forces.Following are some of General Allen’s comments. Brief explanations have been provided in brackets.On his relationship with President Hamid Karzai:“I wanted him to understand that he was always going to have my loyalty...

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Kim Kardashian: I Need a Divorce Now for My Baby's Sake

By Mike Fleeman 02/06/2013 at 07:00 PM EST Kim Kardashian is asking a judge to declare her marriage to Kris Humphries over, immediately, so that she won't still be wed when she gives birth to Kanye West's baby this summer."I firmly believe that an immediate dissolution of our marriage will help create a new,...

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New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have discovered the first U.S. cases of whooping cough caused by a germ that may be resistant to the vaccine.Health officials are looking into whether cases like the dozen found in Philadelphia might be one reason the nation just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. The new bug was previously reported in Japan, France and Finland."It's quite intriguing....

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Woman drugged girl, use her in hard-core porn, police allege

This post has been corrected. Please see below for details.A North Hills woman who authorities allege plied a young girl with crack cocaine and photographed her having sex with an older man was indicted Tuesday on federal charges of producing child pornography and child sex trafficking. Letha Montemayor Tucker was named Tuesday in a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand...

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North Korean Propaganda Video Imagines Attack on U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is not known for its subtlety, famous instead for its soaring patriotic rhetoric and threats to turn the capital of its rival, South Korea, into a “sea of fire.” But even by those standards, the latest volley of North Korea propaganda is noteworthy. Posted recently on YouTube, a video by one of the North’s propaganda agencies shows an animated version of Manhattan...

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See the Stylish Photo Shoot Jessica Simpson Did Between Babies

Stylewatch Style News Now 02/05/2013 at 04:00 PM ET Courtesy Jessica Simpson CollectionJessica Simpson is no stranger to buzzworthy photoshoots, but the glamorous shots she snapped for her Spring 2013 clothing line may take the cake.The sunlit campaign photos, shot in November on Malibu’s El Matador...

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until...

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Mystery after basketball coach, fiance murdered in parking lot

This post has been corrected. See the note below for details.Family and friends had only praise for a Cal State Fullerton coach and her fiance Monday, a day after the recently engaged college sweethearts were found fatally shot in the parking structure of their condominium near UC Irvine.The bodies of Monica Quan, an assistant women's basketball coach, and Keith Lawrence, who worked as a...

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Afghan Airline, Kam Air, No Longer Under U.S. Ban

KABUL, Afghanistan — The American military on Monday reversed a recent decision to blacklist one of Afghanistan’s main airlines, Kam Air, on suspicion of drug smuggling, and it agreed to share details of its accusations with the Afghan government. The turnaround came after days of Afghan criticism and what some Western officials described as a disagreement between the military and the American...

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Which Star Admits To Wearing a Fluorescent Unitard With Doc Martens?

Stylewatch Style News Now 02/04/2013 at 04:45 PM ET Courtesy Women’s HealthIt’s hard to believe that the star whose street style we most worship has ever made a wardrobe misstep. But rather than bury the evidence, Jessica Alba is...

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Bullying study: It does get better for gay teens

CHICAGO (AP) — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time.The seven-year study involved more than 4,000 teens in England who were questioned yearly through 2010, until they were 19 and 20 years old. At the...

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Parole Board urges Brown to release former Charles Manson follower

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California's governor has been asked to make the final decision on whether a former Charles Manson follower...

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Reformers Aim to Get China to Live Up to Own Constitution

Pool photo by Ed Jones/Getty imagesA recent speech by Xi Jinping in which he stressed the need to enforce the Constitution has stirred hope among reformers. BEIJING — After the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, the surviving Communist Party leaders pursued a project that might sound familiar to those in the West: Write a constitution that enshrines individual rights and ensures rulers are subject...

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BlackBerry Z10 Smartphone Already Going for $1,500 on eBay

The new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone won’t be out for weeks, but you can already get your hands on it via eBay for about $ 1,500.BlackBerry — the company formerly known as Research In Motion (RIM) — announced the new smartphone at an event earlier this week and handed out samples to guests and members of the press in attendance. It didn’t take long for the Z10, which could potentially turn around the...

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