Winter Chill Descends on Frozen Fiscal Cliff Talks

A chill has descended on Washington just in time for tonight's lighting of the National Christmas Tree.President Obama will preside over an evening festival of star-studded carols and sparkling displays of holiday cheer on the White House Ellipse.But don't expect any of the holiday good will to warm the political frost over the fiscal cliff talks.The White House is mandating...

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Egypt clashes erupt despite proposal to end crisis

CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists fought protesters outside the Egyptian president's palace on Wednesday, while inside the building his deputy proposed a way to end a crisis over a draft constitution that has split the most populous Arab nation. Stones and petrol bombs flew between opposition protesters and supporters of President Mohamed Mursi who had flocked to the palace in response to a...

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Britain faces more austerity pain

LONDON: Finance minister George Osborne on Wednesday warned Britons that they faced an extra year of austerity measures and insisted that reversing his belt-tightening measures now would be a "disaster".Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne said Britain would face spending cuts and tax hikes until 2018 -- after the coalition government led by Prime Minister David Cameron had already previously...

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Deoband fatwa describes perfume with alcohol, tattoo and women receptionists as un-Islamic

LUCKNOW: Two fatwas issued by leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh in last two days have left many in Muslim community perplexed in the state. While a fatwa as described working of women as receptionists against sharia law, another termed tattoo and use of perfume with alcohol content as un-Islamic.A Pakistan-based company had asked whether it could appoint...

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John McAfee Seeks Asylum, Thanks God for 'Sanity'

Eccentric software tycoon John McAfee, wanted for questioning in the shooting death of his neighbor, has made his escape from Belize to Guatemala, where he told ABC News he will be seeking asylum."Thank God I am in a place where there is some sanity," McAfee said. "I chose Guatemala carefully."McAfee, 67, has been on the run from police in the Central American country of Belize...

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Egypt's Mursi leaves palace as police battle protesters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police battled thousands of protesters outside President Mohamed Mursi's palace in Cairo on Tuesday, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, two presidential sources said. Police fired teargas at demonstrators angered by Mursi's drive to hold a referendum on a new constitution on December 15. Some broke through police lines around his palace and...

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Android extends global smartphone lead: survey

WASHINGTON: Google's Android operating system will power more than two-thirds of smartphones sold worldwide in 2012, and will remain the dominant platform for at least the next four years, a survey showed Tuesday.The survey by the research firm IDC showed Android will be the platform for 68.3 per cent of smartphones shipped in 2012, far ahead of 18.8 per cent for the iOS platform used...

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GMR row: India tells Maldives not to take any coercive action

MALE/NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday made it clear to the Maldives that no arbitrary or coercive measure should be taken in the GMR case pending the outcome of the legal proceedings, underlining that any such action would inevitably have adverse consequences for bilateral relations. This was conveyed by external affairs minister Salman Khurshid when his Maldivian counterpart Abdul Samad Abdullah telephoned...

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CDC says US flu season starts early, could be bad

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.Health officials on Monday said suspected flu cases have jumped in five Southern states, and the primary strain circulating tends to make people sicker than other types. It is particularly hard on the elderly."It looks like it's shaping up to be a bad flu season, but only time will tell,"...

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Alaska Serial Killer Buried Murder Kits Across US

Israel Keyes, the Alaskan man whoconfessed to seven murders before killing himself in a jail cell, told police that he traveled the country to find victims and buried caches of weapons, money and tools for disposing of bodies to use in future crimes.The FBI also released an ominous list of 35 trips Keyes made around the U.S., Mexico and Canada over the last eight years.Keyes,...

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