Venezuela lawmakers elect Chavez ally as Assembly chief

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan lawmakers re-elected a staunch ally of Hugo Chavez to head the National Assembly on Saturday, putting him in line to be caretaker president if the socialist leader does not recover from cancer surgery. By choosing the incumbent, Diosdado Cabello, the "Chavista"-dominated legislature cemented the combative ex-soldier's position as the third most powerful...

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ECB to ring in New Year with rates on hold

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank will usher in 2013 with steady interest rates at its first policy meeting this year to keep up the pressure on governments to solve the debt crisis, analysts predict.With ECB interest rates currently at record lows and its latest anti-crisis weapon ready and primed for action, central bank chief Mario Draghi will not pass up the opportunity to insist...

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Windows laptop sales sink -- but that's just part of the problem

Will businesses and consumers spring for a Windows 8 hybrid priced at $849 that's powered by a relatively pokey Atom processor?(Credit:Hewlett-Packard)Windows 8 PC sales aren't trending well, according to a new report. And consumers' addiction to low cost may be a factor. A blurb on Friday from the NPD Group said Windows 8 holiday sales continue to not impress. "The launch of Windows 8...did little...

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Houston beats Bengals 19-13 in wild-card playoff

Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub passes the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter of an NFL wild card playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Houston. / AP Photo/Dave Einsel HOUSTON Arian Foster ran for 140 yards and a touchdown, and the Houston Texans used a stifling defensive effort for a 19-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday in an AFC wild-card...

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City Answers Gang-Rape Cover-Up Allegations

As Steubenville, Ohio, prepares for the high-profile rape trial of two high school football players, officials, battling allegations of a cover-up, announced the creation of a new website today to debunk rumors and create what they said would be a transparent resource for the community."This site is not designed to be a forum for how the Juvenile Court ought to rule in this matter,"...

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Abbas sees Palestinian unity as Fatah rallies in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave. "Soon we will regain our unity," Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions,...

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Singapore, Turkey reaffirm excellent bilateral ties

ANKARA: The foreign ministers of Singapore and Turkey reaffirmed the excellent state of relations between their countries during talks in the Turkish capital, Ankara on January 4.Singapore's Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam and his Turkish counterpart, Professor Ahmet Davutoglu, also discussed ways to further broaden and deepen bilateral cooperation.In particular, they looked...

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Library of Congress digs in to full archive of 170 billion tweets

The U.S. Library of Congress said today that it has completed a process of collecting a full, ongoing stream of tweets, and that it has begun work to archive and organize more than 170 billion tweets.Under an agreement struck between the government institution and Twitter in 2010, the microblogging company is providing the Library of Congress with a full stream of all public tweets, starting with...

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At least 3 killed after small plane hits home in Fla.

A scene of a plane crash in Palm Coast, Florida, Jan. 4, 2013. / CBS/WKMG/Flagler Live PALM COAST, Fla. Authorities say at least three people are dead after a small plane crashed into a house while trying to land at a central Florida airport. The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed the deaths Friday afternoon. The Federal Aviation Administration says the pilot reported mechanical problems shortly...

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Obama Poised to Name New Defense, Treasury Chiefs

With the "fiscal cliff" crisis behind him, President Obama is poised to name two new key players to his cabinet, with both announcements expected to come next week.Obama will name the replacement for outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as soon as Monday, sources told ABC News. Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is the likely nominee, they said.Meanwhile, the president is...

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Eleven dead in Damascus gas station blast

AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - At least 11 people were killed and 40 wounded when a car bomb exploded at a crowded petrol station in the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, opposition activists said. The station was packed with people queuing for fuel that has become increasingly scarce during the country's 21-month-long insurgency aimed at overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad. ...

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GIC names Lim Chow Kiat as new group CIO

SINGAPORE: The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has named Lim Chow Kiat as its next group chief investment officer, effective 1 February 2013.GIC said in a statement on Friday that Mr Lim will succeed Mr Ng Kok Song who is retiring.Mr Lim, 42, is currently GIC's deputy group chief investment officer. He joined the sovereign wealth fund in 1993 after graduating with...

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Sony said to be developing online TV service

The Sony XBR-84X900 could feature the company's new television service, which is rumored to be in the works.(Credit:Sony)Word on the street is that Sony is creating a Net-connected multichannel television service that could roll out as soon as this year, according to Variety. Purportedly, the company is in talks with at least two big content companies about channel licensing. Such a service would...

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Veteran's improbable survival gives heart to shell-shocked surgeon

(CBS News) AUBURN, Ala. -- The carnage Lee Warren encountered in the combat hospital at Balad, Iraq, in 2005 was like nothing he had ever seen as a neurosurgeon. And no patient was worse-off than a soldier brought in by helicopter after being hit by a roadside bomb. "I unwrapped his head in the emergency room and looked at him and thought he was dead," Warren says. He was, Warren later wrote,...

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Senate Panel Probes Bin Laden Movie Torture Scenes

The Senate Intelligence Committee has launched a new probe to determine how much the CIA may have influenced the portrayal of torture scenes shown in "Zero Dark Thirty," the Hollywood dramatization of the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden.The probe, as first reported by Reuters and confirmed to ABC News by a spokesperson for the committee's chairman, will attempt to answer two...

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Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

DAMARA, Central African Republic (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and agreed to start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally backed troops. The Seleka rebels had pushed to within striking distance of Bangui after a three-week onslaught and threatened to oust President Francois Bozize, accusing him of reneging...

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Israel arresting Palestinians to preempt uprising: security

JERUSALEM: Israel plans to step up arrests of suspected militants in the occupied West Bank to prevent a rising tide of low-intensity conflict and civil unrest from turning into an uprising, security sources say."There is a certain (Palestinian) awakening," one source told AFP."As a consequence a decision was taken within the security establishment to increase intelligence activity and...

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Does Apple's shadow still loom over CES?

Apple's presence looms large over CES.(Credit:Uncover)At the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, one company always comes up during the cocktail conversations and hallway chats of the show. Its presence looms large and can be seen everywhere, even though it never attendsCES.That company is Apple, the undisputed juggernaut of the consumer electronics world and the planet's most valuable...

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Hillary Clinton discharged from hospital

WASHINGTONSecretary of State Hillary Clinton was discharged from a New York hospital Wednesday, after spending 72 hours under observation following the discovery of a blood clot in her head, the State Department said. In a statement, spokesperson Philippe Reines said: "Her medical team advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts, and they are confident she will make a full recovery....

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Christie Calls Boehner's Sandy Decision 'Disgusting'

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said today that it was "disgusting" that the House adjourned without voting on a $60 billion relief package for the victims of superstorm Sandy and put the blame squarely on a fellow Republican -- House Speaker John Boehner.Christie, who is considered a possible Republican presidential candidate four years from now, said there was "only one group...

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At least 61 crushed to death in Ivory Coast stampede

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - At least 61 people were crushed to death in a stampede after a New Year's Eve fireworks display at a stadium in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan early on Tuesday, officials said. Witnesses said police had tried to control crowds around the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium following the celebrations, triggering a panic in which scores were trampled. "The estimate...

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Colorado town in the thick of fracking dispute

Longmont, COLORADO: The US oil and gas industry is condemning a move by one Colorado town to impose its own ban on the practice of hydraulic fracturing.Voters in Longmont have chosen to outlaw the controversial practice within city limits, but drillers and the state government said the city has overstepped its bounds.Space for large houses with mountain views -- one of the reasons the...

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Anonymous: 'Expect us 2013'

The hacking collective Anonymous has clarified that it has no plans to fade away in the New Year. It issued a statement over the weekend that warned the world to "Expect us 2013." Along with the statement, the group created a video that boasts of its campaigns and exploits carried out in 2012. The video details the group's temporary shutdown of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, Universal Music,...

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61 killed in post-celebration stampede in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory CoastA crowd stampeded after leaving a New Year's fireworks show early Tuesday in Ivory Coast's main city, killing 61 people — many of them children and teenagers — and injuring more than 200, rescue workers said. Thousands had gathered at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan's Plateau district to see the fireworks. It was only the second New Year's Eve fireworks display...

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House Hesitates, Cites Cliff Deal Spending

Top House Republicans today opposed a bipartisan compromise that passed the Senate in the wee hours of New Year's Day to avert the "fiscal cliff," amid concerns about the cost of spending and extending tax cuts in the plan.If House Republicans tweak the legislation, as they seem likely to do, there's no clear path for its return to the Senate before a new Congress is sworn in...

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North Korean leader, in rare address, seeks end to confrontation with South

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an end to confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53 conflict, in a surprise New Year speech broadcast on state media. The address by Kim, who took over power in the reclusive state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place...

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Philippines set to quit Marcos wealth chase

MANILA: The Philippines is to wind down a near-30-year hunt for the embezzled wealth of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, with more than half the supposed $10 billion fortune still missing, the man in charge of the search said.With Marcos' widow and children back in positions of political power, and the government tightening its belt, the cost of the pursuit has become prohibitive, said...

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Pirated iOS app store Installous shutters

Another one bites the dust.(Credit:TorrentFreak)A wee bit of bad news for Apple's jailbreak community right on the eve of the New Year: Installous, a major portal for pirated paid apps from Apple's App Store, won't be around anymore.Development team Hackulous today announced the closure of Installous on their official Web site. As of today, the pirated app store no longer works, and only shows these...

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New technology to keep drunk drivers from driving

(CBS News) CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The message from police to party-goers this New Year's Eve is: "Drive sober or get pulled over." There were nearly 10,000 deaths from drunk driving in the U.S. last year, down 2.5 percent from the year before. There is now a debate over technology that could prevent drunk drivers from starting their engines. Meredith and Matt Eastridge, in an undated photo/CBS News...

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