Israel Sticks to Tough Approach in Conflict With Hamas

TEL AVIV — With rockets landing on the outskirts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday and the Egyptian prime minister making a solidarity visit to Gaza, the accelerating conflict between Israel and Hamas — reminiscent in many ways of so many previous battles — has the makings of a new kind of Israeli-Palestinian face-off. The combination of longer-range and far deadlier rockets in the hands...

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President Obama Perfects the McKayla Maroney Scowl

By Kristen Mascia 11/17/2012 at 01:45 PM EST Pete Souza/The White House/Getty Heads up, America: the President is not impressed.During the U.S. women's gymnastics team's visit to the White House on Thursday, president Barack Obama posed with McKayla Maroney,...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Going off "cliff" with a bungee cord

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The 1987 crash. The Y2K bug. The debt ceiling debacle of 2011. All these events, in the end, turned out to be buying opportunities for stocks. So will the "fiscal cliff," some investors say as they watch favorite stocks tumble during the political give-and-take happening in Washington. The first round of talks aimed at avoiding the "fiscal cliff" caused...

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Havana Journal: In Cuba, Carlos Acosta’s Dream Project Draws Fire

Jose Goitia for The New York TimesCarlos Acosta, a Cuban-born ballet star, wants to turn this abandoned dance school in Havana into an international dance center. HAVANA — It has the ring of a modern Cuban fairy tale: A handsome ballet star returns to his native land and discovers an abandoned dance school, which he vows to restore to life. Yet Carlos Acosta’s dream of founding a dance center...

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Smartphones, tablets spark “post-pie” Thanksgiving sales

(Reuters) – Retailers are targeting “post-pie” commerce, the jump in shopping created by the boom in smartphones and tablet computers which Thanksgiving diners grab as they collapse onto the couch after eating turkey and pumpkin pie.While people relax with family and friends or watch football on TV, they are increasingly shopping online with these mobile...

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Lisa Ling: Pregnancy Makes Me Nervous

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 11/16/2012 at 09:00 AM ET Cindy Ord/Getty Lisa Ling has battled child traffickers, traveled to remote areas of the Congo to help women and raised awareness for her sister, captured and held in North Korea last year. But having a baby? That frightens her.“I’m finally...

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.Meningitis mainly affects infants...

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Attacks Resume After Israeli Assault Kills Hamas Leader

KIRYAT MALACHI, Israel — Israel and Hamas widened their increasingly deadly conflict over Gaza on Thursday, as a militant rocket killed three civilians in an apartment block in this small southern town. The deaths were likely to lead Israel to intensify its military offensive on Gaza, now in its second day of airstrikes. In Gaza, the Palestinian death toll rose to 11 as Israel struck what...

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Snooki's Nights Out Now: Drinking Wine and Talking Politics

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GOP-led states start warming up to health care law

WASHINGTON (AP) — From the South to the heartland, cracks are appearing in the once-solid wall of Republican resistance to President Barack Obama's health care law.Ahead of a federal deadline Friday for states to declare their intentions, Associated Press reporters interviewed governors and state officials around the country, finding surprising openness to the changes in some cases. Opposition persists...

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Wall Street dips on "fiscal cliff" fear but off lows

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was on track to fall for a third day on Thursday as Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported disappointing results and investors feared the "fiscal cliff" will harm the economy. Stocks have struggled recently to hold onto even slight gains, dropping more than 1 percent on Wednesday after starting the session higher. Investors worry the economy could...

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Israelis Launch Major Assault on Gaza, Killing Hamas Commander

ReutersPalestinians extinguished a fire after an Israeli airstrike on a car carrying Ahmed al-Jabari, who ran Hamas's military wing, on Wednesday in Gaza City. GAZA — Israel on Wednesday launched one of the most ferocious assaults on Gaza since its invasion four years ago, hitting at least 20 targets in aerial attacks that killed the top military commander of Hamas, drew strong condemnation from Egypt...

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Zac Efron Smooches Rebel Wilson at Lakers Game

By Julia Haskins 11/14/2012 at 02:20 PM EST Does Zac Efron have a new crush? The sexy young star Tweeted a picture of a smooch he gave hilarious Bridesmaids actress Rebel Wilson at Tuesday's Los Angeles Lakers game. "She's a Laker fan too??? I think I'm in love," Efron wrote in the picture post. And it sounded...

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Wall Street briefly cuts losses on Obama briefing

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks briefly trimmed losses on Wednesday as President Barack Obama pushed for his proposal to have the wealthy pay more in taxes as a way to tame the federal deficit. Taking a hard line in his opening bid before he begins fiscal talks with U.S. lawmakers later in the week, the president also said he was encouraged that some Republicans have agreed to raising new...

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Ireland probes death of ill abortion-seeker

DUBLIN (AP) — The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesday after the government confirmed that a woman in the midst of a miscarriage was refused an abortion and died in an Irish hospital after suffering from blood poisoning.Prime Minister Enda Kenny said he was awaiting findings from three investigations into the death of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian woman who was 17...

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