Russian Acquittal Escalates Human Rights Feud With U.S.

MOSCOW — A judge issued an acquittal on Friday of the only official to have gone to trial in Russia in the case of Sergei L. Magnitsky, a lawyer whose death in prison three years ago inspired the United States Congress to pass a law addressing human rights abuses in Russia. The official, Dr. Dmitry Kratov, the former head of the medical service at Butyrka Prison, where Mr. Magnitsky had been...

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The Boy Genius Report: The Wii U is the Nintendo’s last console

I remember it still — people flipped out about the Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii. Yes, its name was mocked for a while, but there was genuine excitement around what Nintendo was doing with motion and the entire gameplay experience. While the original Nintendo Wii was almost an Apple (AAPL)-like product — Nintendo focused on the gameplay and not on specs; the company didn’t even have HD graphics when every...

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Shark Tank Bursts in Mall in China, Caught on Video

People Pets 12/28/2012 at 01:55 PM EST A 33-ton tank housing sharks, turtles and fish shattered in a Shanghai shopping mall, sending a torrent of water that injured more than a dozen shoppers and employees in a dramatic moment caught on video. The tank burst Dec. 19 at the Orient Shopping Center, hurtling huge...

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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

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Putin to Sign Ban on U.S. Adoptions of Russian Children

MOSCOW President Vladimir V. Putin said on Thursday that he would sign into law a bill banning the adoption of Russian children by American citizens, retaliating against an American law that punishes Russians accused of violating human rights and dealing a potentially grave setback to bilateral relations. Mr. Putin announced his decision at a meeting with senior government officials, including...

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What Did Neve Campbell Name Her Son?

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 12/27/2012 at 02:00 PM ET Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagicNeve Campbell is no stranger in the sea of unusual names.So when it came to her now 5-month-old son, the actress, wanting him to follow in her footsteps, skipped the mundane monikers.“We looked through a lot of books...

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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

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Wall Street falls for fourth day over "fiscal" fears

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell for a fourth day in a row on Thursday and a measure of investor anxiety hit its highest in five months after the top Senate Democrat warned a deal to avoid fiscal austerity measures may not be reached by the December 31 deadline. The comments by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just days before the hefty tax hikes and spending cuts go into effect pushed...

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Lübeck Journal: Museum Seeks to Update Thomas Mann for Age of Texting

Gordon Welters for The New York TimesAs the Buddenbrookhaus, a museum about Thomas Mann, prepares to grow, it aims to make a formidable writer more accessible. LÜBECK, Germany — The latest sensation from the literary lion Thomas Mann is more than a century old and runs over 500 characters, not pages, long. In one of a trove of 81 recently discovered postcards, Mr. Mann rhapsodized to his...

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Netflix blames Amazon for Christmas Eve outage

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An outage at one of Amazon‘s web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc‘s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas Day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and...

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Jessica Simpson Stopping Weight Watchers Diet While Pregnant

By Maggie Coughlan 12/26/2012 at 02:30 PM EST Following Jessica Simpson's Christmas day confirmation of her pregnancy, Weight Watchers has extended their congratulations to the spokeswoman."What an amazing year you've had!" the organization Tweeted following the Fashion Star judge's announcement on Tuesday. Simpson...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Retailers lead Wall Street lower, "cliff" still a concern

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Wednesday, dragged lower by retail stocks after a report showed consumers were less enthusiastic about the holiday shopping season than last year. Many investors said concerns about the "fiscal cliff" kept shoppers away from stores, suggesting markets may struggle to make any ground until next year. Holiday-related sales rose 0.7 percent...

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Murderous Policewoman Leaves an Afghan Trail of Mystery

KABUL, Afghanistan — Sergeant Nargis went to work Monday with murder on her mind. By the end of the morning, she would succeed, becoming responsible for this year’s 62nd insider killing, in which Afghan security forces have killed American or other coalition personnel. Such killings have greatly increased this year, but Sergeant Nargis’s killing of an American police adviser, Joseph Griffin,...

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Yen on defensive on U.S. fiscal worry, helps Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Uncertainty over whether U.S. lawmakers will strike a deal by an end-of-year deadline to avert a severe fiscal retrenchment undermined the yen and bolstered Japanese shares on Tuesday in low volume, with many participants away on Christmas holiday. The dollar rose to a 20-month high of 84.965 yen early on Tuesday in Asia, as Japanese markets caught up with global investors...

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Gaza Cease-Fire Expands Fishing Area, but Risks Remain

Relaxed Rules Restore Old Opportunities: As a part of last month's cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel, Gazans can now fish 6 miles off the coast, doubling the previous limit.GAZA CITY — Khader Bakr, a 19-year-old fisherman, was thrilled to hear that he could now fish up to six nautical miles from the coast, up from the three-mile limit Israel had had in place since 2009. The change was...

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Linnea Johansson Blogs About Her A-List Clients' Holiday Party Food & Drink Tips

By Linnea Johansson 12/24/2012 at 02:00 PM EST Party planner Linnea Johansson (standing) Adrian Mueller - Fabrik Studios Celebrity event planner and chef Linnea Johansson knows how to throw a party. She's worked with such A-list stars as Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon...

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Start of "Santa Claus rally" dampened by "cliff' worries

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged lower on Monday as caution over the potential for volatility driven by worries about the U.S. "fiscal cliff" dampened enthusiasm at the start of a seasonally strong period for equities. Investors are betting Congress will reach a deal to avert most of the austerity measures due to come into force at the start of next year. That has led to the best...

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As Egypt Constitution Passes, New Fights Lie Ahead

Tara Todras-Whitehill for The New York TimesEgyptian women walk into a polling station. Millions went to the polls to pass judgment on an Islamist-backed constitution, whose passage represented an important milestone in Egypt’s chaotic two-year transition to democracy. More Photos »CAIRO — An Islamist-backed constitution was approved on Saturday, propelling Egypt’s deeply divided political factions...

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Top Comments: Mashable Readers React to Instagram’s Terms of Service

Monday, Dec. 17: Instagram Updates TOSReaders had varying reactions to Instagram‘s updates. Some felt that they were fair: If you don’t like the terms of service, argued some users, you have the option not to use the service. Others were far more outraged.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: Why xkcd Is Wrong About Instagram]This week, the top comments on Mashable brought into focus...

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Bethenny Frankel & Jason Hoppy Split Up

Breaking News By Andrea Billups and Liz McNeil 12/23/2012 at 02:10 PM EST Jason Hoppy and Bethenny Frankel in March 2012 Bauer-Griffin Bethenny Frankel and husband Jason Hoppy have called it quits after almost three years of marriage."It brings me great sadness...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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