Vice president quits as Egypt votes on constitution

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's vice-president resigned on Saturday as Egyptians voted in a referendum that is expected to approve a new constitution that lays the foundations for the country's transition to democracy but will strip him of his role. Authorities extended voting by four hours in the second and decisive round of the plebiscite on an Islamist-drafted constitution that the opposition...

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Offbeat game recasts Xmas tune as 'Little Bummer Boy'

If you don't want to be 'LDB Out,' avoid 'Little Drummer Boy' at all costs.(Credit:@Nelz9999)There's a bigger danger this holiday season than ending up on Santa's naughty list. A lump of coal in a Christmas stocking is one thing. What can happen to you if you hear "Little Drummer Boy" is something else altogether. You know the tune: "Come they told me/Pa rum pum pum pum/A newborn King to see/Pa rum...

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Rebels threaten to storm 2 Syrian Christian towns

BEIRUT Rebels have threatened to storm two predominantly Christian towns in central Syria, saying regime forces are using them to attack nearby areas, an activist group said Saturday. It says such an attack could force thousands of Christians from their homes. Russia's foreign minister, meanwhile, said that Damascus has consolidated its chemical weapons into one or two locations to protect them...

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'Fiscal Cliff' Leaves Boehner a Wounded Speaker

John Boehner is a bloodied House speaker following the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Barack Obama.There's plenty of internal grumbling about the Ohio Republican, especially among conservatives, and lots of buzzing about whether his leadership post is in jeopardy. But it's uncertain whether...

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Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels began to push into a strategic town in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday and laid siege to at least one town dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect, activists said. The operation risks inflaming already raw sectarian tensions as the 21-month-old revolt against four decades of Assad family rule - during which the president's Alawite sect...

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India seeks life sentences for Delhi bus rapists

NEW DELHI: India's government, facing swelling protests over the gang-rape of a female student on a bus, vowed on Friday to press for life sentences for her six attackers and promised stricter policing.Home Secretary R.K. Singh also said the government would pay the medical bills of the 23-year-old victim of the brutal Sunday night attack, who is fighting for her life after suffering serious...

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Apple Newsstand ropes in longtime holdout

WSJ's updated app.(Credit:Apple)Longtime holdout of Apple's Newsstand service, The Wall Street Journal changed course today, and is now offering a complete version of its paper through the paid subscription service.The Journal has had a reader app on the App Store since early 2010, but did not allow users to subscribe using their Apple ID and linked credit card account, something that gives Apple...

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John Kerry tapped to be next Secretary of State

Updated 1:55 p.m. Eastern TimePresident Obama announced Friday that he is nominating Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State."John's entire life has prepared him for this role," Mr. Obama said in announcing his decision in the Roosevelt Room at the White House Friday afternoon. He was joined by Vice President Joe Biden, Kerry, and Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz Kerry.Clinton,...

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Boehner's Take on Fiscal Cliff Deal: 'God Only Knows'

Dec 21, 2012 11:00am Speaker of the House John Boehner bluntly acknowledged Friday morning he did not have the votes to pass his “Plan B” and said the only real solution is a broad agreement to cut spending and reform the tax code. Then he added these words:“How we get there, God only knows.”That about sums up the whole “fiscal cliff” situation after a chaotic Thursday...

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Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels began to push into a strategic town in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday and laid siege to at least one town dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect, activists said. The operation risks inflaming already raw sectarian tensions as the 21-month-old revolt against four decades of Assad family rule - during which the president's Alawite sect...

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Spanish lawmakers pass 2013 crisis budget

MADRID: Spanish lawmakers passed 39 billion euros' ($52 billion) worth of unpopular spending cuts Thursday as angry demonstrators urged fresh street protests.The government says the tough cuts in the 2013 budget are needed to fix the public finances of the eurozone's fourth-biggest economy, stricken by the collapse of a construction boom in 2008.As the lower house Congress dominated by...

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Best of the best from this year in Crave

What's your favorite Crave story from the last year?(Credit:Image by Christopher MacManus)It's been an eventful year here at Crave, what with the discovery of Dungeons & Dragons dice from the Ptolemaic Period; the strange tail of the robotic butt; a ship that flips over on purpose, and cow lady-parts that text farmers when it's time for a booty call. Our retrospective gallery below gives you...

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House GOP: We have the votes for "Plan B"

Play VideoCantor: "We're going to have the votes" to pass "Plan B"As the House readies for an expected vote on an alternate plan, dubbed "Plan B," to avoid massive tax hikes on all income earners, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he is confident he will have enough support to pass their plan. "We're going to have the votes," Cantor told reporters this morning. It seemed talks between...

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Winter Weather Threatens Christmas Travel

A pre-Christmas blizzard that is battering at least eight states in the middle of the nation could trip up travelers headed home for Christmas in the coming days.Nearly 20 inches of snow have been reported in Colorado just west of Denver. Nebraska has reported 6-to-10 inches so far. Between 3 and 8 inches have accumulated in Iowa already and more is possible. Snow is falling...

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U.S. Army sergeant referred to court martial over Afghan slayings

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The publisher of "Life & Style" and "In Touch," which is being sued by Tom Cruise for printing that the "Jack Reacher" star had abandoned his daughter Suri following his divorce from Katie Holmes, has fired back at the actor's suit. In an answer to Cruise's defamation lawsuit, filed in October, Bauer Publishing Co. says that its reporting is "substantially true." Bauer's...

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Football: Wilshere, four others sign new Arsenal deals

LONDON: Arsenal were given a major fillip on Wednesday when they announced that English midfielder Jack Wilshere and four other players have agreed new long-term contracts with the club.Wilshere joins fellow England internationals Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson and Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey in committing his future to the Emirates Stadium."We are delighted...

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New York A.G. removes 2,100 sex offenders from online games

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has been able to remove over 2,000 registered sex offenders from popular online games, his office announced today.Over 2,100 registered sex offenders have been kicked out of a host of games from developers Gaia Online, NCSoft, and THQ, among others, as part of the attorney general's Operation: Game Over, an initiative designed to remove registered sex offenders...

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State Dept. officials resign following Benghazi report

Eric Boswell, the head of diplomatic security at the State Department, has resigned, CBS News confirmed, following the release of a harsh report detailing State Department missteps that led to the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Two other officials are resigning as well, CBS News has confirmed: Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, and an unnamed...

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Inside One School's Extraordinary Security Measures

While schools across America reassess their security measures in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., one school outside of Chicago takes safety to a whole new level.The security measures at Middleton Elementary School start the moment you set foot on campus, with a camera-equipped doorbell. When you ring the doorbell, school employees inside are...

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Egypt opposition protests against constitution

CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged protests in Cairo on Tuesday against an Islamist-backed draft constitution that has divided Egypt but looks set to be approved in the second half of a referendum this weekend. Several hundred protesters outside the presidential palace chanted "Revolution, revolution, for the sake of the constitution" and called on...

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Obama backs bill to ban assault weapons: White House

WASHINGTON: President Brack Obama on Tuesday threw his weight behind a bill to reintroduce a ban on civilians owning assault weapons, in the wake of a gun massacre in an elementary school that shocked the nation.White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president would support a law proposed by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to prohibit the arms, defined as certain types of semi-automatic...

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Apple releases iOS 6.0.2 to fix Wi-Fi issue

Apple today released another minor update toiOS 6 that promises to fix a Wi-Fi issue affecting its newest devices.The software, which went out this morning to theiPhone 5 andiPad Mini, says simply that it "fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi." No additional features or security fixes are part of the update, according to the company's release notes.The update comes just a day after Apple gave developers...

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First of 8 funerals at Newtown church begins

NEWTOWN, Conn. Family members have gathered for the first of eight funerals for school shooting victims to be held at a Catholic church in Newtown, Conn. A motorcade of dozens of vehicles led by police motorcycles accompanied the family of 6-year-old James Mattioli to St. Rose of Lima on Tuesday. His funeral comes a day after two other 6-year-old boys were laid in the first of a long, almost unbearable...

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Threat Closes Newtown Elementary School

Local officials closed a Newtown, Conn., elementary school following a threat on what would have been the first day of classes since a shooting rampage at nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School.Classes at Head O'Meadow Elementary School were scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET, but as parents and students arrived at the school they encountered police who turned them away.Principal...

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Syrian vice president says neither side can win war

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said that neither the forces of President Bashar al-Assad nor rebels seeking to overthrow him can win the war which is now being fought on the outskirts of Assad's powerbase in Damascus. Sharaa, a Sunni Muslim in a power structure dominated by Assad's Alawite minority, has rarely been seen since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011...

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