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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EU urges quick trade talks after Japan vote

BRUSSELS: European Union president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday congratulated Japan's Shinzo Abe for his sweeping election win while urging the swift opening of trade talks."On behalf of the European Union please accept our congratulations on your success on the occasion of the recent parliamentary elections," the two said."We look forward to...

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DxO Labs tries making sense of camera lens sharpness

This chart shows the perceptive megapixel score for the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM mounted on the 21-megapixel Canon EOS 5D Mark II. At settings where the plot is green, the lens matches the camera's resolution. At f22 and smaller apertures, the lens-camera combination reduces the camera's effective performance to only about 4 megapixels or so.(Credit:screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Aiming...

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In divorce, mom had authority over Conn. shooter

Last Updated 11:12 a.m. NEWTOWN, Conn. When the parents of Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza divorced in 2009, their legal documents offer no hints of an acrimonious split and make no mention of any lingering mental health or medical issues for the then-teenage boy.Newly-public divorce paperwork shows that Nancy Lanza had the authority to make all decisions regarding her son's upbringing.Play...

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Two Adult Shooting Survivors Will Be Key Witnesses

Two adult survivors who were shot and injured in the Newtown, Conn., school massacre will be integral parts of the investigation into the deadly rampage, police said today."Investigators will, in fact, speak with them when it's medically appropriate and they will shed a great deal of light on the facts and circumstances of this tragic investigation," Connecticut State Police...

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Japan's LDP surges back to power, eyes two-thirds majority with ally

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surged back to power in an election on Sunday just three years after a devastating defeat, giving ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a chance to push his hawkish security agenda and radical economic recipe. An LDP win will usher in a government committed to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy...

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Japan moves right as conservatives win big in polls

TOKYO: Japan's conservative opposition swept to victory in national polls on Sunday, giving former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a second chance to push his hawkish security agenda and reflate the economy.Voters dumped Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda three years after his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) promised a change from more than half a century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic...

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Netflix, RIM, others get boot from key Nasdaq stock index

With Facebook's entry, a handful of other tech companies exit key stock index.The shakeup that landed Facebook on Nasdaq's top 100 list is also leading to the departure of other prominent tech players.Facebook was added last week to the Nasdaq 100, the collection of the largest 100 nonfinancial companies trading on the stock exchange. Facebook's addition to the index came with the departure of IT...

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In wake of school massacre, Conn. police warn against social media frauds

NEWTOWN, Conn. Connecticut authorities complained Sunday that false information about the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school is being promulgated online by social media tricksters. And they warned that such misinformation is prosecutable under the law. 19 PhotosVictims of Conn. school shooting36 PhotosVigils for Conn. school shooting victims"Misinformation is being posted on social media....

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Conn. Shooting: Town Mourns as Police Seek Clues

Members of the shattered community of Newtown, Conn., struggling to come to grips with the loss of 20 children and six adults massacred by Adam Lanza, faced a new shock today when a threat was made against a church that many of the victims and their families attend.The St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church was evacuated during a noon service as armed police officers swarmed around...

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