Taliban Hint at Softer Line in Talks With Afghan Officials

KABUL, Afghanistan — After years of deriding Afghanistan’s government and army as corrupt tools of Western occupiers, the Taliban have begun publicly airing a softer vision for the country’s future, with senior insurgent leaders saying the militants are willing to govern alongside other Afghan factions and even to adopt the current American-financed army as their own. That message was delivered...

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Drew Barrymore: My Dogs Are So Protective of Baby Olive

People Pets Only on People.com By Julie Jordan and Amy Jamieson 12/22/2012 at 05:30 PM EST Drew Barrymore, Will Kopelman and dog Douglas NPG She may have been a nervous wreck after baby Olive arrived this fall, but the Drew Barrymore could have rested easy because...

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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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Despite string of problem projects, firm continues to win state work

SACRAMENTO — When state officials wanted a computer system to track the cost of therapy, transportation and other services for...

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World Briefing | Asia: Report Links Former Chinese Police Chief to Murder

A Chinese news organization, Southern Metropolis Weekly, has reported that Wang Lijun, a former police chief in Chongqing, played a direct role in organizing the murder of Neil Heywood, a British businessman found dead in a hotel room in November 2011. The publication reported this week that it had obtained documents that said one or more witnesses had told officials that Mr. Wang had examined a container...

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Instagram diverts attention from botched policy change with another new filter

Title Post: Instagram diverts attention from botched policy change with another new filterRating: 100%based on 99998 ratings.5 user reviews.Author: Fluser SeoLinkThanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comm...

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See If You Can Spot the One Color That Popped on the Carpet This Week

Stylewatch Style News Now 12/21/2012 at 12:00 PM ET Getty; Splash News Online; WireImageEven though we didn’t see as many stars on the red carpet this week as last — it’s quiet in Hollywood this holiday season! — we still saw some...

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AP IMPACT: Big Pharma cashes in on HGH abuse

A federal crackdown on illicit foreign supplies of human growth hormone has failed to stop rampant misuse, and instead has driven record sales of the drug by some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, an Associated Press investigation shows.The crackdown, which began in 2006, reduced the illegal flow of unregulated supplies from China, India and Mexico.But since then, Big Pharma has been...

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Overhaul of state government payroll system at risk of collapse

SACRAMENTO — One of the state's biggest technology endeavors, a $371-million overhaul of the government payroll system, is beset...

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God Save the British Economy

Illustration by Tadaomi ShibuyaEntering the Bank of England is like walking back in time to the old British Empire. Its brass door is attended by the Pinks, men in black hats and pink tailcoats. Vast meeting rooms are decorated with richly colored carpets, high ceilings with gold filigree and ornate furniture. Between rooms, the marble floors bear monetary-themed mosaics. One depicts the development...

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The X Factor: Who Won the Show?

The X Factor 12/20/2012 at 10:10 PM EST from left: Fifth Harmony, Tate Stevens and Carly Rose Sonenclar Ray Mickshaw/FOX The X Factor ended on a particularly high note for one of the show's finalists Thursday night.After performing live one last time the night...

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AP IMPACT: Steroids loom in major-college football

WASHINGTON (AP) — With steroids easy to buy, testing weak and punishments inconsistent, college football players are packing on significant weight — 30 pounds or more in a single year, sometimes — without drawing much attention from their schools or the NCAA in a sport that earns tens of billions of dollars for teams.Rules vary so widely that, on any given game day, a team with a strict no-steroid...

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LAPD investigation of killing hobbled by DEA

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has refused for more than two years to allow its agents to cooperate with a Los Angeles...

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Egyptian Soccer Team Pushes Through Violence to Honor Fallen Fans

NAGOYA, Japan — Ahmed Fathi, a defensive midfielder, ran for his life when he saw thousands of Egyptian opposition supporters streaming toward him on the field. His team, Al Ahly of Cairo, had just lost a local league game in February to Al Masry in the city of Port Said. Toru Hanai/ReutersElsayed Hamdy, center of Egypt's Al Ahly celebrated with teammates after scoring against Japan during...

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Kodak in $525 million patent deal, eyes bankruptcy end

(Reuters) – Eastman Kodak Co agreed to sell its digital imaging patents for about $ 525 million, a key step to bringing the photography pioneer out of bankruptcy in the first half of 2013.The deal for the 1,100 patents allows Kodak to fulfill a condition for securing $ 830 million in financing.The patent deal was reached with a consortium led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp, and which includes...

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The X Factor: Finalists Sing for Votes One Last Time

TV Watch The X Factor By Aaron Parsley 12/19/2012 at 10:40 PM EST from left: Fifth Harmony, Tate Stevens and Carly Rose Sonenclar Ray Mickshaw/FOX Who's going to get a $5 million recording contract?The X Factor's season 2 finale got underway Wednesday night with...

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma

WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering...

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New chief of California's prisons named

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday named a vocal advocate of shorter sentences and community treatment to run the state's...

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Iraq’s President, Jalal Talabani, Hospitalized After Stroke

BAGHDAD — Jalal Talabani, the president of Iraq, whose influence in mediating disputes among the country’s many political factions has far outweighed the limited powers of the office he occupies, suffered a stroke and was in grave health on Tuesday in a Baghdad hospital. Scott Nelson/WpN for The New York TimesPresident Jilal Talabani of Iraq, pictured in May 2006, has been receiving medical...

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