Afghan peace efforts show flickers of life

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will discuss matters of war, including future U.S. troop levels and Afghanistan's army, when they meet on Friday, but matters of peace may be the most delicate item on their long agenda. After nearly 10 months in limbo, tentative reconciliation efforts involving Taliban insurgents, the Karzai government...

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181,354 People on Twitter Think They’re Experts at Twitter

Do you tweet a lot? Do you post everything on Facebook? Do you #hashtag #complete #sentences #like #this? Do you describe yourself, variously, as a social media “maven”, “master”, “guru”, “freak”, “warrior”, “evangelist” or “veteran”? (Yes, a social media veteran. As if Tumblr were a deadly war you narrowly survived.) Well: you’ve got company! There are more than 181,000 such individuals...

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Justin Bartha Is Dating Trainer Lia Smith

01/07/2013 at 07:00 PM EST Lia and Justin in Hawaii New Years Day Pacific Coast News Justin Bartha's "mystery woman" is in fact his girlfriend, trainer Lia Smith, a source reveals to PEOPLE. The pair recently enjoyed a cozy trip to Smith's native Hawaii and...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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Stock index futures signal lower Wall Street open

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower Wall Street open on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.1 to 0.3 percent. Alcoa and Monsanto are two of the first large companies to report quarterly results as the earnings season begins. Wall Street expects both the companies to show improved profit from a year ago....

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Assad "peace plan" greeted with scorn by foes

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected peace talks with his enemies on Sunday in a defiant speech that his opponents described as a renewed declaration of war. Although the speech was billed as the unveiling of a new peace plan, Assad offered no concessions and even appeared to harden many of his positions. He rallied Syrians for "a war to defend the nation" and...

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Samsung’s New Smart TV Software Development Kit Supports Linux and Mac O/S

 Samsung Electronics announced that it will be releasing the Smart TV SDK (Software Development Kit) 4.0 at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from January 8th to 11th, 2013. The Smart TV SDK will allow Smart TV software development on Linux and Mac, in addition to Windows O/S.Up till now, Samsung’s Smart TV software development only supported Windows O/S. However, the new...

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Jordana Brewster Is 'Enamored' with the Idea of Having Twins

01/06/2013 at 05:00 PM EST Jordana Brewster has babies on the brain – yes, you read that right: plural.The Dallas star, 32, who has been married to movie producer Andrew Form since 2007, tells Latina she "definitely" wants two kids and is "enamored" by the idea of having twins. "My dad was a twin, so it runs...

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Your medical chart could include exercise minutes

CHICAGO (AP) — Roll up a sleeve for the blood pressure cuff. Stick out a wrist for the pulse-taking. Lift your tongue for the thermometer. Report how many minutes you are active or getting exercise.Wait, what?If the last item isn't part of the usual drill at your doctor's office, a movement is afoot to change that. One recent national survey indicated only a third of Americans said their doctors asked...

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Global shares, oil slide, but growth outlook limits falls

LONDON (Reuters) - World equities and oil prices eased on Monday as some investors booked profits after last week's strong gains, but optimism over the global growth outlook limited the falls. Data from the United States on Friday showed employers kept up a steady pace of hiring in December and its vast services sector was expanding at a brisk rate, while manufacturing surveys pointed...

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