Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels took full control of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Monday after fighting raged for days in the district on the southern edge of President Bashar al-Assad's Damascus powerbase, rebel and Palestinian sources said. The battle had pitted rebels, backed by some Palestinians, against Palestinian fighters of the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation...

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Tarantino film latest to be pulled after US shooting

LOS ANGELES: A Hollywood premiere of notoriously violent director Quentin Tarantino's latest film "Django Unchained" was canceled Monday, the latest such response to the Connecticut school massacre.A string of movies and TV shows have been pulled or postponed since Friday's shootings, while sporting events have held moments of silence and players have worn black armbands to honor the victims,...

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Fifth edition of ‘India Spells’ is here

NEW DELHI: 'IE' or 'EI' ? 'A' or 'AE' ? It's time for young spell-cats across the country to sharpen their skills. This will be the fifth season of 'HDFC Life Spell Bee - India Spells 2013', the Indian counterpart of the highly acclaimed Scripps Spelling Bee, USA. With the theme 'Celebrate Words. Save the Language,' the spelling extravaganza will travel to 35 cities and reach out to more than 5,00,000...

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness."There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant...

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Conn. Kids Laid to Rest: 'Our Hearts Are With You'

Visibly shaken attendees exiting the funeral today for 6-year-old Noah Pozner, one of 20 children killed in the Connecticut school massacre last week, said they were touched by a story that summed up the first-grader best.His mother, Veronique, would often tell him how much she loved him and he'd respond: "Not as much as I [love] you," said a New York man who attended the funeral...

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Japan's next PM Abe must deliver on economy, cope with China

TOKYO (Reuters) - Conservative ex-premier Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead Japan after his Liberal Democratic Party surged back to power in Sunday's election, but he must move swiftly to bolster a sagging economy and manage strained ties with China to avoid the fate of his short-lived predecessors. Abe, whose party won by a landslide just three years after a crushing defeat,...

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Karena Lam pregnant again

HONG KONG: Hong Kong actress Karena Lam revealed Saturday during a publicity event that she is pregnant with her second child, reported Hong Kong media.The actress, who is married to advertisement director Steve Yuen, gave birth to their first, daughter Kayla, in 2010. Lam expressed that she has asked actor Ekin Cheng, who was also at the event, to be her unborn child's godfather."We are...

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Railways to adopt PPP mode for modernization: Bansal

SANGRUR: Union railway minister Pawan Bansal said on Sunday that public private partnership (PPP) mode would be adopted for modernizing and upgrading the railway infrastructure.The minister, who was in Sangrur and Barnala districts of Punjab to lay the foundation stones for new railway projects, said that Rs 1.10 lakh crore would be generated through PPP mode for implementing the revamping plan."Railways...

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness."There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant...

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Obama Offers Newtown 'Love and Prayers of a Nation'

President Barack Obama said at an interfaith prayer service in this mourning community this evening that the country is "left with some hard questions" if it is to curb a rising trend in gun violence, such as the shooting spree Friday at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School.After consoling victims' families in classrooms at Newtown High School, the president said he would...

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