Currents: School Takes New Tack on Work Study

NEW YORK — “I was raised into believing that money is everything,” said Maire Mendoza, 19, crying at her own tale. Her parents are near-invisibles in this city that they’ve heard called a city of dreams. They left Mexico before Maire was born and have toiled anonymously ever since — her mother a baby sitter these days, her father a restaurant worker. They raised their girls as pragmatic...

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Games top App Store revenue in 2012

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Gunman's Father and Brother Are 'in Shock,' Says a Source

By Diane Herbst 12/14/2012 at 08:50 PM EST State police personnel lead children to safety away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shannon Hicks/Newtown Bee/Reuters/Landov The father and older brother of the gunman who was blamed for the Connecticut school shooting are being questioned by...

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Wall St Week Ahead: Holiday "on standby" as clock ticks on cliff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the "fiscal cliff." Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff - nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown...

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World Briefing | Africa: Mali: Interim Prime Minister Sworn In

Mali swore in an interim prime minister on Thursday, just days after soldiers behind this year’s military coup arrested his predecessor and forced his resignation. The new prime minister, Diango Cissoko, officially took office in the capital, Bamako, where he said the former prime minister, Cheick Modibo Diarra, would be available as needed during the political transition. In recent weeks though,...

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U.S. drops China’s Taobao website from “notorious” list

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday dropped a website owned by China‘s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, from its annual list of the world’s most “notorious markets” for sales of pirated and counterfeit goods.Taobao Marketplace, an online shopping site similar to eBay and Amazon that brings together buyers and sellers, “has been removed from the 2012 List because it has undertaken...

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The X Factor Reveals Season 2 Finalists

TV Watch The X Factor 12/13/2012 at 09:10 PM EST Carly Rose Sonenclar, Emblem3, Tate Stevens and Fifth Harmony Ray Mickshaw/FOX (4) Sparks will fly at the finale! On Thursday, The X Factor revealed its top three acts, who will perform next week in the final night...

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IHT Special: Internet-Driven Fame and Fortune for Mideast Comedians

DUBAI — While the world watched the demise of Egypt’s political leadership last year, some Egyptians were tuning online to YouTube clips lampooning the Egyptian state channel’s fumbling version of the events. In early 2011, Bassem Youssef began filming clips in his laundry room to provide comic relief amid a crumbling political situation in his home country. His work struck a chord with a...

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U.S. federal agency to test RIM’s BlackBerry 10

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion said a U.S. federal agency, which recently outlined plans to move away from BlackBerry in favor of Apple Inc’s iPhone, is now set to begin testing RIM‘s new BlackBerry 10 platform and devices.The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), will early next year begin a pilot program on RIM’s new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise...

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Tevin Hunte Is 'So Happy' After His Voice Elimination

TV Watch The Voice By Jessica Herndon and Julia Haskins 12/12/2012 at 07:45 PM EST Team Cee Lo's Trevin Hunte was eliminated on Tuesday's episode of The Voice, but the soulful singer isn't letting the end of this journey hold him back. "I feel like the best person on the planet Earth. I am so happy and excited...

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Asian shares rise, yen slips after Fed's stimulus steps

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares extended gains for a seventh day on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve took new stimulus steps to bolster the economy, pressuring the yen with expectations the Japanese central bank will follow suit with more easing next week. While stocks gained, oil and gold fell from post-Fed rallies, as investors took profits ahead of the year-end, and concerns...

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U.S. Will Recognize Syrian Rebels, Obama Says

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Tuesday that the United States would formally recognize a coalition of Syrian opposition groups as that country’s legitimate representative, in an attempt to intensify the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to give up his nearly two-year bloody struggle to stay in power. Manu Brabo/Associated PressOpposition fighters looked at a Syrian Army jet on...

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Proper jailbreak for iOS 6 reportedly coming December 22nd

The speed at which a jailbreak for a new iOS device is released has slowed down considerably over the last few years. A tethered jailbreak  for devices running iOS 6 has been out September, but most people have been holding out for the untethered version – a hack that doesn’t erase everything upon reboot. A new jailbreak developer called “Dream JB” claims he will release a proper untethered jailbreak...

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Hugh Hefner's Engagement Ring to Crystal Harris Revealed

By Mike Fleeman 12/11/2012 at 07:00 PM EST The wedding's back on – though it may be a good idea to save that gift receipt. Hugh Hefner, 86, officially confirms that he is once again engaged to Crystal Harris, 26, telling his Twitter followers, "I've given Crystal Harris a ring. I love the girl." And to prove...

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Asian shares hit new highs, Fed outcome pressures dollar

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Wednesday buoyed by strength in global equities markets, hopes of a deal from U.S. budget talks and expectations for more stimulus from the Federal Reserve when it ends its two-day policy meeting later in the day. Oil, copper and gold prices were also underpinned while the dollar remained broadly pressured, but the yen weakened against the dollar...

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U.S. Designates Syrian Al Nusra Front as Terrorist Group

Manu Brabo/Associated PressSyrian Army defectors were detained by Syrian rebel fighters while their identities were investigated Monday in the village of Azaz, near the Turkish border. WASHINGTON — The United States has formally designated the Al Nusra Front, the militant Syrian rebel group, as a foreign terrorist organization. The move, which was expected, is aimed at building Western support...

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Hayden Panettiere Splits with Scotty McKnight

12/10/2012 at 07:50 PM EST Hayden Panettiere and Scotty McKnight Splash News Online Is there a tear in her beer?Nashville star Hayden Panettiere has broken up with her boyfriend of more than a year, New York Jets wide receiver Scotty McKnight, a source confirms...

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Asia shares up despite Fed uncertainty, fiscal fears

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged up to a 16-month high on Tuesday and the euro firmed, but prices were capped as investors waited for the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision this week and any progress in U.S. budget talks. European shares were likely to crawl higher too, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's...

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India Ink: A Conversation With: Human Rights Activist Binayak Sen

Binayak Sen, 62, is no ordinary doctor. Few doctors, after all, spend three decades working in a region threatened by what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the “single biggest internal security challenge ever faced” by the country. And that was before Dr. Sen was jailed on charges of “waging a war against the state,” which prompted a group of Nobel laureates to petition for his release.Dr. Sen...

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Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Kick Off Special Series of Las Vegas Shows

By Mark Gray 12/09/2012 at 05:00 PM EST Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Denise Truscello/WireImage Tim McGraw and Faith Hill looked at each other, their hands on each others knees and shared a passionate kiss just after midnight Sunday morning. The moment was a long...

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Shares crawl higher as China, U.S. data brighten outlook

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian shares touched a 16-month high on Monday as investors took heart from rising factory output growth in China and a falling unemployment rate in the United States that raised hopes about the outlook for the world's top two economies. The positive mood was tempered by Chinese trade data that saw both exports and imports come in below forecasts, but equities and...

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Somber Chávez to Have Surgery and Names Successor

Marcelo Garcia/Miraflores Press Office, via Associated PressPresident Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, center, announced Saturday in a speech that his cancer had returned. Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Assembly, left, and Vice President Nicolás Maduro appeared with him. ORURO, Bolivia — President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela announced Saturday in Caracas that he would have to undergo another...

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7 Apps You Don’t Want To Miss

TwitterificTwitter client Twitterific released version 5 of its iOS app this week. Overhauled and redesigned, the updated app has a new customizable user interface, gesture support, and the ability to sync timeline positions between several different devices.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: Google Now Updated With Boarding Passes, Improved Voice Search]It can be tough to keep up...

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Michelle Branch's Daughter's Dream Job Is For the Birds - Literally

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 12/03/2012 at 02:00 PM ET Sthanlee B. Mirador/Shooting StarIt seems as if Michelle Branch‘s daughter won’t be following in her musical footsteps any time soon.While the Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter and her husband, bass player Teddy Landau, are no strangers...

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