SEAL Killed in Rescue Mission Identified

The Pentagon has identified Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas Checque as the Navy SEAL who died of injuries sustained in the successful rescue of an American doctor from the Taliban over the weekend.Checque, who hailed from Monroeville, Pa., died of "combat related injuries," according to a Pentagon release. Though the release only said Checque was assigned to "an East Coast-based...

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Egypt's Mursi gives troops security role in referendum

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist president has given the army temporary power to arrest civilians to help secure a constitutional referendum seen by the Muslim Brotherhood as a triumph for democracy and by its liberal foes as a religious straitjacket. President Mohamed Mursi, bruised by the political uproar in which protesters have besieged his graffiti-besmirched palace to demand his...

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Morsi gives Egypt army police powers before referendum

CAIRO: President Mohamed Morsi has ordered Egypt's army to take on police powers from Monday -- including the right to arrest civilians -- in the run-up to a divisive constitutional referendum that has triggered mass street protests.The decree, published in the government gazette, takes effect on the eve of mass rival protests on the referendum and follows street clashes that have left...

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Five lies your TV salesperson will tell you

Using the time-honored tactics of obfuscation, misdirection, and a little bit of fear, the people who try to sell you TVs can hit you with some heavy-duty lies. Now this isn't to say that all TV sales people are bad, nor that any necessarily do this out of malice (there's plenty of misinformation out there confused as truth). But when it's your dollar on the line, being prepared with some facts can...

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Boehner and Obama meet on "fiscal cliff"

President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, met at the White House Sunday for their first face-to-face meeting on the "fiscal cliff" in weeks, indicating that negotiations are continuing despite a public stalemate over the requirements for a deal. The two have spoken over the phone as recently as Wednesday but on Friday, Boehner held a news conference to announce that "no progress"...

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Fiscal Cliff Talks: Boehner, Obama Meet Face-to-Face

For the first time in more than three weeks, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met face-to-face today at the White House to talk about avoiding the fiscal cliff.White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest would offer no details saying only, "The lines of communication remain open."Erskine Bowles, the co-creator of a debt reducing plan, who was pessimistic...

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Egypt's Mursi scraps decree, fails to appease opponents

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's president scrapped a decree that gave him extra powers and ignited violent protests, but irate opponents said on Sunday he had deepened the conflict by pressing on with a vote on a constitution shaped by Islamists. President Mohamed Mursi and his Islamist partisans have insisted the referendum should go ahead on December 15 to seal a democratic transition that...

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Residents urged to keep common areas clutter-free

SINGAPORE: Pasir Ris West constituency organised Vertical Challenge on Sunday morning to demonstrate difficulties which rescue workers face when navigating past cluttered areas during emergencies.The challenge was coordinated by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Seven participating teams had to evacuate a casualty and manoeuvre the stretcher along a narrow corridor past various obstacles.Deputy...

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Did Twitter's founder reveal its would-be Instagram killer?

Photos tweeted today by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may have been generated using the service's rumored photo filters.(Credit:Jack Dorsey)Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may have dropped the first public proof that Twitter is getting ready to release its own photo filtering feature, a tool it hopes could help in its increasingly tense battle with Instagram.A report published today by All Things...

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Venezuela's Chavez says cancer back, plans surgery

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Saturday night that his cancer has returned and that he will undergo another surgery in Cuba. Chavez, who won re-election on Oct. 7, also said for the first time that if his health were to worsen, his successor would be Vice President Nicolas Maduro. "We should guarantee the advance of the Bolivarian Revolution," Chavez said on television,...

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