Prison riot continues in Venezuela with 55 reported dead

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Crazy Alien Weather: Lightning-Filled Rocket Dust Storms of Mars

Scientists have modeled the internal workings of lightning-filled “rocket dust storms” on Mars that rise at speeds 100 times faster than ordinary storms and inject dust high into the Martian atmosphere.The Red Planet is a very dry and dusty place, with global storms that sometimes obscure the entire surface. Satellites orbiting Mars have seen persistent dust layers reaching very high altitudes,...

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“Office” vets Craig Robinson, Greg Daniels sell pilot to NBC

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – A few veterans of “The Office” have lined up their next job: Executive producer Greg Daniels, star Craig Robinson and writer-producer Owen Ellickson have sold an untitled pilot to NBC in which Robinson would play a musician who becomes a music teacher.Tracy Katsky, Howard Klein and Mark Schulman will also executive produce the single-camera comedy, which Robinson will produce.The...

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Religious Groups and Employers Battle Contraception Mandate

Shawn Thew/European Pressphoto AgencyPresident Obama, with his health secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, offering a compromise on the contraception mandate last year. In a flood of lawsuits, Roman Catholics, evangelicals and Mennonites are challenging a provision in the new health care law that requires employers to cover birth control in employee health plans — a high-stakes clash between religious freedom...

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Factory Fire Kills 7 Workers in Bangladesh

A.M. Ahad/Associated PressFirefighters and volunteers worked to extinguish the fire at a small garment factory in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday. DHAKA, Bangladesh — In the latest blow to Bangladesh’s garment industry, seven workers died on Saturday after a fire swept through a factory here not long after seamstresses had returned from a lunch break. Workers said supervisors had locked one of the...

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Protesters slam Egypt government two years after revolution

CAIRO -- Young men and boys clashed with security forces as tens of thousands of Egyptians protested Friday against the Islamist-led...

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Darpa's Plan to Recruit Military Dogs: Scan Their Brains

Dogs do it all for the military: sniff for bombs, detect narcotics and rescue hapless humans. But to recruit the best canine squadmates, the Pentagon’s blue-sky researchers are working on a plan to scan their brains — and figure out how dogs think. Belly rubs won’t cut it anymore.According to a new research solicitation from Darpa, the project — adorably called FIDOS, for “Functional Imaging...

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It’s a “Mini-Buble” for singer Michael Bublé and wife

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Canadian jazz singer Michael Bublé and his Argentinian actress wife, Luisana Lopilato, are expecting their first baby together, Lopilato said in a video posted to YouTube on Thursday.The video shows what appears to be an ultrasound of a fetus with the words “Mini Buble !!!” attached to the image. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-Q0tUPjPDFoA written...

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Well: Ask Well: Squats for Aging Knees

You are already doing many things right, in terms of taking care of your aging knees. In particular, it sounds as if you are keeping your weight under control. Carrying extra pounds undoubtedly strains knees and contributes to pain and eventually arthritis.You mention weight training, too, which is also valuable. Sturdy leg muscles, particularly those at the front and back of the thighs, stabilize...

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Court Rejects Recess Appointments to Labor Board

In a ruling that called into question nearly two centuries of presidential “recess” appointments that bypass the Senate confirmation process, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday that President Obama violated the Constitution when he installed three officials on the National Labor Relations Board a year ago. The ruling was a blow to the administration and a victory for Mr. Obama’s Republican...

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Bell council members took pay for 'sham' board meetings, D.A. says

Opening statements began Thursday in the trial against six former Bell council members accused of paying themselves extraordinarily...

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3D-Printed Iron Throne Smartphone Dock Rings True for <em>Game of Thrones</em> Fans

Historically, winning the Iron Throne in the medieval fantasy series Game of Thrones involves Machiavellian political intrigue and brutal, bloody civil warfare. But it’s gotten a lot easier — particularly for smartphone fans —  thanks to a DIY maker known as mstyle183, who created a 3D-printed version of the Westerosi seat of power that also serves as...

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Fox orders “Sleepy Hollow,” two other drama pilots

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Ichabod Crane will ride again – this time on Fox.The network has given a pilot order to an adaptation of the “Sleepy Hollow” legend from “Fringe” and “Transformers” team Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, the network said Tuesday.A modern-day supernatural thriller based on the Washington Irving tale, “Sleepy Hollow” will be written and executive-produced by Kurtzman and Orci,...

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The New Old Age Blog: Grief Over New Depression Diagnosis

When the American Psychiatric Association unveils a proposed new version of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of psychiatric diagnoses, it expects controversy. Illnesses get added or deleted, acquire new definitions or lists of symptoms. Everyone from advocacy groups to insurance companies to litigators — all have an interest in what’s defined as mental illness —...

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AT&T Fourth-Quarter Earnings Hurt by Pensions and Storm

Over the holiday season, AT&T sold a record number of smartphones. But its quarterly earnings took a hit from pension costs and Hurricane Sandy. On Thursday, AT&T reported a loss in the fourth quarter of $3.9 billion, or 68 cents a share, up from a loss of $6.7 billion, or $1.12 a share, from the same quarter a year earlier. The company said revenue was essentially flat...

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Apple reports flat first-quarter earnings; shares drop 5%

Apple Inc. reported flat fiscal first-quarter earnings, sending shares plummeting 5% in after-hours trading.Apple said...

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Apple Shares Plunge 10 Percent After Hours On Earnings Decline And Revenue Miss

The law of large numbers kicked in Wednesday for Apple, which saw overall revenue just missing analyst estimates, despite the company racking up a record $13.1 billion in profits, the first year-over-year decline in over a decade.Apple sold 22.9 million iPads and 47.8 million iPhones over the course of its holiday quarter, which spanned October through December, garnering the Cupertino company...

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Sundance stars sound off on gun violence in film

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — The Sundance Film Festival isn’t home to many shoot-em-up movies, but action-oriented actors at the festival are facing questions about Hollywood’s role in American gun violence.Guy Pearce and Alexander Skarsgard are among those who say Hollywood shares in the blame.Pearce is in Park City, Utah, to support the family drama “Breathe In,” but he’s pulled plenty of imaginary triggers...

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Well: Long Term Effects on Life Expectancy From Smoking

It is often said that smoking takes years off your life, and now a new study shows just how many: Longtime smokers can expect to lose about 10 years of life expectancy.But amid those grim findings was some good news for former smokers. Those who quit before they turn 35 can gain most if not all of that decade back, and even those who wait until middle age to kick the habit can add about five years...

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Media Decoder Blog: Adding Subscribers, Netflix Posts Surprise Profit

Netflix on Wednesday announced a surprise profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 and a new total of 27 million streaming subscribers in the United States, a jump of more than two million from the third quarter.The company also added nearly two million new subscribers in other countries, though it continued to lose money overseas, as expected. Overall, however, the company reported $8 million in net...

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Election of new DNC leaders points up tensions with White House

WASHINGTON -- After a messy fight that highlighted strains with the White House, the Democratic National Committee completed...

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LG's Next Flagship, the Optimus G Pro, Outed by Japanese Carrier

LG is already prepping its next handset, the Optimus G Pro, for launch, even though the Optimus G — the basis for the Google’s Nexus 4 — appeared just five months ago and is still rolling out in 50 new markets.The Optimus G Pro is slated for an April release date, according to Japanese carrier NT DoCoMo. The company detailed its smartphone lineup, which includes the...

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Sundance 2013: Breaking Glass Pictures acquires “Amelia’s 25th,” “Silver Case”

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired the rights to “Amelia’s 25th” and “Silver Case,” the distributor announced on Monday.Neither of the films will be screened at Sundance.“Amelia’s 25th” stars Jennifer Tilly, Danny Trejo, Electra Avellan and Robert Rodriguez, who directed Trejo and Avellan in “Machete.” The film, directed by Martín Yernazian, follows the titular character...

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The Well Column: Facing Cancer, a Stark Choice

In the 1970s, women’s health advocates were highly suspicious of mastectomies. They argued that surgeons — in those days, pretty much an all-male club — were far too quick to remove a breast after a diagnosis of cancer, with disfiguring results.But today, the pendulum has swung the other way. A new generation of women want doctors to take a more aggressive approach, and more and more are asking that...

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