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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US schools yearn for security 'bubble' after shooting

WASHINGTON: Except in tragedy-hit Newtown, pupils returned to class around the United States on Monday, three days after an elementary school shooting massacre that triggered debate over school security.Parents and teachers alike are intent now more than ever on making sure the "protective bubble" at schools is impenetrable to outside threats.At Kensington Parkwood Elementary School just...

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Court rap secures sanction to prosecute tainted employees in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: In response to court directions issued on December 6, the state government on Monday informed Himachal Pradesh high court that all cases awaiting prosecution sanction, barring four of them, had been cleared. Principal secretary (home and vigilance) under oath submitted before the court that for the remaining four cases also the process would be completed within 15 days. The next review...

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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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Newtown Boy Remembered as 'Old Soul'

Dec 17, 2012 6:02pm Family of Daniel Barden, who died in the Connecticut school shootings. From left, his brother James, 12, and his parents, Mark and Jackie. (Image Credit: ABC)Though he was only in first grade, Daniel Barden was very much an “old soul,” his family said today.  He was one of the 20 children who died Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in...

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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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Actor Depardieu 'giving up French passport' in tax row

PARIS: France's leading actor Gerard Depardieu said Sunday he is giving up his French passport after the prime minister called him "pathetic" for seeking to avoid taxes by moving to Belgium.In an open letter to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, the 63-year-old "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Jean de Florette" film star said he had been treated unfairly after years of supporting France, and paying...

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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 Obama told the grieving community of Newtown, Conn., that the nation has wept with them for the loss of 20 children and six teachers and school staff members killed in a senseless massacre.Grim-faced, Obama took the stage at Newtown High School auditorium to speak at a memorial service for the first graders, teachers, principal and other school staff members killed...

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