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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Court: WikiLeaks Suspects Denied List of Companies Who Received Orders for Records

A federal appeals court has ruled that three suspects targeted in a WikiLeaks investigation have no right to know from which companies, other than Twitter, the government sought to obtain their records.The ruling, published Friday, upholds a magistrate’s earlier decision that “there exists no right to public notice of all the types of documents filed in a sealed case” and likens the 2703(d)...

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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

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that President Obama violated the Constitution when he made three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board last January. The three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that Mr. Obama did not have the power to bypass the Senate and make the appointments. The Obama administration...

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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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Here's How the Military Will Finally Accept (Most) Women in Combat

Congratulations, women in the military! You’re about to get more opportunities to fight in the wars of the future. Someday. After a long, long process of review.As of Thursday afternoon, by act of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the 1994 Direct Combat Exclusion Rule for women is no more. But it won’t be gone gone until...

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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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Question Mark: Why Am I Making So Many Pit Stops?

There are those who have suggested that this feature appears to take an unseemly delight in the decline of the human body: ears that don't hear as well, spines that compress and curve, nose sensors that fade. And did we mention those hairs that start growing out of places other than the head? So we are happy to report on one thing baby boomers may find they do as well as well as ever: urinating. In...

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City Officials Push Pension Funds to Divest From Gun Makers

Fresh from persuading a $5 billion pension fund in Chicago to divest from companies that make firearms, the city’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, on Thursday urged the chief executives of two major banks to stop financing companies “that profit from gun violence.” Mr. Emanuel sent letters to TD Bank, which provides a $60 million credit line to Smith & Wesson, and to Bank of America, which provides...

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Pentagon ends ban on women in combat

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is ending the ban on women serving in combat in the U.S. military, potentially...

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Instructables Goes Mobile With New iOS App

DIY website Instructables released its first mobile app today, an iPhone tool that lets users view and create project how-tos from anywhere.“A lot of people don’t have a true camera in their pocket,” says Instructables founder and CEO Eric Wilhelm. “They’ve got their phone. And so we just wanted to be right there.”Wilhelm has plenty of first-hand experience, with 142 projects to his name....

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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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Research on Deadly Bird Flu to Resume After Safety Debate

Experiments with a deadly flu virus, suspended last year after a fierce global debate over safety, will start up again in some laboratories, probably within the next few weeks, scientists say. The research touched off a firestorm in 2011 when it became known that two groups, one in the Netherlands and another in the United States, had genetically altered a dangerous bird flu virus to...

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US Airways Profit Doubles as Planes Are Fuller

US Airways' net income doubled in the fourth quarter and executives said the strong demand the airline is seeing is often a precursor to higher fares. Fuller planes made the difference in the last three months as revenue set a record. Airlines successfully raised fares five times last year but have struggled to do so lately. Two attempts led by United this month failed after other...

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