Changing of the Guard: Corrupt Chinese Officials Draw Unusual Publicity

BEIJING — The Chinese have become largely inured to tales of voracious officials stockpiling luxury apartments, $30,000 Swiss watches or enough stolen cash to buy their mistress a Porsche. But when images of a bulbous-faced Communist Party functionary in southwest China having sex with an 18-year-old girl spread on the Internet late last month, even the most jaded citizens took note — as...

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How ‘Doctor Who’ Kept Its Big Christmas Secret Off Twitter

Tonight Doctor Who fans get to gorge on their annual Christmas fix — a full-length special episode the series has produced every year for the holiday since 2005. This time, however, there’s some extra spice in the form of a new regular cast member: Jenna-Louise Coleman debuts in “The Snowmen” as the Doctor’s next companion.Except it’s not her debut. Coleman actually made her first appearance in the...

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Giada De Laurentiis: My Daughter Still Believes in Santa

Courtesy Giada De LaurentiisThe tree’s done. The stockings are hung. Giada De Laurentiis and her family — husband Todd Thompson and their daughter Jade Marie — are officially ready to host the holidays.“Christmas Eve is the big tradition in an Italian family. It’s when my entire family gets together,” the newest face of Clairol tells PEOPLE exclusively.“This year, for the first time, it will be held...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Maps alter the course of several lives

None of them could have predicted the direction their lives would take when tens of thousands of maps were discovered this fall...

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No Easy Route If Assad Opts to Go, or Stay

BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria sits in his mountaintop palace as the tide of war licks at the cliffs below. Explosions bloom over the Damascus suburbs. His country is plunging deeper into chaos. The United Nations’ top envoy for the Syrian crisis, Lakhdar Brahimi, met with Mr. Assad in the palace on Monday in an urgent effort to resolve the nearly two-year-old conflict....

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El MIDI, la tecnología que le abrió la puerta a la música digital, cumple 30 años

Un pequeño teclado y un ordenador portátil: hasta que apareció la tecnología MIDI, hace 30 años, nadie imaginaba que sólo con ese equipo se podría dar un concierto. Dicen los entendidos que para apreciar realmente el tema Shine on you crazy diamond , de Pink Floyd, es mejor escucharlo en vinilo.Las emisiones de los sintetizadores estallan a través del crepitar de la púa sobre el disco, mientras la...

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Jack Klugman, Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. Star, Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman 12/24/2012 at 07:35 PM EST Jack Klugman, The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. star beloved by TV, movie and theater audiences for five decades, died in Los Angeles on Monday, one of his sons told the Associated Press. He was 90."He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it and he...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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U.N. Says South Sudan Threatens Its Peacekeeping Mission

KAMPALA, Uganda — The United Nations said Sunday that the shooting down of one of its helicopters in South Sudan last week was just the latest in a series of attacks or threats against its peacekeeping mission by South Sudan’s military. A spokesman for the United Nations in New York said the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan had “shared all flight information” with South Sudanese authorities...

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