Venezuela VP heading to Cuba see Chavez, family

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president flew to Cuba on Friday to visit the ailing Hugo Chavez and his family, while the leaders of Argentina and Peru also traveled to Havana saying they hoped to ask about the Venezuelan president's condition.The 58-year-old president is fighting a severe respiratory infection a month after he underwent cancer surgery in Havana, his government says."I'm...

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In Venezuela, humor not stymied by Chavez's crisis

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The monthlong absence of ailing President Hugo Chavez has elicited prayers, an emotional street rally and heated political debate. Amid the tense wait for news from Chavez's hospital in Cuba, Venezuelans are also turning to one of their most prized national attributes: a biting, irreverent sense of humor.A flurry of jokes and political cartoons have taken aim at the government's...

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Mexicans protest dog detentions, tests negative

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Dozens of protesters chanting "Free the dogs, arrest the criminals!" demonstrated outside Mexico City police headquarters Friday, demanding the release of 57 stray dogs seized over five suspected mauling deaths in recent weeks.The protesters said the dogs are innocent, and many claimed the victims were probably killed by humans. They acknowledged the famished dogs that live in...

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Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumors

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's opposition demanded that the government reveal specifics of President Hugo Chavez's condition Wednesday, criticizing secrecy surrounding the ailing leader's health more than three weeks after his cancer surgery in Cuba.Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference that the information provided by government officials "continues...

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Venezuelan gov't: Chavez fighting lung infection

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez is being treated for a respiratory deficiency after complications from a severe lung infection.Information Minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on the ailing president's condition Thursday night. He read from a statement saying that Chavez's lung infection had led to "respiratory deficiency" and required strict compliance...

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Disputes brewing over Hugo Chavez's inauguration

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez is due to be sworn in for a new term in less than a week and his closest allies still aren't saying what they plan to do if the ailing leader is unable to return from a Cuban hospital to take the oath of office.The Venezuelan government on Thursday night described Chavez's lung infection as "severe" and said he is now being treated for "respiratory deficiency."Chavez...

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Gunman kills 3 people, injures 2 in Swiss village

A shooting in southern Switzerland has left three women dead, two men wounded and highlighted the ease of access to firearms in gun-loving nations.The shooting — which came on the eve of students' return to classes in Newtown, Connecticut, after a horrific school shooting — also raised questions about why a troubled suspect was able to go on a rampage with an old military rifle.The suspect, a 33-year-old...

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Briton on trial for hurling abuse and bottle at Usain Bolt

LONDON (Reuters) - A British man went on trial on Thursday accused of screaming abuse at Usain Bolt and hurling a beer bottle onto the track as the Olympic men's 100 metres final was starting, a climactic moment of the London Games in August.The court heard that the packed 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium had fallen silent in anticipation of the race when Ashley Gill-Webb, 34, began shouting insults like...

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Swiss gunman kills 3 people, had troubled history

 A shooting in southern Switzerland has left three women dead, two men wounded and raised questions about how a troubled suspect was able to go on a rampage with an old military rifle.The shooting — which came on the eve of students' return to classes in Newtown, Connecticut, after a horrific school shooting — also highlighted the easy access to firearms in gun-loving nations.The suspect, a 33-year-old...

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British government extradites al-Qaida suspect

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police in Britain have extradited a terror suspect to the United States to face charges that he took part in an alleged al-Qaida plot to detonate explosives aboard the New York City subway system.British authorities handed over Abid Naseer, 26, to U.S. authorities on Thursday.Prosecutors want Naseer to stand trial in New York for his alleged role in a terror campaign that would have...

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Northern Irish police injured as flag row turns violent again

 Eight police officers were injured in Northern Ireland on Thursday when protests at the removal of the British flag from Belfast City Hall turned violent for the first time in more than two weeks.Pro-British loyalists began rioting and fighting street battles with police after a decision a month ago by mostly nationalist pro-Irish councillors to end the century-old tradition of flying the British...

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50 million Android and iOS devices activated in last week of December alone

The latest numbers from analytics firm Flurry suggest that Android and iOS flourished in the last week of the 2012. The firm previously estimated that roughly 17.4 million Android and iOS devices were activated on Christmas Day, leading to an estimated 1.76 billion mobile application downloads and more than 50 million activations for the full week. The latest numbers represent the highest number of...

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Apple reportedly considering Waze acquisition to help fix iOS Maps app

Less than a month after rumors of a potential TomTom acquisition swirled, Apple (AAPL) is now reportedly considering a buyout of social navigation startup Waze in an effort to improve its much-maligned Maps application. TechCrunch reported on Wednesday that “there are rumours flying around that Apple is sniffing around Waze with a view to a possible acquisition,” though the source of the rumors is...

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HTC rumored to debut flagship ‘M7′ smartphone at CES

HTC (2498) will reportedly unveil a new flagship smartphone code-named “M7″ at the Consumer Electronics Show next week. The rumor comes to us from XDA-Developers forum member “Football,” who reported accurate information about unreleased HTC devices in the past. The phone is believed to the be the successor to the One X and could be equipped with a 4.7-inch full HD 1920 x 1080-pixel display, a 1.7GHz...

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Microsoft acquires start-up id8: source

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp bought start-up id8 Group R2 Studios Inc as it looks to expand further in technology focused on the home and entertainment, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.id8 Group R2 Studios was started in 2011 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Blake Krikorian. It recently launched a Google Android application to allow users to control home...

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2013′s first hot Kickstarter project: An Android-based gaming ‘console-on-a-stick’

We didn’t have to wait very long to discover what 2013′s first big Kickstarter project would be. Via Ars Technica, we give you the GameStick, an Android-based two-inch long stick that plugs directly into a controller and acts as a highly portable gaming console. The GameStick team says that their goal with the new mini-console was to create “a big screen games console that was so small you could pop...

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