Israel and Hamas Step Up Air Attacks in Gaza Clash

Wissam Nassar for The New York TimesThe Gaza City funeral on Thursday of Ahmed al-Jabari, the Hamas military commander, killed in an Israeli attack. More Photos »KIRYAT MALACHI, Israel — Israel and Hamas brushed aside international calls for restraint on Thursday and escalated their lethal conflict over Gaza, where Palestinian militants launched hundreds of rockets into Israeli territory, targeting...

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‘Journey,’ ‘Assassin’s Creed III’ among Spike Video Game Awards nominees

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The artsy downloadable game “Journey” leads the pack of nominees for this year’s Spike Video Game Awards.The PlayStation 3 game received seven nods in such categories as best graphics, independent game, original score and game of the year. Other game of the year nominees are “Assassin’s Creed III,”...

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The X Factor Reveals Its Top 12

TV Watch The X Factor 11/15/2012 at 11:00 PM EST Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell Double elimination time on The X Factor!The top 12 performed songs by divas the night before – and then faced a night of diva-worthy drama on Thursday's show. And it was a particularly...

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Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal report issued Thursday.The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic increases since 1995, the study showed.The South's growing weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead author of the...

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JPMorgan's California energy dealings draw more fire

State and federal energy regulators moved on two fronts against the giant investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. over its...

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BBC Failures Show Limits of Guidelines

LONDON — It was 2004, and the British Broadcasting Corporation was gripped by a crisis over journalistic standards that had led to Parliamentary hearings, public recrimination and the resignations of its two top officials. Vowing change, the corporation established elaborate bureaucratic procedures that placed more formal responsibility for delicate decisions in the hands not of individual managers,...

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Hope Solo Weds Jerramy Stevens Amid Assault Allegations?

By Dahvi Shira 11/14/2012 at 06:35 PM EST Jerramy Stevens and Hope Solo NFL/Getty; Jeff Vinnick/Getty One day after former Seattle Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his fiancée, U.S. women's soccer team goalkeeper Hope...

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Booze calories nearly equal soda's for US adults

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol? It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from soft drinks, a government study found.Soda and other sweetened drinks — the focus of obesity-fighting public health campaigns — are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults consume, on average. Alcoholic beverages account for about...

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10 L.A. County courthouses to close

Los Angeles County court officials announced sweeping cuts in the judicial system Wednesday, including the closure of all courtrooms...

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France Grants Its Recognition to Syria Rebels

Javier Manzano/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSmoke billowed from burning tires as a Syria rebel fired towards regime forces during clashes in the Al-Amariya district of Aleppo in Syria on Tuesday. PARIS — France announced Tuesday that it was recognizing the newly formed Syrian rebel coalition and would consider arming the group, seeking to inject momentum into a broad Western and Arab effort...

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Papa John’s falls on news of class-action suit

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Papa John‘s declined on Tuesday following news of class-action certification for a lawsuit that claims the pizza chain had unsolicited text messages sent to cell phones.THE SPARK: The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle claims Papa John‘s violated state and federal law when...

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The Voice Sends Two Contestants Home

TV Watch The Voice By Julia Haskins 11/13/2012 at 10:20 PM EST Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera Christopher Polk/Getty It was a great night for Teams Cee Lo and Adam on The Voice Tuesday. And though not everyone got good news on elimination night, there were plenty...

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Report: FDA wanted to close Mass pharmacy in 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a decade ago, federal health inspectors wanted to shut down the pharmacy linked to a recent deadly meningitis outbreak until it cleaned up its operations, according to congressional investigators.About 440 people have been sickened by contaminated steroid shots distributed by New England Compounding Center, and more than 32 deaths have been reported since the outbreak began...

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Report of girl's abduction in El Sereno prompts major search

More than 250 rescue workers and volunteers trekked through brush and steep terrain in El Sereno on Tuesday after police received...

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Afghan Warlord Ismail Khan’s Call to Arms Rattles Kabul

Bryan Denton for The New York TimesMujahedeen commanders at a gathering in Herat, Afghanistan, to address the threat to security posed by the Taliban. HERAT, Afghanistan — One of the most powerful mujahedeen commanders in Afghanistan, Ismail Khan, is calling on his followers to reorganize and defend the country against the Taliban as Western militaries withdraw, in a public demonstration of faltering...

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Dancing with the Stars: Which Couple Had a Perfect Night?

11/12/2012 at 11:15 PM EST Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke Charvet Adam Larkey/ABC After performing twice last week, the remaining couples on Dancing with the Stars had double duty again Monday night. Each pair performed a tribute to America's troops as well as a trio dance with an eliminated...

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British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for...

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Historic theater in Beverly Hills an empty shell

The renowned designer had a mission: to "transform this Wilshire Boulevard cracker box into a sumptuous palace."So Joseph J....

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The New Islamists: Tunisia Battles Over Pulpits and a Revolution’s Legacy

Moises Saman for The New York TimesFemale students at the Grand Mosque in Kairouan, Tunisia, a site of anti-Western sermons. KAIROUAN, Tunisia — On the Friday after Tunisia’s president fell, Mohamed al-Khelif mounted the pulpit of this city’s historic Grand Mosque to deliver a full-throttle attack on the country’s corrupt culture, to condemn its close ties with the West and to demand that a new constitution...

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Tori Spelling Introduces Son Finn Davey

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 11/11/2012 at 08:00 PM ET Michael Simon/StartraksMeet Finn Davey McDermott!Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott introduce their fourth child, posing inside the 10-week-old’s nursery in a set of recently released photos.After a difficult pregnancy that included hospitalization...

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Food labels multiply, some confuse consumers

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Want to avoid pesticides and antibiotics in your produce, meat, and dairy foods? Prefer to pay more to make sure farm animals were treated humanely, farmworkers got their lunch breaks, bees or birds were protected by the farmer and that ranchers didn't kill predators?Food labels claim to certify a wide array of sustainable practices. Hundreds of so-called eco-labels have cropped...

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Bethel AME Church in San Francisco rejects new pastor from L.A.

SAN FRANCISCO — In an unprecedented move, officials of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black pulpit in...

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