Lone Chinese home destroyed; farmer accepts deal

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities have demolished a five-story home that stood incongruously in the middle of a new main road and had become the latest symbol of resistance by Chinese homeowners against officials accused of offering unfair compensation.Xiayangzhang village chief Chen Xuecai told The Associated Press the house was bulldozed Saturday after its owners, duck farmer Luo Baogen and his wife, agreed...

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The 20 Most-Shared Ads of 2012

1. Kony 2012 (Invisible Children)Most Americans had never heard of Joseph Kony, the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, before. This March video from advocacy group Invisible Children changed that.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: The 12 Most Memorable Marketing Campaigns of 2012]Is Kony 2012 an ad? If so, it was the most-viral ad of the year. If not, it was just an extremely...

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JLo tones down concert in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Jennifer Lopez wowed thousands of fans in Indonesia, but they didn't see as much of her as concertgoers in other countries — the American pop star toned down both her sexy outfits and her dance moves during her show in the world's most populous Muslim country, promoters said Saturday.Lopez's "Dance Again World Tour" was performed in the country's capital, Jakarta, on Friday...

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Psychiatrists OK vast changes to diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) — For the first time in almost two decades the nation's psychiatrists are changing the guidebook they use to diagnose mental disorders. Among the most controversial proposed changes: Dropping certain familiar terms like Asperger's disorder and dyslexia and calling frequent, severe temper tantrums a mental illness.The board of trustees for the American Psychiatric Association voted Saturday...

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Man killed his father in Wyoming community college attack

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Police released more details Saturday of a grisly murder-suicide at a Wyoming community college, saying a man shot his father in the head with a bow and arrow in front of a computer science class not long after fatally stabbing his father's live-in girlfriend at their home a couple miles away.Computer science instructor James Krumm, 56, may have saved some of his students' lives...

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Suu Kyi wants gov't apology for violent crackdown

MONYWA, Myanmar (AP) — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday said authorities must apologize for a violent crackdown on monks and other foes of a mine in northwest Myanmar, but she also stuck to the government's view that the country must follow through on its commitment to build the project.Speaking Friday morning to a crowd of more than 10,000 in the northwestern town of Monywa, the Nobel...

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Jelly Bean update for DROID RAZR HD and MAXX HD set to roll out next week

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Katy Perry, Carly Rae Jepsen get Billboard honors

NEW YORK (AP) — Billboard named Katy Perry its woman of the year, but the pop star thought her year was 2011."I felt like my year was last year ... I thought my moment had passed," Perry said in an interview with Jon Stewart at Billboard's Women in Music event Friday in New York City.Perry released "Teenage Dream" in 2010, and the double platinum album sparked five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot...

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Kenya village pairs AIDS orphans with grandparents

NYUMBANI, Kenya (AP) — There are no middle-aged people in Nyumbani. They all died years ago, before this village of hope in Kenya began. Only the young and old live here.Nyumbani was born of the AIDS crisis. The 938 children here all saw their parents die. The 97 grandparents — eight grandfathers among them — saw their middle-aged children die. But put together, the bookend generations take care of...

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Pelosi will try to force vote to extend tax rates

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)WASHINGTON—House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will try to force a vote on the House floor to extend current tax rates for the middle class next week if Republicans do not act, the California Democrat announced on Friday.During a press conference on Capitol Hill, Pelosi called on House Republicans, who control the chamber, to hold another...

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Myanmar cracks down on mine protest; dozens hurt

MONYWA, Myanmar (AP) — Security forces used water cannons, tear gas and smoke bombs Thursday to clear protesters from a copper mine in northwestern Myanmar, wounding villagers and Buddhist monks in the biggest use of force against demonstrators since the reformist government of President Thein Sein took office last year.Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who arrived in the area hours later on a previously...

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Sony sells over half a million PlayStation 3 consoles over Black Friday week

Both Microsoft (MSFT) and Nintendo (NTDOY) had a big week of console sales during Black Friday’s week of shopping madness in the U.S. So how did Sony (SNE) do in comparison? Sony Computer Entertainment of America president and CEO Jack Tretton announced on Thursday that the company sold 525,000 PlayStation 3 consoles and 160,000 PS Vita handhelds during the Black Friday week. Overall PlayStation sales...

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Lohan charged with NYC assault and Calif. crash

NEW YORK (AP) — Actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested Thursday in New York City after police said she hit a woman during an argument, then hours later was charged in California with lying to police and reckless driving for a June crash in which her Porsche slammed into a dump truck.The "Mean Girls" and "Freaky Friday" star was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with third-degree assault.She left a police...

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Clinton releases road map for AIDS-free generation

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an ambitious road map for slashing the global spread of AIDS, the Obama administration says treating people sooner and more rapid expansion of other proven tools could help even the hardest-hit countries begin turning the tide of the epidemic over the next three to five years."An AIDS-free generation is not just a rallying cry — it is a goal that is within our reach," Secretary...

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Abbas: UN vote last chance on two-state solution

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the U.N. General Assembly before a historic vote on Thursday that it "is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine."The Palestinians were certain to win U.N. recognition as a state, but Israel and the United States warned it could delay hopes of achieving an independent Palestinian state through peace talks with Israel.Abbas...

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Rapper PSY wants Tom Cruise to go 'Gangnam Style'

BANGKOK (AP) — The South Korean rapper behind YouTube's most-viewed video ever has set what might be a "Mission: Impossible" for himself.Asked which celebrity he would like to see go "Gangnam Style," the singer PSY told The Associated Press: "Tom Cruise!"Surrounded by screaming fans, he then chuckled at the idea of the American movie star doing his now famous horse-riding dance.PSY's comments Wednesday...

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Microsoft CEO defends its innovation record, financial results

BELLEVUE, Washington (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer defended his company’s record on innovation and financial performance at the annual shareholders’ meeting, but conceded that he should have moved faster to get into the booming tablet market dominated by Apple Inc‘s iPad.Bill Gates, co-founder and now chairman of the world’s largest software company, was one of the first...

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'Potter' star Radcliffe heads to Sundance fest

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe has landed his first entry in the Sundance Film Festival.Radcliffe plays poet Allen Ginsberg in the drama "Kill Your Darlings," which premieres next January at Robert Redford's Sundance festival. "Kill Your Darlings" was among 16 films announced Wednesday that will compete for the festival's top prize in the U.S. dramatic competition.Directed...

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Simple measures cut infections caught in hospitals

CHICAGO (AP) — Preventing surgery-linked infections is a major concern for hospitals and it turns out some simple measures can make a big difference.A project at seven big hospitals reduced infections after colorectal surgeries by nearly one-third. It prevented an estimated 135 infections, saving almost $4 million, the Joint Commission hospital regulating group and the American College of Surgeons...

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Behind the curtain of the Great and Powerful Grover

(Michael D'Antuono/www.artandresponse.com)WASHINGTON -- If aliens landed in Washington, D.C. right now, they might assume in their search for a terrestrial leader that a bespectacled man called "Grover Norquist" controlled the planet's most powerful nation. They might also conclude that this person had magical powers.The misunderstanding wouldn't necessarily be their fault.Grover Fever has swept the...

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China's party paper falls for Onion joke about Kim

BEIJING (AP) — The online version of China's Communist Party newspaper has hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the "Sexiest Man Alive" — not realizing it is satire.The People's Daily on Tuesday ran a 55-page photo spread on its website in a tribute to the round-faced leader, under the headline "North Korea's top leader named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive for 2012."Quoting...

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Welcome to the Twisted Age of the Twitter Death Threat

Never believe anyone who tells you that the Internet is all nice or all terrible. Just like real life, there are good people and bad ones here. The majority of people behave badly occasionally and decently most of the time. Yes, there are some truly horrible people lurking and behaving in ways consistent to their form, but the thing is, we’re complicated creatures, online and off. So I don’t buy into...

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'Two and a Half Men' actor not expected on set

NEW YORK (AP) — The teenage actor who stars in "Two and a Half Men" and called the CBS comedy "filth" may have some time before he faces the show's producers.Angus T. Jones wasn't expected at rehearsal Tuesday because he is not going to be in the episode they are filming, according to a person close to the show who spoke on condition of anonymity because producers were not commenting publicly.Jones,...

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CDC: HIV spread high in young gay males

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say 1 in 5 new HIV infections occur in a tiny segment of the population — young men who are gay or bisexual.The government on Tuesday released new numbers that spotlight how the spread of the AIDS virus is heavily concentrated in young males who have sex with other males. Only about a quarter of new infections in the 13-to-24 age group are from injecting drugs or heterosexual...

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W.H. blasts GOP 'obsession' with Rice

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee—flanked by fellow committee …The White House sharply escalated its attacks Tuesday on Republicans trying to stop Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice from succeeding Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state. Press secretary Jay Carney described GOP lawmakers as being gripped by a politically fueled...

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Pakistani TV anchor survives attempted bombing

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police on Monday found and defused a bomb planted under the car of a prominent Pakistani TV anchor threatened by the Taliban for his coverage of a schoolgirl shot by the militants, police said.The bomb was made up of half a kilogram (one pound) of explosives stuffed in a tin can, said Bani Amin, the police chief in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, where the incident occurred. It was...

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