Russia Urges Assad to Negotiate with His Opponents

MOSCOW — Russia, Syria’s longtime ally, urged the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, on Friday to negotiate with his opponents as further signs emerged that Moscow and other international parties to the conflict were coalescing around the idea of a transitional government as a key to solving the nearly two-year-old Syrian crisis. During a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart in Moscow,...

Read More..

So You Just Got a Wii U. Now What?

Pair It With Your TVOne of the most useful features of the Wii U — and what could make it a staple of our connected living rooms — is its ability to hook in to the entertainment ecosystem seamlessly. When you start up your Wii U for the first time, you’ll be prompted to enter your television and cable box brands. In a surprisingly painless process (you only need the brand name of your TV, not the...

Read More..

Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

Read More..

Media may argue against redactions in church files, judge rules

Media organizations will be allowed to argue against redactions in secret church files that are due to be made public as part...

Read More..

Putin to Sign Ban on U.S. Adoptions of Russian Children

MOSCOW President Vladimir V. Putin said on Thursday that he would sign into law a bill banning adoptions of Russian children by American citizens, retaliating against an American law that punishes Russians accused of violating human rights and dealing a potentially grave setback to bilateral relations. Mr. Putin announced his decision at a meeting with senior government officials, including...

Read More..

Kendall & Kylie Jenner Get Crazy-Expensive Christmas Gifts

Stylewatch Style News Now 12/26/2012 at 05:30 PM ET Michael Simon/Startraks. Insets: Courtesy Kendall and Kylie JennerThe youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan took to Instagram to share the goods they got on Dec. 25. And if the...

Read More..

Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

Read More..

Numerous women sexually assaulted by taxi driver, police say

Manhattan Beach Police released the photo of a taxi driver suspected of sexually assaulting multiple women in the South Bay region. Torrance resident Sameh Shenouda, 38, was arrested in November on charges of sexually assaulting a woman in August, according to Manhattan Beach Det. Michael Rosenberger. “The victim did not initially report the crime until she saw a news report of a similar...

Read More..

Apps to help achieve New Year’s resolutions

(Reuters) – Whether it is improving health or managing finances better, about 87 percent of Americans will make resolutions for 2013 and there are plenty of apps to help them achieve their goals.Nearly half of New Year’s resolutions are about setting health-related goals, which is the most popular category, according to a recent survey by online broker TD Ameritrade.Rather than jumping into a rigorous...

Read More..

Bethenny Frankel: 'Marriage Doesn't Come Easily for Me'

TV News By Liz McNeil 12/26/2012 at 09:00 AM EST Bethenny Frankel and husband Jason Hoppy with daughter Bryn Jae Donnelly/INF After calling this their "toughest year ever," reality star Bethenny Frankel announced on Dec. 23 that she and Jason Hoppy, her husband...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

Contested UTLA panel elections signal internal fissures

The young staff at the Alexander Science Center has been hard hit by seniority-based layoffs, the main factor behind a turnover...

Read More..

Israel to Review Curbs on Women’s Prayer at Western Wall

JERUSALEM – Amid outrage across the Jewish diaspora over a flurry of recent arrests of women seeking to pray at the Western Wall with ritual garments – in defiance of Israeli law — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Natan Sharansky, the chairman of the Jewish Agency, to study the issue and suggest ways to make the site more accommodating to all Jews. The move comes after more than...

Read More..

Season's Greetings and Personal Pics! Star Families Share Photos

From picking out a tree to posing with Santa, see how these celeb parents and their tots spread cheer together Credit: Courtesy Snooki Updated: Wednesday Dec 19, 2012 | 05:30 PM EST By: Anya Leon Subscribe Now ...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

Gov. Jerry Brown issues 79 pardons

Prison chaplain Leonard Wilson-Banks often tells the inmates he counsels to heed his life and the successes he accomplished...

Read More..

Philippine Law Forbids Abductions by Military

MANILA — The Philippines has enacted a law aimed at stopping the military and police officers from abducting people suspected of antigovernment activity, one of the ugly legacies of years of dictatorship. The law, which President Benigno S. Aquino III signed late Friday, makes the “arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the state” punishable...

Read More..

Atheist Kids and Bullying: Just an Xbox and a Football Game Away From Redemption

I’ll never forget the year my eight-year-old daughter came home from school saying she got in trouble for going to the bathroom.“I was afraid,” she said, “that the devil was coming out of the mirror to get me…. I wanted Aya to stay with me until I was done.”Like any parent, I sat her down and asked her to tell me why she would ever think a mirror could spawn something as terrifying as that.“Susie...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

Husband sets wife on fire during fight with child nearby, police say

A Fresno man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and domestic violence after he allegedly set his common-law wife on fire Sunday afternoon, authorities said.The 21-year-old man apparently "became emotional" while discussing his relationship with the woman in a car in southeast Fresno, police Sgt. Steve Crawford told the Fresno Bee. The man allegedly threw gasoline on the woman and...

Read More..

India Ink: India Reacts to Tendulkar's Retirement from One-Day Cricket

The Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar said Sunday that he was retiring from One Day International cricket.“I have decided to retire from the One Day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup winning Indian team,” Tendulkar said in a statement released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.With the decision, Tendulkar, who enjoys Godlike stature...

Read More..

News summary: Nintendo’s TVii replaces the remote

TVii LAUNCH: Nintendo if flipping on its TVii service Thursday, a month after sales started for its Wii U game console. The service turns the GamePad controller into a TV remote control, channel guide and Web video surfer.SALES HOPES: Nintendo hopes the free service boosts sales of the console after recording 425,000 sales in the first week since its Nov. 18 launch.HEAD START: It’s the first time...

Read More..

Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood Marries in London: Report

12/23/2012 at 09:45 AM EST Sally Humphreys and Ronnie Wood on their wedding day Splash News Online Talk about a rockin' wedding!Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood tied the knot with his theater producer fiancée Sally Humphreys in a private ceremony Friday in...

Read More..

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...

Read More..