Bolivia’s Morales visits Cuba after Chavez surgery

HAVANA (AP) — Bolivian President Evo Morales has made a lightning trip to Havana where key ally Hugo Chavez is convalescing after cancer surgery.Morales did not speak to foreign journalists during his weekend visit. Cuban state-run media didn’t confirm that he visited Chavez, but said he came “to express his support” for the Venezuelan president. The Cuban government had invited media to cover Morales’...

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How to Get Free Last-Minute Shipping

First, the bad news: the cut off for free shipping on most online sites was Tuesday, Dec 18th. But the good news – we’ve got some sneaky ways to finagle free rush shipping and a list of sites still offering free shipping guaranteed to arrive before December 25th.Free Rush ShippingSome of the biggest online retailers are still offering free last minute shipping:Barnes & Noble – free shipping on...

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Barbra Streisand goes on a “Guilt Trip” with Seth Rogen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Road-trip movies have been dominated by teenagers on wild adventures or “Hangover” style bro-mances, but Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen are driving the genre into new territories with mother-son comedy “The Guilt Trip” to usher in the holiday season.“The Guilt Trip,” which hits U.S. theaters this week, follows struggling novice inventor Andy (Seth Rogen), who is guilted in...

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Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn’t cause significant problems at any of the 247 Superfund toxic waste sites it’s monitoring in New York and New Jersey.But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections.The EPA conducted a handful of tests right after the storm,...

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Retailers facing ‘critical’ time

23 December 2012 Last updated at 19:14 ETNearly 140 retailers are in a “critical condition” despite Christmas being their peak trading time, business recovery firm Begbies Traynor has said.Its UK business solvency survey found 13,700 more firms were in distress, a 35% rise in the quarter to December.It said many could struggle to meet their quarterly rent payment, due on Christmas Day.Begbies Traynor...

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Taliban not demanding Afghan power monopoly

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban representatives at a conference did not insist on total power in Afghanistan and pledged to grant rights to women that the militant Islamist group itself brutally suppressed in the past, according to a Taliban statement received Sunday.The pledges emerged from a rare meeting last week involving Taliban and Kabul government representatives.The less strident substance...

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Facebook Poke App Is Frustrating as Hell

Facebook Poke: Startup ScreenPoke, the new iPhone app from Facebook, lets you send short messages, photos and videos to friends that automatically self destruct after a few seconds. If you have the Facebook app on your phone already, logging in is effortless.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: 2012′s Biggest Winners and Losers]I was never a big poker on Facebook. When I joined the...

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Reports: Rolling Stones guitarist Wood ties knot

LONDON (AP) — Two British newspapers say Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has married his fiancee Sally Humphreys at a ceremony at London‘s Dorchester Hotel.The Sun and the Daily Mirror carried photographs of the 65-year-old rocker with a pale boutonniere and a dark blue suit, and his 34-year-old bride in a traditional white gown and a clutch of matching white flowers.The Sun quoted Wood as saying...

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No new vote in Venezuela if Chavez sworn in late: official

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela will not call fresh elections if Hugo Chavez‘s cancer prevents him from taking office by January 10, the head of Congress said on Saturday, despite a constitutional mandate that the swearing-in take place on that date.Chavez is recovering in Cuba from a six-hour cancer operation that followed his October re-election. The socialist leader has not been heard from for nearly...

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Obama starts Hawaiian vacation, leaving Washington on ice

KAILUA, Hawaii (Reuters) – Taking what promised to be a very brief Christmas break from the ongoing struggle to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending cuts, President Barack Obama relaxed with his family on Saturday at a beach retreat in Hawaii.Congress was to return to Washington next Thursday and Obama has pledged to work with lawmakers to strike a deal to avoid the economic shock from...

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