China's role in Southeast Asia questioned

BEIJING (AP) — China is finding the once friendly ground of Southeast Asia bumpy going, with anger against Chinese claims to disputed islands, once reliable ally Myanmar flirting with democracy and renewed American attention to the region.The changing terrain for Beijing was on view this past week at a conclave of East Asian nations in Cambodia. Wen Jiabao, China's lame duck premier who usually exudes...

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10 Adorable Animals Feeding Other Animals [VIDEOS]

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'Gangnam Style' most watched YouTube video ever

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean rapper PSY's "Gangnam Style" has become YouTube's most viewed video of all time.YouTube says in a posting on its Trends blog that "Gangnam Style" had been viewed 805 million times as of Saturday afternoon, surpassing Justin Bieber's "Baby," which has had 803 million views.The blog says the "velocity of popularity for PSY's outlandish video is unprecedented."PSY's...

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

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Tourists visit Texas ranch to remember 'Dallas' star Larry Hagman

PARKER, Texas (AP) — Tourists and locals flocked to Southfork Ranch on Saturday, bringing flowers in memory of Larry Hagman, who played the infamous J.R. Ewing on the TV show "Dallas."Hagman died in Dallas on Friday at age 81 due to complications from his battle with cancer.Southfork, a ranch north of Dallas, was known to millions of viewers as the Ewing family home. Exterior shots of the house and...

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Thai anti-government protesters rally in Bangkok

BANGKOK (AP) — Anti-government protesters calling for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down launched a rally in Bangkok on Saturday that authorities feared would grow into the biggest demonstration the country has seen since she took office last year.The rally, which was expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters, was mostly peaceful in its early stages. Police, however, fired...

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Marc Anthony comes to aid of Dominican orphanage

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Singer Marc Anthony is coming to the aid of an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.A foundation run by Anthony with music and sports producer Henry Cardenas plans to build a new residence hall, classrooms and a baseball field for the Children of Christ orphanage in the eastern city of La Romana. Anthony attended the groundbreaking ceremony Friday with his model...

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

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Larry Hagman dead at 81, portrayed notorious TV villain J.R. Ewing

(Reuters) - Larry Hagman, who created one of American television's most supreme villains in the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing of "Dallas," died on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81. Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and...

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Suicide bomber attacks in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say a suicide attacker has detonated a car laden with explosives in eastern Afghanistan, injuring at least 40 people.Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for Wardak province, says Friday's explosion occurred shortly before 7:30 a.m. on a street where international and Afghan security forces have a coordination office.He says authorities say at least 40 people...

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Halle Berry's ex arrested after fight at her house

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Halle Berry's ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry was arrested for investigation of battery Thursday after he and the Oscar-winning actress's current boyfriend got into a fight at her Hollywood Hills home, police said.Aubry, 37, was booked for investigation of a battery, a misdemeanor, and released on $20,000 bail, according to online jail records. He's scheduled to appear in court Dec....

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Thanksgiving Day parade offers respite for storm victims

As for many Americans, Thanksgiving is a time of tradition at the White House. But the Obama family has taken it a little more literally, eating basically the same thing each year since 2009. An organic, brine-soaked roast turkey and honey-baked ham make the main...

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Suicide bomber kills 23 people in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber struck a Shiite Muslim procession near Pakistan's capital, killing 23 people in the latest of a series of bombings targeting Shiites during the holiest month of the year for the sect, officials said Thursday.The bomber attacked the procession around midnight Wednesday in the city of Rawalpindi, located next to the capital, Islamabad, said Deeba Shahnaz, a state rescue...

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Chevy Chase is leaving NBC's sitcom 'Community'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NBC series "Community" will finish the season without Chevy Chase.Sony Pictures Television said Wednesday that the actor is leaving the sitcom by mutual agreement with producers.His immediate departure means he won't be included in the last episode or two of the show's 13-episode season, which is still in production.Chase had a rocky tenure playing a bored and wealthy man who...

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Study finds mammograms lead to unneeded treatment

Mammograms have done surprisingly little to catch deadly breast cancers before they spread, a big U.S. study finds. At the same time, more than a million women have been treated for cancers that never would have threatened their lives, researchers estimate.Up to one-third of breast cancers, or 50,000 to 70,000 cases a year, don't need treatment, the study suggests.It's the most detailed look yet at...

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Mistrust runs deep despite cease-fire

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers took hold on Thursday after eight days of conflict, although deep mistrust on both sides cast doubt on how long the Egyptian-sponsored deal can last. Even after the ceasefire came into force late on Wednesday, a dozen rockets from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel, all in open areas, a police spokesman said. In Gaza,...

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India hangs gunman from 2008 Mumbai attack

MUMBAI, India (AP) — India executed the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai early Wednesday, the country's home ministry said.Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani citizen, was one of 10 gunmen who rampaged through the streets of India's financial capital for three days in November 2008, killing 166 people.Kasab was hanged in secrecy at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at a jail in Pune, a...

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One Direction's 2nd CD hits No. 1, sells 540,000

NEW YORK (AP) — One Direction's "Take Me Home" is the taking the boys to the top of the charts — and to new heights.The group's sophomore album has sold 540,000 in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the year's third-highest debut behind Taylor Swift's "Red," which sold 1.2 million units its first week earlier this month, and Mumford & Sons' "Babel," which sold more than 600,000...

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OB/GYNs back over-the-counter birth control pills

WASHINGTON (AP) — No prescription or doctor's exam needed: The nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.Tuesday's surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women's advocates to make the pill more accessible.But no one expects the pill to be sold without a prescription...

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Clinton presses on with Israel-Hamas truce efforts

JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.S. secretary of state is pressing on with efforts to wring an elusive deal from Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers to halt the latest violence convulsing the region.Hillary Rodham Clinton heads to the West Bank on Wednesday morning, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous night. She was hastily dispatched to the region to join a high-profile...

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Aussie fake-bomb plotter sentenced to 13½ years

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian investment banker who admitted chaining a fake bomb to a Sydney teenager as part of a bizarre extortion plot was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison on Tuesday.Madeleine Pulver, then 18, was studying at home alone in her family's mansion in August 2011 when Paul Douglas Peters walked in wearing a rainbow-striped ski mask and carrying a baseball bat. He tethered...

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Alda, Lear honored at 40th International Emmys

NEW YORK (AP) — Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy paid tribute at the International Emmy Awards Monday night to television legends Norman Lear and Alan Alda, whose cutting-edge, socially-conscious shows in the '70s changed the face of television.Unlike previous years when Britain dominated the awards honoring excellence in television production outside the U.S., the winners in the nine categories this year...

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make...

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Gaza offensive was years in the making

JERUSALEM (AP) — With little notice, Israel has launched a blistering air offensive against the Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas militant group. Here's a look at why the violence erupted, the goals of the warring sides and how it may end:LIGHTNING STRIKEIsrael opened its offensive with a surprise airstrike on Nov. 14 that killed the shadowy leader of Hamas' military wing. Since then, it has carried out hundreds...

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Obama to meet with Cambodia's longtime 'strongman'

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — President Barack Obama arrives in Cambodia on Monday having just won four more years in office, but that is nothing compared to his host, Hun Sen. The 60-year-old Cambodian prime minister has held power since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and says he's not stepping down until he is 90.Hun Sen is known as one of Asia's most Machiavellian politicians, with a knack...

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.Meningitis mainly affects infants...

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Israeli air strike kills 11 civilians in Gaza

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli missile killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians including four children in Gaza on Sunday, medical officials said, apparently an attack on a top militant that brought a three-storey home crashing down. International pressure for a ceasefire seemed certain to mount in response to the deadliest single incident in five days of Palestinian rocket attacks...

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