Gruesome toll of cluster bombs in Syria

STORY HIGHLIGHTSHuman Rights Watch says cluster bombs were used on Syrian town of LatamnehCluster bombs release dozens of smaller bombs, which can maim or kill long after impactSyrian regime has previously denied cluster bombs on civiliansEditor's note: Mary Wareham is the Arms Division's Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch and chief editor of 'Cluster Munition Monitor 2012.' (CNN) -- It was...

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Netanyahu to Obama: only Israel knows its own best interests

JERUSALEM: Only the people of Israel can decide who will represent their best interests, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday in remarks directed at US President Barack Obama a week before a general election."I think everyone knows that the citizens of Israel are the only ones who can decide who will faithfully represent the vital interests of the state," he said.His remarks...

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Opinion: Real hypocrites are at NRA

The National Rifle Association has released a video game, "Practice Range," a month after the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNRA releases shooting video game rated for ages 4 and up for free downloadChristopher Ferguson: NRA condemned video game industry less than a month ago Ferguson says the NRA doesn't even take its own claims seriously As queasy as the app is, video games do not...

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Americans among hostages taken in Algeria attack

Updated at 1:49 p.m. ET ALGIERS, Algeria Islamist militants attacked and occupied a natural gas field partly operated by BP in southern Algeria early Wednesday, killing two people and holding an unknown number of foreigners, including Americans, hostage while surrounded by Algerian forces. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that Americans were among the hostages but wouldn't...

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Obama Unveils Sweeping Plan to Curb Gun Violence

Flanked by four children from across the country, President Obama today unveiled a sweeping plan to curb gun violence in America through an extensive package of legislation and executive actions not seen since the 1960s.Obama is asking Congress to implement mandatory background checks for all gun purchases, including private sales; reinstate a ban on some assault-style weapons;...

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Are gun curbs just symbolism?

STORY HIGHLIGHTSGun violence recommendations are expected from Vice President Biden on TuesdayThe proposals are expected to contain substantive and symbolic ideas to curb gun violencePresidents use symbolism to shift public opinion or affect larger political or social changeWashington (CNN) -- The pictures told the story: Vice President Joe Biden looked solemn, patrician and in control as he sat at...

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Hagel wins key endorsement for Pentagon job

WASHINGTON: US defence secretary-designate Chuck Hagel cleared a key bar to his Senate confirmation Tuesday, winning the backing of a powerful Democrat who had been concerned about his stances on Iran and Israel.Senator Chuck Schumer said he met Hagel for 90 minutes on Monday and had been convinced to endorse the blunt former Republican senator to run the Pentagon in Obama's second term...

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U.S. quietly giving up its oil addiction

President Obama at an oil and gas production field near Maljamar, New Mexico in March, 2012. STORY HIGHLIGHTSFrida Ghitis: The U.S. will become the world's leading oil producer in a few years Ghitis: It is truly transformational that the U.S. is giving up its addiction to foreign oil Despite energy independence, we need to keep looking into green energy, she says Ghitis: It's beneficial for the U.S....

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Facebook announces new site search feature

Facebook announced that it is launching a search engine for the social network called "graph search." At a press event in Menlo Park, Calif., Tuesday CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social network is launching a search engine that will run inside of Facebook. "What is graph search? It's not web search," Zuckerberg told reporters. During a comparison of graph search with a web search, Zuckerberg demonstrated...

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Secret Revealed: Facebook Announces New Tool

How you search Facebook is about to change. In fact, just the act of searching Facebook is probably about to start.Facebook is trying to give Google a run for its money, with a new product called "Graph Search." It turns some of the personal information people have shared on Facebook into a powerful searchable database.For the social network's 170 million users in the U.S., it's...

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