Haiti plans low-key ceremony to mark quake

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The Haitian government plans a low-key ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the earthquake that devastated the country.Haitian President Michel Martelly will preside over what an adviser calls a "subdued" memorial at the grounds of the former national palace.Presidential adviser Damian Merlo said Saturday's memorial would be a small public event with just senior...

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Argentine court charges officials for train crash

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine court is charging two former government officials and the owners of a train company in connection with a crash that killed 51 people last year.The Buenos Aires federal court on Friday ratified charges previously filed against former transportation secretaries Juan Pablo Schiavi and Ricardo Jaime.The court also charged Sergio and Mario Cirigliano, owners...

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Partial victory for Bolivia in coca fight

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Evo Morales' global crusade to decriminalize the coca leaf, launched in 2006 after the coca growers' union leader was first elected president of Bolivia, has finally attained a partial, if largely, symbolic victory.A year ago, Bolivia temporarily withdrew from the 1961 U.N. convention on narcotic drugs because it classifies coca leaf, the raw material of cocaine, as an illicit...

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Venezuela VP to travel to Cuba see Chavez, family

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president said he will travel to Cuba on Friday to visit ailing President Hugo Chavez and his family.Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced his trip on television, saying he would also meet with Chavez's medical team. The government says the Venezuelan leader is fighting a severe respiratory infection a month after he underwent cancer surgery in Havana."I'm...

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Cubans eager to try new law easing travel rules

HAVANA (AP) — Like many Cubans, 16-year-old Ana Liliam Garcia is excited at the thought of seeing the world beyond this Communist-run island smaller than the state of Pennsylvania.Once an impossibility, today she dreams of meeting several relatives in Florida — and maybe even Mickey Mouse."My cousins and my uncles, they're all in Miami," Garcia said, her eyes lighting up as she talked about a new...

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Venezuelan VP says he has visited Chavez twice

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president says he has visited ailing President Hugo Chavez twice in Cuba and plans to return home to Caracas.Vice President Nicolas Maduro says he spoke with Chavez during their visits. Maduro says the president has "the same strength as always," despite a health situation that he described as complex three weeks after his cancer surgery.Maduro says he will...

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Venezuelans on edge amid shifting news on Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez alike nervously welcomed the new year Tuesday, left on edge by shifting signals from the government about the Venezuelan leader's condition three weeks after cancer surgery in Cuba.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised interview in Cuba that he had...

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Chavez's VP says ailing leader still 'delicate'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president is returning home Wednesday from a visit with Hugo Chavez in Cuba and says the ailing president's condition remains "delicate" three weeks after his cancer surgery.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that he had met with the president twice and had spoken with him."He's totally...

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Britain extradites al Qaeda suspect to U.S

LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani man accused by British authorities of being an al Qaeda operative who took part in a plot to bomb U.S. and English targets was extradited from Britain to the United States on Thursday to face terrorism charges.Abid Naseer, 26, was one of a dozen men arrested in April 2009 on suspicion of preparing to cause mass casualties by bombing Manchester city centre in northern...

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Icelandic girl fights for right to her own name

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Call her the girl with no name.A 15-year-old is suing the Icelandic state for the right to legally use the name given to her by her mother. The problem? Blaer, which means "light breeze" in Icelandic, is not on a list approved by the government.Like a handful of other countries, including Germany and Denmark, Iceland has official rules about what a baby can be named. In a...

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Better margins a bonus for Next as Christmas sales rise

Next, Britain's No.2 clothing retailer, nudged its full-year profit forecast higher after an increase in sales over the Christmas period was supplemented by improved margins due to a renewed attack on costs.Shares in Next, which has a long-standing policy of never going on sale before December 26, rose 2.3 percent on Thursday, topping the FTSE 100 leader board, after it forecast profit growth in both...

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Basque group announces it is dissolving

BAYONNE, France (AP) — The Basque nationalist group known as Batasuna — legal in France but banned in Spain — has announced that it is dissolving after 11 years.It leaders said Thursday that Batasuna, which means "unity," is dissolving because "the Basque country is witnessing a new political phase."In Spain, Batasuna has been outlawed since 2003 for its links to the separatist group ETA, but in France...

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British zoos start annual census

LONDON (AP) — In a sea of flapping black and white flippers, Ricky is hard to miss: He's got spiky yellow feathers, a flamboyant character, and he's the only rockhopper among the dozens of penguins living in the London Zoo.That's a big help for keepers embarking on their annual stock-taking of all the zoo's residents. It's no easy task, when there are more than 17,500 creatures to count. All animals...

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LG rumored to debut smartphone with edge-to-edge display, full-HD phablet and 7-inch tablet at CES

LG’s (066570) first attempt at a large screen Galaxy Note competitor never really took off, however the company is said to be ready to try again. According to a report from GSMArena, LG is looking to make a splash at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in January with a number of high-resolution displays.[More from BGR: Can Samsung survive without Android?]The company is said to be planning to debut...

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All of 2012 in One 4-Minute Video

We realize there's only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today: RELATED: 'Roseanne' Predicted Internet Addiction; A Weather Alert from HellFilmmaker Ryan James Yezak boiled...

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No surprise: YouTube, Angry Birds, Instagram and Facebook among 2012′s top apps

Although every app developer dreams of creating the next big mobile app, it seems that established applications are becoming more firmly entrenched at the top of the food chain. Per Reuters, year-end totals from the Apple (AAPL) App Store and Google (GOOG) Play show that stalwarts such as YouTube, Angry Birds, Instagram and Facebook (FB) “continued to be among the most downloaded apps of the year,”...

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HTC says licensing agreement with Apple will lead to better devices in 2013

Apple (AAPL) and HTC (2498) signed a 10-year licensing agreement in November that covered all current, pending and future patents and ended the ongoing litigation between the two companies. It has been estimated that the company will pay Apple between $6 and $8 for every Android device shipped, however HTC CEO Peter Chao refuted the claim. Regardless of how much is being spent, HTC China president...

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How to Sync All Your Calendars Onto One Smartphone

It’s a simple request: I just want my online calendars to sync with my smartphone… is that too much to ask? It took some initial research and finesse, but I’ve discovered the best ways to get your Yahoo and Google calendars to appear on either an Android or Apple IOS mobile device.Google Calendar on Android PhoneWhen you first set up your Android phone, you had to create or enter your Google account...

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