Sandy victims cheered by NYC's Thanksgiving parade

NEW YORK (AP) — Victims of Superstorm Sandy in New York and elsewhere in the Northeast were comforted Thursday by kinder weather, free holiday meals and — for some — front row seats to the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."It means a lot," said Karen Panetta, of the hard-hit Broad Channel section of Queens, as she sat in a special viewing section set aside for New Yorkers displaced by the storm."We're...

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Deaths of 5 runaways prompt soul search in China

BEIJING (AP) — On the day China unveiled its new leadership in Beijing with promises of a better life for all, five runaway boys died in a garbage bin where they had sought shelter and warmth on a cold, damp night in the south.The boys were all brothers or cousins aged 9 to 13. Surnamed Tao, they were the sons of three brothers — two of whom are migrant workers with jobs far from home — and most of...

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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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Silent skies over Gaza after cease-fire

The rockets and missiles fell silent over Gaza for the first time in eight days today, but gunfire erupted in the crowded streets of the Palestinian enclave to celebrate the announcement of a ceasefire in the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.The two sides fired final salvos at one another up until the final moments before the 2 p.m. ET cease-fire deadline. At least one Israeli missile landed...

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Afghan revolving door: 5 US generals, 5 years

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — For former CIA director David Petraeus, it was a one-year stint as top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. His replacement is scheduled to leave next year after 18 months in the job.And now the sex scandal that draws them together — Petraeus' career toppled and Marine Gen. John Allen's possibly on hold — also has placed greater attention to the quick turnover of American battlefield...

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Clinton’s high-profile swan song

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at a meeting with President Barack Obama, second from left, and Japan's …Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was supposed to be heading for the exit, even as the fight over who should succeed her escalated. Instead, America's top diplomat sped Tuesday to the Middle East on an urgent mission to douse flaring violence between Israel and Hamas, the...

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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 jail 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 a bomb-like...

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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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Gazans in survival mode: Change houses, avoid windows, stock up on food

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sleep away from windows, stock up on food, get the family car off the street — these are the lessons Gazans have learned in previous rounds of fighting between Israel and the territory's Hamas rulers.This time, some are adding "change houses" to the list as Israel increasingly targets homes of Hamas activists, making it difficult to guess where missiles might hit. Over...

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Obama to speak at Myanmar campus scarred by past

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The soldiers began to shoot students at Rangoon University at 6:30 p.m. Hla Shwe watched, cowering in a nearby building, as his friends died. "I heard the shouting," he recalled. "They shot whoever they saw."It was July 7, 1962, the day rage at the military's recent coup boiled over and a date now seared into the memory of Hla Shwe, who is 75 years old."I got the idea that if...

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