Jamaica to abolish slavery-era flogging law

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica is preparing to abolish a slavery-era law allowing flogging and whipping as means of punishing prisoners, the Caribbean country’s justice ministry said Thursday.The ministry said the punishment hasn’t been ordered by a court since 2004 but the statutes remain in the island’s penal code. It was administered with strokes...

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In Gaza, new arsenals include “weaponized” social media

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – There have long been the tools of warfare associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: warplanes, mortars, Qassam rockets. Now that list includes Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.This week the worldwide audience got a vivid look at conflict in the social media era as the Israeli military unfurled an extensive campaign across several...

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Migration officials say cholera in Haiti on rise

GENEVA (AP) — The world’s largest agency that deals with global migration says cholera is again on the rise in Haiti.The International Organization for Migration says Haitian officials have confirmed 3,593 cholera cases and another 837 suspected cases since Hurricane Sandy‘s passage. IOM spokesman Jumbe Omari Jumbe told...

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Hopes for Israel, Gaza truce quickly dashed

GAZA (Reuters) - Egypt opened a tiny window to emergency peace diplomacy in Gaza on Friday, but hopes for even a brief ceasefire while its prime minister was inside the bombarded enclave to talk to leaders of the Islamist Hamas movement were immediately dashed. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil visited the Gaza Strip on Friday officially to show solidarity with the Palestinian people after...

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Canada’s Carney says rate hikes “less imminent”

TORONTO (Reuters) – Interest rate hikes have become less imminent than the Bank of Canada once expected, although rates are still likely to rise, central bank Governor Mark Carney said in an interview published on Saturday.“Over time, rates are likely to increase somewhat, but over time, so a less imminent timing relative to our expectation,” Carney said...

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In Britain, spate of prosecutions for Twitter and Facebook tirades spark free-speech debate

LONDON – One teenager made offensive comments about a murdered child on Twitter. Another young man wrote on Facebook that British soldiers should “go to hell.” A third posted a picture of a burning paper poppy, symbol of remembrance of war dead.All were arrested, two convicted, and one jailed — and they’re not the only ones. In Britain, hundreds of people...

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Congress, Obama face dynamite in “fiscal cliff”: CEOs

BOSTON (Reuters) – Corporate America is raising the volume of its plea that the U.S. government avert a year-end “fiscal cliff” that could send the nation back into recession, but chief executives aren’t pushing the panic button just yet.With a heated election season in the rear-view mirror, executives are calling on the White House and congressional leaders...

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Sources: BP to pay record fine for Gulf Coast disaster

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BP Plc is expected to pay a record U.S. criminal penalty and plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster through a plea deal reached with the Department of Justice (DoJ) that may be announced as soon as Thursday, according to sources familiar with discussions. Three sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said...

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Beating tax cheats key to Italy’s recovery plan

ROME (AP) — Good plumbers may be worth their weight in gold, but when one was spotted zipping around in a bright red Ferrari, Italian tax police were fast on his trail.Stamping out entrenched tax evasion is crucial to Premier Mario Monti‘s quest to keep Italy from succumbing to the European debt crisis, and it is critical to fellow eurozone members in...

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Software pioneer McAfee says framed for murder in Belize

BELIZE CITY (Reuters) – Computer security industry pioneer John McAfee says he has gone into hiding in Belize because he believes authorities there are trying to frame him for the murder of a neighbor, a crime he says he did not commit, according to Wired magazine.Belize police are searching for McAfee as “a person of interest” in a murder investigation. “You...

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Planned Parenthood seeks injunction over Oklahoma health program

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – Planned Parenthood asked a federal judge on Tuesday to stop Oklahoma from blocking it from participating in a federally funded nutrition program that helps poor women and children at three clinics in the Tulsa area.The request, filed in federal court in Oklahoma City, appeared aimed at combating a move similar to those taken by...

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'Warrior monk' at center of growing scandal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Marine Corps General John Allen, the soberly formal, spit-and-polish head of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, is not a military leader whose image immediately conjures up the word "flirtatious." The four-star general, who succeeded General David Petraeus last year as head of the International Security Assistance Force, is known for his ability to work with...

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General investigated for emails to Petraeus friend

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an...

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Head of Microsoft’s Windows unit steps down

(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said the head of its flagship Windows division and the driving force behind Windows 8, Steven Sinofsky, will be leaving the company with immediate effect, days after the software giant launched the Surface tablet.Sinofsky, who presented at the launch of the Windows 8 operating system in New York City last month, will be succeeded...

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Syrian Red Crescent estimates 2.5 million uprooted in Syria

GENEVA (Reuters) – The Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimates that 2.5 million people are internally displaced within Syria by civil war, doubling the previous figure of 1.2 million used by aid agencies, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.“The figure they are using is 2.5 million. If anything, they believe it could be more, this is a very conservative...

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Petraeus probe ensnares top U.S. commander in Afghanistan

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.Defense Secretary Leon Panetta...

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Clarke’s 218 puts Australia on front foot

BRISBANE (Reuters) – Australia captain Michael Clarke scored a brilliant unbeaten double century to give the hosts a remarkable 37-run first innings lead on the fourth day of the first test against South Africa on Monday.Supported first by a maiden century from opener Ed Cowan in a record stand of 259, and then by Mike Hussey‘s 86 not out, Clarke’s 218...

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Stock index futures signal mixed open

PARIS (Reuters) – Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.15 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.03 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.1 percent at 3.37 a.m. EDT.* World equities fell on Monday as concerns about the fiscal crisis in the United States and progress on a bailout plan for Greece...

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Condom conundrum: Porn industry ponders latex law

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The show must go on, is the entertainer’s credo, and it did just that in the nation’s Porn Capital even after Los Angeles County voted to require performers to use condoms when filming sex scenes.One of the industry’s biggest stars, James Deen, reported for work, condom-free as usual, just hours after voters adopted the new law. During...

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