A troubling promise in iPad Mini's new Xmas ad

Only in her dreams, Grandad.(Credit:Apple screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)Xmas is a time for families to be together and share all the tensions they have harbored for the whole year.So to celebrate family closeness, Apple has just released an ad -- bless you, MacStories -- for theiPad Mini. It features a grandfather and granddaughter. She is singing to him over FaceTime.We see her face on a regular...

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Rebels threaten to storm 2 Syrian Christian towns

BEIRUT Rebels have threatened to storm two predominantly Christian towns in central Syria, saying regime forces are using them to attack nearby areas, an activist group said Saturday. It says such an attack could force thousands of Christians from their homes. Russia's foreign minister, meanwhile, said that Damascus has consolidated its chemical weapons into one or two locations to protect them...

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'Fiscal Cliff' Leaves Boehner a Wounded Speaker

John Boehner is a bloodied House speaker following the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Barack Obama.There's plenty of internal grumbling about the Ohio Republican, especially among conservatives, and lots of buzzing about whether his leadership post is in jeopardy. But it's uncertain whether...

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Vice president quits as Egypt votes on constitution

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's vice-president resigned on Saturday as Egyptians voted in a referendum that is expected to approve a new constitution that lays the foundations for the country's transition to democracy but will strip him of his role. Authorities extended voting by four hours in the second and decisive round of the plebiscite on an Islamist-drafted constitution that the opposition...

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Football: Inter Milan held by Genoa, nine points behind Juve

ROME: Inter Milan fell further behind Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday after being held 1-1 at home to struggling Genoa.Inter, nine points behind the defending champions who beat Cagliari 3-1 on Friday, had to rely on a goal from Argentinian veteran Esteban Cambiasso five minutes from time to rescue a point.Genoa's Ciro Immobile had given the visitors the lead in the 77th minute with...

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How EA plans to make customers happy. Really

Electronics Arts' Help Center page is part of its effort to improve its customer service.(Credit:EA)An avid player of Electronic Arts' "The Simpsons: Tapped Out" mobile game, David Lamb was disheartened when he logged into his account in October and found that all of the data from him game was gone. The iOS game, which is essentially "Farmville" with Springfield buildings and Simpsons characters,...

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John Kerry tapped to be next Secretary of State

President Obama is nominating Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, CBS News has learned. An official announcement is forthcoming later today. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, has widely been seen as the frontrunner for the position since U.N. ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration. Rice came under heavy fire from Republican...

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Amid Protest, NRA Calls for Armed Guards in Schools

The National Rifle Association stood its ground today in arguing that the answer to gun violence in schools is an armed security force that can protect students, while blaming the media and violent entertainment and video games for recent deadly shootings."The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre...

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Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels began to push into a strategic town in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday and laid siege to at least one town dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect, activists said. The operation risks inflaming already raw sectarian tensions as the 21-month-old revolt against four decades of Assad family rule - during which the president's Alawite sect...

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Moments of silence, bells mark US school shooting

NEWTOWN: Mourners in Newtown, Connecticut, stood in silence under heavy rain while church bells rang to honour the 20 young children and six staff massacred in a school shooting a week ago.The sombre scene at 9:30 am local time, the moment a week earlier when a deranged local man armed with semiautomatic weapons burst into the Sandy Hook Elementary School, was echoed around the country...

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T-Mobile grows 4G in 14 new markets, sort of offers 4G iPhone

Soon, you can get a 4G iPhone that runs on T-Mobile's network.(Credit:CBS Interactive)If you're desperate to stay with T-Mobile's service and rock an iPhone, the nation's fourth-largest carrier has good tidings on both fronts.Today, T-Mobile unveiled plans to expand its 1,900MHZ band in 14 new markets, bringing its grand total to 37 cities covered by the faster network.In addition, the carrier announced...

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House GOP: We have the votes for "Plan B"

As the House readies for an expected vote on an alternate plan to avoid massive tax hikes on all income earners, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he is confident he will have enough support to pass their plan. "We're going to have the votes," Cantor told reporters this morning. It seemed talks between House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and President Obama were progressing, as both...

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Winter Weather Threatens Christmas Travel

A pre-Christmas blizzard that is battering at least eight states in the middle of the nation could trip up travelers headed home for Christmas in the coming days.Nearly 20 inches of snow have been reported in Colorado just west of Denver. Nebraska has reported 6-to-10 inches so far. Between 3 and 8 inches have accumulated in Iowa already and more is possible. Snow is falling...

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Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels thrust into a strategic town in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday, activists said, pursuing a string of territorial gains to help cut army supply lines and cement a foothold in the capital Damascus to the south. They have made a series of advances across the country, seizing several military installations and more heavy weaponry, hardening the threat...

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Russia's Putin denies propping up Assad

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday denied propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and stressed that Moscow was only seeking to avert a perpetual civil war."We are not concerned about (Bashar Assad's fate. We understand that the family has been in power for 40 years and there is a need for change," Putin told a major Moscow press briefing.But he made no call on Assad...

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CloudOn MS Office app adds support for iPhone, SkyDrive

CloudOn for the iPhone.(Credit:Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)CloudOn'sMicrosoft Office app has expanded its horizons beyond just theiPad.Released today, version 3.0 of CloudOn supports the iPhone, theiPad Mini, and the iPod Touch. It handles the iPhone 5, taking advantage of the new phone's longer screen. There's also a special reading mode for the iPhone, so you can easily scroll through a document...

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State Dept. official resigns following Benghazi report

Eric Boswell, the head of diplomatic security at the State Department, has resigned, CBS News confirmed, following the release of a harsh report detailing State Department missteps that led to the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Boswell's resignation from his post as assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security is effective immediately. Sources say he will stay on as director...

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Inside One School's Extraordinary Security Measures

While schools across America reassess their security measures in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., one school outside of Chicago takes safety to a whole new level.The security measures at Middleton Elementary School start the moment you set foot on campus, with a camera-equipped doorbell. When you ring the doorbell, school employees inside are...

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Park wins South Korea presidency, to be first woman leader

SEOUL (Reuters) - The daughter of a former military ruler won South Korea's presidential election on Wednesday and will become the country's first female leader, saying she would work to heal a divided society. The 60-year old conservative, Park Geun-hye, will return to the presidential palace in Seoul where she served as her father's first lady in the 1970s, after her mother was assassinated...

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Football: Wilshere, four others sign new Arsenal deals

LONDON: Arsenal were given a major fillip on Wednesday when they announced that English midfielder Jack Wilshere and four other players have agreed new long-term contracts with the club.Wilshere joins fellow England internationals Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson and Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey in committing his future to the Emirates Stadium."We are delighted...

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Gay-love text gets sender 3 years in jail

One text in Cameroon can put you in a cell.(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)This story will move only those who have a heart. The remainder -- well, perhaps they man the judicial system in Cameroon.Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, 32, wanted to express his love by text. He sent this: "I am very much in love with you."The only problem is that Mbede lives in Cameroon. There, as the Associated Press reports, homosexual...

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First of 8 funerals at Newtown church begins

NEWTOWN, Conn. Family members have gathered for the first of eight funerals for school shooting victims to be held at a Catholic church in Newtown, Conn. A motorcade of dozens of vehicles led by police motorcycles accompanied the family of 6-year-old James Mattioli to St. Rose of Lima on Tuesday. His funeral comes a day after two other 6-year-old boys were laid in the first of a long, almost unbearable...

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