http://www.mail.com/subjects/130-social-affairs.html Mail.com - the best personalized free web-based Email en en http://sec-s.uicdn.com/mail.com/2.23/img/mailcom_logo_rss.png http://www.mail.com/subjects/130-social-affairs.html http://www.mail.com/scitech/health/1862168-obama-offers-faith-groups-birth-control-rule.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration is proposing a compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans. Some of the lawsuits appear headed for the Supreme Court, threatening another divisive legal battle over Presid... Sat, 02 Feb 2013 07:23:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/health/1862168-obama-offers-faith-groups-birth-control-rule.html 2013-02-02T07:23:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/health/1862032-healthier-schools-goodbye-candy-greasy-snacks.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Goodbye candy bars and sugary cookies. Hello baked chips and diet sodas. The government for the first time is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful, a change that would ban the sale of almost all candy, high-calorie sports drinks and greasy foods on campus. Under new r... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:27:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/health/1862032-healthier-schools-goodbye-candy-greasy-snacks.html 2013-02-01T21:27:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1862138-apnewsbreak-family-sues-minn-office-attack.html MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The family of a man who was among six people gunned down at his Minneapolis office last year is suing the company, claiming it botched the firing of the employee who carried out the attack and should have known from his work history that he was potentially dangerous. The lawsuit being filed on behalf of Jacob Beneke's family is the firs... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:35:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1862138-apnewsbreak-family-sues-minn-office-attack.html 2013-02-01T20:35:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861522-palace-egypt-protesters-police-clash.html CAIRO (AP) — Protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president hurled stones and firebombs through the gates of his palace gates on Friday, clashing with security forces who fired tear gas and water cannons, as more than a week of political violence came to Mohammed Morsi's symbolic doorstep for the first time. The streets outside the presidential palace w... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:31:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861522-palace-egypt-protesters-police-clash.html 2013-02-01T22:31:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861488-suicide-bomber-kills-guard-us-embassy-turkey.html ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — In the second deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in five months, a suicide bomber struck the American Embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a Turkish security guard in what the White House described as a terrorist attack. Washington immediately warned Americans to stay away from all U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey and to be... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:24:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861488-suicide-bomber-kills-guard-us-embassy-turkey.html 2013-02-01T19:24:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1862016-mahony-defends-legacy-church-abuse-blog.html LOS ANGELES (AP) — Retired Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony defended his tattered legacy in a sharply worded letter to his successor, a day after Archbishop Jose Gomez stripped him of his administrative duties and bowed to a court order to release thousands of pages of confidential files on sexually abusive priests. In a letter posted Friday on his pe... Sat, 02 Feb 2013 08:46:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1862016-mahony-defends-legacy-church-abuse-blog.html 2013-02-02T08:46:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861288-syrian-rebels-slam-assad-inaction-israeli-raid.html BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition leaders and rebels on Friday slammed President Bashar Assad for not responding to a rare Israeli airstrike near Damascus, calling it proof of his weakness and acquiescence to the Jewish State. The opposition's sharp reaction underlines how those seeking to topple the Syrian leader might be more prepared to tangle with Israe... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:03:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861288-syrian-rebels-slam-assad-inaction-israeli-raid.html 2013-02-01T19:03:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1862736-chicago-takes-leading-role-national-gun-debate.html CHICAGO (AP) — They are counting the dead from gunfire again in Chicago, a city awash in weapons despite having one of the strictest gun-control ordinances in the nation. After a year in which Chicago's death toll surpassed 500, the bloodshed has continued in 2013 at a rate of more than one killing a day. It was the city's deadliest January in more than a... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:33:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1862736-chicago-takes-leading-role-national-gun-debate.html 2013-02-01T20:33:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1828252-priest-sheik-marriage-lebanon.html BEIRUT (AP) — She was an English language tutor with an easy smile and an independent streak. He was a gym receptionist who wanted to better himself. They met for English lessons, swapped views on life and fell in love. Three months ago, a notary married them before their friends and family — but not in the eyes of the Lebanese government. The government ... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:01:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1828252-priest-sheik-marriage-lebanon.html 2013-02-01T19:01:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1862654-harkin-campaign-aide-iowa-donor-list.html IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin's campaign fundraiser gave Iowa State University a list of possible donors to his namesake research institute, records show, though university officials have promised the powerful Democrat would have no influence over the center. The Harkin Institute of Public Policy would house the papers of the senator, who re... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:10:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1862654-harkin-campaign-aide-iowa-donor-list.html 2013-02-01T20:10:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861444-koch-yorks-feisty-mayor-dies-88.html NEW YORK (AP) — When Ed Koch was mayor, it seemed as if all of New York was being run by a deli counterman. Koch was funny, irritable, opinionated, often rude and prone to yelling. And it worked, for a while at least. With a Bronx-born combination of chutzpah and humor, Koch steered New York back from the brink of financial ruin and infused the city with ... Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:03:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861444-koch-yorks-feisty-mayor-dies-88.html 2013-02-02T00:03:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1861730-apnewsbreak-feds-warming-imperils-wolverines.html BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the "mountain devil," could soon join the list of species threatened by climate change — a dubious distinction putting it in the ranks of the polar bear and several other animals the government says will lose crucial habitat as temperatures rise. Federal wildlife offi... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:32:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1861730-apnewsbreak-feds-warming-imperils-wolverines.html 2013-02-01T22:32:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861250-marine-survey-lists-concerns-women-combat.html SAN DIEGO (AP) — Male Marines listed being falsely accused of sexual harassment or assault as a top concern in a survey about moving women into combat jobs, and thousands indicated the change could prompt them to leave the service altogether. The anonymous online questionnaire by the Marine Corps surveyed 53,000 troops last summer, with the results provid... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:21:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861250-marine-survey-lists-concerns-women-combat.html 2013-02-01T23:21:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861756-milan-court-convicts-3-americans-cia-kidnapping.html MILAN (AP) — A Milan appeals court on Friday vacated acquittals for a former CIA station chief and two other Americans, and instead convicted them in the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from a Milan street as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. The decision means that all 26 Americans tried in absentia for the abduction now hav... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:07:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861756-milan-court-convicts-3-americans-cia-kidnapping.html 2013-02-01T17:07:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1861702-report-us-job-market-surprisingly-strong.html WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. job market is proving surprisingly strong and raising hopes that the economy will be resilient enough this year to withstand a budget standoff in Washington and potentially deep cuts in federal spending. Employers added 157,000 jobs last month, and hiring turned out to be healthier than previously thought at the end of 2012 just... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:15:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1861702-report-us-job-market-surprisingly-strong.html 2013-02-01T23:15:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861236-iraq-sunnis-protest-al-qaida-front-calls-to-arms.html BAGHDAD (AP) — Tens of thousands of Sunni protesters blocked a major highway in western Iraq on Friday, as an al-Qaida-affiliated group called on Sunnis to take up arms against the Shiite-led government. The rally comes at a time of mounting sectarian tensions in Iraq. Minority Sunnis complain of official discrimination against them, and the arrests of bo... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:51:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861236-iraq-sunnis-protest-al-qaida-front-calls-to-arms.html 2013-02-01T15:51:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861778-arabs-tuaregs-mali-face-hostility-amid-war.html MOPTI, Mali (AP) — Bawba Mint Baba Ahmed's dress-making teacher singled her out in front of the class, telling her: "You look like a rebel." Others threatened to slit her throat, she says, drawing a finger across her neck. Now the 29-year-old has dropped out of school and spends her days hiding inside her mud-walled home with her mother and two sisters, f... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:06:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861778-arabs-tuaregs-mali-face-hostility-amid-war.html 2013-02-01T21:06:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1861252-ny-inmates-help-build-ice-palace-adirondacks.html SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (AP) — It's a far cry from breaking rocks in the hot sun on a chain gang. In New York's Adirondack Mountains, inmates break ice on a frozen lake to make a giant winter palace. A work crew from an area "shock" prison camp once again this year helped local volunteers create this mountain village's lakeside ice palace — the shimmering cent... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:46:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1861252-ny-inmates-help-build-ice-palace-adirondacks.html 2013-02-01T14:46:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1861858-federal-focus-compassion-wild-horses.html RENO, Nev. (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is issuing new policy directives emphasizing "compassion and concern" for wild horses on federal lands in the West, in response to a growing public outcry over alleged abuse during roundups of thousands of mustangs in recent years. Federal laws protecting wild horses since the 1970s require the governme... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:29:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1861858-federal-focus-compassion-wild-horses.html 2013-02-01T14:29:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861412-mali-jihadists-custody-tortured-military.html TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — Three suspected jihadists arrested in the days since the liberation of Timbuktu said Friday that Malian soldiers were torturing them with a method similar to waterboarding. The three are being held in an earthen cell in what remains of the military camp in the town, which was freed this week by French and Malian soldiers after nearly... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:18:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861412-mali-jihadists-custody-tortured-military.html 2013-02-01T20:18:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861264-militants-attack-pakistani-army-camp-6-killed.html PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants attacked an army camp in northwestern Pakistan with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades before dawn on Saturday, killing six members of the security forces, officials said. The attack followed a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque elsewhere in the northwest on Friday that killed 23 people and wounded m... Sat, 02 Feb 2013 04:03:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861264-militants-attack-pakistani-army-camp-6-killed.html 2013-02-02T04:03:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1861302-rare-good-news-eurozone-economy.html LONDON (AP) — Mention it quietly, but there were rare hopeful signs for Europe's struggling economy on Friday. Three pieces of economic news for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro were all slightly better than hoped — in sharp contrast to some of the grim days the eurozone has witnessed over the last three years of its crisis over too much ... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:07:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1861302-rare-good-news-eurozone-economy.html 2013-02-01T13:07:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1861424-5-years-us-families-pursue-kyrgyz-adoptions.html NEW YORK (AP) — The boy, named Vladimir, is 5½ years old, struggles at learning to count and draw, and lives in an orphanage in Kyrgyzstan. His would-be parents in New York have had just five brief visits since they signed on to adopt him in 2008, yet they refuse to abandon the quest. "We have already bonded with this child," said Frances Pardus-Abbadessa... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:12:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1861424-5-years-us-families-pursue-kyrgyz-adoptions.html 2013-02-01T11:12:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1861254-hawaii-lawmakers-propose-shielding-celeb-privacy.html HONOLULU (AP) — More than two-thirds of Hawaii's state senators have signed onto a bill to protect celebrities from paparazzi, giving them power to sue over unwanted beach photos and other snapshots on the islands. The bill's author says he's pushing the law at the request of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, the former "American Idol" judge who recentl... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:02:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1861254-hawaii-lawmakers-propose-shielding-celeb-privacy.html 2013-02-01T22:02:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1861192-imprisoned-pussy-riot-member-hospitalized.html MOSCOW (AP) — A jailed member of the Pussy Riot feminist punk band has been hospitalized for a full medical check-up after complaining of headaches and suffering from overwork at a prison colony known for its tough conditions, her lawyer and a fellow band member said Friday. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has suffered from headaches since last spring and her cond... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:53:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1861192-imprisoned-pussy-riot-member-hospitalized.html 2013-02-01T09:53:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1860948-international-literary-festival-opens-myanmar.html YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The latest first for fast-reforming Myanmar — its first international literary festival — is putting the spotlight on dozens of the country's authors, a number of whom once spent time in prison for their writings. The Irrawaddy Literary Festival, which runs from Friday through Sunday, comes as Myanmar relaxes its censorship rules, b... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:12:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1860948-international-literary-festival-opens-myanmar.html 2013-02-01T09:12:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1858708-la-archbishop-relieves-retired-cardinal-duties.html LOS ANGELES (AP) — Retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former head of the nation's largest Roman Catholic diocese, was stripped of his duties Thursday by his successor as the Los Angeles archdiocese released thousands of pages of personnel files of priests accused of child molestation. "I find these files to be brutal and painful reading," Archbishop Jose ... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 07:17:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1858708-la-archbishop-relieves-retired-cardinal-duties.html 2013-02-01T07:17:00Z http://www.mail.com/sports/football/1861266-gay-rights-backers-await-their-jackie-robinson.html NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brendon Ayanbadejo has heard from many players who applaud his support of gay marriage — some of them teammates, others from the opposing side of the line. Then, just days before the biggest game of the year, he received a striking reminder of the macho attitudes that still prevail in the NFL. San Francisco cornerback Chris Culliver sai... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 08:45:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/sports/football/1861266-gay-rights-backers-await-their-jackie-robinson.html 2013-02-01T08:45:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861238-republicans-face-balancing-immigration.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans face a delicate balancing act as they embrace an unprecedented shift in their views on immigration reform — and no one better exemplifies the potential risks and rewards than Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Rubio has courted conservative commentators in recent weeks, outlining a set of principles for changes in immigration law t... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 08:17:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861238-republicans-face-balancing-immigration.html 2013-02-01T08:17:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861170-hillary-clinton-takes-rest-weird-that.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton's plan for 2013 was simple. She'd embark on an epic swansong around the world as secretary of state, a dizzying itinerary of east-west and north-south flights that would take her past 1 million miles in the air at the helm of American diplomacy and perhaps break her own record of 112 countries visited while in the ... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 07:33:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861170-hillary-clinton-takes-rest-weird-that.html 2013-02-01T07:33:00Z