Clemson edges LSU 25-24 on last-second FG

ATLANTA (AP) — Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give No. 14 Clemson a wild 25-24 win over No. 9 Louisiana State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Monday night.Trailing 24-22, Clemson (11-2) took possession on its 20 with 1:39 remaining. Tajh Boyd completed a pass for 26 yards to DeAndre Hopkins on a fourth-and-16 play during the decisive 10-play drive.Catanzaro's kick set...

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U.S. Birthrate Dips, Especially for Hispanics

ORLANDO, Fla. — Hispanic women in the United States, who have generally had the highest fertility rates in the country, are choosing to have fewer children. Both immigrant and native-born Latinas had steeper birthrate declines from 2007 to 2010 than other groups, including non-Hispanic whites, blacks and Asians, a drop some demographers and sociologists attribute to changes in the views of many Hispanic...

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Big in 2012, but the Future Is Hazy for Bonds

The big story in the markets this year was not about stocks. Stephanie Diani for The New York TimesWhile many see bonds fading in 2013, William Gross of Pimco, one of the biggest bond investors, is taking the opposite stance. Americans sold off their stock mutual funds, the most popular way to invest in American companies, at the fastest clip since 2008,...

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Afghan Army Deaths on the Rise

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government has hit a grim record in its quest to take over the country’s security from coalition forces: more than 1,000 soldiers died in 2012, a roughly 20 percent increase from 2011. Though the Afghan Army’s death rates have outstripped those for international forces in recent years, the new figures show the widest margin yet, as more and more Afghan units...

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14 Solutions to Your New Year’s Midnight Kiss

Find a BabyThere’s got to be one crawling around somewhere. What’s cuter than kissing a baby’s fat cheek? Photo by Win McNamee/Getty ImagesClick here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: Here’s a Depressing Look at Man’s Impact on Earth]Do you find yourself in a panic every New Year’s Eve because everyone’s counting down and Billy Crystal has yet to explain all of the reasons why he’s madly in...

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Redskins beat Cowboys 28-18 to win NFC East

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris needed only four months to put the Washington Redskins in a place they haven't been this millennium — on top of the NFC East.Led by a pair of rookies serenaded loudly and lovingly as "R-G-3!" and "Al-fred Mor-ris!," the Redskins claimed their first division title since 1999, beating the archrival Dallas Cowboys 28-18 Sunday night in a winner-take-all...

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Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini, a Revolutionary in the Study of the Brain, Dies at 103

Fabio Campana/European Pressphoto AgencyDr. Rita Levi-Montalcini in 2007. She discovered chemical tools the body uses to direct cell growth and build nerve networks. Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini, a Nobel Prize-winning neurologist who discovered critical chemical tools that the body uses to direct cell growth and build nerve networks, opening the way for the study of how those processes can go wrong in...

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IHT Rendezvous: How to Blog Asia for the MSM

If you’re a close reader of IHT Rendezvous, you’re jonesing for a fix of Mark McDonald right about now. Our peripatetic Asia blogger’s last day writing was Wednesday. He’s moving on to other assignments. We’ll miss him.Since Rendezvous launched in January, Asia has been one of the two main focuses of our coverage and our audience. Indeed, before the Great Firewall began the shutout of nearly all content...

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Lakers beat Knicks 100-94 to get to .500

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pieces of the puzzle that have been the Lakers' confounding season so far are starting to fall into place.Kobe Bryant engineered a second-half comeback, the defense stepped up, and Los Angeles beat the New York Knicks 100-94 on Tuesday, extending its winning streak to five games."We're .500," a smiling Dwight Howard said. "We did it on Christmas, too. I knew this day would come."Bryant...

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Senate Leaders Racing to Beat Fiscal Deadline

WASHINGTON — Senate leaders and their aides spent Saturday searching for a formula to extend tax cuts for most Americans that could win bipartisan support in the Senate and final approval in the fractious House by the new year, hoping to prevent large tax increases and budget cuts that could threaten the fragile economy. As part of the last-minute negotiations, the lawmakers were haggling...

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Victim of Gang Rape in India Dies at Hospital in Singapore

NEW DELHI — A young woman who had been in critical condition since she was raped two weeks ago by a group of men who lured her onto a bus here died early Saturday, an official at the hospital in Singapore that was caring for her said. The woman, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student whose rape on Dec. 16 had served as a reminder of the dangerous conditions women face in India, died “peacefully,”...

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It’s Easy to Save Videos From Facebook Poke Permanently

Apps like Snapchat and Facebook Poke let users send short messages, photos or videos that automatically self-destruct after a few seconds. However, it’s actually very easy for a recipient to save some of those messages permanently — and without the sender knowing.Both apps will alert the sender if the recipient takes a screengrab of whatever was sent, of course, but by connecting your phone to a PC...

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Clippers beat Jazz 116-114 for 16th straight win

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Chris Paul scored 29 points and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 19-point deficit in the third quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 116-114 on Friday night, stretching their winning streak to 16 games.Ex-Clipper Randy Foye's 3-pointer at the buzzer was contested by Matt Barnes, but no foul was called. Foye finished with a season-high 28 points for Utah.Paul scored the Clippers'...

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Memphis Aims to Be a Friendlier Place for Cyclists

Lance Murphey for The New York TimesThe Shelby Farms Greenline, which replaced a Memphis rail line. MEMPHIS — John Jordan, a 64-year-old condo appraiser here, has been pedaling his cruiser bicycle around town nearly every day, tooling about at lunchtime or zipping to downtown appointments. “It’s my cholesterol-lowering device,” said Mr. Jordan, clad in a leather vest and wearing a bright...

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Amid Fiscal Stalemate, How to Handle Tax Rate Uncertainty

So we’re left with no idea how much we’ll be paying in federal income taxes in 2013, and a wide range of possibilities for taxes on investments and estates and tax deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions. Plenty of people will spend the next several days feeling helpless, with one eye on the stock market and the other on Washington. For all the uncertainty, though, we...

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Pakistani Taliban Kidnap 22 Policemen

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban kidnapped at least 22 policemen after coordinated attacks on multiple security check posts in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, Pakistani officials said. Two policemen were reported killed in related gun battles with the militants. Muhammed Muheisen/Associated PressTwo supporters of Benazir Bhutto, the slain prime minister, at a gathering on...

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8 Ways to Keep Your Screens Looking Brand New

1. Toddy Gear Smart ClothsToddy Gear brings coutre to screen cleaning with its line of Smart Cloths. Elegantly designed with dual-sided 100% microfiber cleaning surfaces, these are more than just cleaning tools — they’re a fashion statement. $ 14.99 Cleaning Pro Tip: Press gently when cleaning screens, LCD monitors in particular, because too much pressure can damage pixels or cause them to burn out...

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Net loss: Brooklyn fires coach Avery Johnson

NEW YORK (AP) — Coach of the month in November, out of a job by New Year's.The Brooklyn Nets have elevated expectations this season, and a .500 record wasn't good enough. Coach Avery Johnson was fired Thursday, his team having lost 10 of 13 games after a strong start to its first season in Brooklyn."We don't have the same fire now than we did when we were 11-4," general manager Billy King said at...

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