Noontime News Roundup – December 28th, 2012

Noontime News is a snapshot of the news from the past 24 hours.  (More)

New York MTA Releases ‘Subway Time’ App For iPhone

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Friday released a new free website and app for Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch that provide realtime time estimates for train arrivals at specific stations in about one third of the New York City subway system.

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Port Strike Averted As Dock Workers, Terminal Operators Agree To Extension

Longshoremen and East Coast and Gulf Coast port operators have agreed to a 30-day extension on labor negotiations, a federal mediator says Friday, averting a potentially crippling strike that would have halted container traffic at many of the nation’s largest seaports.

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Obama calls leaders for Friday talks in effort to reach fiscal cliff breakthrough

 Barack Obama will meet congressional leaders on Friday as members of the House of Representatives prepare to return to Washington for a last-ditch attempt to head off the year-end fiscal cliff budget crisis.

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US condemns Putin’s adoption ban amid further strain in Russian relations

The US government has condemned as “politically motivated” a decision by the Kremlin to ban Americans from adopting Russian children, warning of a further wedge in relations with Moscow.

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China rejects claims of producing fake medicine for Africa

China has denied allegations that it has been exporting huge amounts of counterfeit medication to Africa, threatening public health in east Africa, five days after the Guardian published a front page exposé on the phenomenon.

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Israel criticized by Britain over West Bank university

The British government has warned that the official authorisation ofIsrael‘s first settlement university will create another hurdle in the peace process.

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Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. commander in Gulf War, dies at 78

(Reuters) – Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., the hard-charging U.S. Army general whose forces smashed the Iraqi army in the 1991 Gulf War, has died at the age of 78, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

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