A test letter mistakenly told 76 applicants, some in other countries, that they had been accepted to the school.

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Vassar Applicants Are Mistakenly Told They Are Accepted

PARIS — The French Health Ministry recommended Friday that women with breast implants reported to contain substandard silicone should get them removed, a ruling that affects 30,000 women in France and raises questions for thousands more in other countries. The ministry said in a statement that the operations would be “a preventive measure without an urgent nature” but would be paid for by the French national health system. Replacements also would be paid for if the original implants had been part of reconstruction, such as after cancer surgery, but not if they were done for cosmetic reasons, it said. Read full article > >

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France recommends removal of substandard breast implants

Christmas is often a time for heavy eating and drinking, and the Japanese don't miss out. But unlike many other countries where there are traditional Christmas dishes, Japan does not have any, and a quick look at a regular family's Christmas feast shows that anything, from sushi to chinese steamed shrimps, are acceptable at the buffet. However, there is one specialty that many Japanese like to have on the table next to those items – fried chicken from KFC. Today, it is possibly the closest thing in Japan to a Christmas tradition. The story goes that in the early 1970s, a western man residing in Japan decided to get KFC's fried chicken for Christmas, the closest substitute to his childhood turkey he could find at that time. This one customer must have made quite an impression because the following year KFC Japan started a country-wide Christmas campaign, which since then has tied it to the Christmas culture of Japan. No other company had thus influenced the public's Christmas habits since cake-maker Fujiya brought in the “Christmas Cake” in the 1920s. But while Fujiya's cakes had to be made to match Japanese sensibilities, KFC's chickens are exactly the same as how Colonel Sanders imagined them. And the Japanese just dig it. Every year in early December, KFC restaurants around the country start putting up order sheets to deal with the heavy demands during the Christmas period. Numbers show that their sales soar in December, making twice as much profit than in other months. It has become so common today to eat fried chicken at Christmas, that other franchises have tried to jump on the Christmas fried chicken band-wagon. Yet KFC remains by far the most popular andthe company’s public relations' representative Ichiro Takatsuki says that the last year or two have been their most successful in the past 15 years. Today, KFC has 1150 restaurants across Japan. So, what's the secret ingredient to KFC’s success? For one, they watch how family compositions are changing. In the 1970s, the eight-piece Christmas bucket for four people was the most popular. But today, families have become smaller and Christmas has become an event to spend with your significant other, rather than with the family. So KFC started selling a two-person set last year which proved to be a hit. They often add new specialties to their menu, too. Their Premium Roasted Chicken menu, which started a few years ago at a whopping price of almost $75, sells out every year without even having to be heavily promoted. Actually, Takatsuki claimed that the lack of promotion is also key to their success. As each restaurant deals with raw stocks, there is a limit to the number of meals they can produce per day, even at Christmas. While it helps maintain the quality of their products, they are careful to never over-promote Christmas, for fear of disappointing customers. “Imagine if people came because they saw a commercial on TV, only to find out that we're sold out?” Takatsuki asked. “That would be disastrous.” So because of its success, Japan's KFC waits to start its Christmas promotion until as late as possible, only to pull most of it off before everyone gets too excited. How about that for a measure of popularity? See all our Japan Eats coverage and get more on CNNGo and read McDonald's vs. KFC for Japan's best 'festive feast' Is there a food that makes the holidays bright in your home? We want to hear all about it. Immortalize your food tradition in words, recipes, pictures or video, submit it as an iReport and we'll show off some of our favorites on CNN's Eatocracy food blog through the end of the holiday season.

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Japan’s finger-lickin’ Christmas tradition

About 30 other countries have such initiatives.

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U.S. Plan Promotes Role of Women in Peace Process

There is no hard evidence that schools in England are slipping behind other countries, says an academic study.

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‘No evidence’ for school decline

UK shoppers are embracing technology at a faster pace than those in many other countries, according to a survey of global shopping habits by audit firm KPMG.

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UK shoppers ‘embrace technology’

Colombia’s president is calling on foreign governments to take more responsibility for illegal drug use in their countries.

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VIDEO: Cocaine use ‘threatens Colombia’

BEIJING — With the Obama administration’s high-profile pivot toward Asia this week — pushing for a new free-trade agreement with at least eight other countries and securing military basing rights in Australia — China is feeling at once isolated, criticized, encircled and increasingly like a target of U.S. moves. Read full article > >

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U.S. pivot to Asia makes China nervous

Online industrial spying by China and Russia presents a growing threat to the U.S. economy and its national security, the top counterintelligence agency said Thursday, abandoning the caution American officials typically display when asked to name the countries they believe are most responsible for cyber-economic espionage. Read full article > >

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U.S. cyber espionage report names China and Russia as main culprits

Even as other countries take action, the issue is fading from the American agenda.

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News Analysis: Whatever Happened to Global Warming?

President Obama said Friday that the deployment was meant to help regional forces combat the Lord’s Resistance Army, which has terrorized villagers in at least four countries.

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U.S. Advisers to Aid in Fight Against Lord’s Resistance Army

Changes to the rules on succession to the throne move closer as David Cameron shares his plans with the 15 other countries who have the Queen as their monarch.

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Royal succession changes proposed

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq has sided with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria against the protesters and has expanded ties between the countries.

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Iraqi Leader Backs Syria, With a Nudge From Iran

The Obama administration is planning to call for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as soon as this week, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday, turning up diplomatic pressure as Assad continues his bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. “It is his actions that have done it,” the administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations. A White House call for Assad’s departure would be unlikely, by itself, to force him out. But proponents said it could encourage other countries to also press Assad to leave and help persuade influential businessmen in Syria to abandon him. Read full article > >

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As Syrian crackdown continues, Obama administration to call for Assad’s resignation

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting ended in stalemate Wednesday, after failing to ratify a proposal by four Persian Gulf nations to boost the cartel’s output in the face of high crude oil prices. Saudi Arabia and three other countries proposed raising output by 1.5 million barrels a day, less than the amount OPEC itself said in a May report would be needed to meet higher demand as the summer driving season arrives. But other nations said that the world market has enough oil, even with the loss of Libya’s 1.2 million to 1.5 million barrels a day of exports. Read full article > >

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OPEC fails to ratify proposal to boost the oil cartel’s output