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Rebels claim taking of dam, military bases

DAMASCUS, Syria, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Rebels said they seized a hydroelectric dam in northern Syria Monday, following claims of capturing several military installations the day before.

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The rebels' advances coincided with new claims a government airstrike Sunday killed several children in a playground. Activists said at least 20 people died in Monday's violence a day after 97 others, including the playground children, were killed across the country.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel forces had been attacking the dam's defenses on the Euphrates River for days before overrunning the facility Monday, The New York Times reported.

The dam supplies electricity to parts of Syria, the activists said, and is between the northern provinces of Raqa and Aleppo.

Information about the capture of the dam, as well as the capture of a military air base and other military facilities cannot be confirmed because of the government's restrictions on foreign journalists.

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Rebels said they seized the military installations, including the Marj al-Sultan airfield, and 11 mobile anti-aircraft guns, in the latest of maneuvers in which forces against President Bashar Assad have captured facilities or seized weapons.


England braces for more floods

PLYMOUTH, England, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Persistent rain has caused flooding in the southwestern area of Britain and is expected to travel to northern England and the Midlands, forecasters said.

More than 800 homes and businesses were flooded in Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire counties, the British newspaper the Guardian reported Monday.

The government meteorological department, known as the Met Office, has warned 40 to 70 millimeters (1.57 to 2.75 inches) of rain is expected to fall further north.

Met Office chief forecaster Eddy Carroll said the heaviest "is expected to be over parts of northern England and North Wales."

Prime Minister David Cameron promised to help communities mopping up after a month of rain fell in four days, the newspaper said.


Fire in German workshop kills 14

TITISEE-NEUSTADT, Germany, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A fire in a workshop for developmentally disabled people in southern Germany killed 14 people and injured seven Monday, police said.

The fire began in a storage area, a police spokesman said. The cause was not reported.

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The workshop, operated by the German non-profit charity Caritas, employs about 120 people in the municipality of Titisee-Neustadt in the Black Forest area of the country, the German news agency DAPD reported. It said about 50 people were rescued from the burning, smoke-filled building.

A spokesman for the Baden-Wurttemberg state government said Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann and Interior Minister Reinhold Gall would travel to the scene of the fire.


House panel confirms ethics probe of Grimm

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A House ethics panel says it will defer its probe of whether Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., broke campaign finance laws while the Justice Department investigates.

The Ethics Committee was looking into whether Grimm violated federal law by soliciting and accepting prohibited campaign contributions, included false information in campaign finance reports, and improperly sought assistance from a foreign national in soliciting campaign donations in exchange for using his position to help that person get a green card, the panel said Monday in a release.

In referring the Grimm matter to the committee, the Office of Congressional Ethics had recommended dismissal of the complaint because "it could not establish with a sufficient certainty that a violation occurred after Representative Grimm became a member of Congress."

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The committee said in previous years it had determined it may investigate actions that violated laws, regulations or standards of conduct that occurred during an initial campaign for a House of Representatives seat.


'Christmas Price' increases $1,168

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- PNC Wealth Management of Pittsburgh said increased bird feed costs were behind the 4.8 percent surge in the 2012 PNC Christmas Price Index.

The index, which each year compiles the cost of the gifts in the classic song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," recorded a $1,168 increase in the cost of Christmas to $25,431.18, a spike PNC attributed to drought conditions boosting the feed costs for large birds.

"The rise of the PNC CPI is larger than expected considering the modest economic growth we've had over the past 12 months," said Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC Wealth Management. "Despite some weak spots in the economy, consumer balance sheets are improving along with consumer confidence, which means this may still be a spirited holiday season."

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