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Moto X smartphone’s customization options reportedly include the option to choose from a palette of colors, add engraving on the back and have a picture set as default wallpaper before the device is shipped.

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(Releads with Assad’s remarks)

BEIRUT, July 3 (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fighting to crush a two-year-old uprising against four decades of rule by him and his late father, said on Wednesday the upheaval in Egypt was a defeat for political Islam.

“Whoever brings religion to use in politics or in favour of one group at the expense of another will fall anywhere in the world,” Assad was quoted as telling the official Thawra newspaper, according to an official Facebook page.

“The summary of what is happening in Egypt is the fall of what is called political Islam.”

Relishing the possible downfall of one of Assad’s most vocal critics, Syrian television carried live coverage of the huge street demonstrations in Egypt demanding the departure of President Mohamed Mursi.

Assad’s late father, Hafez al-Assad, used the military to crush an armed insurgency against his rule led by the Muslim Brotherhood, killing many thousands in the conservative city of Hama, which became a centre of pro-democracy demonstrations when the uprising against the younger Assad erupted in March 2011. Thousands of leftists were also jailed and tortured.

The Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood became one of the most powerful factions behind the mostly Sunni Muslim uprising against Assad, who belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, and is being helped by Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah militia.

Mursi has expressed support for foreign intervention against Assad and attended a rally two weeks ago calling for holy war in Syria.

A month ago, Syrian authorities responded to a wave of protests against Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, another fierce opponent of Assad, by calling on him to halt what it said was violent repression and step aside. (Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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Nelson Mandela is in a “perilous” condition on life support in hospital, leaked court documents showed Wednesday.

The bleak assessment of the anti-apartheid icon’s health came in papers submitted by his relatives on June 28 as part of legal efforts to retrieve the remains of three of Mandela’s children.

“The anticipation of his impending death is based on real and substantial grounds. The applicants are desirous of burying their father and committing him to the earth in which his descendants’ remains lie,” according to court papers quoted by the Mail & Guardian and other media.

“Nelson Mandela’s health is perilous. (An) affidavit will be provided from physicians that he is assisted in breathing by a life support machine,” it added.

Mandela, 94, has been in intensive care in a hospital in Pretoria since June 8 when he was admitted with a recurring lung infection.

The presidency has said his condition is “critical but stable” but has released few details of his illness.

A clan elder told AFP on Wednesday of last week that Mandela was on a ventilator. But South African President Jacob Zuma said the next day that his health had improved.

Mandela led the struggle against white-minority rule in South Africa and became the country’s first black president after multiracial elections in 1994, following 27 years in prison.

A court in the city of Mthatha on Wednesday ordered the remains of three of Mandela’s children to be immediately returned to his childhood village of Qunu.

His oldest grandson Mandla had them moved in 2011 to Mvezo, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) away, allegedly without the rest of the family’s consent.

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One video… to show you how repetitive Hollywood can be… like you didn’t know already.

Via Solid Wooden Pecker

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YouTube fame is fleeting, but a discerning palette? Now that’ll take you places. First stop: New Orleans home to James Beard Award-winning fried chicken, otherworldly oysters and a one-stop shop for po’boys and doughnuts that some say put Krispy Kreme to shame.

They’re served up at three Louisiana eateries that Daymon Patterson, takeout food reviewer and host of the Travel Channel’s upcoming series “Best Daym Takeout,” believes are essential to any trip to New Orleans.

Patterson, who began his career of delivering hilarious and insightful commentary on YouTube from the driver’s seat of his car, credits social media with helping him uncover America’s local gems. But it’s his unique perspective that’s helped millions determine which menu items are worth a try.

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