Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have broken up, reports say

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop star Justin Bieber and his girlfriend, Selena Gomez, a Disney actress and singer, have broken up, ending a relationship that made them one of Hollywood’s most high-profile young couples, media reports said.Bieber, 18, and Gomez, 20, disclosed their relationship in February 2011 when they appeared together at an Oscar night party...

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Boehringer Ingelheim to start late-stage hepatitis C drug trial

BOSTON (Reuters) – Boehringer Ingelheim said on Saturday it plans to initiate a late-stage clinical trial of its experimental hepatitis C treatment following promising results from earlier studies.The company announced final data from a mid-stage trial of its treatment regimen which showed that 69 percent of patients in the study were free of the virus...

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The Workday After Tomorrow

What happens when business as usual is impossible? When millions in the Northeast lost power, cell service, Internet access, and running water due to Superstorm Sandy, companies scrambled to find the answer. Some improvised on the spot: Keith McNally’s New York City bistro Balthazar grilled steaks and served lobster on Prince Street, while Katz’s...

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Twin explosions strike southern Syrian city

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria‘s state-run news agency says two large explosions have struck the southern city of Daraa, causing multiple casualties and heavy material damage.SANA did not immediately give further information or say what the target of Saturday’s explosions was. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights...

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Ohio teen gets prison for life in Craigslist murders

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) – Seventeen-year-old Brogan Rafferty was sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday for his role in the killing of three men, two of whom were lured by a Craigslist ad promising work on an Ohio farm.Rafferty was 16 when he was arrested in November 2011, but was tried as an adult. He was convicted late last month in the murders...

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Philip Roth says he’s done writing

NEW YORK (AP) — Exit, Philip Roth? Having conceived everything from turning into a breast to a polio epidemic in his native New Jersey, Roth has apparently given his imagination a rest.The 79-year-old novelist recently told a French publication, Les inRocks, that his 2010 release “Nemesis” would be his last. Spokeswoman Lori Glazer of Houghton Mifflin...

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Lockheed boss resigns over affair

9 November 2012 Last updated at 17:42 ETUS defence company Lockheed Martin says its incoming president and chief executive officer has resigned over a relationship with a subordinate. Christopher Kubasik resigned after an internal ethics investigation confirmed the “close personal relationship”, the company said in a...

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Syria opposition bloc elects Christian as leader

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Syria‘s main opposition group in exile has elected a Christian Paris-based former geography teacher as its new president.George Sabra said Friday that his election as head of the Syrian National Council is a sign that the opposition is not plagued by sectarian divisions. Sabra says the SNC‘s main demand...

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Spotify to raise $100 million at $3 billion valuation – report

(Reuters) – Spotify is in the middle of a $ 100 million financing round that could value the music streaming company at just over $ 3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources.The Journal said Spotify would raise the fresh capital from multiple investors including Goldman Sachs. The WSJ report did not name any other investors. Spotify...

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VP Joe Biden guest stars as celebrity crush on “Parks and Rec”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Someone has a big crush on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden – and now she is getting to meet him.Biden will make his TV acting debut with a cameo on NBC‘s comedy “Parks and Recreation” as the celebrity crush of actress Amy Poehler‘s ditzy local councilwoman Leslie Knope, NBC said on Thursday. Biden,...

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Democrats declare Obama the winner in Florida

MIAMI (Reuters) – Florida‘s Democratic Party declared victory for President Barack Obama in the closely divided battleground state on Thursday, as he clung to a narrow but apparently insurmountable lead in the glacially slow tallying of votes from Tuesday’s election.If Obama wins Florida, it will add to his Electoral College margin and he will have won...

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Asian stocks sink on US fiscal cliff fears

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets sank Friday, weighed down by fears over the so-called U.S. “fiscal cliff” that investors see as a big threat to the economic recovery.Japan‘s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9 percent to 8,757.39 and Hong Kong‘s Hang Seng shed 0.5 percent to 21,453.49. South Korea‘s Kospi retreated 1 percent to 1,894.85 and Australia‘s S&P...

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Myanmar says Obama to visit later this month

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — President Barack Obama will make a groundbreaking visit later this month to Myanmar, an official said Thursday, following through with his policy of rapprochement to encourage democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.The Myanmar official speaking from the capital, Naypyitaw, said Thursday that security for a visit on Nov. 18 or 19...

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Dancing With The Stars Family Rallies On Twitter In Support Of Brooke Burke-Charvet Following Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis

Members of the “Dancing with the Stars” family Tweeted their well-wishes for the show’s co-host, Brooke Burke-Charvet, who revealed on Thursday she has thyroid cancer.Helio Castroneves, who was recently eliminated from the “All-Stars” season, said he is confident she will overcome the disease. PLAY IT NOW: Brooke Burke-Charvet’s...

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Taylor Swift reigns over Billboard 200, Meek Mill debuts high

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country-pop star Taylor Swift held onto the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday as her latest album “Red” kept rapper Meek Mill from the top spot.“Red,” Swift’s fourth studio album safely took the No. 1 position after selling 344,000 copies according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Last...

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Los Angeles mandates condoms for porn actors, industry threatens suit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles County voters passed a ballot initiative mandating that pornographic film actors wear condoms during sex scenes, prompting a trade group on Wednesday to threaten to sue and take production elsewhere.Measure B, which was sponsored by the group AIDS Healthcare Foundation, won approval on Tuesday by a margin of 55.85 percent...

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China submarines soon to carry nukes, draft US report says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China appears to be within two years of deploying submarine-launched nuclear weapons, adding a new leg to its nuclear arsenal that should lead to arms-reduction talks, a draft report by a congressionally mandated U.S. commission says.China in the meantime remains “the most threatening” power in cyberspace and presents the largest...

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Merkel says Germany, Britain must work together on EU

LONDON (Reuters) – Germany and Britain must cooperate to work round their differences on the European Union‘s long-term spending plans, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.“Despite differences that we have it is very important for me that the UK and Germany work together,” Merkel said through a translator before a meeting in London with Prime...

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Video game maker Activision scores big gains in 3Q

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Video game maker Activision Blizzard Inc. scored points in the third quarter with a performance that topped analysts’ forecasts.The results announced Wednesday encouraged management to predict more good times in the crucial holiday shopping season when the company is counting on video game aficionados to snap up the latest edition...

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Rihanna unveils Chris Brown duet “Nobodies Business”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – R&B star Rihanna unveiled a duet entitled “Nobodies Business” with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown on Tuesday, three years after Brown was charged with assaulting her.The song was part of an official track list that Barbadian singer Rihanna tweeted to her followers for her upcoming album “Unapologetic,” and comes after weeks of speculation...

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Pfizer arthritis drug wins approval, to challenge Humira

(Reuters) – U.S. regulators on Tuesday approved Pfizer Inc‘s Xeljanz treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, one of the company’s most potentially lucrative experimental drugs, which is now poised to compete with Abbott Laboratories Inc‘s top-selling Humira.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it had approved Pfizer’s pill for patients with moderate...

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Voting Goes From Inalienable Right to Bragging Right

A woman I went to high school with voted for Barack Obama today. I know this because she posted a picture of her ballot to Facebook (FB). She quickly deleted it—perhaps because, according to the Citizen Media Law Project, doing so in Illinois, where she lives, is actually illegal—but not before five other people took self-portraits of themselves wearing...

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Officials: New mass graves found in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Up to 10 new mass graves have been discovered near the site of a July attack on a camp for displaced people, officials said Tuesday, amid allegations that initial casualty totals were downplayed to mask killings carried out by the national army.Rights groups claim summary executions were carried out by the Republican Forces...

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HANNITY ON TWEET

“I learned a big civics lesson today.” — Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, who tweeted a picture of his filled-out ballot (for Mitt Romney, natch), only to learn that appeared to break the law in New York state.— David Bauder — http://twitter.com/dbauder ___EDITOR’S NOTE — Election Watch shows you Election Day 2012...

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Rare John Lennon letter to Eric Clapton up for auction

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – John Lennon held out the promise he could bring out more musical greatness in legendary guitarist Eric Clapton in a letter that could fetch as much as $ 30,000 when it is sold at auction next month, the organizers of the sale said on Monday.The signed, hand-written letter by the Beatle, who died in 1980 at the age of 40, is one...

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If it’s a U.S. “swing state,” Paul Ryan calls it home

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – He’s sold hot dogs in Minnesota and spent summers in Colorado. His mother lives in Florida and Ohio looks just like his native Wisconsin. Whatever the swing state, Paul Ryan finds a way to call it home.Addressing one of his largest crowds of the 2012 presidential campaign, the Republican vice presidential candidate ticked off his...

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Cashback credit cards ‘double’

5 November 2012 Last updated at 19:01 ETCashback deals are becoming more common in reward schemes for credit card customers, research has indicated. The number of cards on the market that carry the feature has doubled in two years, according to the report by financial research group Defaqto.The report, commissioned by...

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