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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Justice Department antitrust chief Wayland to step down next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The acting head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Joseph Wayland, will step down as of November 16, a department spokeswoman said on Thursday.No one has been named to be the acting assistant attorney general for antitrust, said the spokeswoman, Gina Talamona. The position has...

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Mick Jagger’s love letters to singer Marsha Hunt up for auction

(Reuters) – Love letters written by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger to American singer Marsha Hunt, discussing poetry and his personal turmoil, will hit the auction block next month.Hunt, with whom Jagger had his first child, Karis, told Britain’s Guardian newspaper she was selling the letters, written in July and August 1969, because she had been...

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States given more time to work on health exchanges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration gave states extra time to work toward setting up new health insurance exchanges on Friday, days after President Barack Obama‘s re-election ensured the survival of his healthcare reform law.The move is seen as a concession to dozens of states that delayed compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable...

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Chevron appeals against freeze

9 November 2012 Last updated at 19:55 ETTwo Argentine subsidiaries of the oil company Chevron have appealed against a court order freezing up to $ 19bn (£11.9bn) of their assets. A judge issued the order as part of an environmental damages claim in Ecuador.Chevron has been ordered to pay $ 19bn for polluting land in...

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Assad says will live and die in Syria

DOHA (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad said he would “live and die” in Syria and warned that any Western invasion to topple him would have catastrophic consequences for the Middle East and beyond.Assad’s defiant remarks coincided with a landmark meeting in Qatar on Thursday of Syria’s fractious opposition to hammer out an agreement on a new umbrella...

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Call me JackSUN, says singer Jermaine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jackson 5 singer Jermaine Jackson has petitioned to change his name, according to court documents filed earlier this week in Los Angeles.The older brother of pop stars Michael and Janet Jackson, Jermaine wants to change his famous last name to Jacksun for “artistic reasons.” Asked why Jermaine...

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Achilles Had Only 2 Heels

Recently, I came across the headline “Scientists Find Achilles’ Heel of Cancer Cells”, describing the discovery of a histone deactylase (HDAC11) as a novel target for cancer therapies. I was irritated by the metaphor of Achilles’ heel, because it implied that this was the lone vulnerability of cancer. I was also embarrassed by the fact that I used the...

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HSBC investigates alleged loss of client data in Jersey

LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, said on Friday it was investigating the alleged loss of data for clients in Jersey but had not been notified of any investigation by tax authorities.The Daily Telegraph has reported that British tax authorities were examining details of more than 4,000 UK clients of HSBC in Jersey after a whistle-blower handed...

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Ghana building collapse traps dozens, kills 1

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A five-story shopping center built earlier this year in a bustling suburb of Ghana‘s capital collapsed Wednesday, killing at least one person and leaving several dozen people trapped in the rubble, authorities and eyewitnesses said.Rescue crews used cranes to try and remove debris from the top of the building amid fears that machinery...

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DoubleLine’s Gundlach says Apple may drop to $425/share: CNBC

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple shares could come under further selling pressure and drop to $ 425 a share over the next year on lack of innovation, said Jeffrey Gundlach, chief investment officer and chief executive officer of DoubleLine Capital LP.Gundlach, who recommended betting against Apple in mid-May at the Ira Sohn Investment Conference in New York,...

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Ex-oil man to be next Anglican leader: UK media

LONDON (Reuters) – A former oil executive who went to the same exclusive school as Prime Minister David Cameron will shortly be named Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the world’s 80 million Anglicans, British newspapers said on Thursday.Justin Welby, 56, the Bishop of Durham, who has had a meteoric rise up the Church of England hierarchy since...

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Novartis says may have 14 new blockbuster drugs by 2017

ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis could produce 14 or more new big-selling ‘blockbuster’ drugs within five years as it bets on cancer, heart and respiratory treatments to fill the gaps left by expiries on current patents, the Swiss firm said on Thursday.Like many of its rivals, Novartis is facing headwinds as some of its top earners lose patent protection, particularly...

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Stock futures rise after selloff, data on tap

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock index futures rose on Thursday ahead of job market data a day after major equity indexes posted their largest drops in months.Equities slumped more than 2 percent Wednesday as investor focus returned to Europe’s economic troubles and as the electoral victory by President Barack Obama turned markets’ focus to the looming “fiscal...

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Canada firms to capitalize on nuclear trade with India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Canadian firms will be able to export uranium and nuclear reactors to India for the first time in almost four decades under an agreement between the two nations, their prime ministers said, but more work is needed to implement the deal.Once implemented, the agreement will end a ban on nuclear cooperation Canada imposed in 1976 after...

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VICTORY TWEET

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CBS’s ‘Elementary’ gets prized post-Super Bowl slot

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – CBS’s freshman Sherlock Holmes drama “Elementary” will get a big boost in February, when it airs following Super Bowl XLVII, the network said Monday.The series, which stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu, delivers a modern-day take on the Sherlock Holmes saga, with both the detective and his sidekick Watson living in contemporary...

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Pfizer returns EU selling rights on Auxilium hand-disorder drug

(Reuters) – Auxilium Inc ended a marketing deal for its hand-disorder drug with Pfizer Inc, regaining the rights to sell the drug in Europe, and pushed up its 2012 revenue forecast to reflect deferred revenue from the termination of the deal.Pfizer, which had the right to negotiate marketing other Xiaflex indications in the European Union, will return...

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Markets brush off Obama win amid gridlock concerns

LONDON (AP) — The re-election of President Barack Obama gave markets a short-lived boost Wednesday, before concerns over his ability to get a budget agreement from a divided Congress and more grim economic news out of Europe turned sentiment around.Obama easily clinched a majority in the electoral college, holding on to a raft of key swing states in Tuesday’s...

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Cautious reformers tipped for new China leadership

BEIJING (Reuters) – China‘s ruling Communist Party will this month unveil its new top leadership team, expected to again be an all-male cast of politicians whose instincts are to move cautiously on reform.Sources close to the leadership say 10 main candidates are vying for seven seats on the party’s next Politburo Standing Committee, the peak decision-making...

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Princess Leia Learns to Be a Disney Princess [VIDEO]

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American composer Elliott Carter dies at age 103

(Reuters) – Classical composer Elliott Carter, who twice won Pulitzer Prizes in a career that spanned more than 75 years, died on Monday in New York at age 103, music publisher Boosey & Hawkes said.Carter was awarded Pulitzer Prizes in 1960 and 1973 for string quartet compositions. He composed 158 works, including several at over 100 years of age....

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St Jude device lowers blood pressure in small study

(Reuters) – St Jude Medical Inc said on Monday its procedure that deadens nerves near the kidneys helped lower blood pressure in a small study of patients whose hypertension could not be controlled with drugs.Patients in the study who were treated with the Enlightn renal denervation system saw an average reduction of 28 points in systolic blood pressure,...

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Ahead of the Bell: Express Scripts plummets

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Express Scripts slid in premarket trading Tuesday after the pharmacy benefits manager warned that persistent high joblessness and economic uncertainty would make 2013 more challenging, and expectations of Wall Street analysts were too high.Pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, run prescription drug plans for employers, insurers...

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The app’s the thing as Shakespeare goes digital

TORONTO (Reuters) – William Shakespeare‘s plays are getting a 21st century-style makeover in the form of new apps for tablets and smart phones nearly 500 years after the Bard took pen to parchment.Plays such as “Romeo and Juliet” and “Macbeth” spring to life in iPad apps released by Cambridge University Press, which pairs the texts with audio performances,...

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