S.Africa’s Mandela admitted to hospital for tests

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Former South African president Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital on Saturday for medical tests, although the government said there was no cause for alarm.A statement from President Jacob Zuma‘s office gave no details of the condition of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader.“Former President Mandela will receive medical attention from time to time which is consistent...

Read More..

Quentin Tarantino: if you think “Django Unchained” is violent, try slavery

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – If you think “Django Unchained” is violent, Quentin Tarantino has a historical reality check for you: Try slavery.The “Pulp Fiction” auteur is back with an Antebellum revenge flick that according to early screenings pours on the blood and gore. Tarantino told an audience of British Academy of Film and Television Arts members on Thursday that if anything he spared the lash...

Read More..

U.N conference adopts extension of Kyoto climate accord

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- A U.N. climate conference agreed Saturday to extend the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that limits the greenhouse gas output of some rich countries but which will only cover about 15 percent of global emissions. The extension was adopted by nearly 200 countries after hard-fought sessions and despite objections from Russia. The package of decisions also included vague...

Read More..

Zynga seeks real-money gambling license in Nevada

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Social games maker Zynga Inc said on Wednesday it filed a preliminary application to run real-money gambling games in Nevada, a significant step in cracking a complex but potentially massive new market that could resuscitate its faltering business.The Nevada Gaming Control Board will now examine whether Zynga is fit to hold a gaming license that would allow gamblers in the...

Read More..

Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle‘s Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year’s Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

Read More..

Ghana election, test of democratic reputation

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Voters in Ghana were selecting their next president and a 275-seat parliament in elections Friday, solidifying the West African nation‘s reputation as a beacon of democracy in the region.Some 14 million people are expected to turn out. President John Dramani Mahama, in office for only five months, is running against seven contenders. A former vice president, Mahama became president...

Read More..

Jobless rate hits four-year low, but economists skeptical

As much as his fans scream and yell when he walks on water or levitates, most people have a pretty good idea that magician/illusionist Criss Angel is somehow tricking them and not actually defying the laws of physics.In much the same why, when this morning's surprisingly strong jobs data came out, professional investors and economists alike knew immediately that something was up. In a month when one...

Read More..

Crowdfunding websites clamor for clearer regulation

LONDON (Reuters) – A new breed of internet-based financiers are calling for action to end regulatory uncertainty they say is preventing them from getting money to the small and medium-sized businesses that need it.The so-called crowdfunding sector raises cash from members of the public to fund lending and investment. Regulators, however, have proved resistant to pleas for adjustments to rules that...

Read More..

Breast Cancer Vaccine a Reality for Women With HER-2 Negative Cancers

COMMENTARY | NeuVax, a breast cancer vaccine, is entering phase III trials. The drug’s manufacturer, Galena Biopharma, announced on Dec. 5, that it signed a distribution deal with TEVA Pharmaceuticals. TEVA will handle the global commercialization and distribution of the drug once it is out of trials. It is about time this is moving forward. We need to make progress toward ending this disease.What...

Read More..

Latest James Bond movie breaks UK box office record

LONDON (Reuters) – “Skyfall“, the 23rd official James Bond movie, has become the most successful film in British box office history, earning 94.3 million pounds ($ 152 million), its producers said on Wednesday.The tally, earned over 40 days, surpasses the previous record of 94.0 million pounds set by 2009 3D adventure film “Avatar” over its 11 month run in UK cinemas, although the figures do not take...

Read More..

South Africa military plane crashes in mountains

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African military aircraft on an unknown mission to an area near the village where former President Nelson Mandela lives crashed in a mountain range, officials said Thursday. It was unclear whether there were any survivors.The Douglas DC-3 Dakota, a twin-propeller aircraft, had taken off from Pretoria’s Waterkloof Air Force Base on Wednesday night, said Brig. Gen. Xolani...

Read More..

Tanks surround Egypt's presidential palace

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Republican Guard restored order around the presidential palace on Thursday after fierce overnight clashes killed seven people, but passions ran high in a struggle over the country's future. The Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, criticised by his opponents for his silence in the last few days, was due to address the nation later in the day, state television said. ...

Read More..

Windows 8: A ‘Christmas gift for someone you hate’

Microsoft (MSFT) is no stranger to criticism these days, and the company’s new Windows 8 platform is once again the target of a scathing review from a high-profile user. Well-known Internet entrepreneur and MIT professor Philip Greenspun handed Windows 8 one of its most damning reviews yet earlier this week, calling the new operating system a “Christmas gift for someone you hate.” Greenspun...

Read More..

Lundbeck anticipates new drug “feast”

LONDON (Reuters) – Danish group Lundbeck is looking forward to a “feast” of new drugs to refresh its product line-up, kicking off next week with a possible European Union green light for a novel medicine to treat alcohol abuse.In all, there is scope for regulatory approval of three medicines in 2013 – an impressive tally for a small company focused on brain disorders – as well as a potential partnership...

Read More..

“The Message” deemed greatest hip hop song ever

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The 1982 hit “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was named the greatest hip hop song of all time on Wednesday, in the first such list by Rolling Stone magazine to celebrate the young but influential music genre.“The Message,” which tops a list of 50 influential hip hop songs, was the first track “to tell, with hip hop‘s rhythmic and vocal force, the truth...

Read More..

Sri Lanka see backlash from Aussie ‘wounded soldiers’

(Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has warned his team to be wary of a backlash from Australia in their three-test series after the hosts were stung by their series defeat to South Africa earlier this week.Australia’s hopes of snatching the Proteas’ top test ranking ended in a crushing 309-run defeat in the third and final test in Perth on Monday, but Jayawardene took little comfort...

Read More..

Dems call Republicans 'hostage takers' on debt talks

Screen shot from GOPHostageTakers.comHouse Democrats on Wednesday launched a new microsite, GOPHostageTakers.com, criticizing Republican leaders for not holding a vote to exclusively extend middle-income tax rates for another year as part of avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff.Current tax rates for all income levels are set to automatically increase in 2013 unless Congress takes action this year....

Read More..

PlayStation 3 was the world’s No.1 Netflix streaming device this year

There are dozens of devices that can stream Netflix (NFLX), but only one can machine be crowned the king of the living room. According to Netflix, that device is Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 console. Without revealing any specific figures, Netflix announced on its blog “in the U.S. and globally, PS3 is the largest TV-connected platform in terms of Netflix viewing” and that “at times, PS3 even surpassed...

Read More..

Tapping citizen-scientists for a novel gut check

WASHINGTON (AP) — The bacterial zoo inside your gut could look very different if you’re a vegetarian or an Atkins dieter, a couch potato or an athlete, fat or thin.Now for a fee — $ 69 and up — and a stool sample, the curious can find out just what’s living in their intestines and take part in one of the hottest new fields in science.Wait a minute: How many average Joes really want to pay for the...

Read More..

Fleetwood Mac readies tour and new music

NEW YORK (AP) — Fleetwood Mac is heading back on the road, and that means the top-selling group will release new music — sort of.On its 34-city North American tour, which kicks off April 4 in Columbus, Ohio, the band will perform two new songs, and it could mean a new album will follow. Or not.Stevie Nicks recently sang on tracks that Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie worked on, calling...

Read More..

Officials: NATO to decide on missiles for Turkey

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO foreign ministers are expected to approve Turkey‘s request for Patriot anti-missile systems to bolster its defense against possible strikes from neighboring Syria.NATO foreign ministers are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels. Parliaments in both nations must approve the deployment, which would also involve several hundred soldiers.Ankara, which has been highly supportive...

Read More..

Conservatives make Boehner's life difficult

WASHINGTON— Conservatives panned the House Republican proposal released Monday to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," yet again giving House Speaker and lead negotiator John Boehner little room to maneuver as he works toward a deal with the White House.The proposal includes extending current tax rates for all income levels and raising revenue by closing loopholes in the tax code."Rarely in modern...

Read More..

Is the iPad Mini as Good as the iPad?

The iPad Mini‘s screen doesn’t have the same “resolutionary” Retina display as its bigger brother, but don’t worry: the Apple snobs appear to have gotten over that. After spending time with his new baby-tablet, The New York Times‘s Nick Bilton gave in, calling the gadget his new “Desert Island Device.” (It replaced his iPhone, by the way.) The inferior screen had worried Bilton like it...

Read More..

Explainer: Why was pregnant duchess hospitalized?

LONDON (AP) — While morning sickness in pregnant women is common, the problem the Duchess of Cambridge has been hospitalized with is not.In a statement Monday, palace officials said she was hospitalized with hyperemesis gravidarum, a potentially dangerous type of morning sickness where vomiting is so severe no food or liquid can be kept down. Palace officials said the duchess was expected to remain...

Read More..

Palace says Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

LONDON (AP) — Get the nursery ready: Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their first child.St. James’s Palace announced the pregnancy Monday, saying that the Duchess of Cambridge — formerly known as Kate Middleton — has a severe form of morning sickness and is currently in a London hospital. William is at his wife’s side.The palace said since the pregnancy is in its “very early stages,”...

Read More..

Gunmen assassinate peasant leader in Paraguay

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Gunmen murdered one of the surviving leaders of a peasant movement whose land dispute with a powerful politician prompted the end of Fernando Lugo‘s presidency last June.Vidal Vega, 48, was hit four times early Saturday by bullets from a 12-gauge shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver fired by two unidentified men who sped away on a motorcycle, according to an official report...

Read More..

Nokia Siemens to sell optical networks unit

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Mobile telecoms equipment joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, which is focusing on its core business, is to sell its optical fiber unit to Marlin Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum.Up to 1,900 employees, mainly in Germany and Portugal, will be transferred to the new company, NSN said on Monday.The company, owned by Nokia and Siemens, has sold a number of product lines since...

Read More..

Investigation under way into New Jersey train derailment, chemical leak

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Federal transportation investigators have begun interviewing the crew of a train that was carrying hazardous materials when it derailed on a railroad bridge in New Jersey, officials said on Saturday.National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said the agency would spend the next two weeks preparing a preliminary report on Friday’s accident in the industrial...

Read More..

Bryce Dallas Howard film among the live-action short films on Oscar nominations shortlist

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “when you find me,” directed by “Twilight” star Bryce Dallas Howard and executive-produced by her father Ron Howard, is among 11 films that have been shortlisted for possible Oscars nomination, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Thursday.Though the Academy typically only short-lists 10 entries, a tie in the nominations balloting resulted in an 11th title...

Read More..

Italy votes for center-left candidate for premier

ROME (AP) — Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again.Sunday’s runoff pits a veteran center-left leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, who has...

Read More..