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...

Read More..

Walmart Moves Up Black Friday

Walmart is kicking off Black Friday shopping earlier than ever this year, opening stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.“In addition to offering amazing low prices on the season’s top gifts, Walmart is taking the historic step to ensure wishlist items like the Apple iPad2 are available for customers during a special one-hour event on Thanksgiving,” the...

Read More..

“Lincoln” Reviews: Is Steven Spielberg’s biopic Oscar-worthy?

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Lincoln,” with a cast of acting titans like Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones, arrives in theaters Friday with many predicting big things come Oscar night. But does Steven Spielberg‘s biopic of the Great Emancipator live up to the early hype?Based on initial reviews, it seems like Spielberg and company have delivered. Critics...

Read More..

California teen steps into rattlesnake nest, survives

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – A teenage California girl searching for a cell phone signal to call her mother in a rural area outside San Diego inadvertently stepped into a nest of rattlesnakes and was bitten six times, but survived.The 16-year-old, Vera Oliphant, spent four days in the intensive care unit of Sharp Grossmont Hospital, and doctors gave her 24 vials...

Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: “Fiscal cliff” blues may lead to correction

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street‘s post-election sell-off may gather steam in the coming weeks as worries mount about the looming “fiscal cliff” and technical weakness suggests a possible correction ahead.The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 <.SPX> closed below its 200-day moving average – a measure of the market’s long-term trend – on Thursday...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

US video game sales drop 25 percent in October

NEW YORK (AP) — A research firm says U.S. retail sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories fell 25 percent in October.The drop marks the 11th straight month of declining sales for physical game products. Many gamers are waiting for big holiday releases such as Activision Blizzard Inc.‘s “Call of Duty: Black Ops II.” The...

Read More..

“Twilight” fans camp out days ahead of “Breaking Dawn-Part 2″

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Dozens of excited “Twilight” fans set up tents in Los Angeles on Thursday ahead of next week’s world premiere of the last film in the vampire romance franchise.Some 2,200 people from all over the world have registered to camp on a concrete plaza outside a downtown Los Angeles movie theater, movie studio Summit Entertainment said. The...

Read More..

Iron, omega-3s tied to different effects on kids’ brains

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – For children with low stores of two brain-power nutrients, supplements may have different, and complex, effects, a new clinical trial suggests.Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide, affecting about 2 billion people, according to the World Health Organization. Poor...

Read More..

Exclusive: Schulze’s Best Buy bid seen in December, below $8 billion range

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An eventual bid for Best Buy Co Inc by founder Richard Schulze could come below his initial proposal of around $ 8 billion and is now not expected to be made before December, sources familiar with the matter said, in a new twist to the months-long saga at the struggling electronics retailer.Schulze has done most of his due diligence...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

RIM’s BlackBerry 10 platform wins coveted U.S. security clearance

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion Ltd said on Thursday it has won a much-coveted U.S. government security clearance for its yet-to-be launched platform for BlackBerry 10 devices that are expected to hit store shelves in the first quarter of 2013.The company said its BlackBerry 10 platform has received the FIPS 140-2 certification, which would allow...

Read More..

Mom of “Modern Family” actress denies abuse claims

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The mother of “Modern Family” star Ariel Winter on Wednesday denied that she abused her daughter after a judge temporarily placed the 14-year-old actress in her sister’s care.“It’s all untrue, it’s all untrue,” Chris Workman, Winter’s mother, told People magazine. “I have my doctor’s letter that my daughter’s never been abused.” According...

Read More..

Obama’s health care overhaul turns into a sprint

WASHINGTON (AP) — Its place assured alongside Medicare and Medicaid, President Barack Obama‘s health care law is now in a sprint to the finish line, with just 11 months to go before millions of uninsured people can start signing up for coverage.But there are hurdles in the way. Republican governors, opposed to what they...

Read More..

China to deepen economic reforms

8 November 2012 Last updated at 01:18 ETChina’s President Hu Jintao has said the country will deepen its economic reforms and boost domestic demand to spur a new wave of growth. Opening the Communist Party congress, Mr Hu added that China needed to work towards a more “market-based” exchange rate for the yuan.China has...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

Amid catcalls, Silicon Valley gets its reality TV treatment

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – They have been panned by television critics and disavowed by their own industry. Even for the entrepreneurs-cum-co-stars of Bravo TV‘s “Start-ups: Silicon Valley,” it is getting hard to put on a brave face.“It’s been a nightmare,” confessed Sarah Austin, one of the series’ six pretty twentysomethings who code, party and hustle...

Read More..

ABC raises $16.8 million, MTV to hold fundraiser for NJ shore

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A “Day of Giving” across ABC television networks raised more than $ 16.8 million for victims of Hurricane Sandy, ABC said on Tuesday.During the event, which aired on Radio Disney, ABC Family, ESPN and other units of the Disney/ABC group, viewers were encouraged to donate to the American Red Cross. A...

Read More..

Study: Looking old may be a sign of heart risks

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Want a clue to your risk of heart disease? Look in the mirror. People who look old — with receding hairlines, bald heads, creases near their ear lobes or bumpy deposits on their eyelids — have a greater chance of developing of heart disease than younger-looking people the same age do, new research suggests.Doctors say the study highlights...

Read More..

Obama wins second term, Romney concedes defeat

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama won a second term in the White House on Tuesday, overcoming deep doubts among voters about his handling of the U.S. economy to score a clear victory over Republican challenger Mitt Romney.Americans chose to stick with a divided government in Washington, by keeping the Democratic incumbent in the White House...

Read More..

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...

Read More..