Canada pledges again to balance budget by 2015

OTTAWA/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Canadian government on Friday reiterated its intention to balance its budget by 2015, three days after projecting there would be deficits until 2016-17.In separate appearances in Quebec City and New York, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty were at pains to say they still intended to end the red...

Read More..

Cisco to buy cloud-networking start-up Meraki for $1.2 billion

(Reuters) – Networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc said it will buy privately held cloud networking company Meraki for $ 1.2 billion in cash as part of its cloud and networking strategy.Cisco said the acquisition of Meraki, which was founded in 2006 by members of MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science, is expected to close in the second quarter...

Read More..

Seacrest, Wonder, Usher, others praise Dick Clark

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ryan Seacrest and Stevie Wonder paid homage to Dick Clark on stage, while Usher and will.i.am shared their praise for the TV icon and music lover off camera.Clark, who died earlier this year, was the subject of a special tribute at the American Music Awards, which he created 40 years ago. Seacrest...

Read More..

One in 20 youth has used steroids to bulk up: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – About five percent of middle and high school students have used anabolic steroids to put on muscle, according to a new study from Minnesota.In addition to steroid use, more than one-third of boys and one-fifth of girls in the study said they had used protein powder or shakes to gain muscle mass, and between five and 10 percent...

Read More..

Schools dubbed ‘exam factories’

18 November 2012 Last updated at 19:05 ETBy Angela Harrison Education correspondent, BBC News Business leaders say some UK schools have become “exam factories” and are calling for children to be given a broader education.The CBI is calling for radical changes to schools.It says there is too much focus on exams at 16...

Read More..

Israel, Gaza fighting rages on as Egypt seeks truce

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip from air and sea for a fifth straight day on Sunday, preparing for a possible ground invasion though Egypt saw “some indications” of a truce ahead.Militant rocket fire into Israel subsided during the night but resumed in the morning with three rockets fired at the nearby...

Read More..

14 Black Friday Tech Deals Start Early at Walmart

1. Apple iPad 2 — 16GB$ 399Click here to view this gallery. [More from Mashable: Top 10 Twitter Pics of the Week]This year Walmart is starting Black Friday on Thursday, so you can get an early start on your holiday tech savings. You’ll need to gobble up your Thanksgiving dinner early and get over to Walmart; the company...

Read More..

Dark Horse graphic novel adaptation “The Strange Case of Hyde” gets new writer

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Screenwriter Albert Torres has come on board to re-write the script for feature film adaptation of the Dark Horse graphic novel, “The Strange Case of Hyde,” one of his representatives has told TheWrap.The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name, which was written by Cole Haddon and published in 2011. “The...

Read More..

Golf-Obsession drove Aussie Batibasaga to mental institution

MELBOURNE, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The desire to improve can drive professional athletes to distraction, but for Australian golfer Rika Batibasaga it became a dangerous obsession that saw him handcuffed and thrown into a Florida mental institution.In 2008, Batibasaga, whose father played international rugby for Fiji, was a 21-year-old living in Florida and...

Read More..

Europe’s Economy: Look Out Below, Again

It’s official: Europe has double-dipped. The 17-country euro zone has fallen into its second recession since 2008, as figures released on Nov. 15 showed gross domestic product declining 0.1 percent during the third quarter. That followed a 0.2 percent contraction during the previous three months, according to the European Union’s statistics office.There...

Read More..