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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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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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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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...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Methane warnings ignored before NZ mine disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces...

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U.S. judge tosses Apple vs. Google lawsuit over patents

(Reuters) – An Apple lawsuit against Google‘s Motorola Mobility unit over alleged patent abuse was thrown out on Monday just hours before trial, a setback for the iPhone maker in its efforts to gain leverage in the smartphone patent wars.The two rivals were set to square off in a Madison, Wisconsin federal court over the library of patents Google Inc acquired...

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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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Angioplasty costs are higher at non-surgery hospitals

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Angioplasty to clear blocked arteries costs more at hospitals not equipped for emergency heart surgery, according to a study presented on Sunday at the American Heart Association scientific meeting.Elective angioplasty is becoming increasingly common at hospitals that do not conduct more complicated heart procedures. During angioplasty,...

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Reviving Japan’s Economy With ‘Devil Wives’

After her son was born, Terue Suzuki moved back to her childhood home on weekdays so she could work while her sister cared for the baby, leaving her husband alone in the house they shared. “It was like a weekend marriage,” Suzuki says of the arrangement 14 years ago. “I had a satisfying job and really wanted to go back to it. In Japan, when a woman chooses...

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