Exclusive: U.S. authorities probe SAC for Weight Watchers – sources

(Reuters) – U.S. authorities are investigating Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund for possible insider trading in the shares of the popular diet company Weight Watchers International Inc, according to people familiar with the matter.The investigation focuses on trading in Weight Watchers shares in the first half of 2011, when SAC Capital had taken a sizeable position in the stock, and...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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The Star is Dead. Her Film Isn’t

Three years after actress Brittany Murphy’s untimely death from pneumonia and anemia in 2009, her final film, an indie thriller called Something Wicked, finally completed post-production this week. The Eugene (Ore.) production company Merchant Films, which is currently seeking a distributor for the film, is caught in the unfortunate position of having to market a film without its...

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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...

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Jackson’s Hobbit: the journey begins

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Film maker Peter Jackson wants to scare children with his latest movie – and perhaps even a few grown ups.The first of the Hobbit movie trilogy – “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” – is about to hit theatres, and Jackson says he’s tried to hold true to its roots as a children’s fantasy story, with scary bits.“If they’re scared of the trolls great, if they’re scared of the goblins...

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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...

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Wall Street gains as Apple rebounds; fiscal talks eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks managed slight gains by midday on Thursday as Broadcom‘s upbeat guidance and a turnaround in Apple shares helped lift technology stocks, while investors monitored news from Washington for signs of progress on the “fiscal cliff” negotiations.Apple erased initial losses of as much as 3.7 percent at the open, which briefly brought the market capitalization of the world’s largest...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Irish budget sees property tax

5 December 2012 Last updated at 12:20 ETThe Irish government has announced a fresh package of spending cuts and tax rises worth billions of euros in its budget for 2013.These include a new property tax of 0.18% of the value of a home up to 1m euros ($ 1.3m; £800,000).These are the latest in a long line of austerity measures imposed on Ireland by international lenders that bailed out the country in...

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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...

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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...

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“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...

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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...

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Meet the First Royal Baby Profiteers

Yesterday, St. James’s Palace announced that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor are expecting their first child. Just as the royal wedding produced heaps of Will and Kate-themed tchotchkes, news of the couple’s forthcoming member of the family—who will officially be the third in line for the throne—is sure to inspire its own mountain of merchandise. So who is the first to put something royal baby-themed...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Citi cuts telecoms head in Europe: sources

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – Citigroup‘s head of technology, media and telecoms in Europe is to leave as part of cost cuts the U.S. bank is making in response to the weak economic climate and due to tougher regulation, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.Daniel Bailey is to leave the bank with immediate effect and his position will be taken on by Citigroup’s European (EMEA) head of...

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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...

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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...

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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,”...

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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...

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US budget talks ‘in stalemate’

2 December 2012 Last updated at 11:20 ETUS treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said there will be no deal to avert a “fiscal cliff” unless Republicans accept a tax hike for the wealthy.But House Speaker John Boehner has dismissed a 10-year plan, which aims to raise $ 1.6tn (£1tn) through tax rises and spending cuts, as “silliness”.The two men met on Thursday as time runs out to broker a deal.Economists...

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