Canadian October home sales dip, latest sign of cooling

TORONTO (Reuters) – Sales of existing homes in Canada fell in October from September and year-over-year sales were down as well, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Thursday in the latest signal that the housing market is slowing.The industry group for Canadian real estate agents said sales were down 0.1 percent in October from September. Actual...

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Honey Boo Boo Gets Trashy and Some Really Cute Dumb Ways to Die

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:RELATED: Catching Kangaroos Seems Pretty Easy; ‘The Dark Knight’...

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At Washington’s James Bond exhibit, villains are forever

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fans of fictional super spy James Bond rely on the durable film franchise for must-have elements, such as jaw-dropping stunts, great clothes, sultry women – and villains who are drop-dead evil.An exhibition that opened on Friday makes clear that the nasty types that 007 has battled for five decades have changed but one constant remains....

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Tulsa Town Hall: Nutrition a valuable tool in health care

Weil spoke as part of the Tulsa Town Hall series of speakers. The United States has an expensive health-care system that doesn’t produce good results, he said.“Something is very wrong with this picture,” he said. “We’re spending more and more and we have less and less to show for it.”Changes in diet can be an effective...

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Israel launches scores of airstrikes into Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.The new attacks, which Gaza officials say left 10 dead, followed an unprecedented rocket strike aimed at...

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Honey Boo Boo Gets Trashy and Some Really Cute Dumb Ways to Die

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:RELATED: Catching Kangaroos Seems Pretty Easy; ‘The Dark Knight’...

Read More..

Israel launches scores of airstrikes into Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.The new attacks, which Gaza officials say left 10 dead, followed an unprecedented rocket strike aimed at...

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Final “Twilight” dawns with $30 million from late-night shows

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bella and Edward’s big-screen farewell lit up box offices with $ 30.4 million in late-night ticket sales for the finale of the blockbuster “Twilight” vampire series, production studio Summit Entertainment said on Friday.The U.S. and Canadian box office receipts for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2″ beat initial sales for...

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Canadian October home sales dip, latest sign of cooling

TORONTO (Reuters) – Sales of existing homes in Canada fell in October from September and year-over-year sales were down as well, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Thursday in the latest signal that the housing market is slowing.The industry group for Canadian real estate agents said sales were down 0.1 percent in October from September. Actual...

Read More..

Tulsa Town Hall: Nutrition a valuable tool in health care

Weil spoke as part of the Tulsa Town Hall series of speakers. The United States has an expensive health-care system that doesn’t produce good results, he said.“Something is very wrong with this picture,” he said. “We’re spending more and more and we have less and less to show for it.”Changes in diet can be an effective...

Read More..

Jamaica to abolish slavery-era flogging law

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica is preparing to abolish a slavery-era law allowing flogging and whipping as means of punishing prisoners, the Caribbean country’s justice ministry said Thursday.The ministry said the punishment hasn’t been ordered by a court since 2004 but the statutes remain in the island’s penal code. It was administered with strokes...

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After Garbo, Leigh, no defining “Anna Karenina”: Knightley

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Film adaptations of “Anna Karenina” have featured the likes of Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh, but Keira Knightley isn’t fazed about measuring up to such silver screen luminaries with a new cinematic take on Leo Tolstoy‘s classic novel.The British actress’s turn in the title role in the timeless story about a beautiful married socialite...

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Exclusive: U.S. drug testing firm probed for alleged fraud, intimidation

(Reuters) – A federal grand jury in Boston is investigating Millennium Laboratories of San Diego, a fast-growing private company selling urine drug testing services to pain clinics across the United States.The company not only is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegations of health care fraud but also for intimidating former employees,...

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Petraeus testifies on Benghazi attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus (peh-TRAY'-uhs) has told Congress that references to militant groups Ansar al-Shariah and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb were removed from the agency's draft talking points of what sparked the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya.A congressional staffer says Petraeus testified in a closed-door hearing Friday that the CIA's talking points...

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Exclusive: Facebook offering e-retailers sales tracking tool

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc wants more credit for making online cash registers ring.Facebook will begin rolling out on Friday a new tool which will allow online retailers to track purchases by members of the social network who have viewed their ads. The tool is the latest of the new advertising features Facebook...

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Curtains for Rice's State hopes?

By Walter ShapiroBefore the initials CIA came to stand for Covert Intimate Affairs, the battle over the next secretary of state would have been the main event of post-election November. Normally, it doesn’t get better than a brand-name Washington struggle pitting the newly reelected president against the Republican senator he defeated in 2008 over filling the Cabinet post soon to be vacated by an...

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Juanes, Jesse & Joy take home top Latin Grammys

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Colombian rocker Juanes and the Mexican brother and sister pop duo Jesse & Joy took home the top Latin Grammys on Thursday in Las Vegas on a night in which the contemporary triumphed over the traditional.Juanes, one of the most well known Latin American stars worldwide, won the coveted album of the year with his “MTV Unplugged,”...

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Jamaica to abolish slavery-era flogging law

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica is preparing to abolish a slavery-era law allowing flogging and whipping as means of punishing prisoners, the Caribbean country’s justice ministry said Thursday.The ministry said the punishment hasn’t been ordered by a court since 2004 but the statutes remain in the island’s penal code. It was administered with strokes...

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Pfizer’s once-daily Lyrica trial fails to meet goal

(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said on Friday a late-stage trial of a once-a-day formulation of its drug pregabalin did not significantly reduce the frequency of some types of seizures in patients with epilepsy.The drug, sold under the brand name Lyrica, is currently used to treat epilepsy when given several times a day in combination with other drugs. Pfizer...

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Canada’s Carney says rate hikes “less imminent”

TORONTO (Reuters) – Interest rate hikes have become less imminent than the Bank of Canada once expected, although rates are still likely to rise, central bank Governor Mark Carney said in an interview published on Saturday.“Over time, rates are likely to increase somewhat, but over time, so a less imminent timing relative to our expectation,” Carney said...

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In UK, Twitter, Facebook rants land some in jail

LONDON (AP) — One teenager made offensive comments about a murdered child on Twitter. Another young man wrote on Facebook that British soldiers should “go to hell.” A third posted a picture of a burning paper poppy, symbol of remembrance of war dead.All were arrested, two convicted, and one jailed — and they’re not the only ones. In Britain, hundreds of...

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