Canada spending growth sluggish in November, Mastercard says

(Reuters) – Canada‘s holiday shopping season got off to a slow start in November with retail sales rising only 1.3 percent from the previous year, compared with 4.2 percent growth a year earlier, according to data released by MasterCard on Thursday.Still, the shopping season was still young in November. MasterCard Advisors, the payment company’s research and consulting division, found that in recent...

Read More..

U.S. teen smoking declines to record low in 2012: study

(Reuters) – Cigarette smoking among American teenagers dropped to a record low in 2012, a decline that may have been partly driven by a sharp hike in the federal tobacco tax, researchers said on Wednesday.An annual survey of about 45,000 students in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades found that the overall proportion of those saying they had smoked in the prior 30 days fell by just over a percentage...

Read More..

Final day of funerals for Newtown shooting victims

The final three victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School will be laid to rest today, ending a somber week of funerals.A mass will take place today at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church for Josephine Gay, who had celebrated her 7th birthday on Dec. 11.Friends and family have been asked to wear Josephine's favorite color, purple, in her honor. ...

Read More..

Alan Ball’s ‘Banshee’ Screeches Onto Cinemax in January

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “True Blood” creator Alan Ball‘s new television series “Banshee” will premiere January 11 at 10 p.m. on Cinemax, the network said Thursday.The drama, which is executive-produced by Ball and “House M.D.” executive producer Greg Yaitanes, centers on ex-con and master thief Lucas Hood (played by “Rush” star Anthony Starr), who assumes the identity of the sheriff of Banshee,...

Read More..

Massive PC, Console Game Discounts Ring in Holiday Season

Black Friday, the day right after Thanksgiving, is normally the day associated with electronics sales. And while the proponents of “Cyber Monday” and “Small Business Saturday” have tried to get in on the action, it’s still common knowledge that Thanksgiving weekend is the best time to upgrade your PC or console game arsenal. Right?Not according to online game retailers. Discounts of up to 80 percent...

Read More..

Italy PM Monti resigns, elections likely in February

ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti tendered his resignation to the president on Friday after 13 months in office, opening the way to a highly uncertain national election in February.The former European commissioner, appointed to lead an unelected government to save Italy from financial crisis a year ago, has kept his own political plans a closely guarded secret but he has faced growing...

Read More..

Halozyme inks drug development deal with Pfizer

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. said Friday it has reached an agreement with Pfizer to develop injectable versions of the drugmaker’s biotech drugs.Halozyme specializes in a recombinant hyaluronidase enzyme technology, which is designed to temporarily break down a substance in the body that forms a barrier between cells so drugs can be absorbed faster. That would allow some drugs to be...

Read More..

NRA calls for armed personnel in schools

The NRA's Wayne LaPierre speaks at Friday's press conference (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)The National Rifle Association on Friday, a full week after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, gave its first response to the massacre that killed 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn. Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president, argued at a press conference in Washington, D.C., that gun...

Read More..

Singer Odell first male to win Brit newcomer award

LONDON (Reuters) – Singer-songwriter Tom Odell was named the Brit Awards’ tip for the top in 2013, the first male artist to receive the honor previously won by chart queens including Adele and Jessie J.The 22-year-old, whose musical style and voice has drawn comparisons to Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, beat London electronic duo AlunaGeorge and classically trained soul singer Laura Mvula to the...

Read More..

RIM shares dive as fee changes catch market off guard

(Reuters) – Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd dropped 20 percent on Friday on fears that a new fee structure for its high-margin services segment could put pressure on the business that has set the company apart from its competitors.The shares were still more than 80 percent above the year’s low, which was hit in September. They started to rally in November as investors began to bet...

Read More..

Wounded presage health crisis for postwar Syria

ATMEH, Syria (AP) — A baby boy joined the ranks of Syria’s tens of thousands of war wounded when a missile fired by Bashar Assad‘s air force slammed into his family home and shrapnel pierced his skull.Four-month-old Fahed Darwish suffered brain damage and, like thousands of others seriously hurt in the civil war, he will likely need care well after the fighting is over. That’s something doctors say...

Read More..

Snowstorm triggers deadly Iowa pileup

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The first widespread snowstorm of the season crawled across the Midwest on Thursday, with whiteout conditions stranding holiday travelers and sending drivers sliding over slick roads — including into a fatal 25-vehicle pileup in Iowa.The storm, which dumped a foot of snow in parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, was part of a system that began in the Rockies earlier in the week before...

Read More..

Taylor Swift keeps Bruno Mars out of Billboard 200 top spot

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country pop star Taylor Swift held her reign at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, keeping retro-inspired R&B singer Bruno Mars‘ new album at bay.Swift’s latest album, “Red,” released in October, held the No. 1 slot for a fifth non-consecutive week with sales of 208,000, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.Mars’ second album, “Unorthodox Jukebox,”...

Read More..

Acer will beat Google to market with its own $99 tablet

Title Post: Acer will beat Google to market with its own $99 tabletRating: 100%based on 99998 ratings.5 user reviews.Author: Fluser SeoLinkThanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comm...

Read More..

Worries grow in east Congo with fighter buildup

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Aid workers warned Wednesday that armed groups are setting up new front lines in and around the city of Goma in eastern Congo, where the U.N. said it now has documented at least 126 rape cases last month.Thousands of fighters from the M23 rebel group withdrew several weeks ago from Goma, and the fighters have since taken steps toward negotiating with the Congolese government.However,...

Read More..

Amgen pagará 762 millones por vender un medicamento para usos no autorizados

Nueva York, 19 dic (EFE).- El gigante estadounidense de la biotecnología Amgen pagará una sanción de 762 millones de dólares tras declararse culpable de introducir en el mercado un medicamento para usos no permitidos por las autoridades federales.La compañía aceptó hoy en un tribunal federal de Brooklyn (Nueva York) un acuerdo para declararse culpable, clausurar el caso y pagar 150 millones en sanciones...

Read More..

Obama sets Jan. deadline for proposals to curb gun violence

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spurred by a horrific elementary school shooting, President Barack Obama tasked his administration Wednesday with creating concrete proposals to reduce gun violence that has plagued the country."This time, the words need to lead to action," said Obama, who set a January deadline for the recommendations. He vowed to push for their implementation without delay.The president, who exerted...

Read More..

Madonna leads Billboard’s top-grossing tours

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – While this year’s pop charts have been dominated by young singers, it is veteran music stars, led by Madonna, who are commanding big money in tour ticket sales, according to a new Billboard list released on Tuesday.Madonna, 54, topped Billboard‘s list of highest-grossing live tours, earning an estimated $ 228.4 million in ticket sales from her sold-out ninth worldwide tour...

Read More..

Wii U finally gets Nintendo’s TVii service on December 20th

After a month-long delay, Nintendo (NTDOY) will launch its Nintendo TVii service for the Wii U on December 20th in the U.S. and Canada. Nintendo TVii is the company’s take on organizing all of the various video streaming and DVR services a user might subscribe to and then displaying them in an easy-to-navigate touchscreen-based interface on the Wii U GamePad. With Nintendo...

Read More..

NBC’s Engel, TV crew escape abduction in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — NBC‘s chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said Tuesday he and members of his network crew escaped unharmed after five days of captivity in Syria, where more than a dozen pro-regime gunmen dragged them from their car, killed one of their rebel escorts and subjected them to mock executions.Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, an unshaven Engel said he and his team escaped during a firefight...

Read More..

Live chat: Newtown rebuilds after shooting

In the aftermath of Friday's Newtown school shooting, we've heard tales mostly horrifying and occasionally heroic, from surviving witnesses and mourning citizens alike, but this one lies somewhere in between, all the more unshakeable. One six-year-old Sandy Hook student played dead in her first-grade classroom, her family pastor said late Sunday, with the kind of quick thinking that ended up saving...

Read More..

Ben Stiller’s Red Hour sells two more comedies to ABC Studios

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Ben Stiller‘s Red Hour Television is continuing to pump out comedies for ABC Studios.Following the sale of “Complikated” in October, the production company has sold network’s production division two new series – “You’re Not Doing It Right” and “Between Two Kings” – a rep for Red Hour told TheWrap on Monday.Comedian Michael Ian Black writes, stars and produces in the former,...

Read More..

EU’s Almunia sets deadline for Google antitrust plan

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union set Google an ultimatum on Tuesday, giving it a month to come up with detailed proposals to resolve a two-year investigation into complaints that it used its power to block rivals, including Microsoft.The EU’s antitrust chief, Joaquin Almunia, delivered the deadline in a meeting with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in Brussels.If it fails to address the...

Read More..

N. Korea displays Kim Jong Il a year after death

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea unveiled the embalmed body of Kim Jong Il, still in his trademark khaki jumpsuit, on the anniversary of his death Monday as mourning mixed with pride over a recent satellite launch that was a long-held goal of the late authoritarian leader.Kim lies in state a few floors below his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, in the Kumsusan mausoleum, the cavernous...

Read More..

Global malaria battle stalls as financing gets tight

LONDON (Reuters) – Global funding for the fight against malaria has stalled in the past two years, threatening to reverse what the World Health Organisation (WHO) says are “remarkable recent gains” in the battle to control one of the world’s leading infectious killers.After rapid expansion between 2004 and 2009, funding for malaria prevention and control leveled off between 2010 and 2012 – meaning...

Read More..