Shoppers welcome early start to “Black Friday”

NEW YORK/BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota (Reuters) – Retailers declared their experiment with earlier store openings to kick off the holiday shopping season a success on Friday, with those new hours expected to be a Thanksgiving night staple for more retailers next year.Stores such as Target Corp opened hours before midnight on Thursday to try to capture a bigger piece of the retail pie. The move seemed to...

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Secret message found with carrier pigeon may never be deciphered

British man finds carrier pigeon skeleton in his fireplace with unbreakable secret code (Reuters)Before military forces had secure cell phones and satellite communications, they used carrier pigeons. The highly trained birds delivered sensitive information from one location to another during  World War II. Often, the birds found the intended recipient. But not always.A dead pigeon was recently...

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Larry Hagman dead at 81, portrayed notorious TV villain J.R. Ewing

(Reuters) – Larry Hagman, who created one of American television’s most supreme villains in the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing of “Dallas,” died on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81.Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the...

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Four new cases of SARS-like virus found in Saudi, Qatar

LONDON (Reuters) – A new virus from the same family as SARS which sparked a global alert in September has now killed two people in Saudi Arabia, and total cases there and in Qatar have reached six, the World Health Organisation said.The U.N. health agency issued an international alert in late September saying a virus previously unknown in humans had infected a Qatari man who had recently been in Saudi...

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Cameron set for EU budget battle

22 November 2012 Last updated at 02:29 ETDavid Cameron is set to press for a minimum real-terms freeze in the EU’s budget as European leaders gather ahead of a crunch summit to determine its spending between 2014 and 2020. The UK PM is seeking to build alliances in Brussels ahead of what is expected to be two days of...

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Bank of Canada keeps “over time” condition on rate hike

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Tim Lane repeated on Wednesday the central bank‘s message that interest rate increases will likely be needed, but only over time.The “over time” phrase was introduced in the bank’s key guidance in its rate statement on October 23 as a way of signaling that while the next rate move is likely to be up, such...

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Windows 8 is “Terrible,” Says Usability Expert Jakob Nielsen

When gadget and web companies want to make sure people can figure out how to use their stuff, they turn to experts like Jakob Nielsen, who’s most widely known for his free Alertbox column.Last year, Nielsen’s scathing review of Amazon’s Kindle Fire made headlines, alerting buyers to the tablet’s choppy scrolling and hard-to-use volume controls. Now, Nielsen...

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“Price Is Right” model wins $7.7 million in discrimination suit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A former model on the U.S. daytime television game show “The Price is Right” was awarded $ 7.7 million in punitive damages by a Los Angeles court on Wednesday after suing the show for not letting her return to work after giving birth.The amount was in addition to $ 775,000 in compensatory damages awarded to 41-year-old Brandi...

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S&P 500 gains for fourth session on light volume

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks finished modestly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up for a fourth session, although volume was one of the year’s lowest on the day ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.Investors welcomed news that a ceasefire was declared to end the flare-up in violence between Israel and the Palestinians, though the lack of a deal to...

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Map: Where the Emotionally Challenged Live

U.S. pollster Gallup conducted a survey in 152 countries to compare how people feel about their lives. Singapore ranks as the world’s most emotionless society, behind Georgia, Lithuania, and Russia. Singaporeans are unlikely to report feelings of anger, physical pain, or other negative emotions. They’re not laughing a lot, either. “If you measure Singapore...

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Republic Wireless Now Offering $19/Month Unlimited Smartphone Service to All

Prepaid wireless carrier Republic Wireless has been offering its $ 19 per month, unlimited everything, prepaid smartphone plan since about this time last year. At the time, though, there were a few catches; you had to buy a very low-end smartphone from them, you had to use its Hybrid Calling technology for most of your calls, and you could only get in...

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Singer Fiona Apple cancels tour dates to be with ailing dog

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Grammy award-winning singer Fiona Apple said in a handwritten letter posted on her website on Tuesday that she has canceled upcoming tour dates in North and South America to be with her ailing dog.Apple, who vowed to make up the concerts, called off three shows in Brazil between November 27 and 30, a Buenos Aires festival appearance...

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Pharmacy owners had no hand in meningitis outbreak: lawyers

BOSTON (Reuters) – Lawyers for New England Compounding Center‘s owners told a federal judge on Tuesday there is no evidence that any of them directly participated in the events that led to a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak.“Due process should not be washed away in a sea of newspaper articles and conjecture,” defense attorney Alan Winchester said. Winchester...

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Energy tariff plan to be outlined

20 November 2012 Last updated at 03:00 ETThe government will detail later how it intends to force energy firms to offer customers the lowest suitable tariff. Energy Secretary Ed Davey will set out plans for fulfilling the PM’s pledge last month to bring in legislation.He will say that companies will have to reduce the...

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U.S. fiscal impact of great concern to Canada: Canada’s Harper

TORONTO (Reuters) – Any fiscal problems that would significantly slow the U.S. economy would be of great concern to Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday.The United States needed a credible medium-term fiscal plan, Harper said at a business forum in Ottawa, adding that he was following the U.S. fiscal debate with “great interest.” (Reporting...

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HTC “happy” with Apple settlement, slams media estimates

TOKYO (Reuters) – Taiwan’s HTC Corp is happy with its patent settlement with Apple Inc, but regards media reports on details of the licensing agreement as “outrageous”, chief executive Peter Chou told reporters on Tuesday.HTC and Apple announced a global patent settlement and a 10-year licensing agreement this month after a bruising patent war between...

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Why Oscar’s “Simple” Date-Change Is a Ticking Time Bomb

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The press release didn’t look as if it contained big news.“Key Dates Announced for the 85th Academy Awards,” read the headline on the September 18 announcement, which came significantly later than usual for the Academy and contained one seemingly innocuous line: “In an effort to provide members...

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OxyContin generic approval proceeds in Canada

OTTAWA (AP) — Canada‘s federal government allowed the approval process to proceed Monday for the generic form of the highly-addictive painkiller OxyContin, a move that set off a quick outcry from the country’s provinces and aboriginal communities.Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq rejected a plea from Canada’s provinces, which unanimously requested a delay...

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One in 10 shops empty, says BRC

19 November 2012 Last updated at 02:48 ETMore than one in 10 shops are empty, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the highest since it began collecting data on occupancy levels of High Street premises. The BRC said the town centre vacancy rate of 11.3% was the worst figure since its nationwide survey began...

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Facebook takes another shot at settling privacy lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. judge said he would consider whether to preliminarily approve Facebook‘s second attempt to settle allegations the social networking company violated privacy rights.Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg rejected a proposed class action settlement over Facebook’s ‘Sponsored Stories’ advertising feature. But...

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Justin Bieber gets love at American Music Awards

Justin Bieber may be Canadian, but he was the all-American boy at Sunday night’s American Music Awards.The pop singer dominated the awards show, winning three trophies, including artist of the year. His mom joined him onstage as he collected the award, beating out Rihanna, Maroon 5, Katy Perry and Drake. “I wanted to...

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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...

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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...

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