“Ode to Joy” for Royal Philharmonic Society’s 200th

LONDON (Reuters) – The British music society that commissioned Beethoven to write his Ninth Symphony and its “Ode to Joy” announced on Wednesday it will celebrate the society’s 2013 bicentenary by showing off its manuscript of the work on both sides of the Atlantic.The Royal Philharmonic Society, founded in London in January, 1813, also will sponsor performances...

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Climate change threatens sweet smell of morning coffee

LONDON (Reuters) – Rising temperatures due to climate change could mean wild arabica coffee is extinct in 70 years, posing a risk to the genetic sustainability of one of the world’s basic commodities, scientists said.Although commercial coffee growers would still be able to cultivate crops in plantations designed with the right conditions, experts say...

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Major markets flat on Obama win

7 November 2012 Last updated at 03:31 ETContinue reading the main story Major share markets were little changed after US President Barack Obama won a second term in office.The UK’s main share index, the FTSE 100 rose by just 16 points in early trading, while Japan’s Nikkei ended down by two points.The US dollar fell...

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Canada firms to capitalize on nuclear trade with India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Canadian firms will be able to export uranium and nuclear reactors to India for the first time in almost four decades under an agreement between the two nations, their prime ministers said, but more work is needed to implement the deal.Once implemented, the agreement will end a ban on nuclear cooperation Canada imposed in 1976 after...

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Quiet media night explodes suddenly, Rove protests

NEW YORK (AP) — Careful media coverage of a close presidential election Tuesday exploded so suddenly Tuesday that it left the bizarre spectacle of Fox News Channel analyst Karl Rove, a major fundraiser for Republican Mitt Romney, publicly questioning his network’s declaration that President Barack Obama had been re-elected.ABC News was also frantically...

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Election over but final Florida results still not in

MIAMI (Reuters) – Americans gave President Barack Obama a second term in office, but it still wasn’t clear early on Wednesday whether the president won the key battleground state of Florida.The vote in the state, which introduced the terms “hanging chads” and “butterfly ballots” to the masses in its historic 2000 presidential election, was too close to...

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Profits fall at Marks and Spencer

6 November 2012 Last updated at 03:30 ETMarks and Spencer, the UK’s biggest clothing retailer, has posted pre-tax profits of £290m for the six months to the end of September, down 9.7% from the same period last year. Group sales were up 0.9% to £4.7bn, with much of the growth coming from the food side of the business.Food...

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Cautious reformers tipped for new China leadership

BEIJING (Reuters) – China‘s ruling Communist Party will this month unveil its new top leadership team, expected to again be an all-male cast of politicians whose instincts are to move cautiously on reform.Sources close to the leadership say 10 main candidates are vying for seven seats on the party’s next Politburo Standing Committee, the peak decision-making...

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Ericsson eyes steady growth despite global downturn

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Telecoms gear maker Ericsson expects slower expansion in the more profitable services segment of its business and the same level of growth in its core mobile network equipment market, it said on Tuesday.Competition and increased product commoditization have pressured prices in the industry for years. Europe’s debt crisis and weaker...

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Why “Skyfall” Will Be Biggest Bond Ever at the Box Office

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The sky isn’t falling! The sky isn’t falling!In fact, releasing “Skyfall” to foreign audiences 10 days ahead of its domestic release is a ploy that will pay off nicely: It will help make the first Bond film in four years the biggest 007 ever at the box office, the first to score over $ 600 million worldwide. Daniel...

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