Long-lived bats offer clues on diseases, aging

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The bat, a reservoir for viruses like Ebola, SARS and Nipah, has for decades stumped scientists trying to figure out how it is immune to many deadly bugs but a recent study into its genes may finally shed some light, scientists said on Friday.Studying the DNA of two distant bat species, the scientists discovered how genes dealing with the bats’ immune system had undergone the...

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Showrooming little threat to clothiers in ho-hum holidays

Chicago (Reuters) – In retail, showrooming has not hit shirts yet.Showrooming, the retail term for shoppers who try a product, then buy it cheaper on Amazon.com or other websites, has driven retailers to the point of hiding barcodes, improving their own websites and coming up with methods to get people to complete their purchase in the store.But brand-name clothing retailers have an advantage over...

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Vatican says pope beats Justin Bieber on re-tweets

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict, white-haired, 85, and a neophyte to social media site Twitter, has beaten out 18-year old heartthrob Justin Bieber to set a percentage record for re-tweeting by his followers, the Vatican said on Thursday.The Vatican newspaper said that as of noon Italian time on Thursday the pope had 2.1 million followers on Twitter, eight days after his first tweet was sent.While...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Hundreds pay tribute to legendary Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar

ENCINITAS, California (Reuters) – Ravi Shankar‘s daughters, Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar, along with the wife of late Beatle George Harrison said their final goodbyes to the Indian sitar virtuoso on Thursday at a public memorial service in Encinitas, California.The legendary musician and composer, who helped introduce the sitar to the Western world through his collaboration with The Beatles, died...

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Firms spend less to pitch to kids, foods slightly better: U.S. FTC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Food companies spent considerably less to advertise to children in 2009 than they did in 2006, although the foods that were pitched were only slightly more nutritious, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said in a report out on Friday.The FTC, in a survey of data from industry, found that companies spent $ 1.79 billion to advertise to children aged 2 to 17 in 2009, down almost...

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Kenya police: 28 people killed in clashes

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A police official says 28 people have been killed in clashes between farmers and herders in south-eastern Kenya.Anthony Kamitu, who is leading police operations to prevent the attacks, said Friday that the Pokomo tribe of farmers raided a village of the Orma herding community, called Kipao, at dawn in the Tana River Delta.The latest deaths in a tit-for-tat cycle of killings may...

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Investors shed shares of Blackberry maker

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Blackberry maker Research in Motion slumped more than 16 percent Friday with future revenue coming into question and a declining number of subscribers.RIM’s stock jumped initially Thursday when the Canadian company released better-than-expected third-quarter results and a stronger cash position.Shares reversed course during a conference call later, when executives said that...

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A moment of silence for Newtown victims

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The chiming of bells reverberated throughout Newtown on Friday, commemorating one week since the crackle of gunfire in a schoolhouse killed 20 children and six adults in a massacre that has shaken the community — and the nation — to its core.Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gathered with other officials in rain and wind on the steps of the Edmond Town Hall as the bell rang 26 times in memory...

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Moroccan road film subverts Hollywood stereotypes

DUBAI (Reuters) – When director John Slattery first visited Morocco, the familiarity was jarring – and as removed from the images of an exotic Orient conjured up by Hollywood as possible.That dichotomy between the representation and the reality of Morocco drives Slattery‘s charming paean to a country he clearly loves and makes “Casablanca, Mon Amour” a thoughtful rejoinder to U.S. popular culture.Two...

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Alliance Health Networks Brings Prominent HCV Clinical Trials Leader, Dr. Peter Ruane, to Hepatitis Connect Social Network

SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alliance Health Networks, the leading social networking company serving consumers and the healthcare industry, today announced the addition of Dr. Peter Ruane, prominent HIV and HCV clinical trials doctor and founder of Lightsource Medical, as a new community advocate on the Hepatitis Connect social network.Hepatitis Connect is part of Alliance Health’s growing portfolio...

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State Department security chief leaves post over Benghazi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday its security chief had resigned from his post and three other officials had been relieved of their duties following a scathing official inquiry into the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.Eric Boswell has resigned effective immediately as assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, State Department spokeswoman...

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Facebook predicted to overtake Google in mobile display ad revenue this year

Shares of Facebook (FB) have begun to rebound since the company’s disastrous initial public offering this past May. After opening at $ 38 per share the company’s stock plummeted into the mid-20s over the summer months and eventually fell to a low of $ 17.55 in early September. Since then, however, Facebook shares have begun to bounce back after the company posted better-than-expected results...

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Daily funerals now routine in Newtown

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A season that should be a time of joy has been marked by heart-wrenching loss in Newtown, as more victims from the massacre of 20 children and six adults are laid to rest.At least nine funerals and wakes were held Wednesday for those who died when gunman Adam Lanza, armed with a military-style assault rifle, broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday and opened fire. Lanza...

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Thousands mourn U.S.-Mexican singer Jenni Rivera

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Thousands of mourners on Wednesday packed a Los Angeles theater to pay their final respects to Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera more than a week after her death in a plane crash.Rivera, 43, best known for her work in the Mexican folk Nortena and Banda genres, died after the small jet she was traveling in crashed in northern Mexico on December 9.Rivera’s family, dressed...

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Two cups of milk daily enough for most kids: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Two cups of cow’s milk per day may be enough for most kids to have the recommended amount of vitamin D in their blood while maintaining a healthy iron level, suggests a new study.“One of the common questions I get from parents when their kids become toddlers is, ‘how much milk should they be drinking?’ But we didn’t have a good answer,” said Dr. Jonathon Maguire, the study’s...

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Canada serial killer inquiry finds “systemic bias” by police

(Reuters) – Police made critical errors in pursuing Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton partly because of “systemic bias” against his victims, sex trade workers from a rough Vancouver neighborhood, according to the final report from a public inquiry released on Monday.Commissioner Wally Oppal was asked by the British Columbia government to investigate, in effect, why Pickton was not caught sooner....

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Facebook CEO Zuckerberg donating $500M in stock

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is donating nearly $ 500 million in stock to a Silicon Valley charity with the aim of funding health and education issues.Zuckerberg donated 18 million Facebook shares, valued at $ 498.8 million based on their Tuesday closing price. The beneficiary is the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a nonprofit that works with donors to allocate their...

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Gun deaths set to outpace car fatalities

Twenty-seven wooden angels stand in a yard down the street from the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Conn. (Spencer …Deaths from firearms are set to outstrip car fatalities for the first time, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and reported by Bloomberg News.The CDC estimates that auto-related deaths--long on the decline as more motorists wear seat-belts and face harsher penalties...

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“Best Funeral Ever” premiere delayed after Newtown school shootings

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Fans of death-centric reality TV will have to wait a little longer to dig into TLC‘s “Best Funeral Ever.”TLC has pushed back the premiere of the special to January 6 at 10/9c in light of the school shootings in Newtown, Conn. last week.“Best Funeral Ever” was initially scheduled to premiere on December 26 at 8/7c.“Best Funeral Ever” centers around the Golden Gate Funeral...

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Shire’s ADHD amphetamine wins British backing

LONDON (Reuters) – Shire‘s hyperactivity treatment Vyvanse will be available in Europe within months after Britain’s drugs regulator backed the amphetamine-based stimulant used to treat millions of U.S. students.The drug, lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, has a slow-release action that activates the amphetamine ingredient over the course of a day, helping levels of alertness and concentration in children...

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Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian rebels took full control of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Monday after fighting raged for days in the district on the southern edge of President Bashar al-Assad‘s Damascus powerbase, rebel and Palestinian sources said.The battle had pitted rebels, backed by some Palestinians, against Palestinian fighters of the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General...

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Xbox SmartGlass updated with second-screen ESPN and NBA Game Time app experiences

Title Post: Xbox SmartGlass updated with second-screen ESPN and NBA Game Time app experiencesRating: 100%based on 99998 ratings.5 user reviews.Author: Fluser SeoLinkThanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comm...

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First of eight funerals begins at Newtown church

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Family members have gathered for the first of eight funerals for school shooting victims to be held at a Catholic church in Newtown, Conn.A motorcade of dozens of vehicles led by police motorcycles accompanied the family of 6-year-old James Mattioli to St. Rose of Lima on Tuesday. His funeral comes a day after two other 6-year-old boys were laid in the first of a long, almost...

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Florida man sentenced to 10 years in “hackerazzi” case

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Florida man who pleaded guilty to hacking into the email accounts of celebrities to gain access to nude photos and private information was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday.Former office clerk Christopher Chaney, 36, said before the trial that he hacked into the accounts of film star Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities because...

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