Tech CEOs trade barbs, warm up for holiday tablet wars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The biggest names in consumer technology, stung by a string of disappointing quarterly results this month, are suiting up for what’s shaping to be the fiercest holiday battle in years.Investors and consumers have already largely written off flaccid quarterly numbers from tech behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon. What counts...

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Spike TV offers $10 million for proof of Bigfoot’s existence

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Forget Donald Trump‘s $ 5 million offer for President Obama‘s college and passport records – Spike TV has a much more lucrative offer. And it might even be more humorous than Trump’s guffaw-inducing “October surprise.”The cable network is teaming with Lloyd’s of London for a new one-hour reality show, “10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty.”...

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Landmark Medicare settlement could change lives

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Glenda Jimmo has had a challenging life. Blind since the age of 19, the 76-year-old Bristol, Vermont, resident is confined to a wheelchair due to disabling conditions that include a below-the-knee amputation stemming from her diabetes.“But it’s been an interesting, full life,” she says. “I have four children.” Now, she’s...

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Insight – BP oil spill settlement before election seen unlikely

HOUSTON (Reuters) – For a president locked in a tough re-election fight, it may look like political gold: a settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and BP Plc over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that could send billions of dollars to Florida, one of a handful of politically divided states that could decide the November 6 contest.Yet a last-minute settlement with...

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Amnesty Int: Ivory Coast torturing detainees

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast security officials are torturing dozens of detainees by administering electric shocks and other forms of abuse, Amnesty International alleged Friday.The victims include people charged with endangering state security in the wake of a recent spate of attacks targeting military installations. Since early August, unknown gunmen have...

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Tax gains lift Merck, but sales disappoint

(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc reported a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit, as a favorable tax rate and lower merger costs helped offset plunging sales of its former flagship product, Singulair, an asthma drug that began facing cheaper generics in August.But overall company sales came in slightly below Wall Street expectations, as Singulair’s decline outpaced...

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