Google says multiple services blocked in China

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc said several of its online services have been blocked in China.Traffic to Google’s services in China dropped sharply beginning Friday evening there, according to an online “Transparency Report” website operated by Google, which provides updates about access to its services in different parts of the world. Among...

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Nutella maker says will brave French tax hike

PARIS (Reuters) – The makers of the renowned Nutella food spread say they will not change the lucrative recipe even if France, its biggest market, endorses proposals to quadruple tax on a key ingredient of the gooey mix, palm oil.Senators in France, where a left-wing government is hiking tax generally to help slash a bloated debt, have proposed a 300 percent...

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Greece in bid for bridge finance

9 November 2012 Last updated at 14:04 ETGreece is to make an urgent bid to raise funds from the financial markets in case it does not get another tranche of bailout aid in time to repay debts. On Tuesday, it plans to issue bonds, repayable in one and three months, to cover debt repayments due on Friday.The bond issue...

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Twin explosions strike southern Syrian city

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria‘s state-run news agency says two large explosions have struck the southern city of Daraa, causing multiple casualties and heavy material damage.SANA did not immediately give further information or say what the target of Saturday’s explosions was. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights...

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Social media shakes up solitary online FX trading

LONDON (Reuters) – The solitary world of online foreign exchange trading is emerging from the shadows as solo investors turn to specialist social media networks to link up with their peers and seek market-beating strategies.Individual or retail trading, estimated at 8-10 percent of the $ 2.5 trillion daily spot FX market, used to conjure an image of a...

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Andy Summers film documents surviving the Police

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Police guitarist Andy Summers has always been a multifaceted artist – musician, songwriter, photographer and author. Now he can add filmmaker to his extensive resume.“Can’t Stand Losing You: Surviving the Police,” Summers’ 90-minute documentary film that chronicles his musical career and life with supergroup, has its world premiere...

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Uncle Sam to Start Tracking Tobacco Use in Movies Aimed at Kids

Federal health authorities said Friday they will begin monitoring how well movie studios are doing to reduce depictions of smoking and other tobacco use in youth-rated movies.Authorities at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health said that voluntary efforts by movie studios to reduce tobacco use in youth-rated movies...

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Canada Pension Plan looks for big, global deals

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world’s biggest pension funds and global dealmakers, said it was looking for big, complex acquisitions to boost its portfolio and outmaneuver rivals as the world’s economy improves.CPPIB, whose assets rose to a record C$ 170.1 billion in the third quarter from C$ 165.8 billion three...

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Syria opposition bloc elects Christian as leader

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Syria‘s main opposition group in exile has elected a Christian Paris-based former geography teacher as its new president.George Sabra said Friday that his election as head of the Syrian National Council is a sign that the opposition is not plagued by sectarian divisions. Sabra says the SNC‘s main demand...

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‘World of Warcraft’ State Senate Candidate Wins Election

Add another demographic to the list of winners on Tuesday night; in addition to Democrats, women, and marijuana advocates, gamers scored a political victory in Maine‘s state senate.Colleen Lachowitz, the Democratic state senate candidate in Maine whose race drew national attention when the state’s Republican party attacked her for her world of warcraft...

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Look who’s talking! Kirstie Alley calls Travolta “greatest love”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Kirstie Alley described on Wednesday how she fell in love more than 20 years ago with John Travolta, and rejected widespread Hollywood speculation that the “Grease” star is secretly gay.Alley, former star of the 1980s TV comedy “Cheers,” told ABC television journalist Barbara Walters that she fell for both Travolta and actor...

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Home blood pressure monitors show mixed results

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Home blood pressure monitors may be useful to some older adults who’ve suffered a stroke, but little help to others, a new study suggests.Researchers found that overall, home monitors did not help stroke sufferers get a better handle on their blood pressure over one year. The exception, though,...

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One in Four USC MBAs Go Jobless After Paying $103,000

As MBA recruiting disasters go, this one was epic. As top business schools throughout the U.S. continued making post-recession strides in MBA job placement this year, nearly one of every four graduates from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California—23 percent—was unemployed three months after graduation, up from 9 percent...

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Myanmar says Obama to visit later this month

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — President Barack Obama will make a groundbreaking visit later this month to Myanmar, an official said Thursday, following through with his policy of rapprochement to encourage democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.The Myanmar official speaking from the capital, Naypyitaw, said Thursday that security for a visit on Nov. 18 or 19...

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China’s leadership challenge in new era: douse “inequality volcano”

YANGCHANG, China (Reuters) – In the mountain village of Yangchang in the backwater province of Guizhou in southwestern China, the roof of the Yang family home is cracked and about to cave in, held upright only by a few rickety tree trunks.Nearly penniless after quitting their jobs in a coastal city, Yang Hechun and her husband recently returned to the...

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A Minute With: Taylor Lautner finding new dawn after “Twilight”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – As dusk sets on the “Twilight” saga with the final film, actor Taylor Lautner is looking at a new dawn for the next stage in his career.Lautner, 20, shot to fame after being cast as werewolf Jacob Black in the “Twilight” films, entangled in a torrid love triangle with Kristen Stewart‘s Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson‘s vampire Edward...

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Pediatric clinical trials not going overseas – study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Despite some concerns that medical studies involving children could make an ethically dubious shift to developing nations, a new study suggests that’s not happening.It’s really only in the last decade that clinical trials – even in the U.S. and Europe – have started to focus on children, said Dr. Dianne Murphy, director of the...

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Wall Street left to rebuild Obama ties after backing Romney

(Reuters) – Wall Street firms gambled on Mitt Romney and lost.Now, faced with the prospect of even tougher regulations in President Barack Obama‘s second term, their stocks paid the price. Shares of Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup dropped 5 percent, Bank of America lost 6 percent and Morgan Stanley fell 7 percent in midday trading...

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Merkel says Germany, Britain must work together on EU

LONDON (Reuters) – Germany and Britain must cooperate to work round their differences on the European Union‘s long-term spending plans, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.“Despite differences that we have it is very important for me that the UK and Germany work together,” Merkel said through a translator before a meeting in London with Prime...

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Amazon’s offers monthly option on Prime, challenging Netflix

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc is testing a new monthly option for its popular Prime video-streaming service as the world’s largest Internet retailer steps up competition with Netflix Inc.Prime typically costs $ 79 a year in the United States for free two-day shipping, free video streaming and access to Amazon‘s Kindle e-book lending library....

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Sharon Osbourne has double mastectomy: magazine

LONDON (Reuters) – British celebrity Sharon Osbourne has had a double mastectomy after discovering she was carrying a gene that increased the risk of her developing breast cancer, she told Hello! magazine in an interview published on Monday.Osbourne, 60, told the publication that the decision was a “no-brainer” in the end. “As...

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Heart devices often approved without comparisons

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Many new heart devices, such as valves and stents, are approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) without good studies showing that they offer any benefits beyond existing treatments, according to a new study.“This really leaves open the question of, ‘are you better off with this new device or whatever conventional...

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