South Korea November exports show fragile, uneven global recovery

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean exports last month marked their first back-to-back growth of the year, but demand from the advanced economies was weak, data showed on Saturday, indicating any global recovery would be fragile at best.November exports grew by 3.9 percent over a year earlier to $ 47.8 billion on top of a revised 1.1 percent rise in October, while imports last month rose by 0.7 percent...

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Cargo plane crashes in Brazzaville, 3 dead

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — A cargo plane owned by a private company crashed Friday near the airport in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, killing at least three people, officials said.The Soviet-made Ilyushin-76 belonged to Trans Air Congo and appeared to be transporting merchandise, not people, said an aviation official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized...

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New job posting suggests Nokia may still be considering Android after all

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Glen Campbell considering more live shows in 2013

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Glen Campbell may be wrapping up a goodbye tour but that doesn’t mean he’s done with the stage.Campbell is considering scheduling more shows next year after playing more than 120 dates in 2012.The 76-year-old singer has Alzheimer’s disease and has begun to lose his memory. He put out his final studio album, “Ghost on the Canvas,” in 2011 and embarked on the tour with family...

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South Africa makes progress in HIV, AIDS fight

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — In the early ’90s when South Africa‘s Themba Lethu clinic could only treat HIV/AIDS patients for opportunistic diseases, many would come in on wheelchairs and keep coming to the health center until they died.Two decades later the clinic is the biggest anti-retroviral, or ARV, treatment center in the country and sees between 600 to 800 patients a day from all over southern Africa....

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Bulgaria offers citizenship to foreign investors

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Here’s one way to boost an ailing economy: Bulgaria is offering citizenship to foreigners ready to invest at least half a million euros ($ 650,000).Under a newly approved amendment, the candidates would have to invest in a Bulgarian company involved in a high-priority investment project in industry, infrastructure, transport or tourism. The investors are also required to have...

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The Xbox 720 Is Coming Sooner Than Anyone Anticipated

After almost three years without an update, and with Windows 8 sales flailing, Microsoft will release a new Xbox just in time for Christmas next year, sources told Bloomberg’s Dina Bass and Ian King. Last year Microsoft had said that it wouldn’t release a new version of the gaming system “anytime soon,” with other sources talking up a date sometime in 2013 “at the earliest.” This new Christmas launch...

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Producer sues Pythons over ‘Spamalot’ royalties

LONDON (AP) — It’s no joking matter.A producer of the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is suing the British comedy troupe over royalties from the hit stage musical “Spamalot.”Producer Mark Forstater wants a bigger share of proceeds from the show, which is based on the Pythons’ 1975 movie spoof of the legend of King Arthur.Lawyers for Monty Python are contesting Forstater’s claim and will present...

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Ukraine fights spreading HIV epidemic

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Andrei Mandrykin, an inmate at Prison No. 85 outside Kiev, has HIV. He looks ghostly and much older than his 35 years. But Mandrykin is better off than tens of thousands of his countrymen, because is he receiving treatment amid what the World Health Organization says is the worst AIDS epidemic in Europe.Ahead of World AIDS Day on Saturday, international organizations have urged...

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A Pet Food Store Fights to Survive Sandy

When Robert Freed walked into Pet Foods Plus, his flooded store on Midland Avenue in Staten Island, two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, he knew what he smelled immediately: the stench of rotten kibble and cat food, a few tons of it. During good times, that $ 250,000 worth of inventory was the equivalent of Freed’s bank. Now his windows had been broken, the walls had been pushed in by the storm surge,...

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RIM jumps 10 percent in Toronto trade after Goldman upgrade

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Lindsay Lohan arrested on assault charge in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — Actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested Thursday after police said she hit a woman during an argument at a New York City nightclub.The “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday” star was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with third-degree assault.She left a police precinct nearly four hours later with a black jacket pulled over her head. She was wearing leggings, a green mini skirt and high-heels, and...

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Deaths more common on popular heart drug: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People with a common type of abnormal heart rhythm were more likely to die within several years if they had been prescribed digoxin, a drug used to help control abnormal heart rates, in a new analysis.The research involved 4,060 people with atrial fibrillation, in which the heart’s upper chambers quiver chaotically instead of contracting normally. More than two-thirds of...

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IMF says Spain’s financial reform on track, challenges ahead

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s financial sector reform is on track and all deadlines have been met so far but difficult steps still lie ahead while risks for the economy and the country’s lenders remain high, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.The report follows European Commission approval of the recapitalization plans of four nationalized Spanish banks, under a 100 billion euro European...

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US rabbi says jailed American in good health

HAVANA (AP) — A prominent New York rabbi and physician visited an American subcontractor serving a long jail term in Cuba and said the man is in good health, despite his family’s concerns about a growth on his right shoulder.Rabbi Elie Abadie, who is also a gastroenterologist, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview following Tuesday’s 2 1/2-hour visit at a military hospital in Havana...

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Rihanna’s “Unapologetic” tops Billboard album chart

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – R&B singer Rihanna shot straight to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart on Tuesday with her seventh record “Unapologetic,” scoring her first No. 1 album despite mixed reviews.“Unapologetic,” which topped iTunes charts in 43 countries just hours after its release on November19, sold 238,000 copies according to Billboard, scoring the 24-year-old singer from Barbados...

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In Israel, some rebel against circumcision

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Circumcision is one of Judaism’s most important laws and for generations of faithful it has symbolized a Biblical covenant with God.But in Israel, more and more Jewish parents are saying no to the blade.“It’s such a taboo in Israel and in Judaism,” said Gali, nursing her six-week-old son, about the decision not to have him circumcised.“It’s like coming out of the closet,” she...

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OECD: Europe weighing on global economy

PARIS (AP) — The global economy could easily slide back into recession if its major problems are left to fester, a leading international economic body said Tuesday.In its half-yearly update, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that the recovery will be “hesitant and uneven” over the coming two years and that a new major contraction cannot be ruled out.“The world economy...

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Nintendo says more than 400,000 Wii Us sold in US

NEW YORK (AP) — Nintendo has sold more than 400,000 of its new video game console, the Wii U, in its first week on sale in the U.S., the company said Monday.The Wii U launched on Nov. 18 in the U.S. at a starting price of $ 300. Nintendo said the sales figure, based on internal estimates, is through Saturday, or seven days later.The Wii U is the first major game console to launch in six years. It...

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New Jersey’s Christie, more popular than ever, seeks re-election

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican star who has enjoying record-high popularity for his hands-on approach to Superstorm Sandy, on Monday filed papers announcing his intention to seek a second term next November.Christie, a popular surrogate on Republican Mitt Romney‘s failed presidential campaign, delivered the keynote address at the Republican National Convention...

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Leading U.S. Democrat Durbin embraces future Medicare reforms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, one of U.S. President Barack Obama‘s leading allies, urged fellow liberals on Tuesday to consider reforming the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs that they have long fought to shield from cuts.“Progressives should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of Medicare and Medicaid” programs for the...

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Is Jordan Headed for an Arab Spring?

In 2011, during the first wave of the Arab Spring, Jordan stood out as an oasis of stability. Recurrent but largely peaceful protests demanding political reform led to two prime ministers being sacked by King Abdullah II in February and October. This year, in the movement’s next wave, some protesters have shifted their focus to direct criticism of the  monarch—an act that can lead to a prison...

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Yes, the Government Can Still Spy on Your Digital Life (for Now)

Ahead of a controversial Senate debate on digital privacy this week, the battle over warrantless cell-phone and Internet searches is beginning to take shape — even as law-enforcement agencies continue to carry out the searches anyway. Judges across the country have thrown out cases that used tracked digital American lives without warrants, but others haven’t, reports The New York Times‘s Somini...

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