Election underscores Ghana’s democratic reputation

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Voters in Ghana selected their next president Friday in a ballot expected to mark the sixth transparent election in this West African nation, known as a beacon of democracy in a tumultuous region.Proud of their democratic heritage, residents of this balmy, seaside capital trudged to the polls more than four hours before the sun was even up, standing inches apart in queues that...

Read More..

Rolling Stones hit NY for 50th anniversary gig

NEW YORK (AP) — “Time Waits for No One,” the Rolling Stones sang in 1974, but lately it’s seemed like that grizzled quartet does indeed have some sort of exemption from the ravages of time.At an average age of 68-plus years, the British rockers are clearly in fighting form, sounding tight, focused and truly ready for the spotlight at a rapturously received pair of London concerts last month.On Saturday,...

Read More..

Pfizer/Bristol drug cuts recurrence of blood clots – study

(Reuters) – A new blood clot preventer from Pfizer Inc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co reduced the risk of recurrence of clots in veins and lungs and death by 80 percent with no increase in major bleeding in a study testing extended use of the drug.In the year-long trial of 2,486 patients who had been previously treated for the condition known as venous thromboembolism (VTE) the drug, apixaban, met the...

Read More..

Storm that killed 600 threatens Philippines again

NEW BATAAN, Philippines (AP) — A typhoon that had left the Philippines after killing nearly 600 people and leaving hundreds missing in the south has made a U-turn and is now threatening the country's northwest, officials said Saturday.The weather bureau raised storm warnings over parts of the main northern island of Luzon after Typhoon Bopha veered northeast. There was a strong possibility the disastrous...

Read More..

US works with Russia on Syria, but wants Assad out

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the United States and Russia are committed to trying again to get President Bashar Assad‘s regime and the rebel opposition to talk about a political transition in Syria, setting aside a year and a half of U.S.-Russian disagreements that have paralyzed the international community.Clinton stressed, however, that...

Read More..

‘Post-PC’ is more than just marketing buzz for Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple (AAPL) is no stranger to ditching technologies when it deems them to no longer be useful. The company dropped the floppy disk for a CD-ROM drive on the first iMac and most recently has shifted to building MacBooks and iMacs without any physical disc drives. In his first televised interview on NBC’s Rockcenter with Brian Williams, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that he has “ditched physical...

Read More..

UK’s Kate and William “saddened” by nurse’s death

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate said on Friday they were “deeply saddened” by the death of a nurse who fell victim to a prank call from an Australian radio station seeking details of the duchess’s condition while she was in hospital for morning sickness.The King Edward VII hospital earlier confirmed the death of the nurse, Jacinda Saldanha.“Their Royal Highnesses were...

Read More..

Boehner says Obama pushing country toward “fiscal cliff”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican House Speaker John Boehner accused President Barack Obama of pushing the country toward the “fiscal cliff” Friday and of wasting another week without progress in talks.With three weeks left before a combination of steep tax hikes and spending cuts kicks in unless Congress intervenes, Boehner said the administration had adopted a “my way or the highway” approach and...

Read More..

Obama accepting corporate cash for inaugural

After the most expensive campaign in U.S. history, President Obama is dropping his principled objection to some forms of political fundraising to help pay for the post-election party.ABC News has learned that the Presidential Inaugural Committee will accept unlimited corporate donations to help fund Obama's inauguration festivities next month, reversing a voluntary ban on the money he ...

Read More..

South Africa military plane crashes in mountains

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African military aircraft on an unknown mission to an area near the village where former President Nelson Mandela lives crashed in a mountain range, officials said Thursday. It was unclear whether there were any survivors.The Douglas DC-3 Dakota, a twin-propeller aircraft, had taken off from Pretoria’s Waterkloof Air Force Base on Wednesday night, said Brig. Gen. Xolani...

Read More..

Apple and Samsung return to court to battle over $1 billion verdict

...

Read More..

mtvU honors Frank Ocean, wounded Pakistani teen

NEW YORK (AP) — The mtvU network is honoring a rap superstar who detailed his love for another man and a Pakistani girl shot for her education advocacy as its Man and Woman of the Year.Frank Ocean, who earned six Grammy nominations Wednesday, published a letter online about his first love, a man, just as his “channel ORANGE” disc was being released. MtvU on Thursday called it “an incredibly brave...

Read More..

Breast Cancer Vaccine a Reality for Women With HER-2 Negative Cancers

COMMENTARY | NeuVax, a breast cancer vaccine, is entering phase III trials. The drug’s manufacturer, Galena Biopharma, announced on Dec. 5, that it signed a distribution deal with TEVA Pharmaceuticals. TEVA will handle the global commercialization and distribution of the drug once it is out of trials. It is about time this is moving forward. We need to make progress toward ending this disease.What...

Read More..

NATO moving missiles, troops to Syria-Turkey border

BEIRUT (AP) — As fears grow in the West that Syrian President Bashar Assad will unleash chemical weapons as an act of desperation, NATO moved forward Thursday with its plan to place Patriot missiles and troops along Syria's border with Turkey to protect against potential attacks.Assad's regime blasted the move as "psychological warfare," saying the new deployment would not deter it from seeking victory...

Read More..

Sri Lanka see backlash from Aussie ‘wounded soldiers’

(Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has warned his team to be wary of a backlash from Australia in their three-test series after the hosts were stung by their series defeat to South Africa earlier this week.Australia’s hopes of snatching the Proteas’ top test ranking ended in a crushing 309-run defeat in the third and final test in Perth on Monday, but Jayawardene took little comfort...

Read More..

Facebook’s Instagram cuts support for key Twitter integration

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s recently acquired photo-sharing service, Instagram, removed a key element of its integration with Twitter, signaling a deepening rift between two of the Web’s dominant social media companies.Instagram’s Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said Wednesday his company turned off support for Twitter “cards” in order to drive Twitter users to Instagram’s own website....

Read More..

Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck dead at 91

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, whose choice of novel rhythms, classical structures and brilliant sidemen made him a towering figure in modern jazz, has died at the age of 91, his longtime manager and producer Russell Gloyd said on Wednesday.Brubeck died of heart failure on Wednesday morning after he fell ill on his way to a regular medical exam at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn.,...

Read More..

With Teva at crossroads, new CEO set to unveil vision

NEW YORK/TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries‘ new Chief Executive Jeremy Levin has promised investors it will be a very different company going forward. Next week he has to prove it.Levin’s ability to paint a bright future for the world’s biggest maker of generic drugs at a meeting with investors and analysts on December 11 in New York became a bit more difficult last week, when Teva...

Read More..

Dems call Republicans 'hostage takers' on debt talks

Screen shot from GOPHostageTakers.comHouse Democrats on Wednesday launched a new microsite, GOPHostageTakers.com, criticizing Republican leaders for not holding a vote to exclusively extend middle-income tax rates for another year as part of avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff.Current tax rates for all income levels are set to automatically increase in 2013 unless Congress takes action this year....

Read More..

Officials: NATO to decide on missiles for Turkey

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO foreign ministers are expected to approve Turkey‘s request for Patriot anti-missile systems to bolster its defense against possible strikes from neighboring Syria.NATO foreign ministers are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels. Parliaments in both nations must approve the deployment, which would also involve several hundred soldiers.Ankara, which has been highly supportive...

Read More..

Longtime editor at DC’s Vertigo imprint leaving

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — DC Entertainment says its executive editor and senior vice president of Vertigo — a groundbreaking imprint whose titles have included “Hellblazer,” ”DMZ” and “Sandman” — is leaving early next year.Karen Berger will step down in March after nearly 20 years at the helm, saying in a statement released by DC late Monday that she is ready for a professional change.During her tenure...

Read More..

Julie Bowen and the Danger of Allergies

What are the odds a child will be exposed to two powerful allergens at the same time? It happened to ” Modern Family” actress Julie Bowen’s son. He was stung by a bee – at the same time he was eating a peanut butter sandwich.The toddler immediately went into anaphylactic shock. His entire face swelled up, including his eyes and lips, and his breathing became labored.“We took him to the ER, where he...

Read More..

Conservative Republicans booted from House budget panel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two of the most conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives have been kicked off the House Budget Committee, a rare move that could make it easier for the panel to advance a deal with Democrats to cut fiscal deficits. Representatives Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan - both favorites of the anti-tax Tea Party movement - are among...

Read More..

Gunmen assassinate peasant leader in Paraguay

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Gunmen murdered one of the surviving leaders of a peasant movement whose land dispute with a powerful politician prompted the end of Fernando Lugo‘s presidency last June.Vidal Vega, 48, was hit four times early Saturday by bullets from a 12-gauge shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver fired by two unidentified men who sped away on a motorcycle, according to an official report...

Read More..

A bachelorette no more: Ashley Herbert weds beau

NEW YORK (AP) — Ashley Hebert (AY’-behr) is no longer a “Bachelorette.”The 28-year-old Maine native got hitched over the weekend in Pasadena, Calif., to 35-year-old J.P. Rosenbaum of Long Island, who proposed to her on the seventh season of the ABC dating reality show “The Bachelorette.” Hebert tweeted that “12/1/12 goes down in history as the best day of my life!!”Natalia Desrosiers, spokeswoman...

Read More..

Estudio asocia método de relajación con la disminución de los sofocos

NUEVA YORK (Reuters Health) – Aunque los estudios sobre losefectos de las técnicas de relajación en los síntomas de lamenopausia dieron resultados contradictorios, un ensayo deSuecia se define a favor del enfoque como una alternativa a laterapia hormonal.Un grupo de mujeres postmenopáusicas entrenadas pararelajarse antes y durante la aparición de los sofocos pudoreducir a la mitad la frecuencia de...

Read More..

Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

ABC News' Christina Ng and Carolyn Durand report:Kate Middleton is pregnant.The most eagerly awaited pregnancy was announced today by St. James Palace on behalf of Middleton and her husband Prince William.The child, whether boy or girl, will eventually be heir to the British throne according to new legislation awaiting final approval.The duchess was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital today in central...

Read More..