Japan PM dissolves parliament, planning Dec. vote

TOKYO (AP) — Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolved the lower house of parliament Friday, paving the way for elections in which his ruling party will likely give way to a weak coalition government divided over how to solve Japan's myriad problems.Noda followed through on a pledge to call elections after the opposition Liberal Democratic Party agreed to back several key pieces of legislation, including...

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‘Journey,’ ‘Assassin’s Creed III’ among Spike Video Game Awards nominees

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The artsy downloadable game “Journey” leads the pack of nominees for this year’s Spike Video Game Awards.The PlayStation 3 game received seven nods in such categories as best graphics, independent game, original score and game of the year. Other game of the year nominees are “Assassin’s Creed III,”...

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Jesse & Joy take 4 Latin Grammys, Juanes wins too

LAS VEGAS (AP) — As Colombian rockero Juanes took home the best album award, Mexican brother-sister duo Jesse & Joy and their pop hit "Corre!" ran away with four awards at the 13th Annual Latin Grammys.Hosted by actors Cristian De La Fuente and Lucero, Thursday night's event attracted stars from across the world and from dozens of Latin musical genres to the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Just like...

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Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal report issued Thursday.The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic increases since 1995, the study showed.The South's growing weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead author of the...

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Israel to hold fire during Egypt premier's Gaza visit

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel offered to suspend its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday during a brief visit by Egypt's premier there if militants refrain from firing rockets at Israel, an official said, the first possible break in the escalating conflict.An official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader was responding to an Egyptian request.Prime Minister Hesham Kandil...

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Cambodia arrests 8 over 'SOS' messages for Obama

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Villagers who live next to the Cambodian capital's airport had a message for President Barack Obama, but he won't be seeing it when he lands next week.Authorities on Thursday arrested eight villagers for plastering the U.S. president's picture on their rooftops beside spray-painted messages of "SOS."Their community of about 400 families lives in rickety homes with corrugated...

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RIM offers free voice calls over Wi-Fi with BBM

TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry users will be able to make free voice calls over a Wi-Fi network using the popular BBM messaging service.Research In Motion Ltd. announced Wednesday that it’s adding the feature to BBM. Users will be able to switch back and forth from a text chat to a voice call. A split-screen option will let them talk and text at the same time. The...

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Erdrich wins her first National Book Award

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Awards honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for "The Round House" to Katherine Boo for her debut work, "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers."Erdrich, 58, has been a published and highly regarded author for nearly 30 years but had never won a National Book Award until being cited Wednesday for her story, the second of a planned trilogy, about...

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Booze calories nearly equal soda's for US adults

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol? It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from soft drinks, a government study found.Soda and other sweetened drinks — the focus of obesity-fighting public health campaigns — are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults consume, on average. Alcoholic beverages account for about...

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FBI veteran started Petraeus email probe

The FBI agent who investigated harassing emails to a Florida socialite, a probe that set off a chain of events leading to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus over an extramarital affair, was a veteran investigator who has worked on high-profile terrorism cases.The agent was identified as Frederick Humphries by a former federal agent, a source familiar with the Petraeus investigation and...

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Panetta: Don't jump to conclusions about Allen

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta cautioned Wednesday against reaching early conclusions about the veracity of allegations against the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, who is under investigation for what Pentagon officials have said may be "inappropriate" correspondence with a Florida woman linked to the David Petraeus sex scandal.At a news conference in Australia's...

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Papa John’s falls on news of class-action suit

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Papa John‘s declined on Tuesday following news of class-action certification for a lawsuit that claims the pizza chain had unsolicited text messages sent to cell phones.THE SPARK: The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle claims Papa John‘s violated state and federal law when...

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Guilty plea expected by reputed Conn. mobster

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A 76-year-old reputed Connecticut mobster is expected to plead guilty in a weapons and prescription drugs case that has revealed the FBI's belief that he has information about the largest art heist in history.Robert Gentile, of Manchester, has a change-of-plea hearing scheduled in Hartford federal court on Wednesday. He has pleaded not guilty to allegations he illegally possessed...

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Report: FDA wanted to close Mass pharmacy in 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a decade ago, federal health inspectors wanted to shut down the pharmacy linked to a recent deadly meningitis outbreak until it cleaned up its operations, according to congressional investigators.About 440 people have been sickened by contaminated steroid shots distributed by New England Compounding Center, and more than 32 deaths have been reported since the outbreak began...

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Who's who in the Petraeus scandal

What started out as a leisurely stroll through the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Nov. 11 with his girlfriend, quickly turned into quite a surreal experience for Max Galuppo, 20, of Bloomsbury, N.J. Galuppo, a Temple University student, found his doppelganger in a 16th century...

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Dalai Lama wants thorough probe into Tibet deaths

TOKYO (AP) — Lashing back at criticism from Beijing, the Dalai Lama on Tuesday said China needs to thoroughly investigate the causes of self-immolations by Tibetans and blamed "narrow-minded Communist officials" for seeing Buddhist culture as a threat.The Dalai Lama also called on foreign media and members of Japan's parliament to visit Tibet — though such trips are severely restricted — to see that...

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'Skyfall' brings record Bond debut of $88.4M

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Bond is cashing in at the box office."Skyfall," the 23rd film featuring the British super-spy, pulled in a franchise-record $88.4 million in its U.S. debut, bringing its worldwide total to more than $500 million since it began rolling out overseas in late October.The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross,...

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British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for...

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Petraeus probe ensnares top U.S. commander in Afghanistan

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.Defense Secretary Leon Panetta...

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China delegates swoon at their proximity to power

BEIJING (AP) — Tears welled in Li Jian's eyes whenever President Hu Jintao mentioned the environment in his speech to Communist Party delegates gathered in the Great Hall of the People during China's most important political event of the decade.Hu's exhortation last week to create a "beautiful China" and to "cherish and love nature" spoke to the 55-year-old bioengineer's dearest concerns. Hours later,...

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China’s Alibaba Group Q2 net profit doubles: SEC filing

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China‘s Alibaba Group more than doubled its April-June net profit and grew sales by 71 percent for the period, proving the country’s largest e-commerce firm has shrugged off intensifying competition in the sector.Yahoo Inc which sold a partial stake in Alibaba back to the privately-owned group in September, still holds 24 percent of...

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Laughing in the storm: Comics don't shy from Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) — Comedian Dave Attell told a packed house at the Comedy Cellar that New York after Superstorm Sandy had a familiar feel. "It was dark. Toilets were backing up. ... It was pretty much like it always was."Another comic, Paul Mecurio, told the same crowd that he got so many calls from worried family members that he started making things up about how bad it was."I'm drinking my own urine...

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Food labels multiply, some confuse consumers

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Want to avoid pesticides and antibiotics in your produce, meat, and dairy foods? Prefer to pay more to make sure farm animals were treated humanely, farmworkers got their lunch breaks, bees or birds were protected by the farmer and that ranchers didn't kill predators?Food labels claim to certify a wide array of sustainable practices. Hundreds of so-called eco-labels have cropped...

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Congress wants answers on Petraeus affair

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress said Sunday they want to know more details about the FBI investigation that revealed an extramarital affair between ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer, questioning when the retired general popped up in the FBI inquiry, whether national security was compromised and why they weren't told sooner."We received no advanced notice. It was like a lightning...

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