U.S. drops China's Taobao website from "notorious" list

 The United States on Thursday dropped a website owned by China's largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, from its annual list of the world's most "notorious markets" for sales of pirated and counterfeit goods.Taobao Marketplace, an online shopping site similar to eBay and Amazon that brings together buyers and sellers, "has been removed from the 2012 List because it has undertaken notable...

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Online gambling companies struggle to clear EU hurdles

A partnership stuck on Friday between bwin.party Digital Entertainment and a Belgian casino group has defused one of many disputes pitting online gambling companies against governments across Europe.The agreement came a month after bwin.party's co-CEO was questioned by Belgian authorities in an escalating license dispute the company said was costing it 700,000 euros ($916,000) in monthly revenue.By...

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Internet regulation seen at national level as treaty talks fail

The world's major Internet companies, backed by U.S. policymakers, got much of what they wanted last week when many nations refused to sign a global telecommunications treaty that opponents feared could lead to greater government control over online content and communications.In rejecting even mild Internet language in the updated International Telecommunications Union treaty and persuading dozens...

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Google could emerge unscathed from federal web search probe: WSJ

Google may not face any major repercussions from the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) two-year-old anti-trust investigation into its web search business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.The FTC might drop the investigation sometime this week based on voluntary changes Google will make to its search practices, rather than making the company sign a formal settlement...

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App aims to keep up with Santa on Christmas Eve

Children eager to track Santa Claus on his annual yuletide journey to homes across the world can download a new mobile app from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).The new app for Windows 8, called NORAD Tracks Santa, is part of a 57-year-long holiday tradition at NORAD of tracking Santa. It will allow children to keep up with him on their mobile devices and joins similar apps for...

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Apple’s New iPad Mini Is Pricey but That Won’t Deter Fans: TechCrunch’s John Biggs

t's officially here: The iPad mini, the subject of endless speculation and rumors over the past year, made its debut Tuesday at the California Theater in San Jose, Calif. The iPad mini starts at $329 and hits store shelves Nov. 2. Pre-sales begin Oct. 26. It boasts a 7.9-inch display, weighs 0.68 pounds and is 7.2mm thick. The design closely resembles the iPod Touch and comes in both black and white.Related:...

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US economic growth improves to 2 pct. rate in Q3

The U.S. economy expanded at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, buoyed by an uptick in consumer spending and a burst of government spending.Growth improved from the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.The pickup in growth may help President Barack Obama's message that the economy is improving. Still, growth remains too weak...

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Disney buying Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion

Disney is paying $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind "Star Wars," from its chairman and founder, George Lucas. It's also making a seventh movie in the "Star Wars" series called "Episode 7," set for release in 2015, with plans to follow it with Episodes 8 and 9 and then one new movie every two or three years.The Walt Disney Co. announced the blockbuster agreement to make...

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Has Obama Been Good for Millionaires?

The question of whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago depends, of course, on the American.For the 12 million unemployed, the answer is most certainly no.But for many of America's millionaires, the answer may be more affirmative.A new study from WealthInsight, the London-based wealth-research and data firm (and yes, they are non-partisan), showed that the United States added...

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Obama Wins 2012 Election: Why Your Taxes Are Going Up

When President Obama and the new Congress begin to tackle important legislation and federal policy in January, one of the key issues will be how to reform America's byzantine tax code.Obama campaigned on a platform to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, declaring that millionaires and billionaires need to "pay their fair share." The president proposed the highly controversial "Buffett Rule,"...

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Gunmen kill six in northeast Nigeria church attack

Gunmen killed six people at a church in northeast Nigeria early on Tuesday, the third year running that Christmas services have come under deadly attack in the country, the military said.The strike took place after a Christmas Eve midnight service outside the town of Potiskum in northeastern Yobe state, where Islamist sect Boko Haram has carried out several attacks this year."Unknown gunmen attempted...

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Egypt constitution approved with 63.8 percent: election committee

Egypt's new constitution, drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, has been approved by 63.8 percent of voters in a two-round referendum, the supreme election committee said on Tuesday.The result, which followed votes held on December 15 and on December 22, matched an earlier unofficial tally given by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood."We have seriously investigated all the complaints,"...

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Affleck Won't Be Running for Senate

Those hoping the United States Senate may get a little less gray and a bit more celebrity-studded won't be getting their Christmas miracle today.Despite speculation, Ben Affleck announced late Monday he would not go after John Kerry's Senate seat in his native Massachusetts if the senator is confirmed as secretary of state.The actor, who has been an increasingly popular presence in the political world...

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First Lady Tracks Santa From Hawaii

While President Obama spent his Christmas Eve afternoon golfing with friends, the first lady was hard at work helping children from across the country track Santa's every move.Mrs. Obama took roughly 30 minutes out of her Hawaiian family vacation to answer calls from children asking where Santa was located as part of the annual NORAD Tracks Santa program run by the North American Aerospace Defense...

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U.S. urges Egyptians to bridge divisions after constitutional vote

The United States on Tuesday urged all sides in Egypt to increase political engagement after Egyptian officials announced that voters had overwhelmingly approved a new constitution drafted by President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies."President Mursi, as the democratically elected leader of Egypt, has a special responsibility to move forward in a way that recognizes the urgent need to bridge divisions,"...

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Little change in overtreatment at doctors' offices

Although some Americans are getting more of beneficial treatments that were underused in the past, including drugs for heart disease, others are still being overtested or overtreated for a range of conditions, according to a new study. Researchers found U.S. doctors' offices made progress on six of nine "quality indicators" for recommended and underused therapies but only scaled back on two of 11...

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‘Dystextia': Gibberish texts sound stroke alarm

Imagine you were a devoted husband, waiting to hear from your wife about her due date after a visit to the obstetrician, and you saw these on your phone: "every where thinging days nighing" "Some is where!" That's what happened last December to a Boston-area man, who knew that autocorrect - known for its bizarre replacements - was turned off on his 11-week-pregnant wife's phone. You'd probably be...

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NRA Takes Fire for Stance on Mental Illness

The National Rifle Association has come under fire by an association of psychiatrists for its characterization of people who commit violent crimes as "monsters," "lunatics" and "insane." The American Psychiatric Association, which represents more than 30,000 mental health professionals, released a statement that expressed its "disappointment" over the gun lobby's use of those terms in the wake of...

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Venezuela's Chavez "improves slightly" after surgery: official

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's condition has "improved slightly" after a cancer operation in Cuba, the information minister said on Monday, amid doubts over whether the former soldier is in good enough health to continue governing. "The patient has shown a slight improvement in his condition," Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said during a terse televised statement, adding the...

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Catholic Church urges Irish to oppose abortion law

The head of Ireland's Catholic Church urged followers in his Christmas Day message to lobby against government plans to legalize abortion. Ireland, the only EU member state that currently outlaws the procedure, is preparing legislation that would allow limited access to abortion after the European Court of Human Rights criticized the current regime. The death last month of an Indian woman who was...

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Thousands mourn U.S.-Mexican singer Jenni Rivera

Thousands of mourners on Wednesday packed a Los Angeles theater to pay their final respects to Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera more than a week after her death in a plane crash. Rivera, 43, best known for her work in the Mexican folk Nortena and Banda genres, died after the small jet she was traveling in crashed in northern Mexico on December 9. Rivera's family, dressed in white, led the memorial...

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Putin offers French tax row actor Depardieu a Russian passport

President Vladimir Putin offered French actor Gerard Depardieu a Russian passport on Thursday, saying he would welcome the 63-year-old celebrity who is embroiled in a bitter tax row with France's socialist government. Weighing into a dispute over a hike in taxes, Putin heaped praise on Depardieu, making the offer of citizenship in response to a question during his annual televised press conference. "If...

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UK's Kate and William to spend Christmas Day with her parents

Britain's Prince William and his pregnant wife Kate will spend Christmas Day with her parents, their office said on Saturday, in a break with the tradition of royals joining Queen Elizabeth at her country estate at Sandringham. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will celebrate in private with Carole and Michael Middleton at their home in the village of Bucklebury, about 50 miles west of London. "The...

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South Africa's Mandela responding to treatment in hospital

Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who is 94, continues to respond to treatment two weeks after being taken to hospital, the government said on Saturday. The Nobel Peace laureate, who has been treated for a lung infection and gallstones after being hospitalized on December 8, was visited by South African President Jacob Zuma, presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said...

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Pope visits jailed butler to grant pre-Christmas pardon

Pope Benedict made a surprise pre-Christmas visit to the jail holding his former butler on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing and leaking documents that alleged corruption in the Vatican. The pope and Paolo Gabriele spent about 15 minutes together before Gabriele was freed and allowed to return to his wife and children in their Vatican apartment, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said. "What...

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Former President George H.W. Bush remains hospitalized

Former President George H.W. Bush, who has been hospitalized for a month undergoing treatment for bronchitis, may not be released from a Houston hospital in time to celebrate Christmas at home as doctors had hoped. Bush, 88, remained in stable condition and doctors were optimistic he would make a full recovery, George Kovacik, a spokesman at Methodist Hospital, said in an emailed statement on Sunday. But...

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