Brent holds near $111 on US fiscal uncertainty; Japan supports

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude held near $ 111 per barrel on Thursday as jittery investors stayed on the sidelines with a deadline to avert a U.S. fiscal crisis approaching, while hopes the new Japanese government’s policies will spur demand supported prices.U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers resumed talks on Wednesday over the so-called fiscal cliff – tax hikes and spending cuts...

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Toronto reaches skyward, but how dark the clouds?

TORONTO (Reuters) – Barry Fenton walked to the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows in his 30th-floor uptown Toronto penthouse suite and declared, “This is the best view of the city.”To the south, a mass of steel-and-glass skyscrapers glinted in the bright autumn sun. Several cranes were in motion on unfinished buildings, a common sight in a city in the midst of a residential building boom.“If you look...

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Huawei shows off 6.1-inch Android phablet ahead of CES [video]

Title Post: Huawei shows off 6.1-inch Android phablet ahead of CES [video]Rating: 100%based on 99998 ratings.5 user reviews.Author: Fluser SeoLinkThanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comm...

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Britain’s royal family attends Christmas services

LONDON (AP) — Britain‘s royal family is attending Christmas Day church services — with a few notable absences.Wearing a turquoise coat and matching hat, Queen Elizabeth II arrived at St. Mary Magdelene Church on her sprawling Sandringham estate in Norfolk. She was accompanied in a Bentley by granddaughters Beatrice and Eugenie.Her husband, Prince Philip, walked from the house to the church with other...

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Early Childhood Obesity Rates Might Be Slowing Nation-Wide

About one in three children in the U.S. are now overweight, and since the 1980s the number of children who are obese has more than tripled. But a new study of 26.7 million young children from low-income families shows that in this group of kids, the tidal wave of obesity might finally be receding.Being obese as a child not only increases the risk of early-life health problems, such as joint problems,...

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Sale shoppers ‘set to spend £3bn’

26 December 2012 Last updated at 00:11 ETBritish shoppers are expected to spend almost £3bn in the Boxing Day sales, experts have predicted.Millions of bargain-hunters are set to descend on High Streets and shopping centres across the UK.Shops will be cutting prices and opening as early as 06:00 GMT in a bid to tempt customers in.Market analyst Experian says online spending is expected to be the “biggest...

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Bolivia’s Morales visits Cuba after Chavez surgery

HAVANA (AP) — Bolivian President Evo Morales has made a lightning trip to Havana where key ally Hugo Chavez is convalescing after cancer surgery.Morales did not speak to foreign journalists during his weekend visit. Cuban state-run media didn’t confirm that he visited Chavez, but said he came “to express his support” for the Venezuelan president. The Cuban government had invited media to cover Morales’...

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Dozens of Android Games, Apps Discounted for Google Holiday Sale

The Google Play store — that’s the name of the Android “app store,” or the “Android Market” for those of you new to the change — is featuring dozens of game and app sales for Android smartphones and tablets. Well, actually, it’s not; you can see some of the discounted apps on the front page, but there’s no special section of the website or on-device market that says where the ones on sale are, or...

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‘Hobbit’ holds on at $36.9M, ‘Reacher’ does $15.6M

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” easily defended its box-office title, remaining the No. 1 film for a second weekend with $ 36.9 million.A rush of newcomers mostly had modest openings, led by Tom Cruise‘s action tale “Jack Reacher” at No. 2 with $ 15.6 million.The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number...

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Venezuela’s Chavez improving after surgery: officials

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is improving after a cancer operation in Cuba and has started exercising, officials said on Monday, amid doubts over whether the former soldier is in good enough health to continue governing.Vice President Nicolas Maduro said he had spoken by phone with Chavez, who was walking and doing exercises as part of his treatment.“We’ve gotten the best present...

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