Egypt’s Mursi calls referendum as Islamists march

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt‘s President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution on Saturday as at least 200,000 Islamists demonstrated in Cairo to back him after opposition fury over his newly expanded powers.Speaking after receiving the final draft of the constitution from the Islamist-dominated assembly, Mursi urged a national dialogue as the country nears the end of the...

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“Hobbit” may bring a Hollywood ending to 2012 box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – It took more than a decade, two directors and a lawsuit before “The Hobbit” made it to the big screen. Hollywood executives are crossing their fingers that the culmination of that journey will help smash movie box office records this year.The film, which opens on December 14, is expected to contribute to the first annual box office increase in North America in three years,...

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Asperger’s dropped from revised diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) — The now familiar term “Asperger‘s disorder” is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But “dyslexia” and other learning disorders remain.The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation’s psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.Full details...

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Obama warns of Scrooge Christmas

30 November 2012 Last updated at 16:33 ETUS President Barack Obama has warned of a “Scrooge Christmas” if tax breaks are not renewed for working families in a deal to avert a so-called fiscal cliff.Mr Obama made the remarks as he tried to win public support for his plan on a visit to a toy-maker in Pennsylvania.But Republican House Speaker John Boehner said talks with the White House had gone “almost...

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Oliver Stone, Benicio del Toro visit Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Benicio Del Toro didn’t wait long to collect on a favor that Oliver Stone owed him for working extra hours on the set of his most recent movie, “Savages”, released this year.The favor? A trip to Del Toro‘s native Puerto Rico, which Stone hadn’t visited since the early 1960s.“I told him, you owe me one,” Del Toro said with a smile as he recalled the conversation during...

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Act of kindness turns New York cop into media darling

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. national media just got the perfect holiday gift: a feel-good tale about a young police officer who dug into his own pocket to put boots on a barefoot panhandler on a freezing city sidewalk.Even better was the way the story of New York City Police Officer Larry DePrimo‘s kindness unfolded.Thanks to a blurry Facebook photo snapped on a cell phone by a tourist who happened...

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Korean pop rides “Gangnam Style” into U.S. music scene

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Gangnam Style,” the catchy Korean song by rapper Psy, may have danced its way into the American charts but the Korean pop industry isn’t horsing around when it comes to capitalizing on the singer’s phenomenal U.S. success.With “Gangnam Style” topping the current Billboard Digital Songs chart and becoming the most-watched video on YouTube ever with more than 800 million views,...

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Obama cranks up “fiscal cliff” pressure, Boehner says talks stalemated

HATFIELD, Penn. (Reuters) – President Barack Obama turned up the pressure in “fiscal cliff” talks on Friday, hitting the road to drum up support for his drive to raise taxes on the wealthy and warning Americans that Republicans were offering them “a lump of coal” for Christmas.In a visit to a Pennsylvania toy factory, Obama portrayed congressional Republicans as Scrooges who risked sending the country...

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Noisy city: Cacophony in Caracas sparks complaints

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — This metropolis of 6 million people may be one of the world’s most intense, overwhelming cities, with tremendous levels of crime, traffic and social strife. The sounds of Caracas‘ streets live up to its reputation.Stand on any downtown corner, and the cacophony can be overpowering: Deafening horns blast from oncoming buses, traffic police shrilly blow their whistles and sirens...

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“Homeland” in, “Boardwalk Empire” out in PGA TV nominations

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Emmy-winning dramas “Homeland”, “Mad Men” and British period piece “Downton Abbey” will compete for the annual Producers Guild Awards for the top shows on U.S. television, organizers announced on Wednesday.But last year’s winner – HBO’s lavish Prohibition-era gangster drama “Boardwalk Empire” – failed to make the cut this year with the Producers Guild of America, one of the...

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