Aneurysm repair: less invasive approach better
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A less-invasive way to repair a dangerous bulge in the body’s main artery may be the best choice for many people, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
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Clooney aims to shine celebrity light on U.N.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Academy Award winning actor George Clooney became a U.N. messenger of peace on Thursday, pledging to use his fame to “shine a light” on peacekeeping efforts, particularly in Sudan’s Darfur.
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U.S. warns of suicidal actions with epilepsy drugs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials alerted doctors on Thursday that medicines used to treat epilepsy and psychiatric disorders may raise the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior.
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Suspected bird flu shuts Hong Kong park’s aviaries
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong theme park is to shut its aviaries for three weeks following the discovery of a wild heron suspected of dying from bird flu.
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UK defense ministry may sell radio spectrum
LONDON (Reuters) - The British government, including the Ministry of defense (MoD), will be able to share or trade some of the most valuable radio spectrum in the country under new guidelines being drawn up by the communications regulator.
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Japan researchers put tiny camera in mouse’s brain
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese researchers have implanted a small camera inside a mouse’s brain to see how memory is formed, in an experiment they hope to some day apply to humans to treat illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease.
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Sprint sees Nextel write-off of up to $31 billion
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp said on Thursday that it might have to write off all of the $30.7 billion goodwill value from its purchase of Nextel Communications and smaller deals as it struggles with customer losses.
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Raptors rack up huge win over Wizards
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Raptors crushed the Washington Wizards 122-83 on Wednesday, equaling the franchise record for their biggest winning margin and gaining revenge for an overtime loss to the same opponent a day earlier.
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Ericsson’s Redback CEO leaves executive role
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The head of telecom equipment maker Ericsson’s Redback Networks unit is leaving his executive position to become vice chairman of the unit, Redback’s chairman said on Thursday.
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Packers’ McCarthy named Coach of the Year
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Mike McCarthy was named the NFL Coach of the Year Wednesday after guiding the Green Bay Packers to a 13-3 record and within one game of the Super Bowl.
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Strokes rise sharply in China economic boom: study
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The number of strokes caused by brain blood clots rose by almost 9 percent each year in Beijing in the two decades to 2004, researchers say, blaming the trend on economic prosperity and lifestyle changes.
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Premature births lower in women taking folic acid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women who take folic acid supplements for at least a year before becoming pregnant can greatly reduce their risk of delivering a baby prematurely, researchers said on Thursday.
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Imperious Woods sprints two shots clear in Dubai
DUBAI (Reuters) - An imperious Tiger Woods, who won the Buick Invitational in California by eight shots on Sunday, charged into a two-stroke lead after the Dubai Desert Classic first round on Thursday.
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Pedro Feliz signs deal with Phillies
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Philadelphia Phillies have signed third baseman Pedro Feliz on a two-year, $8.5 million contract, the Major League club said on Thursday.
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Generation Y: Tech-savvy grads with pushy parents
LONDON (Reuters) - They may be a whiz with the computer and brimming with confidence, but would you give “Generation Y” a job if you had to suffer their pushy parents and fairweather notions of loyalty?
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Videogames give actors second chance
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - You may know actor Keith David for starring opposite Kurt Russell in the 1982 horror film ‘The Thing’, or for his Tony Award-winning role in the 1992 production of ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’.
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Bolshoi to reopen late in 2009 after rescue work
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre will reopen after restoration in November 2009, a year behind schedule, after emergency work to save it from collapse, officials said on Thursday.
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Top Google execs pledged to stay 20 years: report
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc’s top three executives had pledged to work together for 20 years in a pact they made shortly before the company’s initial public offering in August 2004, Fortune magazine has reported.
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Red Wings fly out of All-Star break with comeback win
DETROIT (Reuters) - Nicklas Lidstrom sparked a third period comeback as the high-flying Detroit Red Wings rallied past the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 on Wednesday, stretching their winning streak to five games.
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Ah, that’s the spot: Why scratching brings relief
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Oh, it brings such blessed relief and now scientists can tell you why — scratching an itch temporarily shuts off areas in the brain linked with unpleasant feelings and memories.
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That’s Showbuzz! Highlights of U.S. celeb magazines
NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters Life!)- Here is a round-up of this week’s U.S. celebrity magazines Life and Style, People, Us Weekly and In Touch Weekly. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
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Burress defends bold prediction of Giants victory
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Plaxico Burress defended his prediction on Wednesday that his New York Giants would end the New England Patriots’ winning streak at 18 in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
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Giants kicker Tynes aims to win it all in Super Bowl
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Kicker Lawrence Tynes, who will become the first Briton to play in the Super Bowl when he takes the field against the unbeaten New England Patriots on Sunday, relishes an opportunity to win it all for his New York Giants.
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Epsom salt can prevent cerebral palsy: U.S. study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Giving a woman an infusion of Epsom salts when she goes into premature labor can help protect her baby from cerebral palsy, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
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“Trailer” a shaky construction of ramshackle laughs
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - One of the less felicitous cultural exports in its history, the Canadian-made “Trailer Park Boys: The Movie” demonstrates that the country that has contributed so much to comedy isn’t exactly infallible in its instincts.
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Wild ease to big victory over slumping Ducks
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Anaheim Ducks continued their bad run of form with a fourth straight defeat on Wednesday, last season’s Stanley Cup winners going down 5-1 to the Minnesota Wild as both teams returned from the All-Star Break.
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Auction bid triggers airwaves open access
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bidder on Thursday offered $4.71 billion for a key slice of wireless airwaves being sold by the government, triggering a condition that the spectrum be accessible to any device or software application.
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Soccer matches can break fans’ hearts - literally
BOSTON (Reuters) - Watching a big soccer match can strain a fan’s heart — not just figuratively, but literally, German researchers reported on Wednesday.
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Just a minute with pop star Kylie Minogue
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has made a full-scale comeback after a serious bout of breast cancer in 2005.
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TV shows will not air Heath Ledger video
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two U.S. celebrity television shows say they will not air a highly publicized video said to show deceased actor Heath Ledger discussing drug use at a wild party in a Los Angeles hotel two years ago.
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Siemens extends amnesty offer in corruption probe
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Siemens AG has extended its amnesty offer to employees in connection with a probe into a corruption scandal until the end of February, the company said on Thursday.
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Colts’ Sanders named Defensive Player of the Year
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Hard-hitting Indianapolis Colts safety Bob Sanders has been named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Wednesday.
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Gostkowski will not be haunted by ghost of Vinatieri
PHOENIX (Reuters) - New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski refuses to live in the shadow of Super Bowl hero Adam Vinatieri.
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Britney Spears hospitalized again
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Troubled pop star Britney Spears was in a Los Angeles hospital for the second time in a month on Thursday after being taken from her home in the middle of the night by ambulance and a fleet of police.
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Danes tapped for “Orson Welles”
LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - Claire Danes has joined the cast of Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” an adaptation of the period coming-of-age novel by Robert Kaplow.
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Infant study casts doubt on vaccine-autism link
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The mercury in a vaccine preservative is pumped out of a baby’s body too quickly for it to do any damage, researchers reported on Wednesday in a study they say should further absolve shots of causing autism.
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Egypt has only 40 pct Internet after cables break
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt had less than half its Internet capacity available on Thursday because of breaks in two undersea cables that have also affected the Gulf region and south Asia.
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FBI chief pleased with Beijing Games security
BEIJING (Reuters) - The head of the FBI said on Wednesday he expects Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Games to be “secure and safe” while offering China help against potential threats.
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U.S. tops new tech usage ranking
HELSINKI (Reuters) - The United States, Sweden and Japan topped a new ranking that measures how well countries use telecommunications technologies — networks, cell phones and computers — to boost their social and economic prosperity.
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Cable nets offer Super Bowl halftime alternatives
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - For fans unmoved by the prospect of a Tom Petty Super Bowl halftime show, the cable industry has an answer. Many answers, in fact.
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Porn to spice up cell phones
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Size matters in pornography, except when it comes to tiny mobile phone screens, the next frontier for erotica.
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Many children stung by fire ants in southeast U.S.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study suggests that many children in the southeastern United States are stung by fire ants, as evidenced by signs of an immune system reaction to the fire ant venom. Although this can put them at risk for a potentially severe allergic reaction the next time they are stung, the prevalence of severe reactions in this group is very low.
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Hannah Montana concert movie sets presale records
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co’s Hannah Montana concert film dominated U.S. online movie ticket sales on Wednesday, a day ahead of its debut, despite opening in fewer than 1,000 theaters.
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Nobel award comes to London for novelist Lessing
LONDON (Reuters) - British novelist Doris Lessing will receive her Nobel prize for literature on Wednesday, having been unable to attend the prize ceremony in Sweden last year due to ill health.
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Art houses sure market turmoil won’t derail sales
LONDON (Reuters) - Leading auction houses are confident that financial market turmoil will not derail their largest ever European sales next month, despite early signs that wealthy buyers are losing confidence in the booming sector.
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U.S. researcher admits to leaking drug data
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Texas researcher admitted he had leaked a sensitive and controversial report about the heart risks of diabetes drug Avandia to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline, days before the report was due to be released, the journal Nature reported on Wednesday .
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Wallace powers Pistons to win over Pacers
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rasheed Wallace earned the plaudits with 24 points and 10 rebounds to help Detroit beat the Indiana Pacers 110-104 on Tuesday, earning the Pistons their third win in a row.
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Woods surprised at own title wins
DUBAI (Reuters) - Never in his wildest dreams did Tiger Woods guess he would have 13 major championship titles at the age of 32, the world number one said on Wednesday.
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Olympic champion Wariner said to have new coach
ROCKY MOUNT, North Carolina (Reuters) - Olympic and world 400 meters champion Jeremy Wariner will be coached by Michael Ford after parting company with his long-time trainer Clyde Hart, Ford said on Wednesday.
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“Juno” unseats Keys from top of album chart
NEW YORK (Billboard) - The soundtrack to “Juno” moves up from No. 2 to No. 1, becoming the Rhino label’s first chart-topper on the Billboard 200.
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Weight loss by diet or exercise benefits heart
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Shedding excess pounds may restore some of the heart’s youth, whether the weight loss comes from eating less or exercising more, the results of a small study suggests.
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Periodontal disease associated with kidney disease
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Gum disease — also referred to as periodontal disease — and the loss of teeth are nontraditional risk factors that are independently associated with chronic kidney disease, according to the results of a new study.