Zynga seeks real-money gambling license in Nevada

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Social games maker Zynga Inc said on Wednesday it filed a preliminary application to run real-money gambling games in Nevada, a significant step in cracking a complex but potentially massive new market that could resuscitate its faltering business.The Nevada Gaming Control Board will now examine whether Zynga is fit to hold a gaming license that would allow gamblers in the...

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Megan Fox Shows Off Sexy Figure on First Red Carpet Since Baby

Caught in the Act 12/08/2012 at 01:10 PM EST Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green John Shearer/Invision/AP She welcomed son Noah Shannon Green in September, and sultry Megan Fox was sexy as ever on her first red carpet since giving birth. The new mom, in a fitted...

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: "Cliff" worries may drive tax selling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors typically sell stocks to cut their losses at year end. But worries about the "fiscal cliff" - and the possibility of higher taxes in 2013 - may act as the greatest incentive to sell both winners and losers by December 31. The $600 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled for the beginning of next year includes higher rates for capital...

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World Briefing | Africa: South Sudan: Journalist Killed

A South Sudanese online journalist was shot and killed late Wednesday outside his home in the capital, Juba, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The journalist, Diing Chan Awuol, who wrote for a number of online news outlets in South Sudan, had published articles critical of the government, its policy toward Sudan and its ties to Sudanese rebel groups. Other journalists said Mr. Chan...

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Crowdfunding websites clamor for clearer regulation

LONDON (Reuters) – A new breed of internet-based financiers are calling for action to end regulatory uncertainty they say is preventing them from getting money to the small and medium-sized businesses that need it.The so-called crowdfunding sector raises cash from members of the public to fund lending and investment. Regulators, however, have proved resistant to pleas for adjustments to rules that...

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Sofia Vergara Wears Lingerie on Set of Fading Gigolo

Sofia Vergara 12/07/2012 at 01:40 PM EST Sofia Vergara on the set of Fading Gigolo Cam Griffith CRI/Splash News Online On the set of her new film with Sharon Stone, Fading Gigolo, curvaceous Sofia Vergara busts a move in black lace lingerie.Vergara, the Modern...

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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Solid jobs data spurs little buying, Apple falls again

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 eked out only a slight gain on Friday as weak consumer sentiment data offset enthusiasm from a better-than-expected jobs report, while the Nasdaq slipped after some investors resumed a sell-off of Apple shares. Wall Street opened higher after the U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payrolls added 146,000 jobs in November. However, the gains faded,...

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Bombers Strike Pakistani Military Base in South Waziristan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Suicide bombers in an explosives-laden car struck a Pakistani military base in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region on Wednesday, killing three soldiers, according to a senior security official in Peshawar. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the vehicle was spotted by guards in a security tower at the walled Javed Sultan Shaheed Camp, a...

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Prince Charles Is 'Thrilled' to Become a Grandfather

12/06/2012 at 01:45 PM EST Prince Charles Allpix/Splash News Online Prince Charles's royal title can't compare to one he will earn next year – grandfather – now that Kate and his son Prince William are expecting their first child. "I'm thrilled," he told reporters Thursday as he was boarding...

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Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans...

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Wall Street gains as Apple rebounds; fiscal talks eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks drifted near the unchanged mark on Thursday as investors postponed big bets before the November employment report on Friday, but technology stocks rose on gains in Apple and Broadcom. Monthly payroll numbers, to be released by the Labor Department, are expected to show a sharp slowdown in jobs growth because of superstorm Sandy. Broadcom boosted...

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The Lede Blog: Clashes in Cairo After Morsi Supporters Attack Palace Sit-In

Last Updated, 1:58 p.m. Supporters of and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt engaged in street battles Wednesday night in Cairo, after Islamists attacked protesters camped outside the gates of the presidential palace, according to journalists and activists who witnessed the raid.Morsi supporters reportedly attempted to stifle coverage by attacking journalists and bloggers, but activists...

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PlayStation 3 was the world’s No.1 Netflix streaming device this year

There are dozens of devices that can stream Netflix (NFLX), but only one can machine be crowned the king of the living room. According to Netflix, that device is Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 console. Without revealing any specific figures, Netflix announced on its blog “in the U.S. and globally, PS3 is the largest TV-connected platform in terms of Netflix viewing” and that “at times, PS3 even surpassed...

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Dave Brubeck, Jazz Icon, Dies at 91

By Kevin O'Donnell 12/05/2012 at 01:30 PM EST Dave Brubeck, the pianist, composer and leader of the iconic Dave Brubeck Quartet, died Wednesday at age 91 in Connecticut, according to the AP. The cause was heart failure.Brubeck, whose music helped define the style of West Coast Jazz in the '50s, is best known...

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Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for longer...

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Wall Street rebounds as banks, Travelers offset Apple

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced in a choppy session on Wednesday as a rally in bank shares and The Travelers, a Dow component, overshadowed Apple's unexpected drop and weakness in the technology sector. Equities staged a turnaround in the face of a drop in Apple , the largest U.S. company by market capitalization and a big weight in both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Apple's stock...

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5 Nations Summon Israeli Envoys to Protest Settlement Plans

JERUSALEM — Britain, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries on Monday to protest Israel’s plans for increased settlement construction, an unusually sharp diplomatic step that reflected the growing frustration abroad with Israel’s policies on the Palestinian issue. After the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last week to upgrade the status...

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Is the iPad Mini as Good as the iPad?

The iPad Mini‘s screen doesn’t have the same “resolutionary” Retina display as its bigger brother, but don’t worry: the Apple snobs appear to have gotten over that. After spending time with his new baby-tablet, The New York Times‘s Nick Bilton gave in, calling the gadget his new “Desert Island Device.” (It replaced his iPhone, by the way.) The inferior screen had worried Bilton like it...

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Holly Madison: I Want Six Kids

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 12/03/2012 at 01:00 PM ET AKM-GSIWith a daughter on the way in March, Holly Madison switched it up by wearing blue to Saturday’s Animal Foundation Happy Anniversary Hour, held at the House of Blues Foundation Room in Las Vegas.It was a welcome change for the...

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CDC says US flu season starts early, could be bad

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.Health officials on Monday said suspected flu cases have jumped in five Southern states, and the primary strain circulating tends to make people sicker than other types. It is particularly hard on the elderly."It looks like it's shaping up to be a bad flu season, but only time will tell,"...

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Wall Street little changed before next "cliff" signal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Tuesday as the market awaited developments in negotiations in Washington to avert a "fiscal cliff" that could push the U.S. economy into recession. Republicans in Congress proposed steep spending cuts to bring down the budget deficit on Monday but gave no ground on President Barack Obama's call to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans,...

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David Oliver Relin, Co-Author of ‘Three Cups of Tea,’ Dies at 49

David Oliver Relin, a journalist and adventurer who achieved acclaim as co-author of the best seller “Three Cups of Tea” (2006) and then suffered emotionally and financially as basic facts in the book were called into question, died Nov. 15 in Multnomah County, Ore. He was 49. David Oliver Relin was a co-author of “Three Cups of Tea.” Some readers questioned...

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Nokia Siemens to sell optical networks unit

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Mobile telecoms equipment joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, which is focusing on its core business, is to sell its optical fiber unit to Marlin Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum.Up to 1,900 employees, mainly in Germany and Portugal, will be transferred to the new company, NSN said on Monday.The company, owned by Nokia and Siemens, has sold a number of product lines since...

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