UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.Edwards...

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G20 defuses talk of "currency war", no accord on debt

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations declared on Saturday there would be no 'currency war' and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets in an indication of concern about the fragile state of the world economy. Japan's expansive policies, which have driven down the yen, escaped criticism in a statement thrashed out in Moscow by financial policymakers from the G20, which groups...

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Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test - source

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks, said a source with direct knowledge of the message. Further tests could also be accompanied this year by another rocket launch, said the source, who has direct access to the top levels of...

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Microsoft says it has no backup plan if mobile efforts continue to sputter

Microsoft’s (MSFT) mobile operating system finally saw slight growth last quarter after failing to gain any real traction for two years, but it still only accounts for an estimated 3% of the global smartphone market. On the tablet front, its Windows RT operating system has not managed to attract serious attention from vendor partners or consumers. As shaky as Microsoft’s mobile comeback attempt...

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Molly Sims: I Nursed a Little Vampire!

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 02/15/2013 at 01:00 PM ET Following the birth of her baby boy, Molly Sims was ready to sink her teeth into breastfeeding.The only problem? Her son Brooks Alan had beaten her to it.“Early on in the hospital, they really want you to breastfeed, so I’m trying everything,”...

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Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction

BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.The findings, published online Thursday in...

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Buffett, Brazil's 3G team up for $23 billion Heinz buyout

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett and Brazilian financier Jorge Paulo Lemann are teaming up to buy ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co for $23.2 billion, in what could be the first step of a wave of mergers for the food and beverage industry. Analysts and people close to the deal said Heinz could be a good starting point to consolidate similar staple food companies, particularly given the larger ambitions...

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Meteorite hits central Russia, more than 500 people hurt

CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings. People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial...

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Sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg signs book deal

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is writing a memoir about her years at the social network website where she was once director of marketing, publisher HarperCollins said on Thursday.Zuckerberg, 30, signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins that will include her memoir “Dot Complicated,” and a children’s picture book, scheduled to be released in...

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American Idol's Top 40 Revealed

TV Watch American Idol By Steve Helling 02/14/2013 at 10:00 PM EST From left: Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Ryan Seacrest, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban Michael Becker/FOX. American Idol really, really wants a woman to win this season. At the beginning of Thursday's...

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Morning-after pill use up to 1 in 9 younger women

NEW YORK (AP) — About 1 in 9 younger women have used the morning-after pill after sex, according to the first government report to focus on emergency contraception since its approval 15 years ago.The results come from a survey of females ages 15 to 44. Eleven percent of those who'd had sex reported using a morning-after pill. That's up from 4 percent in 2002, only a few years after the pills went...

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Euro, shares fall as euro zone recession deepens

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro and shares fell on Thursday after data showed the euro zone's two biggest economies shrank even more than expected late last year, throwing a first quarter recovery into doubt. The German economy contracted 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012, marking its worst performance since the global financial crisis was raging in 2009. Exports, normally the motor...

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North Korea nuclear test prompts stern warnings from neighbors

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - South Korea sent a stern warning to North Korea on Thursday, two days after the North tested a nuclear bomb, saying it could strike the isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent as it deployed a new cruise missile to drive home its point. North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, pushing it further along...

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Newark mayor says beating, witness silence are “evil”

(Reuters) – Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Wednesday condemned the failure of witnesses to alert police after seeing a young man forced to strip naked and whipped over a $ 20 debt – violence revealed only after a cell phone video went viral on the Internet.The two and a half minute video of the beating, which took place in Newark in August, got 40,000 views on YouTube before it was removed from the website,...

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'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius Charged with Girlfriend's Murder

Breaking News By Stephen M. Silverman UPDATED 02/14/2013 at 06:45 AM EST • Originally published 02/14/2013 at 06:30 AM EST Oscar Pistorius – the "Blade Runner" who made history last year as the first paralympian to compete in the able-bodied Olympics – was charged with murder Thursday after...

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Study questions kidney cancer treatment in elderly

In a stunning example of when treatment might be worse than the disease, a large review of Medicare records finds that older people with small kidney tumors were much less likely to die over the next five years if doctors monitored them instead of operating right away.Even though nearly all of these tumors turned out to be cancer, they rarely proved fatal. And surgery roughly doubled patients' risk...

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Stock index futures point to slightly higher start

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday, suggesting the market would continue a recent upward trend that took benchmark indexes near multi-year highs. * Equities have been strong performers of late, with the S&P 500 rising for the past six weeks, putting it up 6.5 percent so far this year. The Dow is about 1 percent from an all-time intraday high, reached...

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Pope asks for support after decision to resign, says strength diminishing

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first public comments since he announced that he would become the first pontiff in centuries to resign, on Wednesday said he was fully aware of the gravity of his decision but confident that it would not hurt the Church. "Continue to pray for me, for the Church and for the future pope," he said in unscripted remarks at the start of his weekly...

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Telenor ramps up investments to support shift to data

OSLO (Reuters) – Mobile telecoms firm Telenor expects to accelerate investments in data and digital services this year as customers flock to its higher margin products, it said on Wednesday.Telenor, which has around 150 million customers in Europe and Asia, will continue to roll out its third generation (3G) service in Thailand and fibre network in Norway to take advantage of “exploding” demand, and...

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Westminster Names Affenpinscher Banana Joe Best in Show

People Pets By Kiran Hefa & Alison Schwartz 02/12/2013 at 11:55 PM EST Westminster has its top dog!After two days of meticulous primping, prizes and the less-pretty realities of any spirited championship, the 137th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show came to its finale Tuesday night, declaring Affenpinscher...

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Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life

The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.There may be more behind the story of why Pope Benedict XVI decided to leave a job normally held for...

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Yen steady, euro dips after G7 urges against FX war

LONDON (Reuters) - The yen hovered near three-year lows against the dollar and the euro fell on Tuesday after the G7 nations urged countries to refrain from competitive devaluations and a U.S. official backed Japan's new anti-deflation policies. The Group of Seven industrialized nations published a statement saying it remained committed to "market-determined" exchange rates, reacting...

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China joins U.S., Japan, EU in condemning North Korea nuclear test

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of existing U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from the United States, Japan, Europe and Pyongyang's only major ally, China, which summoned the North Korean ambassador to protest. The North said the test had "greater explosive force" than the 2006 and 2009 tests. Its KCNA news agency said it had...

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