Obama accepting corporate cash for inaugural

After the most expensive campaign in U.S. history, President Obama is dropping his principled objection to some forms of political fundraising to help pay for the post-election party.ABC News has learned that the Presidential Inaugural Committee will accept unlimited corporate donations to help fund Obama's inauguration festivities next month, reversing a voluntary ban on the money he ...

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Toronto mayor to stay in power pending appeal of ouster

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford can stay in power pending an appeal of a conflict of interest ruling that ordered him out of his job as leader of Canada’s biggest city, a court ruled on Wednesday.Madam Justice Gladys Pardu of the Ontario Divisional Court suspended a previous court ruling that said Ford should be ousted. Ford’s appeal of that ruling is set to be heard on January 7, but a...

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mtvU honors Frank Ocean, wounded Pakistani teen

NEW YORK (AP) — The mtvU network is honoring a rap superstar who detailed his love for another man and a Pakistani girl shot for her education advocacy as its Man and Woman of the Year.Frank Ocean, who earned six Grammy nominations Wednesday, published a letter online about his first love, a man, just as his “channel ORANGE” disc was being released. MtvU on Thursday called it “an incredibly brave...

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Vitamin D, calcium disappoint in dementia study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Vitamin D and calcium supplements taken together in low doses offered no protection against dementia in a large U.S. study of older women, but scientists are still holding out hope for vitamin D alone.Past research has suggested that vitamin D might protect against memory loss and overall functional decline in the aging brain. But more than 2,000 women in the new study...

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Pelosi slams GOP for taking break amid talks

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi today ripped House Republicans for scheduling a five-day break amid the " fiscal cliff" debate, asking why the chamber is not in session "trying to build confidence" and "find common ground" with only 26 days left until a mix of steep tax hikes and spending cuts take effect."Here we are, Thursday in December. The talk around here is what's going on at the...

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Facebook’s Instagram cuts support for key Twitter integration

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s recently acquired photo-sharing service, Instagram, removed a key element of its integration with Twitter, signaling a deepening rift between two of the Web’s dominant social media companies.Instagram’s Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said Wednesday his company turned off support for Twitter “cards” in order to drive Twitter users to Instagram’s own website....

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Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck dead at 91

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, whose choice of novel rhythms, classical structures and brilliant sidemen made him a towering figure in modern jazz, has died at the age of 91, his longtime manager and producer Russell Gloyd said on Wednesday.Brubeck died of heart failure on Wednesday morning after he fell ill on his way to a regular medical exam at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn.,...

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With Teva at crossroads, new CEO set to unveil vision

NEW YORK/TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries‘ new Chief Executive Jeremy Levin has promised investors it will be a very different company going forward. Next week he has to prove it.Levin’s ability to paint a bright future for the world’s biggest maker of generic drugs at a meeting with investors and analysts on December 11 in New York became a bit more difficult last week, when Teva...

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White House preps Plan B if debt talks fail

White House press secretary Jay Carney (Charles Dharapak/AP)President Barack Obama's budget office is preparing for the possibility that "fiscal cliff" talks will fail, triggering painful automatic cuts to domestic and defense programs that he and his Republican foes officially want to avoid. White House press secretary Jay Carney described the planning as an abundance of caution, not pessimism about...

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WestJet embraces tech to woo business travelers

TORONTO (Reuters) – WestJet Airlines Ltd will use technological innovation, including a new Internet ticket booking system, to help it transform from a no-frills carrier to a lower-cost full-service airline courting lucrative corporate travelers, its chief executive said on Monday.Canada’s second-biggest airline plans to launch a series of technology systems, most notably the new online booking engine,...

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