Taylor Swift keeps Bruno Mars out of Billboard 200 top spot

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country pop star Taylor Swift held her reign at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, keeping retro-inspired R&B singer Bruno Mars‘ new album at bay.Swift’s latest album, “Red,” released in October, held the No. 1 slot for a fifth non-consecutive week with sales of 208,000, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.Mars’ second album, “Unorthodox Jukebox,”...

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U.N. Suspends Polio Campaign in Pakistan After Killings of Workers

B.K. Bangash/Associated PressA Pakistani woman administered polio vaccine to an infant on Wednesday in the slums of Islamabad. Militants have killed nine polio workers this week. LAHORE, Pakistan — The front-line heroes of Pakistan’s war on polio are its volunteers: young women who tread fearlessly from door to door, in slums and highland villages, administering precious drops of vaccine to children...

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Illinois jobless rate falls to 8.7%

Illinois' unemployment rate dipped to 8.7 percent in November. (Bloomberg...

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White House pushes gun policy effort after Newtown shooting

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama directed a Cabinet group on Wednesday to give him recommendations by next month...

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Madonna leads Billboard’s top-grossing tours

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – While this year’s pop charts have been dominated by young singers, it is veteran music stars, led by Madonna, who are commanding big money in tour ticket sales, according to a new Billboard list released on Tuesday.Madonna, 54, topped Billboard‘s list of highest-grossing live tours, earning an estimated $ 228.4 million in ticket sales from her sold-out ninth worldwide tour...

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Boehner: Blame tax hikes on Obama

US Speaker of the House John Boehner speaks on the "fiscal cliff" during press conference Wednesday. ...

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Chicago prison inmates used bedsheets to escape: official

Chicago Tribune reporter Rosemary Regina Sobol has the latest details of two convicted bank robbers who escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago early this morning. (Posted on: Dec. 18, 2012.) ...

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EU’s Almunia sets deadline for Google antitrust plan

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union set Google an ultimatum on Tuesday, giving it a month to come up with detailed proposals to resolve a two-year investigation into complaints that it used its power to block rivals, including Microsoft.The EU’s antitrust chief, Joaquin Almunia, delivered the deadline in a meeting with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in Brussels.If it fails to address the...

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Ben Stiller’s Red Hour sells two more comedies to ABC Studios

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Ben Stiller‘s Red Hour Television is continuing to pump out comedies for ABC Studios.Following the sale of “Complikated” in October, the production company has sold network’s production division two new series – “You’re Not Doing It Right” and “Between Two Kings” – a rep for Red Hour told TheWrap on Monday.Comedian Michael Ian Black writes, stars and produces in the former,...

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World Briefing | Science and Health: Lack of Funds Could Weaken Malaria Fight, Report Says

The world has made great progress against malaria in the last decade, but the fight is stalling for lack of funds, the World Health Organization’s annual report on malaria concluded on Monday. The amount spent on the disease by all countries rose to $1.8 billion last year, compared with $100 million in 2000, and, as a result, about one million children’s lives were probably spared over that time,...

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