Booze, smokes on agenda for quirky gov’t group

BELTSVILLE, Md. (AP) — Deep in a secure laboratory just outside Washington sits the federal government‘s heaviest smoker.It is a half-ton hulk of a machine, all brushed aluminum and gasping smoke holes, like a retrofit of equipment used on an Industrial Revolution production line. It can smoke 20 cigarettes at once and conclude which are unsafe because they are counterfeit and which are unsafe merely...

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Tim Cook’s Freshman Year

Prior to his death on Oct. 5, 2011, Steve Jobs made sure that the elevation of Tim Cook—his longtime head of operations and trusted deputy—to Apple chief executive officer would be drama-free. “He goes, ‘I never want you to ask what I would have done,’” recalls Cook. “‘Just do what’s right.’ He was very clear.” In Cook’s first 16 months on the job, Apple has released next-generation iPhones and iPads...

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Anger at Australian radio station over royal hoax

LONDON (AP) — It started out as a joke, but ended in tragedy.The sudden death of a nurse who unwittingly accepted a prank call to a London hospital about Prince William‘s pregnant wife Kate has shocked Britain and Australia, and sparked an angry backlash Saturday from some who argue the DJs who carried out the hoax should be held responsible.At first, the call by two irreverent Australian DJs posing...

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New iPad mini orders will be delivered in time for Christmas

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Viral rapper PSY apologizes for anti-US protests

South Korean rapper and Internet sensation PSY is apologizing to Americans for participating in anti-U.S. protests several years ago.Park Jae-sang, who performs as PSY, issued a statement Friday after reports surfaced that he had participated in concerts protesting the U.S. military presence in South Korea during the early stages of the Iraq war.At a 2004 concert, the “Gangnam Style” rapper performs...

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Twins have simultaneous and free hip replacements

BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) — To make the high school cheerleading team 40 years ago, twins Deborah and Sandra Fanelli performed an acrobatic move called “the flying splits.”The memory recently drew a rueful laugh from the once-active sisters, who in recent years have had trouble simply walking.Severe arthritis has nearly crippled Sandra, known as Sam, who uses a walker. Deb has relied on a cane.But on Friday,...

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‘Fiscal cliff’ woes could extend into 2014-BofA

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – If the United States goes off the “fiscal cliff” and stays there for too long, the economy could suffer into 2014, Bank of America Corp’s head of commercial banking says.Concern about the so-called fiscal cliff is already causing mid-sized businesses to pause activity and to issue special dividends ahead of possible tax increases, Laura Whitley said in an interview...

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Protesters surge around Egypt’s presidential palace

CAIRO (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Egyptian protesters surged around the presidential palace on Friday and the opposition rejected President Mohamed Mursi‘s call for dialogue to end a crisis that has polarized the nation and sparked deadly clashes.The Islamist leader’s deputy said he could delay a December 15 referendum on a constitution that liberals opposed, although the concession only partly...

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No Grammy love for Justin Bieber, One Direction

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Irate fans of Justin Bieber and boy band One Direction took to social media on Thursday to voice their outrage after being snubbed by the Grammys for a chance to win the biggest honors in the music industry.Indie-pop band fun and rapper Frank Ocean led the 2013 nominations, tying with The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Jay-Z and Kanye West for six nods. But The Recording Academy...

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