BBC must reform or die, says Trust chairman

LONDON (Reuters) – The BBC could be doomed unless it makes radical changes, the head of its governing trust said on Sunday, after its director general quit to take the blame for the airing of false child sex abuse allegations against a former politician.Chris Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, said confidence had to be restored if the publicly funded corporation...

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China’s Alibaba Group Q2 net profit doubles: SEC filing

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China‘s Alibaba Group more than doubled its April-June net profit and grew sales by 71 percent for the period, proving the country’s largest e-commerce firm has shrugged off intensifying competition in the sector.Yahoo Inc which sold a partial stake in Alibaba back to the privately-owned group in September, still holds 24 percent of...

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BBC head says broadcaster must reform or die

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain‘s BBC could be doomed unless it makes radical changes, the head of its governing trust said, after its director general quit to take the blame for the airing of false child sex abuse allegations against a former politician.BBC Trust chairman Chris Patten said on Sunday confidence had to be restored if the publicly funded corporation...

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Protective eye gear cuts field hockey injuries

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Fewer high school field hockey players get head and face injuries when they’re required to don protective eyewear, according to a new comparison of states with and without those policies in effect.Researchers were looking into worries that the equipment, while preventing eye injuries, might encourage players to get more physical...

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Asian shares held back by weak Japan GDP, U.S. fiscal cliff

TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares were capped on Monday as investors’ concerns about the fiscal crisis in the United States and Greece’s bailout program dented optimism over the growth prospects of the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China.Adding to the uncertainty, Japan reported that its economy shrank 0.9 percent in July-September...

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Twin explosions strike southern Syrian city

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria‘s state-run news agency says two large explosions have struck the southern city of Daraa, causing multiple casualties and heavy material damage.SANA did not immediately give further information or say what the target of Saturday’s explosions was. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights...

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Taiwan’s HTC settles patent disputes with Apple

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp. has settled with Apple Inc. on their outstanding patent disputes.In a joint statement Sunday, the two companies said they also signed a 10-year license agreement that will extend to current and future patents held by one other. Apple and HTC had battled patents...

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Is “Our Kind of Traitor” next for Mads Mikkelsen?

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Since winning the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Thomas Vinterberg‘s “The Hunt,” Mads Mikkelsen has been inundated with offers for new projects.Mikkelson, who also stars in Denmark’s entry for the foreign Oscars, “A Royal Affair,” has yet to decide what he will do next, according to his representatives....

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Boehringer Ingelheim to start late-stage hepatitis C drug trial

BOSTON (Reuters) – Boehringer Ingelheim said on Saturday it plans to initiate a late-stage clinical trial of its experimental hepatitis C treatment following promising results from earlier studies.The company announced final data from a mid-stage trial of its treatment regimen which showed that 69 percent of patients in the study were free of the virus...

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Obama Hangs Tough on the Fiscal Cliff

President Barack Obama made clear today that he plans to take a tough line in budget negotiations with congressional Republicans. That pretty much assures that there will be no deal soon and we’ll be hearing about the “fiscal cliff” of automatic spending cuts and scheduled tax hikes long past Jan. 1.The fiscal cliff is scheduled to be reached at the start...

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