2 arrested after Guinea treasury chief killed

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Officials in the West African nation of Guinea say they’ve arrested two suspects in the case of the killing of the country’s treasury chief, who was shot to death nearly two months ago.Authorities paraded the pair in front of journalists Friday. Aissatou Boiro was killed as she was driving home. She had launched an investigation into the loss of 13 million francs ($ 1.8 million)...

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Facebook Instagram use dived after photo fiasco: AppData

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s Instagram lost almost a quarter of its daily users a week after it rolled out and then withdrew policy changes that incensed users who feared the photo-sharing service would use their pictures without compensation.Instagram, which Facebook bought for $ 715 million this year, saw the number of daily active users who accessed the service via Facebook bottom out...

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It’s husband No. 3 for actress Kate Winslet

NEW YORK (AP) — Kate Winslet has tied the knot again.The Oscar-winning actress wed Ned Rocknroll in New York earlier this month. The private ceremony was attended by Winslet‘s two children as well as a few friends and family members, her representative said Thursday.It is the third marriage for the 37-year-old Winslet. She was previously married to film directors Jim Threapleton and Sam Mendes.The...

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State’s first flu death is Tulsa County resident

A Tulsa County resident between the ages of 19 and 64 is the first person in Oklahoma to die from the flu this season.Since Sept. 30 there have been 24 hospitalizations due to flu reported in Tulsa County, the most for any county in the state.Oklahoma County has reported 10, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health.There have been 75 flu hospitalizations throughout the state. Twenty-one...

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HSBC to refund forgotten ATM cash

27 December 2012 Last updated at 08:40 ETHigh Street bank HSBC is to join RBS in refunding customers who forget to take their cash from ATMs following withdrawals.HSBC said it would automatically refund money left in cash machines since May 2005, although the process would not be immediate.Notes are sucked back into a machine if the user fails to take the cash within 30 seconds.This could occur, a...

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China tightening controls on Internet

BEIJING (AP) — China‘s new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.The measures suggest China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November share their predecessors’ anxiety about the Internet’s potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their...

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750,000 Android apps invade OS X thanks to BlueStacks App Player

Earlier this year, BlueStacks App Player made headlines by allowing Android apps run on Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 8 platform. The company announced on Thursday its App Player is now available in beta form for free on Mac, giving OS X users access to 750,000 Android apps normally reserved for smartphones and tablets.[More from BGR: Google names 12 best Android apps of 2012]BlueStacks uses...

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Natalie Portman, Kristen Stewart most bankable Hollywood stars

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Actresses Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart are Hollywood’s most bankable stars and provide studios with the highest average returns for their films, according to Forbes.com.Academy award winner Portman topped the list of best actors for the buck, providing about $ 42.70 for every dollar she earns.“Black Swan,” for which she won her best actress Oscar, was produced for an estimated...

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U.S. retailers scramble after lackluster holiday sales

(Reuters) – The 2012 holiday season may have been the worst for retailers since the 2008 financial crisis, with sales growth far below expectations, forcing many to offer massive post-Christmas discounts in hopes of shedding excess inventory.While chains like Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Gap Inc are thought to have done well, analysts expect much less from the likes of book seller Barnes & Noble Inc...

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Afghan bomber attacks near major US base

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A vehicle driven by a suicide bomber exploded at the gate of a major U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing the attacker and three Afghans, Afghan police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.Police Gen. Abdul Qayum Baqizai said a local guard who questioned the vehicle driver at the gate of Camp Chapman was killed along with two...

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