US election fascinates Chinese; some envy voters

BEIJING (AP) — Where can a pop star score a hit by talking about the U.S. Electoral College for 33 minutes? In China, where Gao Xiaosong's straightforward explanation of the system drew more than 1 million hits in four days.Chinese have long been fascinated with U.S. presidential elections, but interest is particularly high this year because Americans are voting at the same time Beijing is going through...

Read More..

The app's the thing as Shakespeare goes digital

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"1197280665","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'6e17bf40-17a4-3095-9fca-875b5ad68011\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'News\' ctopid=\'1499989;1550500;2299500;1720500;1996000;1507989;2523000;1506989;1507489;1035500;2069000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\'...

Read More..

Lucas plans 'little personal films' in future

NEW YORK (AP) — George Lucas is done with "Star Wars," but not with filmmaking.The "Star Wars" creator says he's looking forward to making his "own little personal films" that he doubts will be for the theater crowd.Lucas spoke Friday night at Ebony magazine's Power 100 Gala, days after announcing the sale of his storied Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.05 billion. The deal would allow for more "Star Wars"...

Read More..

Surgery seems best for heart disease in diabetics

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New research shows that people with diabetes and several clogged heart arteries fare better with bypass surgery instead of having stents placed to prop open their blood vessels.Doctors compared the treatments in a study of 1,900 diabetics and looked five years later to see how many had suffered a heart attack, stroke or death. Only 19 percent of the bypass group had, versus 27 percent...

Read More..

One more day: Obama and Romney make their final arguments

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney make a frenetic dash to a series of crucial swing states on Monday, delivering their final arguments to voters on the last day of an extraordinarily close race for the White House. After a long, bitter and expensive campaign, national polls show Obama and Romney are essentially deadlocked ahead of Tuesday's...

Read More..

China's Communists endorse Bo Xilai's expulsion

BEIJING (AP) — China's ruling Communist elite have endorsed the expulsion of former high-flying politician Bo Xilai and approved final preparations for the party's upcoming congress.The official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday that the Central Committee finished a four-day meeting in Beijing. It's the last preparatory meeting before a new leadership is unveiled at the Party Congress that opens Thursday.Xinhua...

Read More..

Google's Android software in 3 out of 4 smartphones

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"1197280665","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'048ccb9d-45dd-354e-b2f5-74c9b098ca33\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'1499989;1550500;2299500;1507989;1506989;1542500;1550000;1507489\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\'...

Read More..

Foxx, Wonder among stars honoring Eddie Murphy

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jamie Foxx, Stevie Wonder, Arsenio Hall, Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan were among the stars who paid tribute to Eddie Murphy for a Spike TV special.The entertainers joined Tyler Perry, Samuel L. Jackson, Russell Brand and Keenan Ivory Wayans for the taping of "Eddie Murphy: One Night Only" Saturday at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles.The elusive comedian, who was nominated for...

Read More..

Floods render NYC hospitals powerless

NEW YORK (AP) — There are few places in the U.S. where hospitals have put as much thought and money into disaster planning as New York. And yet two of the city's busiest, most important medical centers failed a fundamental test of readiness during Superstorm Sandy this week: They lost power.Their backup generators failed, or proved inadequate. Nearly 1,000 patients had to be evacuated.The closures...

Read More..

Campaigning for victory, Romney speeches shift

NEWINGTON, N.H. (AP) — From an airport runway on a cold New Hampshire morning, Mitt Romney faced 2,000 supporters and delivered the same speech he had given the day before — three times on the day before, actually.Romney told his supporters on Saturday, "I won't just represent one party, I'll represent one nation."His stump speech is a carefully crafted 15 minutes that opens a window into campaign...

Read More..