14 Black Friday Tech Deals Start Early at Walmart

1. Apple iPad 2 — 16GB$ 399Click here to view this gallery. [More from Mashable: Top 10 Twitter Pics of the Week]This year Walmart is starting Black Friday on Thursday, so you can get an early start on your holiday tech savings. You’ll need to gobble up your Thanksgiving dinner early and get over to Walmart; the company...

Read More..

Israel hits Hamas buildings, shoots down Tel Aviv-bound rocket

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza, and the “Iron Dome” defense system shot down a Tel Aviv-bound rocket on Saturday as Israel geared up for a possible ground invasion.Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, said Israeli missiles wrecked the office building of Prime Minister Ismail...

Read More..

Dark Horse graphic novel adaptation “The Strange Case of Hyde” gets new writer

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Screenwriter Albert Torres has come on board to re-write the script for feature film adaptation of the Dark Horse graphic novel, “The Strange Case of Hyde,” one of his representatives has told TheWrap.The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name, which was written by Cole Haddon and published in 2011. “The...

Read More..

Golf-Obsession drove Aussie Batibasaga to mental institution

MELBOURNE, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The desire to improve can drive professional athletes to distraction, but for Australian golfer Rika Batibasaga it became a dangerous obsession that saw him handcuffed and thrown into a Florida mental institution.In 2008, Batibasaga, whose father played international rugby for Fiji, was a 21-year-old living in Florida and...

Read More..

Body found near burned Gulf oil rig

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Divers hired by the owner of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that caught fire recovered a body near the site Saturday evening, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the rig's owner. Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Vega said late Saturday that the unidentified person was found by divers hired by Houston-based Black Elk Energy who were inspecting the platform....

Read More..

‘Journey,’ ‘Assassin’s Creed III’ among Spike Video Game Awards nominees

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The artsy downloadable game “Journey” leads the pack of nominees for this year’s Spike Video Game Awards.The PlayStation 3 game received seven nods in such categories as best graphics, independent game, original score and game of the year. Other game of the year nominees are “Assassin’s Creed III,”...

Read More..

France urges Mali to step up talks with rebels

PARIS (AP) — France‘s president called Thursday for stepped-up talks between Mali’s government and any leaders from its breakaway north “who reject terrorism,” even as African nations geared up for a possible military operation against Islamic extremists there.President Francois Hollande‘s comments suggested a growing openness to dialogue with the extremists,...

Read More..

Why David Geffen is getting the “American Masters” treatment

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – David Geffen is not a singer. Nor is he a movie star. Nor is he a writer.Thus he would seem an odd subject for “American Masters,” a series devoted to artists ranging from Willa Cather to Woody Allen. Yet series creator Susan Lacy claims that the mogul has had a profound impact on American...

Read More..

Feds probe FedEx, UPS over online drug shipments

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — FedEx and UPS have disclosed they are targets of a federal criminal investigation related to their dealings with online pharmacies, which are at the center of an international crackdown on prescription drug abuse.The shipping companies made the disclosures in regulatory filings over the last several weeks. FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald...

Read More..

Signs mount of possible Israeli invasion of Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli aircraft targeted rocket launching operations of Gaza militants early Friday as troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers massed near the Palestinian territory, signaling a ground invasion might be growing near.Fighting between the two sides escalated sharply Thursday with a first-ever militant attack on the Tel Aviv area, menacing Israel's heartland. No casualties were...

Read More..

RIM offers free voice calls over Wi-Fi with BBM

TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry users will be able to make free voice calls over a Wi-Fi network using the popular BBM messaging service.Research In Motion Ltd. announced Wednesday that it’s adding the feature to BBM. Users will be able to switch back and forth from a text chat to a voice call. A split-screen option will let them talk and text at the same time. The...

Read More..

Egypt recalls envoy to Israel after Gaza strike

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed the military commander of Gaza‘s ruling Hamas.In a statement read on state TV late Wednesday, spokesman Yasser Ali said that President Mohammed Morsi recalled the ambassador and asked the Arab League‘s Secretary General to convene an emergency ministerial meeting...

Read More..

Billy Joel, Rihanna fight Pandora over compensation

(Reuters) – Some of music’s most notable names including Billy Joel, Rihanna and Missy Elliott have signed an open letter to Pandora Media Inc opposing the online music company‘s push to change how artists are compensated.Pandora is currently lobbying lawmakers in U.S. Congress to pass the “Internet Radio Fairness Act,” which would change regulation of...

Read More..

Booze calories nearly equal soda’s for US adults

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol? It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from soft drinks, a government study found.Soda and other sweetened drinks — the focus of obesity-fighting public health campaigns — are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults consume, on average....

Read More..

FBI terror expert started Petraeus probe

The FBI agent who investigated harassing emails to a Florida socialite, a probe that set off a chain of events leading to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus over an extramarital affair, was a veteran investigator who has worked on high-profile terrorism cases.The agent was identified as Frederick Humphries by a former federal agent, a source familiar with the Petraeus...

Read More..

Papa John’s falls on news of class-action suit

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Papa John‘s declined on Tuesday following news of class-action certification for a lawsuit that claims the pizza chain had unsolicited text messages sent to cell phones.THE SPARK: The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle claims Papa John‘s violated state and federal law when...

Read More..

General investigated for emails to Petraeus friend

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an...

Read More..

Rolling Stones add fifth date to anniversary tour

LONDON (Reuters) – The Rolling Stones have added a fifth date to their 50th anniversary tour later this year, the band announced on its website.In between two shows at London‘s O2 Arena starting on November 25 and two more at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ opening on December 13 the veteran quartet will play the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on...

Read More..

Diabetes cases hit record and half go undiagnosed

LONDON (Reuters) – Diabetes is running at record levels worldwide and half the people estimated to have the disease are, as yet, undiagnosed, according to a report on Wednesday.The number of people living with diabetes is now put at 371 million, up from 366 million a year ago, with numbers expected to reach 552 million by 2030, the International Diabetes...

Read More..

Who's who in the Petraeus scandal

Gen. David Petraeus At the center of the circus is retired four-star general David Petraeus. The now ex-director of the CIA resigned from his post on Friday after reports surfaced that he had an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. Before his resignation, Petraeus was highly regarded. But that hard-won reputation is quickly falling apart amid allegations that he may have shared classified...

Read More..

Lakers intrigued by chance to play for D’Antoni

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Pau Gasol got home from the game and read about it on Twitter, while Dwight Howard got a midnight message on his BlackBerry. They shared most Los Angeles Lakers fans’ mix of surprise, trepidation and anticipation.Just when everybody thought the Lakers were getting back together with Phil Jackson, they switched course in the middle...

Read More..

Canada seen needing to spell out rules for natural gas projects

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – The fate of a handful of liquefied natural gas projects planned for Canada’s Pacific coast may depend on the Canadian government‘s willingness to spell out rules for foreign investment in the country’s energy sector, according to a study released on Thursday.Apache Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Petronas, BG Group Plc and others...

Read More..

‘Sesame Street’ Elmo puppeteer takes leave amid sex scandal

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The puppeteer and voice behind the character Elmo on “Sesame Street” has taken a leave of absence from the children’s television show following allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy, producers said on Monday.New York-based Sesame Workshop said in a statement that its own inquiry concluded that the...

Read More..