“Hitchcock” trains lens on the love story of Alfred and Alma

NEW YORK (Reuters) – She won Oscar gold for her uncanny performance as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, but Helen Mirren‘s latest portrayal finds her as the power behind the throne — or, more precisely, the director’s chair.In “Hitchcock,” Mirren stars opposite Anthony Hopkins as legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s devoted wife Alma Reville, and early buzz...

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Xoma’s drug combo lowers high blood pressure in late-stage study

(Reuters) – Xoma Corp said its experimental combination of two drugs met the main goal of lowering hypertension better than a treatment based on either of the drugs alone in a late-stage study, sending the biotechnology company‘s shares up 6 percent.The combination of perindopril arginine and amlodipine besylate showed statistically significant reduction...

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Asia stocks fall after Greece aid delayed

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly lower Wednesday, shedding morning gains after European Union officials failed to release a loan payment to debt-mired Greece and postposed further action until next week.European finance ministers adjourned a meeting in Brussels without granting Greece the next installment of an emergency bailout loan that...

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U.S. fiscal impact of great concern to Canada: Canada’s Harper

TORONTO (Reuters) – Any fiscal problems that would significantly slow the U.S. economy would be of great concern to Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday.The United States needed a credible medium-term fiscal plan, Harper said at a business forum in Ottawa, adding that he was following the U.S. fiscal debate with “great interest.” (Reporting...

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Turbulence on Cuba-Italy flight leaves 30 bruised

ROME (AP) — An airliner flying from Havana to Milan abruptly plunged some 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) when it hit unusually strong turbulence over the Atlantic on Monday, terrifying passengers and leaving some 30 people aboard with bruises and scrapes, airline officials said.The flight continued to Milan’s Malpensa airport after the plane’s captain determined...

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Turbulence on Cuba-Italy flight leaves 30 bruised

ROME (AP) — An airliner flying from Havana to Milan abruptly plunged some 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) when it hit unusually strong turbulence over the Atlantic on Monday, terrifying passengers and leaving some 30 people aboard with bruises and scrapes, airline officials said.The flight continued to Milan’s Malpensa airport after the plane’s captain determined...

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International Emmys honor Lear, Alda, South American shows

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Television legend Norman Lear and veteran actor Alan Alda received special honors at the International Emmy Awards on Monday, while programming from South America dominated the competition, with Argentina and Brazil each winning two Emmys.Lear, best known as creator of the ground-breaking 1970s hit comedy “All in the Family,” which...

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Advisory panel moves to make HIV testing routine

CHICAGO (Reuters) – An influential U.S. panel has called for routine HIV screening for all Americans aged 15 to 65, a change that could help reduce some of the stigma about getting tested for the sexually transmitted infection that causes AIDS.The draft recommendations, released on Monday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government-backed...

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Five Steps to Fix Shadow Banking

International regulators did the world a service by reporting that shadow banking remains an enormous force in the global financial system. Firms in the sector had $ 67 trillion in assets last year, the Financial Stability Board has just reported. But given the importance of the lightly monitored companies, the regulators’ prescriptions seem cautious.Shadow...

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Intel CEO Paul Otellini to retire in surprise move

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Intel CEO Paul Otellini dropped a bombshell on the company’s board of directors last week, telling them in private that he plans to retire from the world’s largest maker of microprocessors in May. Otellini‘s move comes at a time when Intel faces a shaky economy and a mobile gadget craze that is eating away at demand for its PC chips...

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