Teva to enter Korean drugs market with Handok venture

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has entered into a joint venture with Handok Pharmaceuticals, aiming to gain a foothold in the $ 14 billion Korean market.The agreement ends months of speculation that Teva was interested in making an acquisition in South Korea, where the Israeli company noted healthcare spending is expected to reach as much as 9 percent of gross domestic...

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Hopes rise for “fiscal cliff” deal as Obama, Boehner meet

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and top Republican John Boehner met at the White House on Monday as hopes rose that Washington will be able to head off steep tax hikes and spending cuts that could push the economy into recession next year.Aides from both parties said they were optimistic that a deal could be reached in the coming days to avert the “fiscal cliff,” as lawmakers set the...

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N. Korea displays Kim Jong Il a year after death

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea unveiled the embalmed body of Kim Jong Il, still in his trademark khaki jumpsuit, on the anniversary of his death Monday as mourning mixed with pride over a recent satellite launch that was a long-held goal of the late authoritarian leader.Kim lies in state a few floors below his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, in the Kumsusan mausoleum, the cavernous...

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Cannibalization concerns ‘overblown’ as half of iPad mini sales go to new buyers

It has been widely reported that Apple’s (AAPL) iPad mini is cannibalizing sales of the company’s full-sized iPad. According to a new survey, however, nearly half of all recent iPad mini buyers are new to the platform, AppleInsider reported. The data comes from Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, who said that while the smaller tablet is clearly cannibalizing some sales of the larger iPad, concerns...

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Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan-Tatum expecting baby

NEW YORK (AP) — The Sexiest Man Alive will soon be a sexy dad.Actor Channing Tatum and his wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum are expecting their first child in 2013, their reps confirm.The news was first reported by People.com, which named Tatum the Sexiest Man Alive in November.The couple, who recently co-starred in the film “10 Years,” met on the 2006 dance film “Step Up,” and wed in 2009.Besides a baby, the...

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Analysis: Boehner opens door to tax hikes, shifts U.S. fiscal cliff talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner’s offer to accept a tax rate increase for the wealthiest Americans knocks down a key Republican road block to a deal resolving the year-end “fiscal cliff.”The question now boils down to price – which income levels, what rates and what’s offered in return. Such major questions, still unanswered so close to the end of the year...

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Abe’s challenge: Can he give Japan what money can’t buy

TOKYO (Reuters) – Even before Japanese voters returned Shinzo Abe‘s party to power, he had already won over financial markets with an economic revival plan as seductively simple as economists say it is risky: print money and spend it. Lots of it.The Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide on Sunday is likely to sustain a market rally fuelled by economic stimulus hopes, but Abe’s economic legacy will...

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Egyptians hand Islamists narrow win in constitution vote

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptians voted in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists but opposed by other groups who fear it will divide the Arab world’s biggest nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.Next week’s second round is likely to give another “yes” vote as it includes districts seen as more sympathetic towards Islamists, analysts say, meaning...

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Art for Wealth’s Sake: Art Basel Paints a Picture of Miami’s Separate and Unequal Worlds

It’s 10 p.m. on a Friday night. A naked girl is splashing about in the swimming pool at the Standard Hotel Miami. She is from New York and runs a nonprofit for homeless teens. We’ll call her Liz: “You’re so boring!” she yells from the middle of the pool.It was a common refrain here during Art Basel Miami Beach—now the world’s largest contemporary art fair—where many of earth’s most privileged humans...

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Actor Depardieu puts Paris house up for sale

PARIS (Reuters) – French actor Gerard Depardieu, accused of trying to escape the taxman by buying a house just over the border in Belgium, has put his sumptuous Parisian home up for sale.Depardieu, the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter from government tax hikes, is selling a vast early 19th-century manor house in the Saint Germain district of the capital, playground of writers, jazz musicians...

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