Widget Wonders

U.S. plans 10-month warship deployment to Singapore

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The first of a new class of U.S. coastal warships will be sent to Singapore next spring for a roughly 10-month deployment, the Navy said on Wednesday, spotlighting a move that may stir China’s fears of U.S. involvement in South China Sea disputes. Deployment of the shallow-draft ship “Freedom” will help refine crew rotations, logistics and maintenance processes to maximize the class’s value to U.S. combat commanders, Rear Admiral Thomas Rowden, the Navy’s director of surface warfare, told reporters. …

Tennessee murder, kidnap suspect now top U.S. fugitive

GUNTOWN, Mississippi (Reuters) – The man suspected of killing a Tennessee woman and her teenage daughter in order to kidnap the woman’s two younger daughters has been charged with murder and is now the most-wanted fugitive in the country, officials said on Wednesday. Adam Mayes, 35, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Jo Ann Bain, 31, and her oldest daughter, Adrienne, 14, on April 27, the day of their disappearance, according to court records in Hardeman County, Tennessee. …

Family pleads for U.S. prisoner at heart of Afghan peace push

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The family of Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier held prisoner by the Taliban since 2009, says it is frustrated that more than a year of covert diplomacy has been unable to free their son and is urging President Barack Obama’s administration to push harder for his release. Bob Bergdahl, speaking out about his son’s case after a long silence, said he hopes U.S. negotiators will press ahead with efforts to set in motion a chain of events intended in part to lead to the release of his son, believed to be held in Pakistan since he went missing in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. …

Obama says same-sex couples should be able to marry

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, taking a stand on a divisive issue that is likely to please his political base and upset conservative voters. “It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said in an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts. …

Ohio court reverses $2 billion judgment against Ford

(Reuters) – The Ohio Court of Appeals reversed a $2 billion judgment against Ford Motor Co this week and ordered a new trial for a group of dealers who said the No. 2 U.S. automaker overcharged them for commercial trucks over an 11-year period. In its Thursday ruling, the appeals court said the contract at the heart of the dealers’ class-action suit was “ambiguous.” It also said evidence submitted by Ford was wrongly excluded. “We hold that the trial court abused its discretion in excluding Ford’s mitigating evidence at the damages trial,” the court said in its ruling. …

Kobe: I don’t take charges

Lakers star Kobe Bryant says he doesn’t take charges, and he’s got a reason for it.

Rangers to try for 2-0 series lead

For the third straight series, the New York Rangers are basking in the glow of a 1-0 lead earned in the confines of “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

VCU leaves CAA, announces move to Atlantic 10

Virginia Commonwealth University went from “VCWho” to the biggest story of the 2011 NCAA basketball tournament when it made an improbable run to the Final Four.

Cavaliers’ Irving selected NBA’s top rookie

Once Kyrie Irving finished cracking jokes, thanking Cleveland’s fans, his teammates and coaches, he looked down from the podium at the person who promised this would happen.

Trainer gives his Derby-winning colt a day off

Four days before the Preakness, I’ll Have Another trainer Doug O’Neill was feeling very skittish about his pending appearance on the grand stage.

Facebook’s debut is modest, high volumes cause problems

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc shares rose less than expected on their first day of trade on Friday and huge order volume caused technical problems that marred the coming out party of the No. 1 online social network. Its shares were up 8 percent in early afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, after opening 11 percent higher and then rapidly heading south to touch their initial public offering price of $38. The gains were below market forecasts of as much as a 50 percent jump. …

Investor group seeks JPMorgan governance changes

NEW YORK, May 18 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – A labor-backed investor group critical of JPMorgan Chase & Co’s corporate governance said the bank has failed to address concerns over its risk oversight and it will try to rally other shareholders for changes after a $2 billion trading loss. CtW Investment Group, which advises labor pension funds holding what it said are 6 million shares in JPMorgan, has advocated for risk governance changes there for more than a year. …

Europe thinks the unthinkable on Greece

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – European officials are working on contingency plans in case Greece bombs out of the euro zone, the EU’s trade commissioner said on Friday, while Berlin said it was prepared for all eventualities. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, one of Greece’s harsher critics, said market turmoil fuelled by the euro zone debt crisis could last another year or two. “Regarding the crisis of confidence in the euro …

Wall Street flat after Facebook IPO fizzles

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks were little changed on Friday, reversing earlier gains after Facebook Inc stumbled in its market debut after a delayed opening. Shares of the social networking giant were volatile in early trading, falling to near breakeven levels after early gains of more than 10 percent. In early trading it was the Nasdaq’s most actively traded stock, with more than 100 million shares traded in the first five minutes of trading. …

Banks’ rising bad loans add to Spanish troubles

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish banks’ bad loans rose in March to their highest in 18 years, underscoring the problems facing the government as it drafts in independent auditors in an attempt to reassure investors it can clean up the sector. The Bank of Spain said bad loans rose to 8.37 percent of banks’ outstanding loans, the highest since August 1994 and up from 8.3 percent in February, which was also revised higher. The data was released before Spain names auditors on Monday to assess how bad the losses are likely to get, and how much cash banks will need to rebuild their balance sheets. …

U.S. health secretary urges contraception compromise

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration’s top health official on Friday took the debate over whether healthcare coverage should include contraceptives to the campus of a Catholic university that has been deeply divided over the administration’s policy. U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in a speech at Georgetown University a few miles from the White House, praised the new U.S. healthcare law requiring coverage and called for “conversation and compromise.

CDC to baby boomers: Get tested for hepatitis C

For the first time, health officials are proposing that all baby boomers get tested for hepatitis C.

All baby boomers should get hepatitis C test -CDC

(Reuters) – All baby boomers should be tested at least once for the liver-destroying hepatitis C virus, according to proposed guidelines from U.S. health officials released on Friday. The often-undiagnosed virus is transmitted through contaminated blood. While infection rates have dropped dramatically since the early 1990s – due in part to the introduction of blood and organ screening – many older adults are still at risk, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the draft guidelines. …

Venezuela’s Chavez unseen for week but follows riot

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has not been seen or heard in public since returning a week ago from his latest cancer treatment in Cuba but was well enough to monitor a jail riot in Caracas, an ally said on Friday. The usually garrulous and attention-seeking Chavez’s disappearances from public view have become longer and more frequent this year. That has fueled speculation his condition has worsened and may complicate a re-election bid in October. …

French autistic kids mostly get psychotherapy

In most developed countries, children with autism are usually sent to school where they get special education classes. But in France, they are more often sent to a psychiatrist where they get talk therapy meant for people with psychological or emotional problems.

Romney, GOP guvs have differing takes on economy

While Mitt Romney faults President Barack Obama for a weak American economy, Republican governors across the country are trumpeting business growth and falling unemployment.

Once an Obama coup, Indiana less a battleground

Barack Obama was the first Democrat in 44 years to win Indiana in the 2008 presidential race, but the state is hardly a lock for him again.

THE RACE: Obama, Romney working to stay on message

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are being buffeted by crosswinds as Obama fights to keep his job and Romney works to wrest it from him. Both know where they want to go, but getting there is something else.

Greek winemakers see crisis as glass half-full

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Greek winemakers are not pricing their wares in drachmas – yet. The winemakers, visiting New York as part of an international promotional tour, doubted Athens would leave the euro-zone even after Fitch Ratings Agency downgraded Greece’s sovereign debt on Thursday, calling the country’s exit from the monetary union “probable. “No, no, no. That is not going to happen,” Stellios Boutaris, whose family owns the Kir-Yianni winery, insisted. “And if that happens, we will have bigger problems than just pricing wine in drachmas

Tim Pawlenty Now Mum On VP Prospects

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty slightly changed his tune on his vice presidential prospects Thursday when he didn’t rule out the possibility that he might get picked as Mitt Romney’s running mate. Just days before, he had told reporters to take him off the list….

Private family funeral planned for Donna Summer

Donna Summer’s funeral will be a private one for family and close friends.

Pa. art collection completes controversial move

The Barnes Foundation is no longer the greatest art collection you’ll never see.

Cannes entry ‘Paradise: Love’ looks at sex tourism

There’s sun, sand and sex in Cannes Film Festival entry “Paradise: Love” — and they add up to a grim and unsettling holiday movie.

Imprisoned star of ‘Reality’ impresses at Cannes

The breakout performance at the Cannes Film Festival this year is Aniello Arena’s turn as a Naples fishmonger who becomes obsessed with appearing on a “Big Brother”-style TV show in “Reality.”

Disco Queen Donna Summer endured after era faded

the Queen of Disco.

Facebook raises IPO price as offering nears

Poll: Half of Americans call Facebook a fad

Half of Americans think Facebook is a passing fad, according to the results of a new Associated Press-CNBC poll. And, in the run-up to the social network’s initial public offering of stock, half of Americans also say the social network’s expected asking price is too high.

ABC tries social network experiment with ‘Revenge’

ABC and Yahoo are using the drama “Revenge” as a laboratory to tap the power of second-screen usage.

Take-Two delays ‘BioShock Infinite’ to February

Take-Two has delayed the release of “BioShock Infinite,” an eagerly awaited shooter game set in 1912.

Over 55,000 Twitter passwords exposed, posted online

If you’re on the social networking site Twitter, now may be a very good time to log in and change your password. It was announced yesterday that tens of thousands of Twitter usernames and passwords were leaked and posted publicly on … Continue reading →

Coulda, woulda, shoulda: Other big tech debuts

This is a good time to compare the giant social network with some of the other well-known tech outfits of the modern day, such as Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL).

John Edwards facing toughest vote of his life

John Edwards is facing the biggest vote of his life as the case against the former president candidate was given to the North Carolina jury this morning.

Facebook fizzles in debut, shares skirt IPO price

Facebook Inc shares fizzled on their first day of trade on the Nasdaq, erasing early gains of as much as 18 percent to trade close to their initial public offering price.

Romney’s VP vetting process has begun

Mitt Romney’s campaign has begun the vetting process to find a suitable running mate, a source close to the campaign told The Hill’s Alexander Bolton: The team for Beth Myers, the Romney adviser leading the search for the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, has already contacted potential running mates.

Advice to would-be Romney running mates: Run for the hills

Nothing is easier to mock in politics right now than the apparent reluctance of leading Republicans to sign on as Mitt Romney’s second banana. A few weeks ago, Jon Stewart summarized the way that Rob Portman was plugging his Senate colleague Marco Rubio, who in turn was passing the baton to Jeb Bush, with the line, “Doesn’t anyone want the rock in crunch time?”