Booker winner Mantel says play next “logical step”

LONDON (Reuters) – Double Booker prize-winning author Hilary Mantel said the characters in her historical novels about the rise of Thomas Cromwell will take the next “logical step” to a stage adaptation at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) this year.Mantel said in a video interview on the RSC website this week that she has always longed to give “solid form” to her depictions of Cromwell, Henry VIII...

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RIM shares rise on report of Lenovo interest

TORONTO (Reuters) – Shares of Research In Motion Ltd rose 4 percent on Thursday after a report quoting China’s Lenovo Group as saying a bid for the BlackBerry maker was among the options for boosting its mobile business.“We are looking at all opportunities — RIM and many others,” Lenovo Chief Financial Officer Wong Wai Ming told Bloomberg in an interview at the World Economic Forum‘s annual meeting...

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Wall Street edges up in face of Apple decline

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 advanced on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P index on track for its first seven-day streak of gains in over six years as solid economic data managed to outweigh a steep decline in Apple shares. Apple Inc dropped 10.4 percent to $460.69 after the technology giant missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter as iPhone...

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Azarenka eludes chokehold, gains Australian final

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Sloane Stephens sat for nine minutes, mostly staring at the court and trying to forget the curious timing of Victoria Azarenka's medical timeout.She may have been the only one trying to ignore it.The 19-year-old American had just saved five match points and broken Azarenka. But she knew she had to hold serve to stay in her first Grand Slam semifinal whenever Azarenka —...

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Neanderthal cloning? Pure fantasy

A display of a reconstruction of a Neanderthal man and boy at the Museum for Prehistory in Eyzies-de-Tayac, France.STORY HIGHLIGHTSArthur Caplan: It would be unethical to try and clone a Neanderthal baby Caplan: Downsides include a good chance of producing a baby that is seriously deformedHe says the future belongs to what we can do to genetically engineer and control microbesCaplan: Microbes can...

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Aretha Franklin Approves of Beyonce’s ‘Beautiful’ Inaugural Lip-Syncing

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Aretha Franklin r-e-s-p-e-c-t’s Beyoncé’s decision to use a “beautiful” pre-recorded rendition of the national anthem during President Barack Obama‘s inaugural ceremony on Monday.The Queen of Soul, who sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” during Obama‘s inauguration in 2009, told ABC News that the cold weather warranted Beyoncé lip-syncing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”“The weather...

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To Crack China, Apple Needs More Than Cheap iPhones

When Apple reports its quarterly earnings after the markets close Wednesday, investors will be looking for clues about how Chief Executive Tim Cook plans to cope with the company’s challenges in China. In the world’s largest telecom market, Apple has not only fallen far behind arch rival Samsung Electronics (005930), it also lags behind Lenovo, a PC company that just two years ago was barely even...

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Chain store sales point to a hit from tax hike

By Jason LangeWASHINGTON (Reuters) – A slowdown in sales growth at many big U.S. retailers suggests a clutch of tax hikes enacted this month is already leading consumers to hold back on spending, putting a brake on economic growth.Sales growth has cooled for three straight weeks when measured from a year earlier in the Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index, data showed on Wednesday.Similarly, the ICSC...

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Dow, Nasdaq boosted by tech; S&P flat

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and Nasdaq edged higher on Wednesday, lifted by IBM and Google whose stronger-than-expected profits helped to soothe investors' concerns about the tech sector. IBM's and Google's earnings, released after Tuesday's close, were the latest reassuring fourth-quarter results that pushed the Dow and S&P 500 to five-year highs as worries about the "fiscal cliff"...

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Seau's family sues NFL over brain injuries

The family of Junior Seau has sued the NFL, claiming the former linebacker's suicide was the result of brain disease caused by violent hits he sustained while playing football.The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Wednesday in California Superior Court in San Diego, blames the NFL for its "acts or omissions" that hid the dangers of repetitive blows to the head. It says Seau developed chronic traumatic...

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