Groupon slumps on weak Europe, slowing daily deals business

Groupon slumps on weak Europe, slowing daily deals business

Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:43am EDT
(Reuters) - Shares of Groupon Inc (GRPN.O) looked set to open down 20 percent on Tuesday, after the company's quarterly revenue missed Wall Street estimates on a weak European economy and its high-margin daily deal business slowed.
At least two brokerages downgraded the company's stock and four others cut their price targets.

Groupon is one among several high-profile Internet companies such as Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Zynga Inc (ZNGA.O) that has continued to disappoint investors after raising expectations during their market debuts.

Egypt's Mursi seizes early chance to take on army

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Egypt's Mursi seizes early chance to take on army

By Edmund Blair and Yasmine Saleh
CAIRO | Tue Aug 14, 2012
(Reuters) - A blunder by the Egyptian army that left 16 border guards dead at the hands of Islamist militants gave President Mohamed Mursi an unexpectedly early chance to claw back powers from a military whose political influence he had always wanted to restrict.
A week after the raid on Egypt's Sinai border that outraged ordinary Egyptians and some soldiers, angry at what they saw as a failure in military leadership, Mursi on Sunday dismissed the country's

Robert Pattinson given ice cream on "The Daily Show"

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Robert Pattinson given ice cream on "The Daily Show"

August 14, 2012
(CBS/AP) Robert Pattinson returned to the spotlight Monday night with an appearance on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," where he was offered some ice cream in light of his recent break up.
Pictures: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart
Pictures: Robert Pattinson
Pictures: Kristen Stewart
The 26-year-old actor has been out of sight since learning last month that his girlfriend and "Twilight" co-star Kristen Stewart had an affair with married movie director Rupert Sanders. A tabloid printed photos of the illicit dalliance, breaking the hearts of "Twilight" fans worldwide and prompting Stewart and the director to issue public apologies to their loved ones.

But Pattinson couldn't lay low forever - he has a film to promote, the thriller "Cosmopolis."

Chad Johnson, Evelyn Lozada's VH1 Show Canceled

Chad Johnson, Evelyn Lozada's VH1 Show Canceled

Published August 14, 2012
Fox News Latino
In the course of the last four days NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson has been arrested, lost his job, and now - his reality TV show.
Johnson's downfall began Saturday night when he was arrested and spent Saturday night in jail after allegedly head butting his reality star wife, Evelyn Lozada.
For Johnson, a weekend confrontation with his wife has led to repercussions beyond a misdemeanor charge and NFL unemployment.
VH1 pulled from its schedule the reality series ''Ev and Ocho,'' starring newlyweds Johnson - formerly known as Chad Ochocinco - and Lozada. The network announced the move Monday, citing ''the

Global Recession: Only Time Can Heal the Economy, Says Gary Shilling

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Global Recession: Only Time Can Heal the Economy, Says Gary Shilling

By Bernice Napach | Daily Ticker
2012/8/13
More than two years before the housing bubble burst in 2006, economist Gary Shilling warned that subprime loans were probably "the greatest financial problem" for the future U.S. economy. In 2007 he said "housing would sink the economy," and a year after that he warned of a "serious recession" that would consume most of 2008. He was right every single time.
Now Shilling says a new recession has begun in the U.S. — in the second quarter — following on the heels of the recession in Europe. He says the current recession is different from previous ones because it wasn't caused by rising rates or another housing downturn but rather a drop in consumer spending due to a weak job market.

GM recalls over 38,000 police Impalas in North America

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GM recalls over 38,000 police Impalas in North America

2012/8/13
(Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM) is recalling more than 38,000 Chevrolet Impala police cars in North America because the lower front control arms could fracture, increasing the risk of crash.
The recall, which does not affect non-police versions of the Impala, covers 36,413 cars in the United States and 1,713 in Canada, according to GM and documents filed with the National

Miley Cyrus Chops Off Her Hair!

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Miley Cyrus Chops Off Her Hair!

08/13/2012
By stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com
For once … we’re speechless!
Miley Cyrus chopped off her hair Sunday night, documenting the cut in what started as a series of somewhat cryptic Tweets.

After posting a photo of stylist Chris McMillan about to cut off her very blonde bun, the singer wrote, “it’s happening,” followed by, “if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all. my hair is attached to my head no one else’s and it’s going bye bye.” Five hours later, the deed was done.

“Never felt more me in my whole life,” the bride-to-be wrote, after posting some shots of her sleek new pixie ‘do. “LOVE my hair. feel so happy,

Jennifer Aniston Engaged To Justin Theroux

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Jennifer Aniston Engaged To Justin Theroux

Theroux popped the question to his 'Wanderlust' co-star on his birthday on Friday.
By Jocelyn Vena
Aug 13 2012
Jennifer Aniston and her beau, fellow actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux, are officially engaged.

His rep confirmed the news to People in a statement, "Justin Theroux had an amazing birthday on Friday, receiving an extraordinary gift when his girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston, accepted his proposal of marriage."

They sparked engagement rumors in March when Aniston was spotted in New York City wearing what looked to be a shiny piece of jewelry on her ring finger.

'Bourne' Dethrones Batman As #1 Movie At Box Office

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'Bourne' Dethrones Batman As #1 Movie At Box Office

Jeremy Renner-led 'Bourne Legacy' ends three-week reign of 'Dark Knight Rises' with a $40.3 million debut.
By Ryan J. Downey
Aug 13 2012
Despite losing series star Matt Damon, the "Bourne" franchise was powerful enough to dethrone three-time champion "The Dark Knight Rises" at the box office. With Jeremy Renner in the lead role, "The Bourne Legacy"took in $40.3 million over the weekend to become the #1 movie in America.

App.net hits $500,000 target: now can it rival Twitter with a paid-for service?

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App.net hits $500,000 target: now can it rival Twitter with a paid-for service?

Dalton Caldwell reckons that people will pay for an ad-free real-time social networking service - and now has half a million dollars' funds to prove it, from around 10,000 users. Next: winning in the attention economy
13 August 2012
By guardian.co.uk
Would you pay to use Twitter? A service called App.net has just indicated that at least some people would, by hitting a target of raising $500,000 in funding from individuals paying $50, $100 or $1000 to set up a Twitter clone where "users and developers come first, not advertisers".

The brainchild of Dalton Caldwell, a San Francisco-based developer who was one of the people behind the "web 2.0" resurgence in 2006, the scheme hit its target funding on Sunday evening more than a day ahead of its deadline. At the time of writing 7,448 people are offering to pay the base $50 level for access to post to the service, 2,010 paying $100 to be developers with access to back-end functionality, and 59

Sarah Palin won’t speak at Republican National Convention

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Sarah Palin won’t speak at Republican National Convention

Palin, 2008’s fiery Republican vice presidential nominee and Tea Party favorite, may not even attend the Tampa event, party boss Reince Priebus says.
BY KRISTEN A. LEE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2012
It’s official: Sarah Palin will not be bringing her brand of political red meat to the Republican National Convention this month.
“Everything I said at the 2008 convention about then-candidate Obama still stands today,” she told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “This year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention and I’m excited to hear them.”

Japan GDP Points to Shaky Recovery

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Japan GDP Points to Shaky Recovery

By TAKASHI NAKAMICHI
August 13, 2012
TOKYO—The Japanese economy slowed more sharply than expected in the April-June quarter as exports and consumer spending lost steam, raising the specter of further deceleration for the rest of this year.

Japan had stellar growth in the first quarter on stepped-up government spending on rebuilding in areas battered by the March 2011 earthquake and incentives to boost sales of fuel-efficient vehicles.

Norway Needs Urgent Fix in Terror Preparedness, Commission Says

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Norway Needs Urgent Fix in Terror Preparedness, Commission Says

By Josiane Kremer on August 13, 2012
Norway needs to make a number of urgent changes in its ability to respond to terror attacks, said Alexandra Bech Gjoerv, head of the commission in charge of reviewing the response to last year’s twin attacks.

The group’s review found “large weaknesses” and agreed on six main findings, she said today as she handed the July 22 Commission report to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. The 10- person group is headed by lawyer and former Statoil ASA executive Gjoerv and also includes the former head of the Norwegian Intelligence Service, academics, executives as well as police officials from neighboring Denmark and Finland.

The report is “very important” because it will give us common knowledge of what happened and will

Google to Cut 20% of Motorola's Staff

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Google to Cut 20% of Motorola's Staff

August 13, 2012
By SAABIRA CHAUDHURI

Google Inc. GOOG is cutting about 20% of Motorola Mobility's workforce, a move the company said is designed to return its mobile-devices unit to profitability after it lost money in fourteen of the last sixteen quarters.

Motorola will shave 4,000 positions of a total of about 20,000. Two-thirds of the reductions will take

Obama seizes lead in race to define Romney

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Obama seizes lead in race to define Romney

Obama ads trashing Romney's work at Bain Capital and his tax record undermine the image the Republican wants voters to see.

By Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times
August 13, 2012

Hours after revealing his choice of Rep. Paul D. Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney slammed President Obama for running his reelection campaign "down in the dirt." The race, he said, could now focus on serious issues.

By selecting the Wisconsin congressman, who leads the Republican Party's drive for tax cuts for all — including the wealthiest — and dramatic spending reductions, Romney ensured a robust debate on sharply contrasting visions for America's future.

Olympics: Usain Bolt-led Jamaica sets Olympic record in winning 4x100-meter relay By Elliott Almond

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Olympics: Usain Bolt-led Jamaica sets Olympic record in winning 4x100-meter relay

By Elliott Almond

ealmond@mercurynews.com
Posted: 08/11/2012
LONDON -- The incomparable Usain Bolt added an exclamation point to the London Games on Saturday night with an explosive final leg in the 4x100-meter relay to lead Jamaica to a world-record victory over the United States.
As soon as Bolt blazed across the finish line with his third gold medal of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the fun was about to begin.

Exclusive Photos! Kourtney Kardashian Looks Great With Baby Penelope on First Public Day Out

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Exclusive Photos! Kourtney Kardashian Looks Great With Baby Penelope on First Public Day Out

by Tierney Bricker Aug. 10, 2012
The only thing hotter than the weather in Los Angeles? Kourtney Kardashian's post-baby bod!
Kourtney and Scott Disick welcomed second child Penelope Scotland Disick on July 8, and have wasted no time showing off their beautiful baby girl. (She's already posed for her first magazine cover!)
Now, we have the exclusive pics of Kourtney, Scott and baby Penelope's first public outing together!
Check out pics of Kourtney and Penelope's big day out
Kourtney and Scott decided to take Penelope on a shopping trip with them to Neiman Marcus at the Westfield Topanga mall, where they were spotted dropping their car off at the valet.
"Kourtney was looking happy as any new mother would look," a source tells us. "Scott was with them and he was very happy as well."
Due to the extremely hot temperatures (as high as 111 degrees!), Penelope was covered from the sun by a protective blanket.
Penelope's big brother Mason, who recently went on a shopping spree with aunt Kim, opted out of this field trip.

YouTube to skirt new Google search demotion rules for pirated content

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YouTube to skirt new Google search demotion rules for pirated content

Video sharing side to escape new algorithm
By Chris Smith 2012/8/12

Google's new piracy-fighting search algorithm, which downgrades illegal content, is unlikely to affect its YouTube service.
The company announced late last week that it was changing the way it ranks search results, in order to punish sites that are consistently accused of copyright infringement.
If a site racks up enough DCMA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) strikes then it'll be demoted within Google Search. Google is disclosing a running total of the sites with the most strikes against it.
However, within its reporting form, Google has issued a special message, exempting YouTube from the process.
Naturally, YouTube is the home of much of the web's illegally uploaded content, but the form directs users with YouTube complaints to a different complaint mechanism.
No demotions for user-generated sites

It appears that this is because when a video is flagged for removal in YouTube, it already counts as a takedown, whereas that's not the case with external sites.
Google says: "We're treating YouTube like any other site in search rankings. That said, we don't expect this change to demote results for popular user-generated content sites."

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Times Square knifeman gunned down

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Times Square knifeman gunned down

Police shot and killed a man who confronted officers with a knife in Times Square, leading to a chase that drew hundreds of spectators.
By telegraph.co.uk 12 Aug 2012

The encounter played out Saturday around 3 p.m., when officers approached a 51-year-old man they say appeared to be smoking marijuana near West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue, in the heart of Times Square.
The man became agitated, pulled out an 11-inch (28-centimeter)knife and began to put a bandanna on his head, police said. He refused repeated orders to drop the weapon and began backing down the

London Olympics 2012: What are the lessons for next host, Brazil?

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London Olympics 2012: What are the lessons for next host, Brazil?

With the London Games wrapping up today, the spotlight moves to Rio, the host city of the 2016 Olympics.
By Rachel Glickhouse, Guest blogger / August 12, 2012
• A version of this post ran on the author's blog, Riogringa.com. The views expressed are the author's own.
The London Olympics come to an end today with a big Brazilian performance during the closing ceremony to mark the next games in Brazil. With the conclusion of the London games, the reports on Rio's preparedness for 2016 are bubbling up yet again. But it wasn't exactly smooth sailing in the UK. London's experience provides some insight ahead of the games in Rio.