Alison Sweeney Blogs: 'Oh, Dreaded Week Two' on The Biggest Loser

TV Watch Only on People.com By Alison Sweeney 01/08/2013 at 12:00 PM EST Oh, dreaded week two! Emotions run high and numbers are typically low at the second weigh-in on The Biggest Loser. Never ones to keep things the same from season to season, it seemed like the prefect time to introduce the outdoor gyms created...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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Wall Street loses ground as earnings season starts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as the market consolidated from last week's rally on the "fiscal cliff" deal in Congress and investors awaited the start of the earnings season with lowered expectations. Profits in the fourth quarter are seen above the previous quarter's lackluster results, but analysts' current estimates are down sharply from where they were in October....

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With Eye on China, Japan Weighs Raising Military Spending

TOKYO — Japan’s new conservative government announced a review of national military strategy on Monday that analysts said was aimed at offsetting China’s growing military power and that may increase defense spending for the first time in a decade. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered his government to replace the nation’s five-year military spending plan and to review defense guidelines adopted...

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Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer

DUBAI (Reuters) – A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the country’s ruler on Twitter, his lawyer said, the second to be jailed for the offence in as many days.The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has clamped down in recent months on political activists who have been using social media websites to criticize the government and the ruling family.Kuwait has seen a...

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Kate Falls Under Vogue's Microscope

By Stephen M. Silverman 01/07/2013 at 12:45 PM EST Duchess of Cambridge Fame; Landov (2); WireImage What's a little more scrutiny?Arguably the most-watched fashion icon – certainly the most closely followed expectant mother – in the world, the Duchess of Cambridge has been placed under the...

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Wall Street falls after five-year high, earnings in focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Monday as banks agreed to pay billions in a settlement with U.S. regulators and investors speculated that U.S. earnings for the end of 2012 would be only modestly better than in the previous quarter. Financials declined after a group of home mortgage servicers, including major U.S. banks, agreed to pay a total of $8.5 billion to end a government-ordered,...

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IHT Rendezvous: Hints of Taiwan Leading the Way on Same-Sex Marriage in Asia

BEIJING — Will Taiwan become the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013?Perhaps, judging from recent developments on the island, where the legislature has held its first hearings on the issue, a move that signifies “a major step towards becoming the first Asian territory to approve marriage equality,” the Shanghai-based Web site Shanghaiist reported, citing Gay Star News.In another...

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10 Vintage Photographs of Snowflakes

Photo courtesy of Flickr, Smithsonian Institution.Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: 5 YouTube Videos to Help Winterize Your Home]If for some reason you didn’t believe no two snowflakes were alike, here’s your proof.In 1885, Wilson A. Bentley successfully photographed over 5,000 snowflakes by attaching a camera to a microscope (and in turn honing the field of Photomicrography). His...

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Courteney Cox: Ex David Arquette Is Still My 'Best Friend in the World'

By Alison Schwartz 01/06/2013 at 12:00 PM EST Courteney Cox and Ellen DeGeneres Michael Rozman/Warner Bros. The romance didn't work out for Courteney Cox and David Arquette, but the Cougar Town star still has plenty of love for her ex – as a friend."He's my best...

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