Adele’s “21″ is top-selling U.S. iTunes album of 2012

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British singer Adele notched another accolade on Thursday as iTunes announced that her Grammy-winning album “21″ was the top-selling record of 2012 in its U.S. store, extending the disc’s successful run almost two years after it was released.Adele, 24, who last year became the first artist to secure three iTunes milestones with top-selling album, single and artist of the year,...

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Aides: Chavez in tough fight, may miss swearing-in

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Somber confidants of President Hugo Chavez say he is going through a difficult recovery after cancer surgery in Cuba, and one close ally is warning Venezuelans that their leader may not make it back for his swearing-in next month.Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Wednesday night that Chavez was in “stable condition” and was with close relatives in Havana. Reading...

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Google Maps makes its way back to the iPhone

(Reuters) – Google‘s navigation tool has returned to the iPhone, months after Apple‘s home-grown mapping service flopped, prompting user complaints, the firing of an executive and a public apology from Apple’s CEO.The Google Maps app will be compatible with any iPhone or iPod Touch that runs iOS 5.1 or higher, the company said in a blog post. (http://link.reuters.com/jek64t)Apple launched its own...

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AstraZeneca arthritis drug worse than Humira in study

LONDON (Reuters) – An experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug from AstraZeneca proved inferior to Abbott Laboratories‘ Humira in a clinical study, knocking hopes for one of the few late-stage products in the company’s pipeline.The Phase IIb monotherapy study of fostamatinib – which is given as a pill rather than injected, as is the case with Humira – showed it was not as good as Abbott’s market-leading...

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Europe deepens union with ECB as chief bank watchdog

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe clinched a deal on Thursday to give the European Central Bank new powers to supervise euro zone banks from 2014, embarking on the first step in a new phase of closer integration to help underpin the euro.After more than 14 hours of talks and following months of tortuous negotiations, finance ministers from the European Union‘s 27 countries agreed to hand the ECB the authority...

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Margo Martindale joins FX’s “The Americans”

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Margo Martindale, who won an Emmy for her role on FX’s “Justified,” is returning to the network on the new spy series “The Americans.”The show, which stars Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell as an undercover KGB couple in Reagan-era America, premieres January 30. Martindale has signed on to appear in at least eight episodes as “Claudia,” a KGB illegal who delivers assignments to...

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North Korea’s new leader burnishes credentials with rocket

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to its opponents.The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear...

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This Kid Dances Better Than a Cheerleader

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:RELATED: The Badass Bug Shotgun You Never Knew You NeededSo we were ready to toss this video aside after...

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Getting Control Of Neglected Tropical Diseases

The diseases have impossibly tongue-twisting, unfamiliar, or even disgusting names: cutaneous leishmaniasis, helminthiases, schistosomiasis, yaws, Guinea worm disease. These are just a few of numerous ailments now known as “neglected tropical diseases.”And while these diseases may technically be “neglected,” every low-income country is affected by five or more neglected tropical diseases at once,...

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Indonesians Still Love Their BlackBerrys

For Sanuri, a customer service technician at a Jakarta electronics chain, buying a phone is a big decision. The 28-year-old father of one (who like many Indonesians has only one name) makes about $ 160 a month, minimum wage in the Indonesian capital. But like many Jakarta residents, he’s willing to spend more for an impressive-looking phone. Last year he decided to get rid of his old Nokia (NOK) in...

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