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Yahoo! Dumping Products and Workers in Turn-Around Plan

Yahoo! is dumping products along with workers in a quest to return the faded Internet star to glory.

Yahoo! boss Scott Thompson announced the move on Tuesday while mapping out the company's turnaround on the heels of an unusually upbeat quarter in which profit climbed 28 percent.

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China: Syria Pledges to Respect Annan's Full Peace Plan

China said Wednesday Syria's foreign minister had pledged to respect U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan and cooperate with a U.N. team sent to monitor a fragile ceasefire in the restive state.

"Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem... said Syria would continue to... respect and implement Annan's 'six-point proposal'," China's foreign ministry quoted Muallem as telling his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing.

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Report: Pfizer Nears $9 bn Deal with Nestle

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is close to reaching a $9 billion deal to sell its infant nutrition business to Nestle, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal said Nestle, the Swiss food giant, had apparently beaten out Groupe Danone and Mead Johnson Nutrition, which had considered a joint bid for the business, and that the final deal could be announced next week.

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Ambassadors Wives, Film Stars Call on Asma Assad to Condemn Violence

Thousands have backed a video appeal to Syria's first lady to speak out against violence, made by the wives of the British and German ambassadors to the United Nations.

In the video, Sheila Lyall Grant and Huberta von Voss-Wittig implore Asma al-Assad "to stand up for peace" and speak out against the deadly crackdown instigated by her husband President Bashar Assad.

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‘Vicky Donor’ a Bollywood Comedy to Break Fertility Taboos

A romantic comedy that opens at Indian cinemas this week tackles taboos about sperm donation and infertility, in the latest Bollywood film to experiment with traditionally off-limits content.

"Vicky Donor", which is released on Friday, tells the story of the unemployed and lazy Vicky, who is persuaded by a doctor to donate his sperm to make a living -- a job he then tries to keep quiet from his new girlfriend.

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Shy Hong Kongers Urged To Have More Sex

Sex experts are urging Hong Kongers to strip off their reputation as some the least active lovers in Asia to get more out of their sex lives and overcome challenges of privacy in a cramped city.

"People say Hong Kongers have the least amount of sexual knowledge in the world. One of the reasons is they have no place to have sex," said Professor Emil Ng, associate director at the Family Institute of the University of Hong Kong.

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Hollywood Not Up To Scratch, Says 'Boardwalk Empire' Creator

He'll make an exception for Martin Scorsese, but for Terence Winter, the creator of the hit prohibition-era television show "Boardwalk Empire", Hollywood just isn't up to scratch these days.

The Emmy-award winning writer-producer, who co-scripted "The Sopranos" before launching his own drama series three years ago, was guest of honor this week at a festival devoted to the booming genre, held at Paris' Forum des Images.

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Gaza Horse Riders Have to Jump Unusual Hurdles

Horse riding has become a popular hobby in the Gaza Strip but local Palestinians face constant hurdles -- from a conservative society to Israel's blockade on the territory -- to practice the sport on their home turf.

The Al-Faisal equestrian club, on the seafront in Gaza City, attracts around 50 riders a day, according to Samir Salama Saad, director of the "Beautiful Life" society which bought the club several months ago.

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Japan Study Raises Hopes of Cure for Baldness

Japanese researchers have successfully grown hair on hairless mice by implanting follicles created from stem cells, they announced Wednesday, sparking new hopes of a cure for baldness.

Led by Professor Takashi Tsuji from Tokyo University of Science, the team bioengineered hair follicles and transplanted them into the skin of hairless mice.

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Official: More Military Suspects in Secret Service Scandal

At least 10 American troops could be implicated in a widening sex scandal involving a U.S. Secret Service team preparing for a presidential visit to Colombia, officials said Tuesday.

Government investigators are probing embarrassing allegations that Secret Service agents and U.S. military service members sent to the Caribbean resort of Cartagena ahead of President Barack Obama's weekend visit consorted with prostitutes.

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