Tom Hooper, Mychael Danna join crowded slate of Palm Springs honorees

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Les Miserables” director Tom Hooper and “Life of Pi” composer Mychael Danna are the latest awards-season hopefuls to be added to the slate of honorees at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, PSIFF organizers announced on Tuesday.The two will join a list of honorees that in recent days has expanded to include Helen Mirren, Richard Gere, Bradley Cooper and Sally...

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Arbitrator: Beauty queen defamed pageant, owes $5M

NEW YORK (AP) — A beauty queen who claimed this year’s Miss USA contest was fixed has been ordered to pay the pageant organization $ 5 million for defamation.In a decision signed last week, an arbitrator found that the comments from Miss Pennsylvania USA Sheena Monnin were false, harmful and malicious. Monnin had alleged that the five finalists had been selected in advance of the pageant’s live telecast.The...

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Wall Street edges up, tech shares gain

In the aftermath of Friday's Newtown school shooting, we've heard tales mostly horrifying and occasionally heroic, from surviving witnesses and mourning citizens alike, but this one lies somewhere in between, all the more unshakeable. One six-year-old Sandy Hook student played dead in her first-grade classroom, her family pastor said late Sunday, with the kind of quick thinking that ended up saving...

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Jets bench Sanchez, will start McElroy vs Chargers

NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Sanchez is no longer the New York Jets' franchise quarterback.He might not even be the backup.Rex Ryan decided to bench Sanchez on Tuesday in favor of Greg McElroy after the fourth-year quarterback had another miserable performance in a 14-10 loss at Tennessee on Monday night that eliminated New York from playoff contention."I think it's best for our team, and for this game,"...

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Gun violence a 'national security issue'

An AR-15 style rifle is for sale at shop in Illinois. Peter Bergen says the founders did not envision weapons of this type while crafting the Second Amendment.STORY HIGHLIGHTSPeter Bergen: Gun violence is sometimes called a public health issue in the U.S.He says it also amounts to a national security issue, taking much larger toll than terrorismCivilians are more likely to get killed in some U.S....

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“The Office” head Greg Daniels sells tennis comedy to Fox

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “The Office” might be preparing to close up shop, but the series’ creator is most definitely still open for business.Greg Daniels, who birthed the American version of “The Office” – which is preparing to wrap up its run at the end of this season – has sold a half-hour comedy to Fox via Universal Television and his own Deedle-Dee Productions.The project was sold through...

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TSX may open higher on “fiscal cliff” hopes

(Reuters) – Toronto’s main stock index looked set to open higher on Tuesday, tracking global markets, fueled by expectation that U.S. lawmakers might reach an agreement to avoid looming tax increases and spending cuts that threaten to hurt the world’s biggest economy.TOP STORIES* The differences over how to resolve the “fiscal cliff” narrowed significantly Monday night as President Barack Obama made...

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Fulton Financial Corporation to Divest Global Exchange Group Division

LANCASTER, PA–(Marketwire – Dec 18, 2012) –  Fulton Financial Corporation ( NASDAQ : FULT ) today announced that its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Fulton Bank, N.A., has entered into an agreement with Cambridge Mercantile Group to divest its Global Exchange Group (GEG) division. GEG provides international payment solutions to meet the needs of companies, law firms and professionals.“In 2006...

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Wall Street edges up at open on "cliff" optimism

In the aftermath of Friday's Newtown school shooting, we've heard tales mostly horrifying and occasionally heroic, from surviving witnesses and mourning citizens alike, but this one lies somewhere in between, all the more unshakeable. One six-year-old Sandy Hook student played dead in her first-grade classroom, her family pastor said late Sunday, with the kind of quick thinking that ended up saving...

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Boeheim wins 900th, appeals for action on firearms

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — With his wife, Juli, looking on at the postgame press conference and his young children close by, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim's final remarks were not about his milestone 900th career victory.Instead, he was thinking about two 6-year-old boys who were buried Monday, victims along with 18 other children and six adults in a shooting massacre last week at an elementary school in...

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