The Wishful Thinker ( World News To You )

Choi up to seventh in World Rankings
Miami Herald – K.J. Choi's wire-to-wire victory Sunday at the Sony Open in Hawaii moved him up two places to No. 7 in this week's Official World Golf Rankings. Choi achieved a new personal best ranking of seven as he collected his seventh PGA Tour win. Tiger Woods

'American Idol'alum Katharine McPhee latest to split with record
Chicago Tribune – This time, it's Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee, whose sole eponymous effort for the label has sold 365,500-plus copies since 2006. Sony BMG is the parent company to Arista, Columbia, Epic, J Records, RCA and others. McPhee's dismissal has yet to

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iPO Atlantic Intros MacBook Case, Waterproof iPod Speakers – (The Mac Observer)
Accessory maker Atlantic Inc. on Monday introduced a new MacBook case, called Raindrop Sleeve, as well as ice, a waterproof iPod speaker system

JVC adds iPod dock to new LCD TVs (Washington Post)
JVC is making it easier to hook-up an iPod to a flat-panel TV with new sets that contain a dock for the popular music player, it said Saturday on the eve of the International Consumer Electronics Show.

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Apple takes another bite (Canadian Business)
I was recently in the Silicon Valley area with some time to kill on a sunny day. So, like anyone with an interest in the latest consumer technology would do, I headed down to University Ave. in Palo Alto, the leafy, two-lane strip that leads into Stanford University, and ducked into an Apple store.

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Electronic gadgets top wish-lists (TVNZ)
The electronic jingles of new mobile phones and MP3 players will echo throughout many New Zealand homes this Christmas. Retailer Noel Leeming says personal gadgets have been top of a lot of people's wish-lists.

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Juliette Binoche: France's best-paid actress reveals what makes her tick (Independent)
It was 20 years ago that Juliette Binoche first captured men's hearts in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, going on to bring her brand of sexual tension to The English Patient, for which she won a 1996 Oscar. Today, at 43 years old, the French actress is still in huge demand as a love interest, long after contemporaries such as Meg Ryan and Daryl Hannah have disappeared from the romance genre.

Blanchett gets Globe for best supporting actress (The West Australian)
Cate Blanchett has won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a film for playing music legend, Bob Dylan. Blanchett was the favourite for the award, despite tough competition from fellow nominees headed by Julia Roberts.

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Tax-evasion trial for actor Wesley Snipes gets under way in Ocala (Orlando Sentinel)
The actor prayed with friends and supporters for "favor, fairness and deliverance" today before arriving at the federal courthouse for his trial. Actor Wesley Snipes prayed with friends and supporters for "favor, fairness and deliverance" today before arriving at the federal courthouse for his trial on tax-evasion charges.

The Nightmare Garden: Gay actor in BBC children's show 'was called bitch and faggot' after complaining about faulty … (Evening Standard)
It may seem like easy work to dress up as a cuddly creature in a hit BBC children's series. But, for one actor, being the man inside one of the characters from In the Night Garden ended up a very painful experience.

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Man dies after car hits lamppost (BBC News)
A man, believed to be in his 80s, dies after his car collides with a lamppost.

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Police chase motorcyclist across Wellington (Newstalk ZB via Yahoo!Xtra News)
A motorbike pursuit has led Porirua police around the Wellington region.

Need for speed takes drivers to extremes (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Racing drivers and motorbike riders will do anything to satisfy their craving for speed.

Motorbike bomb kills 9 in Karachi (WABC-TV New York)
A bomb planted on a parked motorbike killed at least nine people and wounded 35 others Monday evening in Pakistan's largest city.

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Australia Stock Update: S&P/ASX 200 Rises 31.40 to 6,011.40 (Bloomberg.com)
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — Australia's benchmark stock index, the S&P/ASX 200 Index, rose 0.53 percent at 10:05 a.m. The index of 201 companies traded on the Australian Stock Exchange rose 31.40 to 6,011.40. Among the stocks in the index, 84 rose, 37 fell and 80 were unchanged.

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Australia May Raise Interest Rate to 7% By March, Survey Shows (Bloomberg.com)
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) — Australia's central bank may raise the benchmark interest rate in the first quarter of 2008 to quell inflation, economists say.

CEO of of Australia's embattled Centro resigns (Channel NewsAsia)
SYDNEY : The head of Australia's second biggest shopping centre owner Centro, which has been struggling to refinance debts in the wake of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, has resigned, the company said Tuesday.

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Bomb kills 8 in southern Thailand (AP via Yahoo! News)
A powerful bomb exploded in Thailand's restive south Monday morning, killing at least eight soldiers, the army spokesman said.

Bomb in southern Thailand kills 8 troops (AP via Yahoo! News)
Suspected Muslim insurgents killed eight soldiers and beheaded one of them in a bombing and shooting attack in restive southern Thailand, army and police officials said.

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Bomb in Thailand kills 8 soldiers (AP via Yahoo! News)
Suspected Muslim insurgents killed eight soldiers leaving one beheaded in a bomb and shooting attack in restive southern Thailand, army and police officials said.

Bomb in southern Thailand kills 8 troops (AP via Yahoo! News)
Suspected Muslim insurgents killed eight soldiers and beheaded one of them in a bombing and shooting attack in restive southern Thailand, army and police officials said.

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Renesas fortifies Malaysia operations, focuses on analog, discretes (Electronic Engineering Times Asia)
Renesas Technology is stepping up its operations in Malaysia with the expansion of its back-end process plant and the establishment of a new design center.

Malaysia, US Resume Free Trade Talks (San Francisco Chronicle)
The United States and Malaysia resumed formal talks Monday for a free trade agreement, nearly a year after discussions stalled amid differences over Malaysia's government procurement policy. The United States _ Malaysia's biggest trading partner _ is…

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Malaysia and U.S. resume talks for free trade agreement (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The United States and Malaysia resumed formal talks today for a free trade agreement, nearly a year after discussions stalled amid differences over Malaysia's government …

MALAYSIA'S GUOCOLAND BUYS LAND, BUNGALOWS IN KL FOR US$17 MLN (Asia Pulse via Yahoo!7 Finance)
Housing Guocoland (Malaysia) Bhd (KLSE:1503) on Monday said it is buying a piece of freehold land and two bungalows in Changkat Kia Peng area in Kuala Lumpur for RM55,460,800 (US$17 million).

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World Wrestling Entertainment Enters HD Ring (Broadcasting and Cable)
All of the big hits will be delivered in high-definition on World Wrestling Entertainment's signature broadcasts.

China, India say growing ties could 'change face of Asia, even the world' (McClatchy Newspapers via Yahoo! News)
BEIJING Leaders of the world's two fastest growing major economies, China and India, set out sweeping goals Monday to build trade and put behind them decades of hostility and mistrust.

Bush: Iran threatens world security (CNN.com)
President Bush said Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late."

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