Business Highlights

___

Japan central bank revamps policy to boost economy

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan is taking aggressive action to lift consumer prices, encourage borrowing and help pull the world's third-largest economy out of a long slump.

Like the U.S. Federal Reserve, Japan's central bank plans to flood its financial system with more money ? its most far-reaching step to date to get consumers and companies to borrow and spend.

The Bank of Japan's action will also drive down the value of the yen. A cheaper currency will make Japanese goods ? from Toyota cars to Sony TVs ? less costly overseas. And it will make U.S. and other exports more expensive in Japan.

___

Where US economy has, and hasn't, yet recovered

WASHINGTON (AP) -- From household wealth to spending at stores, many of the U.S. economy's vital signs have recovered from the damage done by the Great Recession.

Home foreclosures and layoffs have dropped to pre-recession levels. Economic output has rebounded. And the Dow Jones industrial average is in record territory.

So is the economy back to full health? Not quite.

Not with unemployment at 7.7 percent and with 3 million fewer jobs than when the recession began. And while the housing market is improving, that engine of economic growth and job creation still has far to go before it can be declared healthy.

___

US rate on 30-year mortgage slips to 3.54 percent

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages crept closer to their historic lows this week, a trend that could help the housing recovery strengthen.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for the 30-year fixed loan edged down to 3.54 percent from 3.57 percent last week. That's near the 3.31 percent reached in November, which was the lowest on records dating to 1971.

The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage declined to 2.74 percent from 2.76 percent last week. The record low of 2.63 percent also was reached in November.

___

Facebook unveils 'Home' for Android phones

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- With its new "Home" on Android gadgets, Facebook aims to put its social network at the center of people's mobile experiences.

If users choose to download Facebook's Home software beginning April 12, the social network will become the hub of their Android smartphones. A phone from HTC that comes pre-loaded with Home will also be available starting that day, with AT&T Inc. the carrier.

The idea behind the software is to bring Facebook content right to the home screen, rather than requiring users to check apps. "Home" comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from phones and tablet computers. Of its 1.06 billion monthly users, 680 million log on to Facebook using a mobile gadget.

___

US unemployment aid applications jump to 385,000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose last week by 28,000, the third straight increase.

Weekly applications increased to a seasonally adjusted 385,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's the highest level since late November. The gain pushed the four-week average, a less volatile measure, to 354,250.

A Labor Department spokesman says the figures may have been affected by the Easter holiday. The department says the holiday's timing varies from year to year, which makes it difficult to adjust for school closings and other seasonal factors that can alter the data.

___

US is halfway to Obama 5-year export-doubling goal

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Suddenly, outsourcing is on the way out and insourcing on the way in as the U.S. trudges unevenly toward President Barack Obama's goal of doubling American exports around the world by the start of 2015.

So far, export levels are about halfway to his mark.

Obama set the five-year target in his January 2010 State of the Union address and recently has picked up his drumbeat, telling his export advisory council last month the nation was "well on our way" to his goal. "The question now becomes: How do we sustain this momentum?"

While economists and industry leaders generally expect the ambitious target to be missed, impressive gains already booked in American manufacturing and exporting suggest such a miss may not be by that much.

___

Possible deal could cut ex-Enron CEO's sentence

HOUSTON (AP) -- A possible agreement that could reduce the prison sentence of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling for his role in the collapse of the once mighty energy giant is being discussed, according to the Justice Department.

The possibility of a sentencing agreement in the case was made public this week in a notice to victims of Enron's collapse.

The notice did not specify how Skilling's sentence could be impacted if an agreement is reached. Skilling has been in prison since December 2006. He is currently serving his sentence in a low-security facility outside of Denver.

___

MF Global trustee criticizes Corzine, executives

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A trustee overseeing MF Global says a risky trading strategy and "negligent conduct" by former CEO Jon Corzine and his top managers contributed to the brokerage firm's collapse in late 2011.

A report issued Thursday by the trustee, former FBI director Louis Freeh, said Corzine and his team ignored the advice of MF Global's chief risk officer regarding trading strategy.

The report said they also failed to fix gaps in the firm's system for monitoring its cash flows and customer funds.

___

Walgreen clinics expand care into chronic illness

Walgreen Co. has stretched the reach of its drugstore clinics beyond treating ankle sprains and sinus infections to handling chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure.

The company, based in Deerfield, Ill., said Thursday that most of its roughly 370 in-store Take Care Clinics now will diagnose, treat and monitor patients with some chronic conditions that are typically handled by doctors.

Drugstore clinics, which are run by nurse practitioners or physician assistants, have grown popular in recent years as a convenient and less expensive way to treat relatively minor illnesses when a patient doesn't have a doctor or if their physician isn't available. But the clinics have been broadening their scope of care: Walgreen's decision follows a move by competitor CVS Caremark Corp. a few years ago to start monitoring chronic conditions at most of its 640 MinuteClinics.

___

Best Buy stores to feature Samsung kiosks

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Best Buy jumped on Thursday after it announced plans to create store-within-store kiosks for Samsung products ? a vote of confidence from a major consumer electronics retailer that the brick-and-mortar format is still an important way to sell products.

Best Buy shares rose more than 16 percent.

The Minneapolis-based company has battled the "showrooming" effect as more and more people browse in stores and then buy items cheaper online. That has led to fears that the big-box store format is growing obsolete.

___

By The Associated Press(equals)

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55.76 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 14,606.11. The Nasdaq composite rose 6.38 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,224.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.29 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,559.98.

Benchmark oil for May delivery was down $1.19 to $93.26 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, fell 77 cents to $106.34 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Heating oil fell 4 cents to $2.97 a gallon. Natural gas rose 5 cents to $3.95 per 1,000 cubic feet. Wholesale gasoline futures fell 2 cents to $2.90 a gallon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-highlights-221928528.html

ann curry euro 2012 Colorado Springs Nora Ephron mario balotelli mario balotelli espn3

Obama: Gun control a tougher slog than immigration

ATHERTON, Calif. (AP) ? Conceding the fraught politics of guns, President Barack Obama said Thursday that passing legislation curbing access to firearms would be a tougher slog than an immigration overhaul.

Obama told an intimate group of high-dollar donors Thursday he is optimistic immigration legislation can succeed within the next few months, because the impact of the November election is breaking through partisan gridlock.

"People spoke out through the ballot box," he said. "It's going to be tougher to get the kind of gun legislation to reduce gun violence through the Senate and the House that so many of us, I think, want to see, particularly after the tragedy of Newtown. And I still think it can get done if people are activated and involved."

It was Obama's most candid assessment yet on the prospects of gun legislation in Congress, an issue he has been pushing since a gunman shot and killed 20 children and six educators in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school in December.

Obama has been pushing Congress to act on both the gun and immigration issues. Senators are preparing a bipartisan immigration bill that's expected to be released as early as next week. But in the face of stiff opposition from the National Rifle Association, efforts in Congress to curb gun violence are in danger of losing steam.

Obama has called for expanding background checks for gun buyers and has supported bans on certain assault weapons and limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines. But lately, he has been emphasizing the background checks over the other measures, insisting simply that lawmakers get a chance to vote on the assault weapons ban and the magazine limits.

Obama spoke at a campaign event in California for the Democratic National Committee. It was one of four fundraisers he's doing for Democrats this week.

Obama made his remarks on the same day Connecticut's governor, Dannel P. Malloy, signed into law new restrictions on weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines similar to the ones used by the shooter in the Newtown mass murder.

Obama is going to Hartford, Conn., on Monday to continue his push for federal gun legislation.

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-04-US-Obama-Guns-Immigration/id-26c09b27e5aa4dfeb2ec94243862b88a

donovan mcnabb lottery ticket megga millions what is autism the giver march 30 rimm

US-PEOPLE Summary

Influential film critic Roger Ebert dead at 70

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pulitzer-Prize winning film critic Roger Ebert died on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times said, two days after he said his cancer of 10 years ago had returned. "It is with a heavy heart we report that legendary film critic Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) has passed away," the newspaper where Ebert worked for decades said on Twitter.

Conductor Salonen dashes from Frank Zappa to Stravinsky

LONDON (Reuters) - Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen dislikes musical anniversaries but he is celebrating so many this year he failed to notice one - the 20th anniversary of the death of the anarchic American rock innovator Frank Zappa. It isn't often that "Mothers of Invention" founder Zappa's rock-and-orchestral score for his film "200 Motels" is revived, but Salonen, 54, will conduct it in October with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he served as Music Director from 1992 until 2009, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the orchestra's acoustically exquisite Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Bon Jovi guitarist Sambora leaves tour due to "personal issues"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora has dropped out of the current leg of the rock band's tour because of "personal issues," but the guitarist, who has done stints in rehab for problems with alcohol, tweeted fans on Wednesday that he was "well." "Thank you everyone for your concern," Sambora said on Twitter. "I'm well, but had to stay in LA to take care of a personal matter. Love you all and see you very soon."

John Travolta's lawyer slams "outrageous false" sex-assault payout story

By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - John Travolta's attorney is lashing out at Gawker over a report suggesting that the "Grease" star shelled out more than $84,000 to settle sexual assault claims, calling the story "outrageous" and "false."

Jimmy Fallon to succeed Jay Leno as "Tonight Show" host

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jimmy Fallon will take over from veteran Jay Leno next year as host of the NBC flagship talk program "The Tonight Show," NBC said on Wednesday, bringing a younger feel to the competitive late-night landscape on U.S. television. Leno, 62, will wrap up what will be 22 years as host of "The Tonight Show" in the spring of 2014 - some seven months before his contract was officially due to end.

Jim Carrey fires back at his gun-control critics

By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Jim Carrey, who raised the hackles of the right wing by calling Fox News - or, rather, "Fux News" - a "giant culture fart" and with his criticism of assault rifles, has fired off another round in the debate, calling some of his harsher critics "thugs" and "a minority."

Matthew McConaughey confirms starring role in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic "Interstellar"

By Lucas Shaw NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Matthew McConaughey will star in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic "Interstellar," the director's follow-up to "The Dark Knight Rises" and McConaughey's first big-budget film in years. The actor told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune he had accepted the role in the film, confirming reports from about a week ago.

Award-winning author Ruth Prawer Jhabvala dies at age 85

(Reuters) - Award-winning novelist and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, author of "Heat and Dust" and many other books set in India, died on Wednesday at the age of 85, her Los Angeles agent said. Jhabvala died at her home in New York City, a spokesman for Hollywood agency Paradigm told Reuters. The spokesman did not give the cause of her death but said she had been sick for some time.

Popstar Justin Bieber given month to collect pet monkey

BERLIN (Reuters) - Teenage pop sensation Justin Bieber has been given a month to provide German authorities with the papers they need to release his pet monkey "Mally". Customs officials seized Bieber's capuchin monkey at Munich Airport last week when the 19-year-old failed to present the health and species protection certificates required to bring the pet into the country.

Muppets matriarch Jane Nebel Henson dies at age 78

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jane Nebel Henson, the former wife of Muppets creator Jim Henson who was influential in the creation of the popular U.S. TV puppet program, died on Tuesday following a long bout with cancer, The Jim Henson Company said. She was 78 years old. Henson, who died at her home in Connecticut, was an "integral creative and business partner" in the Muppets, the company, owned by the Hensons' five children, said in a statement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-people-summary-000528980.html

Jim Harbaugh Who Won The Superbowl Super Bowl Halftime Show 2013 Super Bowl Commercials 2013 Ray Lewis Murders 2013 Super Bowl Commercials illuminati

Jimmy Fallon replacing Jay Leno on 'Tonight'

By TODAY staff

Updated 3:30 p.m. ET: It's official: Jimmy Fallon is replacing Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" in spring 2014.

Jimmy Fallon will be taking over 'The Tonight Show' franchise and moving the show to 30 Rock when Jay Leno leaves in 2014. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

"Congratulations Jimmy," Leno offered on Wednesday. "I hope you're as lucky as me and hold on to the job until you're the old guy," joked the silver-haired car aficionado. "If you need me, I'll be at the garage."

Fallon, the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member who has made a successful transition to daily TV as the current host of "Late Night," quipped about his time-slot bump from 12:35 a.m. to the 11 p.m. hour.?

"I'm really excited to host a show that starts today instead of tomorrow," Fallon said.

The announcement ends weeks of speculation that there would be changes in the late night landscape, but unlike many television shakeups, this one seems poised for a smooth transition. For starters, Fallon clearly has his predecessor's blessing.

Furthermore, Fallon isn't going to have to uproot his franchise in order to take it to a "Tonight Show" stage -- the show is moving from Los Angeles to New York City. The talker will set up shop in its original home, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where Fallon currently tapes "Late Night."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor?Michael Bloomberg cheered the news in separate press releases, citing a "surge" in production of film and television shows in the state and city. Both welcomed Fallon at the helm of "Tonight," calling him a "native son."

"The original 'Tonight Show' ushered in the modern era of television, broadcast here from New York," Cuomo said. "It is only fitting that as 'The Tonight Show' returns to our state, it will be headlined by New York's own native son and resident, Jimmy Fallon."

Fallon, 38, will also be reuniting with "Saturday Night Live's" Lorne Michaels, who will become executive producer of "The Tonight Show."

Tracy Leeds / NBC

Leno, 62, has hosted the "The Tonight Show" since 1992, when he took over for Johnny Carson (with the exception of a controversial seven-month replacement by Conan O'Brien in 2009). This marks the end of an era for the comic, but it's one that will be highlighted by the rare fact that he's going out on top.

Over the years, the popular host scored interview subjects as wide-ranging as President Barack Obama (first sitting president to do late night) to actor Hugh Grant ("I did a bad thing" with Divine Brown). And his comedy skits attempted to pick up where Carson left off, most notably with his nod to goofy headlines and his man-on-the-street favorite, "Jaywalking."

The Tonight Show" is No. 1 in the ratings, and Leno's place in late-night history is cemented.

"Jay Leno is an entertainment icon, making millions of people laugh every weeknight for more than 20 years," said Steve Burke, Chief Executive Officer of NBCUniversal. "His long reign as the highest-rated late-night host is a testament to his work ethic and dedication to his viewers and to NBC."

NBC said an announcement about its programming plans for the 12:35 a.m. time period will be coming "soon," but rumors are swirling that Fallon's fellow "SNL" "Weekend Update" host Seth Meyers is on deck to replace him.

When the stars come out at night, they flock to the sofas of TV's talk shows. Here are the hosts America has lost sleep over.

Related content:

More in The Clicker:

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/04/03/17586766-jimmy-fallon-replacing-jay-leno-on-tonight-show-in-spring-2014?lite

Caster Semenya Medal Count 2012 Olympics victoria beckham London 2012 rhythmic gymnastics Meteor Shower August 2012 jessie j jessie j

N. Korea moves missile after warning U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea has moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, South Korea's defense minister said Thursday, but he added that there are no signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a full-scale conflict.

The report came hours after North Korea's military warned that it has been authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons. It was the North's latest war cry against America in recent weeks. The reference to smaller weapons could be a claim that Pyongyang has improved its nuclear technology. Or a bluff.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said he did not know the reasons behind the North's missile movement, and that it "could be for testing or drills."

He dismissed reports in Japanese media that the missile could be a KN-08, which is believed to be a long-range missile that if operable could hit the United States.

Kim told lawmakers at a parliamentary committee meeting that the missile has "considerable range" but not enough to hit the U.S. mainland.

The range he described could refer to a mobile North Korean missile known as the Musudan, which has a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles). That would make Japan and South Korea potential targets ? along with U.S. bases in both countries ? but there are doubts about the missile's accuracy.

The Pentagon announced that it will deploy a missile defense system to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam to strengthen regional protection against a possible attack.

Experts say North Korea has not demonstrated that it has missiles capable of long range or accuracy. Some suspect that long-range missiles unveiled by Pyongyang at a parade last year were actually mockups.

"From what we know of its existing inventory, North Korea has short- and medium-range missiles that could complicate a situation on the Korean Peninsula (and perhaps reach Japan), but we have not seen any evidence that it has long-range missiles that could strike the continental U.S., Guam or Hawaii," James Hardy, Asia Pacific editor of IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, wrote in a recent analysis.

Kim Kwan-jin said that if North Korea were preparing for a full-scale conflict, there would be signs including the mobilization of a number of units, including supply and rear troops, but South Korean military officials have found no such preparations.

"(North Korea's recent threats) are rhetorical threats. I believe the odds of a full-scale provocation are small," he said. But he added that North Korea might mount a small-scale provocation such as its 2010 shelling of a South Korean island, an attack that killed four people.

Pyongyang has been railing against joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened U.N. sanctions for its February nuclear test. Many of the threats come in the middle of the night in Asia ? daytime for the U.S. audience.

Analysts say the threats are probably efforts to provoke softer policies from South Korea, to win diplomatic talks with Washington and to solidify the image of young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

At times, Pyongyang has gone beyond rhetoric.

On Tuesday, it announced it would restart a plutonium reactor it had shut down in 2007. A U.S. research institute said Wednesday that satellite imagery shows that construction needed for the restart has already begun.

For a second day Thursday, North Korean border authorities denied entry to South Koreans who manage jointly run factories in the North Korean city of Kaesong. South Koreans already at the plant were being allowed to return home.

Defense Minister Kim said South Korea has prepared a military contingency plan should North Korea hold South Korean workers hostage in Kaesong, Kim said. He wouldn't elaborate.

Outraged over comments in the South about possible hostage-taking and a military response from Seoul, a North Korean government-run committee threatened to pull North Korean workers out of Kaesong as well.

North Korea's military statement Thursday, from an unnamed spokesman from the General Bureau of the Korean People's Army, said its troops had been authorized to counter U.S. "aggression" with "powerful practical military counteractions," including nuclear weapons.

It said America's "hostile policy" and "nuclear threat" against North Korea "will be smashed by the strong will of all the united service personnel and people and cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means."

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington is doing all it can to defuse the situation.

"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger and threat" to the U.S. and its allies, Hagel said Wednesday.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said its military is ready to deal with any provocation by North Korea. "I can say we have no problem in crisis management," deputy ministry spokesman Wee Yong-sub told reporters.

The defense minister, however, was criticized by lawmakers over a North Korean defector who stole a South Korean fishing boat Wednesday night and fled back to North Korea across the western sea border.

Kim said South Korean radar has a "blind spot" in the area and South Korean troops were unaware the defector was fleeing until he almost reached the North Korean side. Lawmakers questioned his military's readiness to detect and counter enemy troops who might use similar blind spots.

This spring's annual U.S.-South Korea drills have incorporated fighter jets and nuclear-capable stealth bombers. The allies insist they are routine exercises. Pyongyang calls them rehearsals for a northward invasion and says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself.

On Sunday, Kim Jong Un led a high-level meeting of party officials who declared building the economy and "nuclear armed forces" as the nation's priorities.

Pyongyang is believed to be working toward building an atomic bomb small enough to mount on a long-range missile. Long-range rocket launches designed to send satellites into space in 2009 and 2012 were widely considered covert tests of missile technology, and North Korea has conducted three underground nuclear tests.

"I don't believe North Korea has the capacity to attack the United States with nuclear weapons mounted on missiles, and won't for many years. Its ability to target and strike South Korea is also very limited," nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, said this week.

In comments posted to CISAC's website, Hecker said North Korea knows a nuclear attack would be met with "a devastating nuclear response."

Hecker has estimated that North Korea has enough plutonium to make several crude nuclear bombs. Its announcement Tuesday that it would restart a plutonium reactor indicated that it intends to produce more nuclear weapons material.

The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies has analyzed recent commercial satellite imagery of the Nyongbyon nuclear facility, where the reactor was shut down in 2007 under the terms of a disarmament agreement. A cooling tower for the reactor was destroyed in 2008.

The analysis published Wednesday on the institute's website, 38 North, says that rebuilding the tower would take six months, but a March 27 photo shows building work may have started for an alternative cooling system that could take just weeks. Experts estimate it could take three months to a year to restart the plant.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington in Washington and Youkyung Lee in Seoul contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/skorea-north-korea-moved-missile-east-coast-062418562.html

Yom Kippur 2012 Aaron Paul packers Dancing With The Stars All Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt space shuttle Torrey Smith Brother

93% The Sapphires

All Critics (102) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (95) | Rotten (7)

Let's trivialize a legacy of cruelty and denigration, in a country where indigenous people suffered from centuries of human rights abuse! And let's make the carnage of Vietnam look like a paintball game!

[A] genial, entertaining, clich?-ridden showbiz story from Australia.

"The Sapphires" illustrates how the same old story - in this case, the one about a 1960s girl group and its struggles - can be freshened up through the novelties of place and characterization.

A very conventional story of a '60s Australian girl group gains extra power from its context and setting in this fact-based story set to the beat of Motown soul.

The performers improve it, or save it, depending on your viewpoint.

"The Sapphires" is a bit like a puppy you're trying to house break. It may have its bad cinematic moments but it's just so darn appealing that you have to love it.

Fires on all cylinders when it drops all pretense and allows its talented cast to simply belt out a series of pure, unfiltered slices of ear candy.

A rousing soundtrack helps to compensate for some of the historical embellishments in this Australian crowd-pleaser.

'Sapphires' got heart and soul

It might not possess the exuberant innocent fun of 'That Thing You Do!' or the overall brilliance of 'The Commitments' but 'The Sapphires' shines enough in its own right. (Complete Content Details for Parents also available)

If you love the music of Motown and enjoy a feel good success flick, then "The Sapphires" fits the bill.

Delirious surprises crowd out the clich?s in this thoroughly disarming movie.

Mauboy has one hell of a voice, and the Sapphires' vocal performances speak to the endless power of great soul songs.

Irresistibly feel good, sound good movie, wears hearts and social relevance on its sparkly sleeve. . .Fun and racial tolerance amidst war [with] sterling aborigine talent.

The most affable, innocuous outing ever set in a war zone.

With O'Dowd in the lead, and a hit-soundtrack-ready selection of tunes from the Stax and Motown catalogs and more, The Sapphires is popcorn entertainment, with some earned laughs and a genuine heart.

It helps that the leading actors are so skillful and appealing, beginning with Chris O'Dowd as a roguish Irishman who becomes the girls' manager...

You've seen this type of tale many times before...but the inspired-by-a-true-story Aboriginal slant adds interest, the actresses create unique characters and Chris O'Dowd really shines.

This familiar but supremely well-told and produced tale of the unlikely rise of an Aboriginal female pop group in the Vietnam War-era is feel-good entertainment at its best. Performances, solid script and great music all hit the high notes.

No quotes approved yet for The Sapphires. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sapphires_2012/

lone ranger aaron brooks dave matthews band solar flares 2012 whitney houston will toyota recall northern lights

Full-face transplant recipient marries woman he met in burn support group

By Elvira Sakmari and Scott Gordon, NBCDFW.com

On Saturday, the North Texas man who was one of?the first Americans to receive a full face transplant married another burn patient he met at a support group.

Dallas Wiens, of Fort Worth, was severely injured in a bizarre construction accident in 2008 when he came in contact with a high-voltage power line.

See a gallery of photos of their wedding at NBCDFW.com

Jamie Nash, of Garland, nearly died in a car crash in Ennis in 2010. Her car erupted in flames, and she was trapped. She was severely burned on her hands, back and legs.

The couple?became engaged last fall.

---

Wiens and Nash exchanged vows Saturday morning at the Fort Worth church where Wiens was working when he was injured.

The couple?celebrated with a reception in downtown Fort Worth. They invited?their doctors and nurses.

Relationship built on hope
The couple met in a support group at Parkland Hospital, where both were being treated.

"I was drawn to him. I just had to meet him," Nash said in November. "I just looked at him from across the room, and there was something about him."

See original report at NBCDFW.com

Wiens said he wasn't interested -- at first.

"I had sworn off love and relationships," he said. "I had no desire to be in one whatsoever."

Then, on Christmas Eve, they talked all night and set up a date.

"We went to dinner and a movie, and that's all she wrote," he said.

The two said they have been together every day since.

"I told him it's got to be love, because I'm not sick of you," Nash joked. "I know I've never felt more real than this."

The couple plans to put their pasts behind them.

"There's no reason to dwell on the past," he said.

"It's dead and gone," she added. "It burned in the fire."

They said they make the perfect couple and help balance each other.

Her hands, for example, were severely injured in her accident. His are fine.

She can see. He lost his eyesight in the accident.

"It's a story of hope, a story of true survivors," Nash said. "I mean, if we can do it, I guarantee you, anybody out there -- we all have a story. We're all going through something. And I want to give everybody hope."

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a2bff9c/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C30A0C175332220Efull0Eface0Etransplant0Erecipient0Emarries0Ewoman0Ehe0Emet0Ein0Eburn0Esupport0Egroup0Dlite/story01.htm

presidents day mindy mccready mindy mccready downton abbey nba all star game danica patrick Michelle Laxalt