Battle Bots Fight Kaiju in Epic First Trailer for <em>Pacific Rim</em>

Who’s ready for a nerdgasm? Click “play” above and watch.After a long wait, fans (at least those not lucky enough to catch the sneak peaks offered at San Diego Comic-Con International or New York Comic Con) are finally getting their first look at footage from director Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming “robot porn” flick Pacific Rim. And it was worth the wait — monsters-versus-robots...

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Taylor Swift reclaims top spot on Billboard 200

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country-pop star Taylor Swift reclaimed the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday with her hit album “Red,” keeping three new entries from the No.1 position.“Red” landed back at No. 1 for the fourth time after selling 167,000 copies last week according to Nielsen SoundScan, ousting Alicia Keys‘ “Girl on Fire,” which fell to No. 7 this week.New entries this...

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North Korea launches its second rocket this year

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Google Pins Gmail Outage on 'Routine Update' Gone Wrong

Monday’s Gmail outage didn’t last long — just 18 minutes, according to Google — but it disrupted an awful lot of users. When the popular webmail service went down around 9 a.m. PST, as much as 40 percent of all users were affected.On Tuesday afternoon, Google published its explanation of what went wrong. The problem, the company said, was a “routine” update that caused Google’s load-balancing...

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Mexico: Rivera’s plane hit with ‘terrible’ impact

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The plane carrying Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera plunged almost vertically from more than 28,000 feet and hit the ground in a nose-dive at a speed that may have exceeded 600 miles per hour, Mexico‘s top transportation official said Tuesday.In the first detailed account of the moments leading up to the crash that killed Rivera and six other people, Secretary of Communications...

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Rate of Childhood Obesity Falls in Several Cities

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York TimesAt William H. Ziegler Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia, students are getting acquainted with vegetables and healthy snacks. PHILADELPHIA — After decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several American cities are reporting their first declines. The trend has emerged in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller places like...

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Michigan Governor Signs Laws Limiting Unions

Fabrizio Costantini for The New York TimesProtesters argued on the steps of the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday as state lawmakers considered right to work legislation. More Photos »LANSING, Mich. — With Democrats and labor leaders vowing retribution at the ballot box and beyond, the Republican-dominated Michigan Legislature on Tuesday approved sweeping, statewide changes to the way unions will be financed,...

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In Venice, a new business bloom on Rose Avenue

Step inside the Rose Market near the corner of Rose and 5th avenues in Venice, and make your way to the refrigerator in the...

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Supreme Court Asked to Review $222K Landmark File-Sharing Case

Infamous file-sharer Jammie Thomas-Rasset asked the Supreme Court on Monday to review a jury’s conclusion that she pay the recording industry $222,000 for downloading and sharing two dozen copyrighted songs on the now-defunct file-sharing service Kazaa.Thomas-Rasset, the first person to defend herself against a Recording Industry Association of America file-sharing case, said the damages were...

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Andy Serkis plays dual role in ‘Hobbit’ – Gollum and director

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Andy Serkis reprises his role as Gollum in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” to be released worldwide this week, but his main role this time was as a second unit director, shooting battle sequences in 3D for director Peter Jackson.The British-born actor, 48, who rose to fame as the obsessive Gollum in Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, spoke with Reuters about playing...

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