Politico financier Joe L. Allbritton dies at 87

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Joe L. Allbritton, the millionaire founder of Politico‘s parent company, died Wednesday of heart ailments in a Houston hospital. He was 87.The founder of Allbritton Communications, which launched Politico and owns several television stations, built the Washington, D.C.-based media empire after controversy-fraught years as the chief of Riggs National Bank.Born in Mississippi...

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Life Expectancy Rises Around World, Study Finds

A sharp decline in deaths from malnutrition and infectious diseases like measles and tuberculosis has caused a shift in global mortality patterns over the past 20 years, according to a report published on Thursday, with far more of the world’s population now living into old age and dying from diseases mostly associated with rich countries, like cancer and heart disease. Tony Karumba/Agence...

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Jenni Rivera jet linked to troubled company and executive

So far, this much is clear: Jenni Rivera, one of the most celebrated artists in the Latin world, died when her private jet went...

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Hallelujah! Google Maps Returns to Apple's iPhone

The wait is now, finally over. Google Maps is in Apple’s App Store, available for both the iPhone and iPad, bringing hope to those who have been having trouble getting around since the Apple mapocalypse.Google’s app, which arrived late Wednesday night, improves on the Google-powered maps app that Apple shipped included in iOS before version 6 — when Apple ditched Google to go out on its...

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Rock legends take to New York stage for storm Sandy victims

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Alicia Keys were among the musical stars headlining an all-star benefit concert for victims of Superstorm Sandy on Wednesday, in what producers promised was “the greatest line-up of legends ever assembled on a stage.”Organizers said the “12-12-12″ concert at New York‘s Madison Square Garden was being distributed to nearly 2 billion people...

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‘How to Survive a Plague’ Provides a Silver Lining on AIDS

Stephanie Diani for The New York TimesThe director David France in Los Angeles last week. LAST Wednesday night, David France, the director of the documentary “How to Survive a Plague,” made his way to the Open Society Institute in Columbus Circle for a question-and-answer session and a screening of his film, which is about the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Afterward, he was mobbed by well-wishers...

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Joe Allbritton, TV and Banking Titan, Dies at 87

Joe L. Allbritton, a Texas financier who at age 50 became a television and newspaper baron in Washington, then climbed the city’s social hierarchy as he transformed himself into the foremost banker to Embassy Row, died on Tuesday in Houston. He was 87. The cause was a heart ailment, said Frederick J. Ryan Jr., the president of Allbritton Communications, which is based in Arlington, Va. Mr....

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Ravi Shankar, sitar master, dies at 92

Ravi Shankar was already revered as a master of the sitar in 1966 when he met George Harrison, the Beatle who became his most...

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A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Dec. 12

Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle posted here.SPOILER WARNING:We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer....

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Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar dies at 92

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ravi Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over a 10-decade career, died Tuesday. He was 92.A statement on the musician’s website said he died in San Diego, near his Southern California home. The musician’s foundation issued a statement saying that...

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