Jurors hear secret tape recording in Miami police corruption trial as feds rest their case

As rain began to fall on a June evening, Miami Police Sgt. Raul Iglesias told an undercover detective in his drug-fighting squad to turn off his cell phone and take out the battery as both officers stood outside the boss’s home.Iglesias, already relieved of duty on suspicions of being a dirty cop, feared Roberto Asanza’s phone could be recording him. And his instincts were...

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The Worst ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Player Ever

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:  RELATED: Movie and Television Characters Need a Lesson in Talking TrashIf we’re ever on Wheel of Fortune...

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Britney Spears Split with Jason Trawick

After more than three years together, Britney Spears and her fiance Jason Trawick have split, her rep confirmed to People. RELATED - Britney "Working Hard" on New Music"Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement," Spears says in the statement. "I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends." Trawick adds, "As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her...

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Lance Armstrong to admit doping in Oprah interview: report

AUSTIN, Texas — Lance Armstrong plans to admit to doping throughout his career during an upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey, it was reported late Friday.The interview, scheduled to be taped Monday and broadcast Thursday night on the Oprah Winfrey Network, will be conducted at Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas.Citing an anonymous source, USA Today reported...

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What the week’s big mortgage moves mean for consumers

This week brought three big developments to the nation’s beleaguered mortgage landscape. For consumers, the complex moves have been mostly mystifying, but experts say they all aim at turning the page.“There is a strong desire to put behind us all this period of time — the aftermath of the darkest period in American finance. All these things [announced this week] are intended...

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Miami Gardens City Hall’s new address: Obama Boulevard

Miami Gardens will have a street named after President Barack Obama, after all.An earlier attempt last month was rejected by the council because the proposed location on Northwest Second Avenue was deemed not worthy enough.The street that was deemed acceptable for “President Barack and Michelle Obama Boulevard” is Northwest 185 Terrace between 27th and 25th Avenues. It is...

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Skype founder browses globe for next tech earner

LONDON (Reuters) – Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of internet phone service Skype, believes the next hot tech business will just as likely spring from Istanbul or Sao Paolo as from Silicon Valley or the coolest districts of London.And he is prepared to fly around the world to find it.“Talent can pop up anywhere in the world, it’s not just one city block,” the Swedish entrepreneur and venture capitalist...

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Taylor Swift Back To Studio, Writing Harry Styles Song?

Harry Styles may be Taylor Swift's new song muse. Following reports of their breakup, the Trouble singer announced that she's back in the studio.Swift, 23, tweeted on Thursday: "Back in the studio. Uh oh..." Is the singer, notorious for writing about her exes, hinting that she's penning a song about the One Direction heartthrob? RELATED: More Details Into Haylor Breakup The country crooner and...

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Queens man stabs older brother to death in food fight

A knife-wielding hothead stabbed his older brother to death in Far Rockaway this morning after a fight over food, witnesses and authorities said.Jose Romero, 27, and his 23-year-old brother got in a heated argument yesterday on Beach 17th Street near the boardwalk around 2 a.m., police said. The two had spent all day yesterday drinking at a funeral, sources...

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Legal feud over Spanish-language TV leads to federal suit in Miami

What began as a highly-touted affiliation between a new Spanish-language national television network and a popular independent local station in Miami has dissolved into a legal dispute of David and Goliath proportions.MundoFox Broadcasting, part of the family of communications giant News Corporation, filed suit in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida against...

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Wisdom from the mouths of babes

The other day, a friend of mine email me the following letter from a 7-year-old second-grader, Abigal Lily Alder, at Heron Heights Elementary in Broward County, and I want to share it with you, my dear Neighbors in Religion readers:The title: "AUTISM SPEAKS to Me!" "If I could help somebody it would be my brother, Grant, who has autism. People with autism like Grant sometimes...

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Netflix announces ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming for select ISPs

Netflix (NFLX) on Tuesday announced new enhanced streaming options for users on select ISPs. Following a series of rumors that suggested as much, Netflix has confirmed the availability of “Super HD” streaming — which is simply Netflix’s branding for 1080p content — and 3D video streaming. Both services are available immediately with a huge caveat: only Netflix subscribers with Cablevision or Google...

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Stars React to Oscar Nominations

The 85th Academy Award nominees were announced bright and early Thursday morning, with cinephiles and celebrities alike ecstatic to hear who's up for an Oscar this year. Here are the nominees' reactions (so far):Bradley Cooper: On the TODAY show, the actor commented that he was "so excited" that the entire cast of Silver Linings Playbook was nominated, and he's just happy to "be in the same room"...

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Tiffany holiday sales weaker than expected

Jewelry company Tiffany & Co.'s sales for the critical holiday season rose 4 percent globally, while a key revenue metric was basically flat compared with a year ago. The retailer's holiday sales increase was lower than expected, and it now anticipates full-year earnings at the lower end of its prior forecast.Shares fell more than 9 percent in premarket...

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Unemployment claims on the rise in Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade County ended 2012 with more people joining the unemployment rolls than it did last year. The late-year increase in first-time unemployment claims broke a trend of declining applications throughout most of 2012. First-time claims spiked about 15 percent in November and December, with about 17,500 new applications in all over those 60 days. That’s compared to 15,000...

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Mystery fish invades Keys waters from the Pacific

Deep-diving spearfishermen surfaced with a mystery last month south of Pacific Reef Light off North Key Largo."I was shocked when I saw it," Wayne Grammes said. "It’s an ugly-looking fish with a face on it that looks like a tripletail and a tail like a jewfish."The 15-pound, 27-inch fish speared by Greg Caterino of Tavernier turned out to be a humpback grouper — a species...

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European businesses slow to go online: study

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European businesses are not doing enough to use the internet to grow their customer base and promote products, Belgian database and marketing firm Email-Brokers said after studying 13 million websites.Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have the highest proportion of companies online but even in these countries 40 percent of business have no internet presence, it found.The European...

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Cyndi Lauper Explains Her Infamous KY Derby Flub

Last May, Cyndi Lauper performed at her first Kentucky Derby parade, which would have been a pleasant experience for her had she not unknowingly cursed on live television. As she sat down with ET to talk about her new reality show, she explained the infamous moment.Although she knew she would have a microphone on her that day, Lauper claims that there was a miscommunication between her and the show's...

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Waitress strips naked for final shift at Roberta's

Restaurant goers at Roberta's, a pizzeria in Bushwick, Brooklyn, got more than just their dinner this past weekend. Customers got an eyeful when they were being served by a naked waitress.The eatery is tucked away in an old garage that is graffiti-laden. Customers often wait hours for the chance to dine on its Neapolitan-style pies, some of which have cheeky...

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4 smartphones with standout features

These days, smartphones are almost all drawing from the same bag of tricks, and it can be hard to tell one from the next. If the average smartphone will do all the basic things you want it to, what does it take to be special? Here are four smartphones with unusual features that really make them stand out. Nokia Lumia 920 Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent) ...

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Police shoot, kill woman accused of holding knife to her boyfriend

A woman who was holding her boyfriend at knife point as their 3-year-old boy was in their home was shot to death by deputies in Lake Worth Tuesday morning.Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies were called to the home in a duplex about 2:45 a.m. by the boyfriend who was frantic, saying she was going to kill him, sheriff’s spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.“When we arrived she had...

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Conn. lawmaker apologizes over Facebook post

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut lawmaker has apologized after saying in a Facebook post that shooting victim and former Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords should “stay out of my towns.”Giffords last week visited Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 young children and six adults at an elementary school last month. The Democrat, who met with families of the victims, was critically wounded...

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Golden Globes Flashback: Woody Harrelson 1997

Woody Harrelson has never been considered a style icon, but when he had his tuxedo for the 1997 Golden Globes manufactured out of hemp by Armani, he was something of a fashion pioneer.After years on Cheers, Harrelson established himself as a film actor with White Men Can't Jump in 1992. Four years later, he received his first Golden Globe nomination for The People vs. Larry Flynt, for which he also...

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Gang member gunned down in Harlem: cops

A gang member was gunned down in a Harlem housing project last night, authorities said. Jayyidah Woodley, 32, was found in the lobby of the King Tower Houses on Lenox Avenue at 11:30 p.m., police said. She was shot several times in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.Woodley has 12 prior arrests, including one for murder, and is...

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Norwegian Cruise Line to go public

In a long expected move, Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Tuesday announced plans to take the company public.The company has registered an initial public offering of 23,529,412 ordinary shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares will be traded on the NASDAQ; no price has set been set. The third largest ocean-going cruise line, Norwegian Cruise Line has...

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Traffic alert: Heavy traffic expected on I-95 all day for BCS game

If you’re on South Florida roadways on Monday, be prepared for occasional tie-ups as fans, VIPs and the teams head to Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.Game executives urge commuters to brace for heavy traffic from noon to 9 p.m. Monday and to avoid northbound Interstate 95 between downtown Miami and the Golden Glades. Kickoff is 8:30 p.m.Florida’s Turnpike and arterial roads...

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Alcatel One Touch readies U.S. invasion with world’s thinnest smartphone and a colorful 5-inch phablet

TCL Communication’s (2618) Alcatel One Touch brand is ostensibly unknown in the United States, but the company is looking to make a name for itself at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Alcatel One Touch has a number of new devices debuting at CES 2013 and to start things off, the China-based firm has unveiled a trio of intriguing new Android phones.[More from BGR: ‘iPhone 5S’ to reportedly...

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Golden Globes Flashback: Julia Louis-Dreyfus 1994

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been immortalized in television history with her character of "Elaine Benes" on Seinfeld. After four seasons on the show, she was finally nominated for her first Golden Globe, which she won. As it was her first major award, she was anxious to hold it in her hands.While she had previously been nominated for Emmy Awards, the comedic actress had yet to be nominated for a Golden...

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Obama taps Brennan for CIA, Hagel for Pentagon

REUTERSAssistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan, left, and former US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday will nominate Chuck Hagel as his next defense secretary and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, two potentially controversial picks for...

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Billionaire Phillip Frost an ‘entrepreneur’s entrepreneur’

For that blind first date, a half-century ago, the young doctor, Phillip Frost, showed up at Patricia Orr’s family house in suburban New York, with an unusual gift: a miniature mushroom garden.In the 50 years since, Frost, the son of a shoe store owner, has gone on to amass a fortune of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine, becoming the 188th wealthiest man in the United...

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CrimeWatch: Two email scams you shouldn’t fall for

This week I am going to share with you some scam emails that are going around. People are falling for them, but many could have been avoided with some common sense. If you get an email like the one below, please call the person before sending cash, which many have done and have lost their money.Caught out of the country Omg!! I’m writing this with tears in my eyes, my family...

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Barnes & Noble sells fewer Nooks, retail revenue falls

(Reuters) – Barnes & Noble Inc’s Nook unit reported weak holiday season numbers on Thursday as it sold fewer e-readers and tablets at its own stores, and its e-books sales growth slowed, raising questions about the future of its digital business.The Nook, launched in 2009 to compete with Amazon.com Inc‘s market-leading Kindle, has been the cornerstone of Barnes & Noble‘s strategy to counter...

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Cher Signs Development Deal with Logo

Logo just announced at The Television Critics Association in Pasadena, CA that the network has signed a development deal with the ultimate gay icon, Cher. AUDIO - Listen to Cher's New SongThe show, which is in its earliest stages of development, would mark Cher's first regular TV gig since The Sonny and Cher Show ended in 1977.While this could change before the show hits the air (if it actually does),...

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Obama expected to nominate Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary: report

WASHINGTON – President Obama is expected to announce Monday that he has picked former Nebraska Republican Senator and Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel as his new Defense Secretary, according to a report.Hagel will succeed current secretary Leon Panetta, who is stepping down, according to a report in Politico.The nomination of Hagel, who voted against entering the Iraq war, is expected to ignite a fierce...

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Billionaire Phillip Frost an ‘entrepreneur’s entrepreneur’

For that blind first date, a half-century ago, the young doctor, Phillip Frost, showed up at Patricia Orr’s family house in suburban New York, with an unusual gift: a miniature mushroom garden.In the 50 years since, Frost, the son of a shoe store owner, has gone on to amass a fortune of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine, becoming the 188th wealthiest man in the United...

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