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YouTube Enlists Big-Name Help to Redefine Channels

YouTube is enlisting Hollywood's help to reach a generation of viewers more familiar with smartphones than TV remotes.

The online video giant is aiming to create 25 hours of programming per day with the help of some of the top names in traditional TV. The Google-owned site is spreading its wealth among producers, directors, and other filmmakers, using a $100 million pot of seed money it committed last fall. The fund represents YouTube's largest spending on original content so far.

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Flu Season Off to Latest Start in Decades

Health officials say the flu season is finally here — the slowest start in nearly 25 years.

Until this month, there weren't enough flu cases in the U.S. to signal the start of the season. This is the latest start to a flu season since the winter of 1987-1988.

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FDA to Review Inhalable Caffeine

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials plan to investigate whether inhalable caffeine sold in lipstick-sized canisters is safe for consumers and if its manufacturer was right to brand it as a dietary supplement.

AeroShot went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and it's also available in France. Consumers put one end of the canister in their mouths and breathe in, releasing a fine powder that dissolves almost instantly.

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Iraq's Oil Exports Slightly Decline in January

Iraq's oil ministry says oil exports have declined slightly in January compared to the previous month.

Monday's statement says last month oil exports averaged 2.107 million barrels per day, down from 2.145 million barrels per day in December.

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Sex-Changing Treatment for Kids: It's on The Rise

A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics.

It's an issue that raises ethical questions, and some experts urge caution in treating children with puberty-blocking drugs and hormones.

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Youth Shaping Future of Online TV, Movies, Music

Young people want their music, TV and movies now — even if it means they get these things illegally.

A recent Columbia University survey found, in fact, that 70 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they had bought, copied or downloaded unauthorized music, TV shows or movies, compared with 46 percent of all adults who'd done the same.

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Whitney Houston's Dress, Earrings Up for Auction

A black velvet dress that belonged to Whitney Houston and a pair of earrings she wore in "The Bodyguard" will be sold to the highest bidder next month.

Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien said Sunday the pieces and other Houston items became available after the singer's unexpected death on Feb. 11 and will be included among a long-planned sale of Hollywood memorabilia such as Charlie Chaplin's cane, Clark Gable's jacket from "Gone With the Wind" and Charlton Heston's staff from "The Ten Commandments."

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Scientists Find No Radiation in Sick Ringed Seals

Scientists say preliminary tests indicate radiation didn't cause lesions and other symptoms associated with sickened or dead ringed seals found along Alaska's northern coast last year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a screening of tissue samples from both healthy and sick ice seals and walruses showed no radiation levels that would have directly caused the symptoms.

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Flash Mobs, Elegant Gowns Dominate London Fashion

Stella McCartney used a flash mob, Issa relied on colorful floral prints, and Alice Temperley turned to 18th Century paintings for inspiration as London Fashion Week moved into high gear Saturday.

It was a day of elegant, sexy dresses, raucous performances, and beautiful detailing as London designers showed what makes their fashion approach unique.

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Gunmen Storm Philippine Jail to Rescue Detainee, 3 Killed

Dozens of black-clad gunmen armed with grenades and bombs stormed a southern Philippine jail trying to free a detained comrade, but they were repulsed by police in a chaotic night battle that killed three people, officials said Monday.

Fifteen people were wounded, most of them civilians caught in the firefight late Sunday outside Kidapawan's city hall compound and along a key commercial road. Military and police officials blamed former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but a spokesman for the Muslim rebel group denied the claim.

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