Gym revokes woman’s membership over call

A Westwood woman learned there's a limit to how much free speech you can exercise at the gym, after Planet Fitness yanked her membership for yakking on a cell phone while working out. Tina Santoro Asmar said she got the boot after answering an unexpected...

22.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Budget cuts to hit military school districts first

FORT HOOD, Texas — Public schools everywhere will be affected by the government's automatic budget cuts, but few may feel the funding pinch faster than those on and around military bases. School districts with military ties from coast-to-coast are bracing...

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boehner: No reason to block Keystone XL pipeline

WASHINGTON — A new State Department report is the latest evidence that the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada should be approved, supporters say. The draft report, issued Friday, finds there would be no significant environmental impact...

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Apple shareholder drops lawsuit on preferred stock

SAN FRANCISCO — A disgruntled shareholder pressing Apple to create a new class of preferred stock has dropped a lawsuit that became a moot point after the iPhone and iPad maker changed the agenda at its annual meeting earlier this week. Lawyers for...

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Consequence to cuts no one thought would happen

WASHINGTON — It's not the first time that government economic engineering has produced a time bomb with a short fuse. Back in 2011, few lawmakers thought deep and indiscriminate spending cuts, totaling about $85 billion and now starting to kick in,...

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Odds against him, Obama still betting on big deal

WASHINGTON — A fiscal deadline all but blown, President Barack Obama says he once again wants to seek a big fiscal deal that would raise taxes and trim billions from expensive and ever growing entitlement programs. But with automatic federal spending...

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russian banker in fraud case granted London asylum

MOSCOW — A Russian banker accused of fraud says he has been granted political asylum in Britain. Former Bank of Moscow head Andrei Borodin told Russian media Friday he argued that he risked politically motivated persecution from Prime Minister Dmitry...

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McDonald's getting rid of items from menu

NEW YORK — McDonald's is getting rid of its Chicken Selects and Fruit & Walnut Salad, as well as considering the removal of Angus burgers. The world's biggest hamburger chain also says in an emailed statement that it is "evaluating options as it...

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Top bourbon maker Beam dips into white whiskey

CLERMONT, Ky. — The world's top bourbon producer is dipping into moonshining's colorful past to create its own white whiskey. Beam Inc.'s newest spirit is called Jacob's Ghost in honor of Jacob Beam, founding distiller of its flagship Jim Beam brand....

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Boeing cuts back on contract workers at SC plant

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Boeing is trimming the number of temporary contract workers employed at its South Carolina assembly plant. The company says the reductions have been planned for some time and have nothing to do with battery problems in its 787 jetliners....

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China says US-based hackers target its websites

BEIJING — China's military said Thursday that overseas computer hackers targeted two of its websites an average of 144,000 times per month last year, with almost two-thirds of the attacks originating in the United States. The claim from Defense Ministry...

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Smart 'stickers' let you find things by phone

BARCELONA, Spain — Jimmy Buchheim is behaving oddly. On the floor of the world's largest cellphone trade show in Barcelona, Spain, he's looking at the screen of his iPod Touch, taking a few steps, and then looking again. Now and then he backtracks or...

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Bailed-out RBS posts $9 billion annual loss

LONDON — Part-nationalized Royal Bank of Scotland said Thursday it ended 2012 with massive losses after it set aside more cash to compensate customers who were mis-sold financial products and to pay fines related to a rate-rigging scandal. The bank,...

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AOL taps Lyne to serve as CEO of its Brand Group

NEW YORK — AOL has hired one of its board members, former Martha Stewart Living CEO Susan Lyne, to run the AOL portfolio of brands. The Internet company said Thursday that as CEO of its Brand Group, Lyne will be responsible for increasing traffic across...

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Weekly US unemployment aid claims drop to 344K

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell 22,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 344,000, evidence that the job market may be picking up. The four-week average of applications dropped 6,750 to 355,000, the Labor Department...

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CommonWealth REIT moving forward with offering

NEWTON — CommonWealth REIT said Wednesday that it is moving forward with its planned stock offering and debt repurchase, one day after a pair of shareholders said the stock was undervalued and that they're willing to buy the rest of the company. Its...

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Budweiser maker AB InBev reports lower 4Q profit

AMSTERDAM — Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world's largest brewer, says its profits fell 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter, due to changes in financing costs. Net profit was $1.76 billion (€1.35 billion), down from $1.85 billion in the same period a year...

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Dubai adds tallest hotel to superlative list

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Superlative-hungry Dubai is adding another to its list: A 72-story hotel billed as the world's tallest. The JW Marriott's Marquis Dubai formally opened Tuesday after gaining the title of tallest hotel from Guinness World...

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BP executive resumes testimony at Gulf spill trial

NEW ORLEANS — A ranking BP executive says the drilling rig that the company leased from Transocean Ltd. had a good safety record before a well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico triggered an explosion that killed 11 workers. A Transocean attorney questioned...

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Target's adjusted 4Q profit beats Street view

MINNEAPOLIS — Target's Neiman Marcus collaboration did not turn out to be a holiday gift to the retailer. The No. 2 discount chain reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income dipped 2 percent as it dealt with intense competition during the crucial holiday...

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Kerry pushes trans-Atlantic free trade in Germany

BERLIN — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pushed Tuesday for a free-trade agreement between the United States and Europe, saying it is a priority for President Barack Obama's second term that would help create jobs and growth on both sides of the Atlantic....

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Macy's profit beats Wall Street expectations

NEW YORK — Macy's reported a fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations as its strategy of tailoring merchandise to local markets paid off during the holiday season. The department store chain, which also operates Bloomingdale's stores,...

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US home prices post healthy gain in December

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose at a healthy pace in December compared with a year ago, driven higher by rising sales and a smaller supply of available homes. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, released Tuesday, rose...

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Italian election inconclusive; global markets drop

ROME — Italy emerged from elections Tuesday with no clear winner, driving markets around the world markedly lower as investors worried that one of Europe's biggest economies would be unable to build a governing coalition that can stay the course on unpopular...

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US 4Q bank earnings up 37 pct.; highest in 6 years

WASHINGTON — Profits of U.S. banks jumped almost 37 percent from October through December, reaching the highest level in six years as banks continued to step up lending. The figures are fresh evidence of the banking industry's sustained recovery more...

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High-stakes trial begins for 2010 Gulf oil spill

NEW ORLEANS — A high-stakes trial started Monday to assign blame and help figure out exactly how much more BP and other companies should pay for the nation's worst offshore oil spill. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said he would hear opening statements...

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Daytona's preliminary TV rating up from last year

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With Danica Patrick starting from the pole, the Daytona 500's preliminary television ratings are much higher than last year's. Sunday afternoon's race earned a 10.0 overnight rating and 22 share on Fox. That's up 30 percent from...

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Markets buoyant on Italian election polls

LONDON — Markets roared ahead Monday as the momentum that has marked 2013 reestablished itself amid early indications that the center-left will be able to form a government in Italy. Early polls out of Italy show that the center-left coalition, led...

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Warren addresses New England business group

BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she does not know at this point what can be done to prevent what she calls a "mindless across the board approach" to cutting federal spending. The Massachusetts Democrat was asked during a breakfast meeting of...

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Horse meat found in Ikea's Swedish meatballs

STOCKHOLM — Swedish furniture giant Ikea was drawn into Europe's widening food labeling scandal Monday as authorities said they had detected horse meat in frozen meatballs labeled as beef and pork and sold in 13 countries across the continent. The Czech...

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