Chinese investor buying Korea's Megabox cinema chain, say reports

HONG KONG -- A Chinese investment firm has acquired a major stake in South Korea's third ranked cinema chain Megabox. According to local reports, Oriental Star Capital is to pay $515 million (KRW570 billion) for the 50% stake in Megabox held by Korea...

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Box office: 'Interview' heads for $3 million weekend, 'Hobbit,' 'Unbroken,' 'Woods' surging

Following a $1 million-plus Christmas Day launch for "The Interview," Sony's political comedy is heading for a $3 million finish over the four-day holiday period at 331 U.S. locations. "The Interview" figure will be dwarfed by the three top wide releases:...

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Mazda 3 performance shifts gears

It's difficult to factor out the choice of an automatic or manual transmission when evaluating any automobile. "You drive the car with a manual transmission. With an automatic, the car drives you," is what my mechanic tells me, and this is hard to ignore...

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Japan's Abe unleashes stimulus plan to spur growth

TOKYO — Japan's Cabinet approved 3.5 trillion yen ($29 billion) in fresh stimulus Saturday for the ailing economy, pledging to get growth back on track and restore the country's precarious public finances. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is wrapping up his...

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Clinton economic approach under scrutiny

WASHINGTON — If Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks the White House again, her message on the economy could be an important barometer as she courts fellow Democrats. Members of her party are watching closely how the former secretary of state outlines steps...

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Movie co. hack is the great cyber whodunit

LOS ANGELES — Everyone has a theory about who really hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Despite President Obama's conclusion that North Korea was the culprit, the Internet's newest game of whodunit continues. Top theories include disgruntled Sony...

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High-end digs dominate Boston in ’14

Real estate in Greater Boston this year has been somewhat of a paradox. The market saw a huge influx of luxury apartment complexes, with high rents and lots of amenities, and construction is under way on some of the city's most expensive condos. Yet...

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Booting Up: Sony runs with chance to test new marketing model

Sony Pictures has pioneered a new model for marketing films, bypassing big theaters and instead looking to a startup and streaming services to distribute the movie that sparked an unprecedented North Korean cyber attack. Reversing its decision to pull...

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Sony says online PlayStation disrupted

TOKYO — Sony's online PlayStation store and Microsoft's Xbox site suffered disruptions to users on Christmas Day in the latest possible cyber-attacks on the companies. The PlayStation Store Twitter feed said Friday that some users were having trouble...

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Coakley investigates Santander Bank

BOSTON — The Massachusetts attorney general's office is investigating Santander bank's auto lending business over concerns that the company may be engaged in the type of predatory practices that, on a larger scale, led to the mortgage and financial crises....

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Russia's Putin scraps New Year's holidays for ministers

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday scrapped New Year's holidays for government ministers because of the unfolding economic crisis. Russian company employees throughout the country are entitled to holiday from Jan. 1 to Jan. 12 when...

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Honda recalls 1,252 Crosstours over side air bags

NEW YORK — Honda is recalling 1,252 Crosstour vehicles due to a faulty side air bag made by troubled air bag supplier Takata. The Honda recall is for 2015 model year Crosstours. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the side air bag...

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Quincy residents to be left with emergency facility only

The long-struggling Quincy Medical Center will permanently close its doors tomorrow, leaving Quincy residents without an official health facility sooner than originally planned, which could spur legal action from the Attorney General's office. "Because...

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Mayor Marty Walsh makes Dorchester tour

It was a merry Christmas Eve day in Dorchester yesterday as the mayor and police commissioner went on a goodwill tour of businesses. The event began with a gathering at the Teen Center at St. Peter's where neighborhood kids received presents from police...

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Snowstorm in Moscow delays over 150 flights

MOSCOW — A massive snowstorm in Moscow on Thursday caused delays to more than 150 flights and brought traffic to a standstill. None of Moscow's three airports have been closed, but all three were hit with severe delays, including more than a hundred...

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The Ticker

Pier 4 owner cashes out Pier 4 master developer New England Development has cashed out of the 1-million-square-foot South Boston waterfront project, selling 130 and 140 Northern Ave. to the deeper-pocketed Tishman Speyer, the New York owner of properties...

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Single-family home sales fall in Nov.

Single-family home sales fell last month while the median price rose, particularly in Greater Boston, driven by a continuing shortage of inventory, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Statewide, the number of closed sales dropped...

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Bitcoin now available at local stores

You can now pick up some bitcoin with that bottle of soda and bag of chips at the store down the street. LibertyX, a company that originally made and operated bitcoin vending kiosks, has expanded to let any store sell bitcoin for cash at the register,...

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Sony tries to save face with 'Interview' flip-flop

ATLANTA — Sony's flip-flop on releasing "The Interview" shows the studio is working furiously to try to chart the right course through political and public-opinion minefields. Although analysts don't believe the decision will have any effect on Sony's...

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Honda recalls 1,252 Crosstours over side air bags

NEW YORK — Honda is recalling 1,252 Crosstour vehicles due to a faulty side air bag made by troubled air bag supplier Takata. The Honda recall is for 2015 model year Crosstours. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the side air bag...

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Dow tops 18,000 as market reaches new highs

U.S. stocks pushed further into record territory on Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average crossed past the 18,000-point mark for the first time. Investors cheered new data showing the U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in...

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Myanmar villagers remain in standoff over mine

YANGON, Myanmar — Villagers refusing to leave their homes for the expansion of a Chinese-backed copper mine in northwestern Myanmar remained in a tense standoff with security forces for a second day Tuesday, with two reported hurt. The confrontation,...

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Interpol: man wanted for ivory smuggling caught in Tanzania

NAIROBI, Kenya — An official with the international police agency says police have arrested an alleged ivory trafficker, who had been on the run for months. The head of Interpol in Kenya, Vitalis Okumu, said Tuesday that Kenyan police arrested Feisal...

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Report: At least 60 journalists killed in 2014

NEW YORK — At least 60 journalists around the world were killed in 2014 while on the job or because of their work, and 44 percent of them were targeted for murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. An "unusually high proportion," or about one-fourth,...

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US consumer spending up solid 0.6 pct. in November

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending rose at the fastest pace in three months in November, while income posted the best gain in five months — both encouraging signs for economic growth. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that consumer spending increased...

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New radiator for Frontier a precaution worth taking

I have a 2008 Nissan Frontier with the 4-liter engine, automatic transmission and 88,000 miles. In checking the Internet, apparently 2005-2010 Frontiers, Pathfinders and Xterras have had an issue with the radiator/transmission cooler failing, which results...

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Inspections show high pricing accuracy in Massachusetts

BOSTON — Last-minute holiday shoppers can shop with confidence that prices will be accurate. A check on prices in 124 stores throughout Massachusetts showed the highest level of pricing accuracy in a decade. The survey by the Massachusetts Division...

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Foreign-trained med workers need help

Massachusetts needs more centralized information on relicensing pathways, improved career supports at workforce-development and educational institutions, and a review of licensure regulations to help the state's more than 12,000 foreign-born health care...

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Research shows owners coming up short on home values

WASHINGTON — Do American homeowners think their properties are worth less than the actual market value, as measured by professional appraisers? Highly unlikely, you'd probably say. Everybody knows that owners tend to have optimistic impressions of what...

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US mulls putting NKorea on terrorism sponsor list

HONOLULU — The United States is reviewing whether to put North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism, President Barack Obama said as the U.S. decides how to respond to the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that law enforcement...

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