Extra-alarm blaze reduces condo building to 'shell'

Firefighters battled a 3-11 alarm blaze in a five-story condominium building in the Morgan Park neighborhood this afternoon...

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Sony at greater risk than Panasonic in electronics downturn: Fitch

TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp has a better chance than rival Sony Corp of surviving Japan's consumer electronics slump because of its unglamorous but stable appliance business of washing machines and fridges, credit rating agency Fitch said Friday. Fitch cut Panasonic's rating by two notches to BB and Sony three notches to BB minus on Thursday, the first time one of the three major...

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Undefeated: No. 4 Ohio State over No. 20 UM, 26-21

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The only thing Urban Meyer lost during his first season at Ohio State was his cool — at the end of the last game.Carlos Hyde ran for 146 yards and the fourth-ranked Buckeyes' defense shut out No. 20 Michigan in the second half to grab a bruising 26-21 win on Saturday, completing an improbable 12-0 season for the Buckeyes.Meyer got emotional as the final seconds ticked off, embracing...

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“Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik tweets pre-Thanksgiving divorce plans

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Things are bound to be a little tense around the dinner table at Mayim Bialik‘s house this Thanksgiving.Bialik is divorcing her husband of nine years, Mike Stone, the “Big Bang Theory” star announced via her twitter account Wednesday.The actress, 36, tweeted a link to a blog post about the split with the message, “I’m beating the tabloids to it and posting this Divorce...

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

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'Dallas' star Larry Hagman dies in Texas

J.R. Ewing was a business cheat, faithless husband and bottomless well of corruption. Yet with his sparkling grin, Larry Hagman masterfully created the charmingly loathsome oil baron — and coaxed forth a Texas-size gusher of ratings — on television's long-running and hugely successful nighttime soap, "Dallas."Although he first gained fame as nice guy Major Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy...

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Walmart protests draw crowds, shoppers largely unfazed

Dozens of local workers, and hundreds nationally, took advantage of Black Friday crowds and camera crews at major retailers...

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RIM shares rally as optimism about new devices grows

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion Ltd surged 17.3 percent in Toronto on Thursday on rising optimism around RIM's soon-to-be-launched BlackBerry 10 devices that will vie against Apple's iPhone and Android-based smartphones. The rally in RIM shares was sparked by National Bank analyst Kris Thompson, who boosted his price target on RIM shares to $15 from $12. Thompson believes...

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Texans top Lions 34-31 in OT after coach's mistake

DETROIT (AP) — Jim Schwartz threw a challenge flag when he didn't need to and the Houston Texans made him regret it.Shayne Graham's 32-yard field goal with 2:21 left in overtime lifted Houston to a 34-31 win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday after their coach broke an NFL rule by attempting to challenge a scoring play."Obviously that's a big break in the game for us," Houston coach Gary Kubiak said....

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Ex-’Price is Right’ model gets $8.5M in damages

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The producers of “The Price is Right” owe a former model on the show more than $ 7.7 million in punitive damages for discriminating against her after a pregnancy, a jury determined Wednesday.The judgment came one day after the panel determined the game show’s producers discriminated against Brandi Cochran. They awarded her nearly $...

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Study finds mammograms lead to unneeded treatment

Mammograms have done surprisingly little to catch deadly breast cancers before they spread, a big U.S. study finds. At the same time, more than a million women have been treated for cancers that never would have threatened their lives, researchers estimate.Up to one-third of breast cancers, or 50,000 to 70,000 cases a year, don't need treatment, the study suggests.It's the most detailed look yet at...

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Lawsuit against Madonna dismissed in Russia

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A Russian court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit that sought millions of dollars in damages from Madonna for allegedly traumatizing minors by speaking up for gay rights during a concert in St. Petersburg.The ruling came after a one-day hearing that bordered on the farcical. During it, plaintiffs claimed that Madonna's so-called "propaganda of perversion" would negatively...

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Judge to let Hostess liquidation proceed

Hostess Brands Inc. on Wednesday won permission from a U.S. bankruptcy judge to begin shutting down, and expressed optimism...

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Bartender wounded in hotel stabbing: 'It was bone-chilling'

Bartender Bradford Burner didn't stop to think when he heard someone screaming and saw a man race through the Westin Hotel and...

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HP alleges Autonomy wrongdoing, takes $8.8 billion charge

(Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard stunned Wall Street by alleging a massive accounting scandal at its British software unit Autonomy that will cost the company the majority of $8.8 billion in charges. It was the latest in a string of reversals that have renewed questions about the basic competence of the storied company's board and senior managers. HP said on Tuesday it discovered...

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Rutgers joins the Big Ten, leaving Big East behind

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — As the Big East was being picked apart, Rutgers was looking for a way out and a new place to show off a football program that has been resurrected in the past decade.Not only did Rutgers find that escape hatch, the Scarlet Knights ended up in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in college sports.Rutgers joined the Big Ten on Tuesday, leaving the Big East behind and cashing...

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OB/GYNs back over-the-counter birth control pills

WASHINGTON (AP) — No prescription or doctor's exam needed: The nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.Tuesday's surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women's advocates to make the pill more accessible.But no one expects the pill to be sold without a prescription...

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Ex-'Price is Right' model wins suit against show

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles jury says a former model on "The Price is Right" was discriminated against by producers because of her pregnancy.The Superior Court jury awarded $776,944 to Brandi Cochran on Tuesday after deliberations that began last week.City News Service reports that a second phase of the trial will determine whether Cochran should be awarded punitive damages.The 41-year-old Cochran...

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Hostess, unions agree to mediation

Hostess Brands Inc agreed in court on Monday to enter private mediation with its lenders and leaders of a striking union to...

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Fatal Indianapolis explosion now a homicide investigation

Authorities have launched a criminal homicide investigation into the house explosion that killed two people and damaged numerous homes in an Indianapolis neighborhood. Indianapolis Homeland Security Director Gary Coons made the announcement Monday evening. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry says search warrants are being executed and that official are looking for a white van that was seen in the...

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U.S. ITC will review Apple, Samsung patent decision

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission will review a judge's decision which found that Apple did not violate patents owned by Samsung Electronics in making the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad. An administrative law judge at the ITC had said in a preliminary ruling in September that Apple was innocent of violating the patents. The ITC, which could have opted to simply...

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Marlins salary dump to Toronto finalized

MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Marlins' latest payroll purge received final approval Monday from the commissioner's office, and as the team's top baseball executive began to discuss the deal during a conference call, a bad connection generated waves of reverberating noise that filled the phone line.Nearly a week after the Marlins swung their widely ridiculed trade with Toronto, negative feedback keeps coming.Commissioner...

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