When Lisa Pagan reports for duty Sunday, four long years after she was honorably discharged from the Army, she’ll arrive with more than her old uniform. She’s bringing her kids, too. “I have to bring them with me,” she said. “I don’t have a choice.” Pagan is…

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Mom: Deployment leaves no one to care for kids

Billionaire Warren Buffett has devoted nearly five pages of his letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders to explaining the role derivatives played in the company’s nearly $7.5 billion investment losses last year. Buffett said in the letter released Saturday…

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Buffett says derivative values can be misleading

Billionaire Warren Buffett says all kinds of investors finished 2008 bloodied and confused because of the dysfunctional credit market and other financial turmoil. And the famous investor said Saturday in his letter to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders that…

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Buffett says economy to remain in shambles in 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Warren Buffett’s insurance and investment company, barely broke even in the fourth quarter because of losses on derivatives contracts tied to the stock market, which caused its net worth to tumble $10.9 billion.

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Berkshire net sinks; Buffett says economy in shambles

American Lindsey Vonn became only the second American to clinch a second straight World Cup downhill championship on Saturday. The 24-year-old finished 12th at a race in Bulgaria to match the feat first achieved by Picabo Street in 1995 and 1996. “It’s so…

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American Vonn wins 2nd straight downhill title

DUBLIN (Reuters) – European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview that a pick up in the economy will be seen next year.

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ECB’s Trichet: We’ll see a pick up in 2010

Abraham Lincoln will be making a return to Disneyland _ at least the animatronic version of the 16th president. Park officials say the famed robot statesman will be part of an attraction called “The Disneyland Story, featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,”…

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Robot statesman to return to Disneyland

LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC , Europe’s biggest bank, plans to raise more than 12 billion pounds ($17 billion) in a share sale aimed at propping up its capital base during the global economic crisis, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

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HSBC plans $17 billion share sale: report

A top U.S. defense official praised China’s contribution to anti-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia on Saturday, following two days of talks in Beijing that marked a resumption of military consultations after a half-year suspension. The visit by U.S….

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US praises China anti-piracy role off Somalia

Prominent activists from military-ruled Myanmar and Cambodia were barred Saturday from a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders, upstaging the opening of a summit billed as a historic step toward greater human rights in the region. The two activists were barred…

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Human rights activists barred from ASEAN meeting

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s announcement that he would retire after a five-decade career that brought him national recognition set in motion a flurry of jostling among leading contenders for one of the most coveted prosecutor jobs in the…

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Plenty of would-be successors to Manhattan DA

After years of bitterly debating whether to set a timetable for troop withdrawals in Iraq, Congress has agreed to one. The general consensus came Friday in the form of statements endorsing President Barack Obama’s plan to bring home roughly two-thirds of the…

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Congress finds consensus on Iraq plan

Police recovered millions in stolen cash and were interrogating seven suspected robbers Saturday, a day after a gang took a bank employee’s family hostage and forced him to rob his own branch. Police said that shortly before midnight they raided two houses in…

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Dublin cops arrest 7 over Irish-record bank heist

Jurors grimly viewed key evidence in the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting two little girls in separate incidents in 2003. Several jurors dabbed their eyes with tissues in a hushed courtroom late Friday as they watched a video showing the…

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Vegas jurors view graphic tape in toddler sex case

Sellar’s incentive – $5,000 finder’s fee It’s no longer enough to simply hire a real estate agent or post an ad and wait for your home to sell. Sellers are finding innovative ways to lure potential purchasers, be it the offer of a throw-in Ferrari or…

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On the Block / The week’s top postings from The Chronicle’s Real Estate blog, sfgate.com/ZGBR