U.S. Senator John Kerry threatened to intervene if News Corp.’s Fox network can’t resolve its fee dispute with Time Warner Cable Inc. before their carriage contract ends tonight.

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Keep Games on TV or FCC May Mediate, Kerry Warns Fox (Update2)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Thursday despite data that showed the number of people filing for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level in about 17 months.

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Wall Street drops, but on track for best year since 2003

President Barack Obama is being urged to strengthen anti-terrorism efforts as he awaits initial results of an investigation into the Dec. 25 attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner.

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Obama Pressured on Terrorism as Safety Gaps Emerge (Update1)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Prudential Financial Inc said on Thursday it completed the planned sale of its minority stake in a retail brokerage to Wells Fargo & Co for $4.5 billion in cash.

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Prudential closes $4.5 billion brokerage stake sale

Wall Street analyst opinions on selected stocks in the news Thursday

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Stock Picks: MasterCard, Interpublic, YRC

Walk into the average Cypriot workplace, nightclub or coffeehouse and you’ll come out smelling like an overflowing ashtray, in a country that has some of the highest levels of passive smoking in Europe. But officials promised Thursday that from New Year’s…

New Year – Kids and Teens – People and Society – Holidays and Special Days – Around the World

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Cyprus to ban indoor smoking on Jan 1 _ again

More than 1,000 Vermont dairy farmers will share in $5.7 million in emergency federal support to help them recover from the lowest prices in 40 years for their milk. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch announced on Thursday that the…

Bernie Sanders – Patrick Leahy – Vermont – Peter Welch – United States

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Vt. dairy farmers to get $5.7 million in aid

A second lawsuit has been filed against a Las Vegas hospital, alleging emergency room personnel failed to treat a pregnant woman in labor. Both of the suits claim the women gave birth prematurely and their babies died. The latest suit was filed against…

Las Vegas Nevada – Lawsuit – United States – Nevada – Business

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2nd suit filed against Las Vegas hospital

North Dakota’s Industrial Commission has approved a plan for allocating $2.43 million worth of housing tax credits next year. The credits are sold to investors and used to help finance construction of low-income housing. Some credits are reserved for North…

Affordable housing – Tax credit – North Dakota – United States – Construction

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Plan ready for allocating ND housing credits

WASHINGTON — The number of newly laid-off Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week, a sign the job market is healing as the U.S. economy slowly recovers. New jobless claims have dropped steadily since September, raising hopes…

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Jobless claims drop unexpectedly

Oil prices on Thursday hit $80 a barrel for the first time in seven weeks as the dollar sank on the final day of the year. Benchmark crude for February delivery added 53 cents at $79.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil jumped as high as $80 a…

Asia – Singapore – Benchmark – Business – Energy

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Oil rises to $80 for first time since November

Biotech stocks took a turn for the worse in 2009 as the major players dealt with regulatory, manufacturing and political issues as well as a deep recession, but their fortunes could turn in 2010 if they get added patent protection. They were the exception in…

Patent – Business – Intellectual property – Investing – Law

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Biotech stocks buck market’s rally, slide in 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc shares fell 1 percent on Thursday after it said a U.S. decision on whether to approve the company’s new version of its big-selling Prevnar vaccine that fights pneumonia and meningitis would push past the deadline.

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Pfizer shares fall after Prevnar FDA delay

AT&T Inc. said Thursday it would no longer sponsor Tiger Woods, joining Accenture and Gillette in dropping support for the golfer after numerous allegations of infidelities. The phone company hasn’t used Woods’ image extensively in advertising, but its logo…

Tiger Woods – Golf – PGA Tour – Sport – Gillette

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AT&T is latest to end Tiger Woods sponsorship

An order from Gov. Jennifer Granholm consolidating two state government agencies is scheduled to take effect March 21. The Department of Management and Budget will merge with the Department of Information Technology unless the Legislature rejects the order…

Government – Jennifer Granholm – Government agency – Information technology – United States

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MI tech, management departments to merge in March