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Federal and state authorities Thursday announced an historic settlement that will grant the nation’s largest banks $26 billion for mortgage relief.  Millions of struggling homeowners nervously held their breath as government officials detailed the terms of the settlement, the biggest shares of which will go to beleaguered Bank of America and its long-time rival...
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Early Friday, reliable Tokyo media outlets reported consumer electronics giant Panasonic will post a $9.2 billion net annual loss for 2011.  Analysts attribute the loss in part to the company’s decision to write-down its acquisition of Sanyo Electric, but they say it derives primarily from extremely weak sales of televisions in the United States...
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Facebook Wednesday filed for a stock-offering that promises to make Wall Street and worldwide web history.  If Zuckerberg and associates make the $5 billion they expect, theirs will become the largest initial public offering of a web company shares in stock market history.  Moreover, sale of the much-coveted stock, which will list on the...
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Pennsylvania State University today concluded its week-long tribute to legendary football coach Joe Paterno, celebrating his life and mourning his loss in a memorial ceremony that featured a number of distinguished alumni from his six decades as head coach, and which ended in an emotional eulogy delivered by the Coach’s son, Jay.  Paterno died...
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After posting handsome gains in Tuesday’s late trading, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average fell sharply again Wednesday, losing 4.4% of its value and closing at 10,719.  Bank stocks led the decline, giving up approximately 7% of their value despite last week’s encouraging earnings reports from most major American financial institutions.  Analysts suggested Wednesday’s steep decline...
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In what almost all reporters have characterized as a “stunning reversal,” Justice Michael J. Obus Friday released Dominque Strauss-Kahn on his own recognizance, lifting all restrictions on him except withholding his passport.  Justice Obus’s order followed the District Attorney’s presentation of documents indicating “serious doubts about whe housekeeper’s credibility.”  District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr....
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Ending one of the longest manhunts in FBI history, agents closed-in on and captured legendary mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger outside his modest Santa Monica, California apartment late Wednesday, taking him into custody “without incident.”  Just days after launching a series of public service announcements in fourteen cities where Bulger and his long-time girlfriend,...
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After nearly a week of debate, delay, drama, and nonsense, Joez Baez and the Casey Anthony defense team finally found their story, their rhythm, and their style on Friday, apparently scoring big points with extremely emotional testimony from Cindy and Lee Anthony, tot mom’s mother and brother.  Finally returning to the main theme in...
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“Hardly anyone could recognize him,” said a Serbian police official after the arrest of alleged war criminal Ratko Mladic on Thursday.  Notorious for sustaining a 43-month siege of Sarajevo, Mladic faces charges of orchestrating slaughter of more than 8000 Muslim men and boys during  Bosnia’s three-year war.  Serbia’s failure to capture Mladic has slowed...
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BrandFinance, one of the world’s leading brand valuation assessors, announced early this week that Google tops its 2011 list of the Top 500 Global Brands.  Assessing the behemoth search engine and web service company’s value at just over $44 billion, BrandFinance ranked Google just ahead of Microsoft, which it valued at just over $42...
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