Business CEOs call for raising retirement age

Caesar's Entertainment, speaks in Boston. An influential group of business CEOs chaired …more WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential group of business CEOs is pushing a plan to gradually increase the full retirement age to 70 for both Social Security and Medicare and to partially privatize the health insurance program for older Americans.The Business Roundtable's plan would protect those 55 and older from...

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Silver Lake nears $15 billion financing for Dell buyout: report

(Reuters) - Private equity group Silver Lake Partners is close to arranging about $15 billion in financing for a buyout of Dell Inc , Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.Talks to take Dell Inc private are at an advanced stage with at least four major banks lined up to provide financing, two sources with knowledge of the matter earlier told Reuters.Silver Lake could not immediately...

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JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon gets big pay cut

NEW YORK (AP) — America's best-known banker is getting a big pay cut.JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that it will dock the pay of CEO Jamie Dimon by more than half, to $11.5 million from $23 million.It's the latest fallout from an embarrassing trading loss at the bank last year, one that eventually ballooned to $6 billion. Its ripple effects have already been numerous, forcing Dimon to appear contritely...

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NFL play-off divisional play-offs results

Jan 14 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the NFL Play-off Divisional Play-offs games on Sunday (home team in CAPS)1 2 3 4 TATLANTA 10 10 7 3 30Seattle 0 0 7 21 281 2 3 4 TNEW ENGLAND 7 10 14 10 41Houston 3 10 0 15 ...

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Brady powers Patriots past Texans into AFC title game

(Reuters) - Tom Brady set a record for most playoff wins by a quarterback in leading the New England Patriots to a 41-28 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday to move one win away from a second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl.Brady, who surpassed Hall of Famer Joe Montana with his 17th playoff win, completed 25-of-40 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns in the divisional playoff, setting...

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Column: Tears of joy as Gonzalez finally wins one

The old pro was on the sideline, resigned to the fact that this would turn out like so many games of the past. In the 16 years Tony Gonzalez has played tight end in the NFL, so many seasons ended early that he couldn't expect this one to be any different.If football is a cruel game, it had been even crueler to Gonzalez. No matter what he did, no matter how well he played, the end result always seemed...

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Golf: Oosthuizen reels in Jamieson to win by one in Durban

DURBAN (Reuters) - World number six Louis Oosthuizen fired a six-under-par 66 to overhaul third-round leader Scott Jamieson and win the Volvo Golf Champions by one shot on Sunday.Jamieson had held a five-stroke advantage after 54 holes but seven birdies from the 2010 British Open champion Oosthuizen gave him a sixth European Tour win on 16-under 272 ahead of Briton Jamieson (72), who nearly holed...

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Golf-Rookies reign supreme at Waialae

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Rookies ruled for a third consecutive day in record style at the Sony Open in Hawaii as good friends Russell Henley and Scott Langley ended Saturday's third round in a tie for the lead.Overnight pacesetter Henley fired a flawless three-under-par 67 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu while fellow American Langley carded a 65, the pair posting a tournament low of 17-under 193 after...

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Golf-European Tour Volvo Golf Champions scores

Jan 13 (Infostrada Sports) - Scores from the European Tour Volvo Golf Champions at the par-72 course on Sunday in Durban 272 Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 68 64 74 66 273 Scott Jamieson (Britain) 69 64 68 72 274 Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 65 68 73 68 276 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 70 71 67 68 277 Danny Willett (Britain) 69 70 70 68 Julien Quesne (France) 72 67 67 71 278 Branden Grace (South...

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Browns hand head coaching role to Chudzinski

(Reuters) - The Cleveland Browns appointed Rob Chudzinski as their head coach on Thursday, the new man brought in after Pat Shurmur was fired at the end of last month following a disappointing season.Chudzinski, who spent the past two seasons as offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, becomes the 14th full-time head coach for the Browns.The 44-year-old will take over a team that ended their...

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Jaguars fire Mularkey after team's worst season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The more Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan watched his team play, the more he realized one thing:"We needed a rebuild from the ground up," Khan said.So the Jaguars fired coach Mike Mularkey on Thursday after just one season, the worst in franchise history. The move came 10 days after Khan fired general manager Gene Smith.Khan also introduced new GM David Caldwell on Thursday,...

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Qataris refuse to pay Tiger's whopping appearance fee

(Reuters) - Tiger Woods may guarantee packed galleries but even the oil-rich Qataris cannot afford the former world number one's appearance fee for the only European Tour event in the Gulf state.The American's involvement at the January 23-26 Qatar Masters would cost a whopping $3 million, said Qatar Golf Association president Hassan al Nuaimi."Tiger Woods demands $3 million just for an appearance,...

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Brazil hacker posts alleged data of ex- president

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A hacker has posted what appears to be private information of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the Internet to protest a major corruption scandal which he says "will end in nothing."The addresses of properties said to be owned by Silva, phone numbers, companies registered in his name and his taxpayer number were posted on Twitter. The hacker identified himself...

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Amazon and Samsung are running away with the Android tablet market

Following the successful launch of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, Android vendors saw a beacon of hope in a market that had been dominated by Apple’s (AAPL) iPad since 2010. The Android tablet space has since become flooded with hundreds of products from a wide-range of companies, but there are only two companies that matter.[More from BGR: ‘Apple is done’ and Surface tablet is cool, according to teens]According...

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People's Choice Awards Will Air on Xbox 360 Tonight

CBS's televised broadcast of the People's Choice Awards will also be aired on Xbox 360, Microsoft's gaming and entertainment-streaming console.Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers in the United States can tune in and interact with the festivities starting at 8 p.m. EST with the red carpet event. The ceremony begins at 9 p.m. EST.[More from Mashable: NBC Comedy ’1600 Penn’ Launches Social Media Cupcake Contest]Using...

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Judge asks Hostess to mediate with union

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Twinkies won't die that easily after all.Hostess Brands Inc. and its second largest union will go into mediation to try and resolve their differences, meaning the company won't go out of business just yet. The news came Monday after Hostess moved to liquidate and sell off its assets in bankruptcy court citing a crippling strike last week.The bankruptcy judge hearing the...

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Just Explain It: What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

Eliminating America's dependency on foreign oil has been a policy goal for at least the last two U.S. Presidents.  According to the International Energy Agency, by 2020,  the U.S. will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's number one oil producer.However, there's still some work to do.  The United States Energy Information Administration reported that 45% of the petroleum consumed by...

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Apple to produce line of Macs in the US next year

NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac computers from China to the United States next year.Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC's "Rock...

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Gunshots and plea for help heard in 911 calls from Colorado movie shooting

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - A 13-year-old girl caught in last summer's shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater was heard frantically pleading for help for two gravely wounded relatives in a tape of her emergency 911 call played in court on Tuesday.In it, the distraught girl could be heard telling an emergency dispatcher that her 6-year-old cousin, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, and Veronica's pregnant...

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Illinois asks court to keep banning most handguns in the state

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois asked an appeals court on Tuesday to reverse itself and allow a ban that prevents most people there from carrying concealed handguns in public.Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat, asked the full Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to review the decision, saying it was not consistent with recent decisions by other courts.Last month, three days before...

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Italy's real election battle is Monti vs Berlusconi

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's election campaign is shaping up as a bitter contest not between right and left but between Silvio Berlusconi and outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti to win the balance of power after the February poll.The final lines were drawn on Monday when Berlusconi sacrificed his own candidacy for prime minister as the price for winning a crucial new alliance with his estranged allies...

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Just Explain It: What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

Eliminating America's dependency on foreign oil has been a policy goal for at least the last two U.S. Presidents.  According to the International Energy Agency, by 2020,  the U.S. will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's number one oil producer.However, there's still some work to do.  The United States Energy Information Administration reported that 45% of the petroleum consumed by...

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Apple to produce line of Macs in the US next year

NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac computers from China to the United States next year.Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC's "Rock...

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US economy adds 146K jobs, rate falls to 7.7 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The pace of U.S. hiring remained steady in November despite disruptions from Superstorm Sandy and employers' concerns about impending tax increases from the year-end "fiscal cliff."Companies added 146,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent — the lowest in nearly four years — from 7.9 percent in October. The rate declined mainly because more people stopped looking...

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Poll: Spike in Palestinian support for military operations against Israel

Palestinian support for military operations against Israel has registered its most significant jump in 10 years, spurred by the recent Gaza conflict, ongoing Israeli settlement expansion, and frustration over a peace process that has been essentially deadlocked for more than four years.The percentage of Palestinians supporting such operations has reached 50.9 percent, up from 29.3 percent in January...

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Pakistani officials say US drones kill 9 militants

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected American drones fired several missiles into three militant hideouts near the Afghan border on Sunday, killing nine Pakistani Taliban fighters, intelligence officials said.The strikes targeted the group's hideouts in the South Waziristan tribal region, the three officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to...

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Pakistan says 1 dead in border clash with India

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan and India traded accusations Sunday of violating the cease-fire in the disputed northern region of Kashmir, with Islamabad accusing Indian troops of a cross-border raid that killed one of its soldiers and India charging that Pakistani shelling destroyed a home on its side.The accusation of a border crossing resulting in military deaths is unusual in Kashmir, where a cease-fire...

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US economic growth improves to 2 pct. rate in Q3

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy expanded at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, buoyed by an uptick in consumer spending and a burst of government spending.Growth improved from the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.The pickup in growth may help President Barack Obama's message that the economy is improving. Still,...

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Has Obama Been Good for Millionaires?

The question of whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago depends, of course, on the American.For the 12 million unemployed, the answer is most certainly no.But for many of America's millionaires, the answer may be more affirmative.A new study from WealthInsight, the London-based wealth-research and data firm (and yes, they are non-partisan), showed that the United States added...

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Video games and shooting: Is the NRA right?

After a week of silence following the Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 20 first graders and six staff in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association blamed the entertainment industry – specifically the producers of violent video games for inciting what has become a pattern of gun violence in the United States.In describing the industry, NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, “There exists...

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