Facebook and volatile market still chill IPOs

Making a killing on initial public offerings used to be easy.At the peak of the technology boom, little more than a decade ago, a plentiful supply of companies vied to sell stock on the exchanges, and investors were assured mouthwatering returns.These days, the deals are fewer and the returns more modest.Companies are set to raise more than $ 45 billion through IPOs this year — the most since 2007,...

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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 Capt. Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy...

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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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Larry Hagman dead at 81, portrayed notorious TV villain J.R. Ewing

(Reuters) - Larry Hagman, who created one of American television's most supreme villains in the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing of "Dallas," died on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81. Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and...

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Home amid Chinese highway a symbol of resistance

BEIJING (AP) — In the middle of an eastern Chinese city's new main road, rising incongruously from a huge circle in the freshly laid pavement, is a five-story row house with ragged edges. This is the home of the duck farmer who said "no."Luo Baogen and his wife are the lone holdouts from a neighborhood that was demolished to make way for the main thoroughfare heading to a newly built railway station...

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Halle Berry's ex arrested after fight at her house

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Halle Berry's ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry was arrested for investigation of battery Thursday after he and the Oscar-winning actress's current boyfriend got into a fight at her Hollywood Hills home, police said.Aubry, 37, was booked for investigation of a battery, a misdemeanor, and released on $20,000 bail, according to online jail records. He's scheduled to appear in court Dec....

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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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Early start to Black Friday shopping frenzy

NEW YORK/BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota (Reuters) - The U.S. shopping frenzy known as "Black Friday" kicked off at a more civilized hour, with some shoppers welcoming decisions by retailers such as Target Corp and Toys R Us Inc moving their openings earlier into Thursday night. While the shift was denounced by some store employees and traditionalists as pulling people away from families on Thanksgiving...

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US troops in Afghanistan celebrate Thanksgiving

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — American troops are celebrating Thanksgiving Day with food and football at a U.S.-led coalition base in the Afghan capital.Huge hunks of beef greeted the estimated 2,500 diners on Thursday as soldiers lined up at the base in Kabul. Red-white-and-blue decorations filled the room while brochures about combat stress served as table centerpieces.There was turkey, ham and rib-eye...

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Samsung wins U.S. court order to access Apple-HTC deal details

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. judge has ordered Apple Inc to disclose to rival Samsung Electronics details of a legal settlement the iPhone maker reached with Taiwan’s HTC Corp, including terms of a 10-year patents licensing agreement.The Korean electronics giant had earlier filed a motion to compel its U.S. rival — with whom it is waging a bitter legal...

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