NEW YORK – U.S. mortgage applications fell for a second consecutive week, led by a decline in home purchase loans, as interest rates hit their highest levels since early December, an industry trade group said Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for …
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SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers said Friday they have found a virus in the prostates of some cancer patients, a remarkable discovery that may suggest disease could play a role alongside genetics and the environment in causing this cancer. The virus, closely related to one previously found only in mice, was …
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NEW YORK – McClatchy Co. (MNI) said Wednesday it is selling four newspapers to MediaNews Group Inc., publisher of The Denver Post and dozens of other newspapers, for $1 billion in cash. The deal will strengthen MediaNews’s presence in northern California, where it already owns several papers in the San …
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ORANJESTAD, Aruba – A suspect in the Natalee Holloway case on Monday was released from custody in Aruba. Geoffrey van Cromvoirt, 19, was accompanied by family members as he walked to a parked car after his release. Van Cromvoirt, who was identified by authorities only as “G.V.C.,” had been in …
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ORANJESTAD, Aruba – Aruban police are searching for a man said to have harassed a woman on the same beach where American teen-ager Natalee Holloway disappeared nine days later, an official said. A tourist reported that a man in his 20s harassed her on the beach where a Dutch youth …
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NEW ORLEANS – Former FEMA chief Michael Brown says he’ll still offer advice to hurricane-battered St. Bernard Parish, but he won’t serve as a paid consultant because it would just stir up controversy. Brown, whose name became synonymous with government ineptitude in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, had planned to …
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Two patches released in Microsoft’s April batch of security updates are causing system hangs, Windows crashes and the appearance of strange dialog boxes. The problems stem from a non-security modification toInternet Explorer and a critical fix for a code execution hole in Windows Explorer, and affect third-party programs from Google, …
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ATLANTA – Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO) on Thursday said it would extend its reach by launching an exclusive line of home products in Macy’s stores, sending shares of the lifestyle media company up nearly 12 percent. The Martha Stewart Collection, which will include towels, dinnerware and holiday decor, …
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A dispute between the owner of the Sago Mine and the United Mine Workers has led both sides to refrain from sitting in on interviews by state and federal officials investigating this month’s fatal explosion at the coal mine. A union official said neither its representatives nor …
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday night that a comprehensive cease-fire had been agreed to in the volatile Gaza Strip after more than a week of factional violence there. The truce was to take effect at 11 p.m. (2100 GMT), he told reporters. “There will …
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