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WASHINGTON – The Army (search) has a master plan for recovering from this year’s painful recruiting problems that includes new financial incentives for enlistees, greater use of computers, a new way for recruiters to make their pitch and a proposed finder’s fee for soldiers who refer recruits. The plan was …

LAGOS, Nigeria – A passenger plane carrying 114 people was reported missing shortly after taking off from the Nigerian city of Lagos (search), a private television station reported on Sunday. The aircraft, operated by Nigeria’s Bellview Airlines (search), lost contact with the control tower three minutes after taking off at …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – With the grim milestone of the 2,000th U.S. military death looming in Iraq, many wonder about the direction of the insurgency that killed most of them. Experts think the country’s increasingly regional-oriented politics will fuel the insurgency and even spread it further inside Iraq. Others put forward …

WORCESTER, Mass. – Severe flooding swept away cars, uprooted trees and forced evacuations as the Northeast endured another day of driving rain Saturday. But in some places, there was good news — the sun was shining. Forecasters expected strong winds overnight but said the worst of the heavy rain appeared …

DETROIT – General Motors Corp. (GM) shares fell almost 5 percent Thursday after the company disclosed that it had received a Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena for documents about pension benefits and its dealings with Delphi. GM, the world’s largest automaker, announced the SEC actions in a public filing Wednesday. …

WASHINGTON – Paul Hackett (search), the Iraq War veteran from Cincinnati who was hailed by national Democrats for his narrow loss this summer in a heavily Republican House district, has decided to challenge Mike DeWine (search) for U.S. Senate in 2006. Spokesman David Woodruff, who served as Hackett’s campaign manager …

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Investigators are looking into a party attended by several Minnesota Vikings (search) players that allegedly involved drunkenness, nudity and visible sexual activity on a pair of charter cruises last week. No criminal charges had been filed as of Wednesday, and it could take a couple of …

NEW YORK – Refco Inc. (RFX) began shutting down its main business on Friday, as fraud charges against the former chief executive threatened to topple the largest U.S. independent commodities brokerage. New York-based Refco’s bond prices plunged to levels often associated with insolvency while trading in shares of the recently …

LONDON – Hollywood (search) might be bad for your health, according to a new study, which concludes that blockbuster movies paint a consequence-free view of sex and drugs. Dr. Hasantha Gunasekera (search), the study’s lead author from the School of Public Health (search) at the University of Sydney, said the …

WASHINGTON – Medical equipment suppliers that defraud Medicare (search) or operate without a proper license often have little trouble regaining billing privileges so they can do it all over again, government investigators say. The Government Accountability Office (search), which serves as a watchdog for Congress, said Wednesday that it identified …