Massachusetts gas explosion under investigation

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Dozens of building inspectors began assessing homes and businesses in one of New England's biggest cities on Saturday, a day after a natural gas explosion leveled a strip club located next to a day care and heavily damaged a dozen other structures. The blast injured 18 people, many of them first responders.Investigators were trying to figure out what caused the Friday night...

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Beijing's S. China Sea rivals protest passport map

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has enraged several neighbors with a few dashes on a map, printed in its newly revised passports that show it staking its claim on the entire South China Sea and even Taiwan.Inside the passports, an outline of China printed in the upper left corner includes Taiwan and the sea, hemmed in by the dashes. The change highlights China's longstanding claim on the South China Sea...

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Black Friday Fiscal Cliff Twitter Guide

With the dirty dishes cleared and leftovers safely in the fridge, Americans across the country start looking ahead to the winter holidays the day after Thanksgiving.But for Congress, there’s a pretty big hurdle to handle before the House and Senate can abscond to presents and plum pudding. It’s called the fiscal cliff, and according to a recent Pew Research Poll , more Americans are paying attention...

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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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The politics of shopping: Does that store lean left or right?

Black Friday: It’s a day in which most American citizens put aside politics in pursuit of shopping bargains. But in Washington we can sort almost anything in the US in terms of partisan proclivity, and temples of commerce are no exception. Want to know whether the big box store where you’re waiting in line leans Democratic or Republican? The folks at the invaluable Center for Responsive Politics have...

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US troops in Afghanistan celebrate Thanksgiving

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — It was Army Sgt. Keith Wells' first Thanksgiving Day away from his family and despite a cornucopia of food provided for the troops, his taste buds were craving his wife's macaroni and cheese back home."My wife's a foodie — you know the Food Network, cooking shows. Everything she makes is golden," Wells of Charlotte, N.C., said Thursday at a large international military base...

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Lawsuit against Madonna dismissed in Russia

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A Russian court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit that sought millions of dollars in damages from Madonna for allegedly traumatizing minors by speaking up for gay rights during a concert in St. Petersburg.The ruling came after a one-day hearing that bordered on the farcical. During it, plaintiffs claimed that Madonna's so-called "propaganda of perversion" would negatively...

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Study finds mammograms lead to unneeded treatment

Mammograms have done surprisingly little to catch deadly breast cancers before they spread, a big U.S. study finds. At the same time, more than a million women have been treated for cancers that never would have threatened their lives, researchers estimate.Up to one-third of breast cancers, or 50,000 to 70,000 cases a year, don't need treatment, the study suggests.It's the most detailed look yet at...

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Black Friday starts on Thursday right after Thanksgiving dinner

Black Friday is the Super Bowl of retail, but some of the nation's largest big-box stores can't wait until the day after Thanksgiving to open their doors to shoppers eager to grab great deals the same day as their turkey dinner.Traditional Black Friday door-busting deals now start tonight, on what's been dubbed Gray Thursday. Major retail stores such as Kmart, Toys R Us, Walmart and Sears will open...

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3 bomb blasts kill 6 in 2 main Pakistani cities

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb blast targeting an army vehicle killed three soldiers and two civilians in the southwestern city of Quetta on Wednesday, police said.Hours later, two bombs went off minutes apart outside a Shiite mosque in the southern city of Karachi, killing at least one person and wounding several others.The explosions demonstrated the underlying tensions in Pakistan between insurgents...

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