Oil eases below $39, down more than 60 percent in 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil eased below $39 a barrel on Wednesday, heading for a fall of more than 60 percent in 2008 as the global economic slowdown bit deep into energy demand and the latest U.S. inventory data showed further rises in fuel stocks.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

Jobless claims dive while mortgage rates ease again

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. weekly jobless claims plummeted last week but the improvement was probably a seasonal quirk rather than a turning point for the recession-ravaged labor market.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

U.S. lawmakers to question SEC watchdog about Madoff

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The internal watchdog at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will testify Monday at a hearing by U.S. lawmakers who want to know how the investor protection agency failed to detect the alleged $50 billion fraud by Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

Mortgage rates drop to another new low

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped for a ninth consecutive week, reaching their lowest level in 37 years, according to a survey released on Wednesday by home funding company Freddie Mac.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

U.S. vacates Baghdad palace ahead of handover

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. officials withdrew on Wednesday from the vast Saddam Hussein-era palace they have occupied in Baghdad since 2003, a sign of the historic change of power when their troops come under Iraqi authority at midnight.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

Israel rebuffs calls for Gaza truce

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday said the time was not right for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stepped up preparations for a possible ground offensive after Hamas’s long-range rockets hit another major population center.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

Jobless claims drop by much more than expected

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits slumped 94,000 last week, government data on Wednesday showed, but seasonal factors were likely behind this unexpectedly large decline with the labor market remaining very soft.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

Amid worries, Cuba to mark 50 years of revolution

HAVANA (Reuters) - Against a backdrop of economic gloom and the frail health of former leader Fidel Castro, Cuba will mark on Thursday the 50th anniversary of the revolution that turned the island into a communist state and Cold War hot spot at the doorstep of the United States.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 6% [?]

Pakistani investigators find Mumbai link: report

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani investigators have unearthed substantive links between the gunmen who attacked Mumbai in November and a banned Pakistani Islamist militant group, the Wall Street Journal reported.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 5% [?]

Online holiday sales fall 3 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online sales for the holiday period up to December 23 fell 3 percent from the same period last year, marking the first decline in online spending since comScore Inc started tracking online sales in 2001.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 4% [?]

Judge rejects release of two Guantanamo inmates

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge refused to release two Guantanamo terrorism suspects on Tuesday and upheld the government’s authority to keep them, after ordering freedom last month for five prisoners whose case led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 2% [?]

Soviets Stole Bomb Idea From U.S., Book Says

A new book says Moscow acquired the secret of the hydrogen bomb not from its own scientists but from an atomic spy at the Los Alamos weapons lab in New Mexico.img src=”http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/digg/container/science/popular/~4/uuQB27qaACk” height=”1″ width=”1″/

Popularity: 3% [?]

Muted New Year festivities in India, Mumbai quiet

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Scanners, blocked roads and tight security will temper New Year revelries across India on Wednesday as fear of militant violence hangs over the country after last month’s Mumbai attacks.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 2% [?]

Pakistani helicopters attack militants in Khyber

JAMRUD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani army helicopters attacked militants along the Khyber Pass on Wednesday while tanks rumbled in to secure the vital supply link for Western forces in land-locked Afghanistan.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 3% [?]

The year’s weirdest animals

From a sea-slug that runs on solar power to a one-tonne rodent ndash; here are the 10 oddest species from 2008img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2a7e9f2/mf.gif’ border=’0′/div class=’mf-viral’table border=’0′trtd valign=’middle’a href=”http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=The year’s weirdest animalslink=http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16320-the-years-weirdest-animals.html?DCMP=OTC-rssnsref=online-news” target=”_blank”img src=”http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif” border=”0″ //a/tdtd valign=’middle’a href=”http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=The year’s weirdest animalslink=http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16320-the-years-weirdest-animals.html?DCMP=OTC-rssnsref=online-news” target=”_blank”img src=”http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif” border=”0″ //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href=”http://da.feedsportal.com/r/27588728699/u/53/f/10897/c/749/s/44558834/a2.htm”img src=”http://da.feedsportal.com/r/27588728699/u/53/f/10897/c/749/s/44558834/a2.img” border=”0″//a

Popularity: 3% [?]

Israel says Gaza truce proposal unrealistic

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas rockets hit the major Israeli city of Beersheba on Wednesday and Israel described as unrealistic a French proposal for a 48-hour truce that would allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.div class=”feedflare”
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Popularity: 2% [?]

Solar Panels to Sarah Palin: 2008’s Top Eco-Politics Stories

2008 was a year for the armchair political pundit and the politically uninitiated alike. But it was also a year where unprecedented (political) attention was paid to the big energy and environmental issues.img src=”http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/digg/container/science/popular/~4/fuIp9pV4Y0s” height=”1″ width=”1″/

Popularity: 3% [?]