Former City regulator knighted

28 December 2012 Last updated at 19:06 ETA former head of the Financial Services Authority and a founding member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee have been recognised in the New Year Honours.Hector Sants, who was in charge of regulation at the start of the credit crisis, has been knighted.It is in recognition for services to financial regulation.Alan Budd, who was on the first Monetary...

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C. African Republic president seeks foreign help

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The president of Central African Republic on Thursday urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching the capital, but French officials declined to offer any military assistance.The developments suggest Central African Republic could be on the brink of another violent...

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FBI removes many redactions in Marilyn Monroe file

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI has re-issued files it kept on Marilyn Monroe, removing dozens of redactions from entries related to surveillance of the actress for communist ties.A large section of the files obtained by The Associated Press focuses on Monroe’s 1962 trip to Mexico and her emerging friendship with Frederick Vanderbilt Field, who was disinherited from his wealthy family for leftist views....

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Program helps veterans reintegrate through music

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (AP) — During stressful times as a combat medic in Afghanistan, Mason Sullivan found solace in Vivaldi. New Jersey native Nairobi Cruz was comforted by country music, a genre she had never heard before joining the Army. For Jose Mercedes, it was an eclectic iPod mix that helped him cope with losing an arm during a tour of duty in Iraq.These three young veterans all say music played...

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Stock futures drop before last-ditch effort at “cliff” deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock index futures fell on Friday as President Barack Obama and top lawmakers planned to make a last-ditch effort at budget talks to prevent the United States from going over the “fiscal cliff.”Obama and lawmakers will meet at the White House Friday afternoon for talks before a New Year’s deadline to keep large tax hikes and spending cuts from taking effect and threatening the...

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Cuba has much to lose as ally Chavez fights cancer

HAVANA (AP) — Cubans who were tuned in to the nightly soap opera on a recent Saturday received a sudden burst of bad news, from the other side of the Caribbean.State TV cut to the presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez revealed that his cancer had returned. Facing his fourth related surgery in 18 months, he grimly named Vice President Nicolas Maduro as his possible...

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Marvel’s Peter Parker in perilous predicament

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — After 50 years of spinning webs and catching a who’s who of criminals, Peter Parker is out of the hero game.But Spider-Man is still slinging from building to building — reborn, refreshed and revived with a new sense of the old maxim that Ben Parker taught his then-fledgling nephew that “with great power, comes great responsibility.”Writer Dan Slott, who’s been penning Spidey adventures...

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Dentist Office Doubles as a Beauty Spa

Dec 27, 2012 6:58amScary lights, intrusive equipment and high-pitched sounds that make you squirm are what normally come to mind when one thinks of a visit to the dentist’s office.Not so for the patients of Dr. Patty’s Dental Boutique in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., a dentist office that doubles as a beauty spa.“There are about 30 to 40 million Americans who suffer from dental anxiety,” Dr. Patty, whose...

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Stock futures little changed with “cliff” talks to resume

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Thursday with legislators due to return to Washington to restart negotiations over the “fiscal cliff“.President Barack Obama will attempt to make another push to resume talks on the cliff, a series of tax hikes and spending cuts set to begin on January 1 which may tip the economy into a recession, on Thursday after returning from...

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VP says Chavez up, walking; doubts persist

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Vice President Nicolas Maduro surprised Venezuelans with a Christmas Eve announcement that President Hugo Chavez is up and walking two weeks after cancer surgery in Cuba, but the news did little to ease uncertainty surrounding the leader’s condition.Sounding giddy, Maduro told state television Venezolana de Television that he had spoken by phone with Chavez for 20 minutes...

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