More Breaking News

China Coal-Mine Explosion Kills 31 People, Traps More (Update1) A coal-mine explosion in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang has killed 31 miners and trapped 82, the State Administration of Work Safety said on its Web site.

Dollar Strengthens as Equities Drop, Short-Term Treasuries Rise The dollar rose against most of its major counterparts and posted its first weekly gain versus the euro in November as investors sold shares and bought short-term Treasuries to guard against losses before year-end.

Rajaratnam’s Request to Unseal Khan’s Criminal Case Is Delayed A court hearing to determine whether a 2001 criminal case against the chief accuser of Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam will be unsealed was delayed for two weeks.

Advanta Ventures, Credit Card Issuer’s Unit, Files Bankruptcy Advanta Ventures Inc., a unit of bankrupt small business credit-card issuer Advanta Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection along with Advanta units BizEquity Corp. and Ideablob Corp.

Station Casinos Judge Says Bankruptcy Examiner Isn’t Needed Station Casinos Inc. doesn’t need an examiner to investigate how the company is handling its bankruptcy, the judge overseeing the case said, rejecting part of the takeover strategy pursued by Boyd Gaming Corp.

Ex-State Department Official, Wife Plead Guilty to Cuba Spying A former U.S. State Department official and his wife pleaded guilty to charges they provided classified information about U.S. national defense to the Republic of Cuba for three decades.

N.Y. Giants, Jets Must Defend Suit Over Stadium Seat Licenses The New York Giants and Jets must defend a breach-of-contract claim by a fan forced to buy personal seat licenses to finance a new $1.6 billion stadium, a judge ruled in also throwing out three related claims.

Ruhl’s Flighty ‘Vibrator Play’ Lives Up to the Buzz: John Simon Wonders will never cease. Sarah Ruhl, whose previous work I execrated, has written a smart, charming, iridescently funny-serious jewel, “In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play.”

Recession Is Boon of Sorts for Washington’s Homeless Newspaper The bustling restaurants and shops of downtown Washington provide little indication of the recession gripping the U.S. Those signs abound on the sidewalks of the nation’s capital, where a growing army of the homeless tries to stay afloat by hawking the newspaper Street Sense.

Lockheed Martin F-35 Fighter May Need More Money, Analyst Says The development phase for Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet may require several hundred million more dollars in the next fiscal year to accelerate testing, according to an analyst.

Reid, Democrats Face First Big Senate Test on Health-Care Bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tonight faces the first big test of whether he can keep his Democratic colleagues united behind health-care legislation.

Upper-Bracket Tax May Be Needed for Afghan War Cost, Levin Says Higher-income Americans should be taxed to pay for more troops sent to Afghanistan and NATO should provide half of the new soldiers, said Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

‘Twilight’ Heroine Woos Werewolf; Homeless Football Star: Film Poor Bella Swan. The heroine of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series can’t catch a break with her favorite monster men.

Beer-Brewing Women, Soused Workers Built Pyramids: Lewis Lapham “The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer,” according to the ancient Egyptians, and on that basis it was a happy society.

Treasury Two-Year Note Yields Drop to Year Low on Risk Reversal Treasury two-year note yields fell to the lowest level this year on concern the rally in risk assets has outpaced growth prospects and as Federal Reserve officials signaled interest rates will remain near zero.

Lloyd’s Appeals Ruling on Colombian Drug Eradication Liability Lloyd’s of London underwriters appealed a Delaware court’s ruling that assigned them liability for legal costs tied to more than 3,000 people seeking damages from a U.S.-sponsored plan to eradicate drugs in Colombia.

Hershey Trust Pushes $17 Billion Offer for Cadbury, WSJ Reports Hershey Co.’s controlling trust wants the candy company to make a $17 billion bid for British confectioner Cadbury Plc, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

FAA Issues Icing Rule After Circuit City Plane Crash in 2005 The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing a rule that would require quicker activation of wing de-icing systems in response to the crash of a Circuit City Stores Inc. business jet in 2005.

Sands China Raises $2.5 Billion in Hong Kong IPO (Update2) Sands China Ltd. and its parent Las Vegas Sands Corp., the casino company controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, raised HK$19.4 billion ($2.5 billion) in a Hong Kong share sale conducted at the low end of the offered range.

Mutated Swine Flu Strains Block Drugs, Worsen Illness (Update2) Swine flu infections in which the virus mutated to a form that’s more severe or less sensitive to drug treatment are being investigated by European and U.S. public health officials.

Playboy Brand Must Expand, Former Chief Hefner Says (Update1) Playboy Enterprises Inc. needs to make strategic decisions to expand the men’s magazine publisher in the coming decade, according to former Chief Executive Officer Christie Hefner.

Five Crowns Recalls Cantaloupes on Possible Salmonella, FDA Says Five Crowns Marketing of Brawley, California, reported a voluntary recall of cantaloupes packed under the Majesty label because of possible Salmonella contamination, the U.S. FDA said on its Web site.

Kindle, Sony May Get Biggest Payoff From Textbooks (Update3) As Sony Corp.’s e-book devices vie with the Kindle to win over readers, the real showdown may come later: when a shift to electronic textbooks at schools threatens to eclipse the current market for the products.

Dow Corning Sues Merrill Over $166 Million ARS Loss (Update2) Dow Corning Corp., the world’s biggest silicone supplier, and two affiliated companies sued Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch & Co. for falsely representing the safety and liquidity of $166 million in auction-rate securities that the companies can’t sell.

Senator Vows to Block Removal of Fed’s Audit Shield (Update1) A U.S. senator said he would seek to block any legislation containing a measure to remove the Federal Reserve’s shield from congressional audits of the central bank’s interest-rate decisions.

California Was Among States With Record Unemployment (Update3) California, Delaware, South Carolina and Florida registered record rates of unemployment in October as weakness in the labor market stretches from coast to coast and limits the economic recovery.

Twitter Sales Top $4 Million; Ad Business Planned (Update2) Twitter Inc., the social-networking company valued at $1 billion by venture capitalists, said it is generating sales of more than $4 million a year and plans to build on that revenue with advertising.

Senate Panels to Probe Failure to Share Hasan E-Mails (Update1) Leaders of the Senate’s defense and homeland security committees said they plan to investigate why a terrorism task force led by the FBI didn’t tell the Pentagon about e-mail exchanges between Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Malik Hasan and extremist religious leader Anwar al-Awlaki.

Asian Stocks Post Biggest Drop in Three Weeks on Japan Concerns Asian stocks fell this week, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its biggest weekly decline in three amid Japanese share sales, while companies including Sony Corp. fueled profit concerns.

Morgan Stanley Hands Off Crescent to Barclays Venture (Update1) Morgan Stanley agreed to hand over a real-estate business acquired in 2007 to Barclays Capital, ending the New York firm’s obligation on a $2 billion loan after taking almost $1 billion in losses.

UPS to Raise 2010 Ground Rate by 4.9%, Less Than 2009 (Update1) United Parcel Service Inc. will increase ground-shipment rates in 2010 by 4.9 percent, less than this year, amid a drop in volumes at the world’s largest package-delivery company.

Royal Bank of Scotland Sells $7 Billion of Debt (Update1) Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, sold $7 billion of debt due in March 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, equaling the largest U.S. corporate sale since May.

Mexico GDP Fell Less Than Forecast in Third Quarter (Update3) Mexico’s economy contracted less than analysts forecast in the third quarter and expanded from the previous three months, signaling an end to the recession.