updated Wed January 02, 2008

H&R Block Ex-CEO Ernst to Get $2.55M Severance Payment

WASHINGTON (AP) -- H&R Block Inc. said former Chairman and Chief Executive Mark A. Ernst will receive a $2.55 million cash severance payment.The Kansas City provider of tax, accounting and other financial s...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Militia Raids on Hotel Lobby, Police Stations Kill 13 in Nigerian Oil City

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AP) -- Armed militants attacked targets in Nigeria's main oil industry center of Port Harcourt on Tuesday, killing 13 people, a military spokesman said.Bands of armed men invaded the cit...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Hammer Time: Former Rap Star Choreographs New Career at Web Startup

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- MC Hammer hasn't topped the music charts since the early 1990s, but the former rap star says he has another hit in him -- only this time around he'll produce it as a Silicon Valley entrepr...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Argentine Farmers Give Up Beef Business, Turn to Increasingly More Lucrative Grains, Soybeans

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Argentines are passionate about their beef -- from cattle grazed on the sprawling pampas grasslands, it's a national staple, delivered inexpensively and received with religious f...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

In Digital Age, Authors Can Publish an Opus Overnight Themselves

NEW YORK (AP) -- Getting a book published isn't the rarefied literary feat it once was.New printing technologies are making published authors of legions of aspiring writers, a population that once toiled for ye...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

I Just Got a Few Gift Cards for Christmas. How Can I Use Them Wisely?

Q: I just got several gift cards for Christmas. What tips can you offer to help me use them wisely?A: If you received a gift card, it's going to be easier than ever to cash it in, but you still need to be caref...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

New Year Brings Many Predictions but Few Expect Fractiousness Will Disappear

NEW YORK (AP) -- The start of a new year often brings jokes about crystal balls, but with the arrival of 2008, many investors are ruefully saying they don't need fortunetelling gimmicks -- they know that the pr...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Dusenberry, Who Did Pepsi Commercial in Which Michael Jackson's Hair Caught Fire, Dies

NEW YORK (AP) -- Advertising executive Philip B. Dusenberry, who oversaw the Pepsi television commercial in which Michael Jackson's hair caught fire and who helped coin some of the industry's best-known slogans...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

In Digital Age, Authors Can Publish an Opus Overnight Themselves

NEW YORK (AP) -- Getting a book published isn't the rarefied literary feat it once was.New printing technologies are making published authors of legions of aspiring writers, a population that once toiled for ye...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

New Year Brings Many Predictions but Few Expect Fractiousness Will Disappear

NEW YORK (AP) -- The start of a new year often brings jokes about crystal balls, but with the arrival of 2008, many investors are ruefully saying they don't need fortunetelling gimmicks -- they know that the pr...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Oil Prices Rise Above $96 Amid Expectations of Decline in US Crude Stockpiles

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices rose Wednesday amid expectations a midweek report will show U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week to post the seventh straight decline in inventories for the world's largest energy c...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Centro Properties Group Seeks Buyers As Debt Deadline Approaches

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Beleaguered shopping mall giant Centro Properties Group announced Wednesday it was putting itself up for sale ahead of a Feb. 15 deadline to refinance 3.9 billion Australian dollars...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Hammer Time: Former Rap Star Choreographs New Career at Menlo Park-Based DanceJam.com

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- MC Hammer hasn't topped the music charts since the early 1990s, but the former rap star says he has another hit in him -- only this time around he'll produce it as a Silicon Valley entrepr...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Argentine Farmers Give Up Beef Business, Turn to Increasingly More Lucrative Grains, Soybeans

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Argentines are passionate about their beef -- from cattle grazed on the sprawling pampas grasslands, it's a national staple, delivered inexpensively and received with religious f...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

CEO Johnson Shows No Signs of Slowing Down As Fidelity's Succession Questions Mount

BOSTON (AP) -- At age 77, Edward "Ned" Johnson III can't keep this pace up forever. But it sometimes seems the Fidelity Investments chief hopes to.Johnson's tenure running the nation's largest mutual fund compa...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Japan's PM Debuts on YouTube in Bid to Raise International Profile

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's prime minister has begun posting English-language messages on the video-sharing Internet site YouTube in an apparent bid to raise his country's international profile.In his online New Year...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Singapore's GDP Contracts 3.2 Percent in Fourth Quarter on Weak Manufacturing

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore's economy contracted the first time in more than four years in the fourth quarter as weakness in manufacturing outweighed windfall growth from a construction boom, the government sai...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Philippine Stock Index Drops 0.1 Percent After Wall Street Fall

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine shares fell Wednesday in a sluggish session that followed the New Year holiday. Investors were cautious after an earlier decline on Wall Street.The main Philippine Stock E...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Singapore Airlines, China Eastern Deal in Trouble Again After Shareholder Slams Bid Price

HONG KONG (AP) -- The Singapore Airlines bid to buy a 24 percent stake in China Eastern Airlines Corp. for 7.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$923.8 million; euro627.54 million) appeared in trouble Wednesday afte...

updated Wed January 02, 2008

Taiwan's Main Stock Index Tumbles in Year's 1st Session on Weak Tech and Food Performance

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan shares fell sharply in the first session of the new year, weighed down by tech and food stocks.The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange lost 183.23 points, or 2.15 per...