BP settles with US for $4.5 billion in Gulf spill

BP said Thursday that it will pay $4.5 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government over the massive 2010 oil spill and...

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Erdrich wins her first National Book Award

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Awards honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for "The Round House" to Katherine Boo for her debut work, "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers."Erdrich, 58, has been a published and highly regarded author for nearly 30 years but had never won a National Book Award until being cited Wednesday for her story, the second of a planned trilogy, about...

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Beta Blockers May Calm Nerves, Keeping Them Banned by PGA and L.P.G.A.

Greg Norman, winner of 91 tournaments worldwide, remembers a time when panic attacks on the elite golf circuit were often alleviated with the illicit use of a common heart and blood pressure medicine, the beta blocker. “In my day, lots of guys were on beta blockers,” Norman, 57, said in an interview at the P.G.A. Championship in August. “It wasn’t openly acknowledged, but it was obvious to...

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Double dip: Eurozone falls back into recession

The Eurozone is back in a recession, its first in three years, as gross domestic product for the debt-plagued 17-nation bloc...

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Pelosi decides to remain as House Democratic leader

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she will run to keep her job as the Democratic leader in the House. WASHINGTON...

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Petraeus affair and the role of biographers

NEW YORK (AP) — The affair between retired Army Gen. David Petraeus and author Paula Broadwell is but an extreme example of the love/hate history between biographers and their subjects.Even before their outing led to Petraeus' resignation as CIA director, Broadwell had been criticized for the rosy tone of "All In," which The Associated Press described in 2011 as "part hagiography and part defense"...

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Drug Compounders Get Help on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — Despite two decades of dire health warnings and threats of federal intervention, the specialty drugmakers at the center of the nation’s deadly meningitis outbreak have repeatedly staved off tougher federal oversight with the help of powerful allies in Congress. Over the years, industry friends like Tom DeLay, the former House Republican leader from Texas, have come to its defense....

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Toyota Prius recall: Automaker will fix nearly 700,000 hybrids

Toyota Motor Corp. announced two safety recalls for its flagship Prius hybrid.The automaker said the steering intermediate extension...

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Mike D'Antoni plans to coach Lakers on Sunday

Mike D'Antoni won NBA coach of the year in his first full season as head coach of the Phoenix Suns. ...

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Day-Lewis heeded inner ear to find Lincoln's voice

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A towering figure such as Abraham Lincoln, who stood 6 feet 4 and was one of history's master orators, must have had a booming voice to match, right? Not in Daniel Day-Lewis' interpretation.Day-Lewis, who plays the 16th president in Steven Spielberg's epic film biography "Lincoln," which goes into wide release this weekend, settled on a higher, softer voice, saying it's more true...

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