Bounce houses a party hit but kids' injuries soar

CHICAGO (AP) — They may be a big hit at kids' birthday parties, but inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous, with the number of injuries soaring in recent years, a nationwide study found.Kids often crowd into bounce houses, and jumping up and down can send other children flying into the air, too.The numbers suggest 30 U.S. children a day are treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains,...

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Wall Street falls on caution after rally, retail drags

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slipped on Monday after Wall Street posted its best week in over five months as investors reacted to a lack of visible progress in budget deficit discussions in Washington. The S&P 500 was holding above the 1,400 level it retook last week, and volume continued to be weak as traders awaited any advance in talks over a series of spending cuts and tax hikes...

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Japan Expands Its Regional Military Role

Ko Sasaki for The New York TimesCoast guard officials from a dozen Asian and African nations, at right, joined a training cruise around Tokyo Bay aboard a Japanese Coast Guard cutter. TOKYO — After years of watching its international influence eroded by a slow-motion economic decline, pacifist Japan is trying to raise its profile in a new way, offering military aid for the first time in decades and...

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Online sales jump 24 percent early on Cyber Monday: IBM

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Online sales jumped during the first hours of Cyber Monday suggesting strong growth from earlier in the holiday shopping season continues, according to data from International Business Machines Corp.Online sales were up 24.1 percent as of 12:00pm EST on Cyber Monday, compared to the same period a year earlier, said IBM, which tracks transaction data from 500 U.S. retail websites....

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Brad Pitt Spent Thanksgiving in London on Set

Only on People.com By Maggie Coughlan 11/26/2012 at 02:45 PM EST Brad Pitt Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters/Landov While most Americans celebrated Thanksgiving with family on Thursday, Brad Pitt spent his holiday with zombies on the set of World War Z in London."I didn't...

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Political wrangling to pinch market's nerves

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Volatility is the name of this game. With the S&P 500 above 1,400 after five days of gains, traders will be hard pressed not to cash in on the advance at the first sign of trouble during negotiations over tax hikes and spending cuts that resume next week in Washington. President Barack Obama and U.S. congressional leaders are expected to discuss ways...

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Bangladesh Fire Kills More Than 100 and Injures Many

MUMBAI — More than 100 people died Saturday and Sunday in a fire at a garment factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, in one of the worst industrial tragedies in that country. It took firefighters all night to put out the blaze at the factory, Tazreen Fashions, after it started about 7 p.m. on Saturday, a retired fire official said by telephone from Dhaka, the capital. At least 111 people were...

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Saudi telco regulator suspends Mobily prepaid sim sales

(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia‘s No.2 telecom operator Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily) has been suspended from selling pre-paid sim cards by the industry regulator, the firm said in a statement to the kingdom’s bourse on Sunday.Mobily’s sales of pre-paid, or pay-as-you-go, sim cards will remain halted until the company “fully meets the prepaid service provisioning requirements,” the telco said in the statement.These...

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Vanessa Hudgens's Pre-Thanksgiving Spin in New York

Caught in the Act 11/25/2012 at 12:45 PM EST Just ride!Vanessa Hudgens burned some calories on Thanksgiving with a SoulCycle spinning class in New York's Union Square neighborhood. "She was in the middle front row in cropped yoga pants, a pink tank top and a black sports bra," an onlooker tells PEOPLE.  Although...

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