App of the Week: Instead

App Name: InsteadPrice: FreeAvailable Platforms: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad (requires iOS 5.0 or later), AndroidWhat does this app do? With Black Friday and Cyber Monday bookending the holiday weekend it is hard to imagine getting through the next few days without spending money in the spirit of the season. Whether you dole out your dollars for gifts or in some other way, such as a post-turkey cocktail...

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Larry Hagman Dies

TV Watch TV News By Aaron Parsley UPDATED 11/24/2012 at 06:00 AM EST • Originally published 11/24/2012 at 12:00 AM EST Larry Hagman, a larger-than-life TV personality best known for his role as J.R. Ewing on the primetime soap Dallas, died Friday of complications from throat cancer. The star,...

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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 following 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...

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Military Analysis: For Israel, Gaza Conflict Is Test for an Iran Confrontation

Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAn Israeli missile is launched from a battery. Officials said their antimissile system shot down 88 percent of all assigned targets. WASHINGTON — The conflict that ended, for now, in a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel seemed like the latest episode in a periodic showdown. But there was a second, strategic agenda unfolding, according to American...

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Jake Owen Welcomes a Daughter

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 11/22/2012 at 08:30 PM ET Courtesy Jake Owen It’s a Thanksgiving baby!Jake Owen and his wife Lacey welcomed their first child, daughter Olive Pearl Owen, on Thursday, Nov. 22 in Nashville, Tenn., his rep confirms to PEOPLE.Pearl, as she will be called after...

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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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Futures climb ahead of holiday-shortened session

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures gained modestly Friday ahead of an abbreviated session on Wall Street, on signs of progress in talks about releasing aid to Greece, and with the U.S. retail sector in focus as the holiday shopping season begins. The U.S. equity market was closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, and trading Friday will end early at 1:00 pm ET (1800 GMT)....

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Egypt Leader and Obama Forge Link in Gaza Deal

Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated PressIsraelis in the town of Sderot watched a Palestinian missile on Wednesday, before a cease-fire. WASHINGTON — President Obama skipped dessert at a long summit meeting dinner in Cambodia on Monday to rush back to his hotel suite. It was after 11:30 p.m., and his mind was on rockets in Gaza rather than Asian diplomacy. He picked up the telephone to call the Egyptian...

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Mayim Bialik and Michael Stone Divorcing

By Mike Fleeman 11/21/2012 at 05:00 PM EST After "much consideration and soul-searching," Mayim Bialik announced Wednesday that she and husband Michael Stone are divorcing after nine years of marriage.The Big Bang Theory star, who has sons Miles, 7, and Fred, 4, with Stone, cites "irreconcilable differences"...

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Study finds mammograms lead to unneeded treatment

Mammograms have done surprisingly little to catch deadly breast cancers before they spread, a big U.S. study finds. At the same time, more than a million women have been treated for cancers that never would have threatened their lives, researchers estimate.Up to one-third of breast cancers, or 50,000 to 70,000 cases a year, don't need treatment, the study suggests.It's the most detailed look yet at...

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Global shares gain as economic outlook improves

LONDON (Reuters) - World share markets extended a week-long rally on Thursday as manufacturing surveys in China and the United States boosted confidence over global growth and euro zone data at least didn't worsen the already weak outlook for the region. The euro also touched a three-week high against the dollar on renewed optimism that a Greek funding deal will eventually be agreed,...

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Fighting Continues as U.S. Seeks Truce in Gaza

JERUSALEM — To a backdrop of airstrikes and mounting casualties, American efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the latest Gaza fighting between Israel and Hamas continued on Wednesday but the struggle to achieve even a brief pause in the fighting emphasized the obstacles to finding any lasting solution. Israeli airstrikes overnight continued into Wednesday morning, hitting government buildings,...

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Microsoft vs. Google trial over patents finishes up

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A Google expert witness testified on Tuesday that Microsoft will make roughly $ 94 billion in revenue through 2017 from its Xbox game console and Surface tablet that use Google‘s patented wireless technology.Michael Dansky, an expert for Google‘s Motorola Mobility unit, testified on the last day of a high stakes trial over patents...

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The Petraeus Affair: How Jill Kelley Inadvertently Brought Down the CIA Director

By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall 11/21/2012 at 08:30 AM EST Exclusive excerpt from this week's PEOPLE Magazine:Jill Kelley had e-mailed the Tampa mayor before: to invite him to parties; to tell him she had talked him up to her pal "Dave" Petraeus; to drop the name of Gen. John Allen. But this time it was personal....

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OB/GYNs back over-the-counter birth control pills

WASHINGTON (AP) — No prescription or doctor's exam needed: The nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.Tuesday's surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women's advocates to make the pill more accessible.But no one expects the pill to be sold without a prescription...

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Futures retreat on Greek deal impasse; U.S. data on tap

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures retreated Wednesday after international lenders were unable to agree on emergency aid for Greece, and ahead of data on the U.S. labor market and consumer confidence. For a second week, euro zone finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank failed to agree on how to make Greece's debt sustainable, which is...

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Clinton to Visit Middle East in Effort to Defuse Gaza Conflict

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — President Obama sent Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the Middle East on Tuesday to try to defuse the conflict in Gaza, the White House announced. Mrs. Clinton, who accompanied Mr. Obama on his three-country Asia trip, left on her own plane immediately for the region, where she will stop first in Jerusalem to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of...

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N.Y. police officer says not guilty of plan to cook, eat women

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York City police officer pleaded not guilty on Monday to conspiring to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women.Gilberto Valle, 28, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged and arrested in October with conspiring to cross state lines to kidnap the women and with illegally accessing a federal database. Prosecutors...

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Blake Shelton Has Unforgettable Night on The Voice

TV Watch The Voice By Julia Haskins 11/20/2012 at 08:15 AM EST Cassadee Pope (Blake Shelton inset) Tyler Golden/NBC (2) It was a night of creative growth on The Voice Monday, as the top 10 wowed the coaches in unexpected ways. "This may be the best episode of The...

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make...

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S&P 500 index futures rise briefly after data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - S&P 500 index futures briefly edged higher on Tuesday after data showed housing starts rose to their highest rate in more than four years in October. S&P 500 futures were last up 0.3 point. Dow Jones industrial average futures trimmed declines but were still down 8 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 1.25 points. (Reporting By Leah Schnurr;...

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Gaza Clash Escalates With Deadliest Israeli Strike

Bernat Armangue/Associated PressSmoke rose over Gaza City on Sunday, as Israel widened its range of targets to include buildings used by the news media. CAIRO — Emboldened by the rising power of Islamists around the region, the Palestinian militant group Hamas demanded new Israeli concessions to its security and autonomy before it halts its rocket attacks on Israel, even as the conflict took an increasing...

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