Target to match some rivals’ online prices year-round

(Reuters) – Target Corp said on Tuesday it will match on a year-round basis the prices found on the websites of key rivals Amazon.com Inc, Best Buy Co Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Toys R Us, its latest tactic to hold onto shoppers focused on price.The move extends an online price-matching program that Target introduced over the holiday season and which was supposed to last only from November 1 to...

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Kate Falls Under Vogue's Microscope

By Stephen M. Silverman 01/07/2013 at 12:45 PM EST Duchess of Cambridge Fame; Landov (2); WireImage What's a little more scrutiny?Arguably the most-watched fashion icon – certainly the most closely followed expectant mother – in the world, the Duchess of Cambridge has been placed under the...

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Your medical chart could include exercise minutes

CHICAGO (AP) — Roll up a sleeve for the blood pressure cuff. Stick out a wrist for the pulse-taking. Lift your tongue for the thermometer. Report how many minutes you are active or getting exercise.Wait, what?If the last item isn't part of the usual drill at your doctor's office, a movement is afoot to change that. One recent national survey indicated only a third of Americans said their doctors asked...

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Wall Street falls on banks' settlement, doubts on earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Monday as banks agreed to pay billions in a settlement with U.S. regulators and investors speculated that U.S. earnings for the end of 2012 would be only modestly better than in the previous quarter. Financials declined after a group of home mortgage servicers, including major U.S. banks, agreed to pay a total of $8.5 billion to end a government-ordered,...

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Bill Richardson and Eric Schmidt of Google Visit North Korea

David Guttenfelder/Associated PressEric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, arrived in Pyongyang on Monday. SEOUL, South Korea — Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, led a private delegation including Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, to North Korea on Monday, a controversial trip to a country that is among the most hostile to the Internet. Kim Kwang Hyon/Associated...

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Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer

DUBAI (Reuters) – A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the country’s ruler on Twitter, his lawyer said, the second to be jailed for the offence in as many days.The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has clamped down in recent months on political activists who have been using social media websites to criticize the government and the ruling family.Kuwait has seen a...

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Courteney Cox: Ex David Arquette Is Still My 'Best Friend in the World'

By Alison Schwartz 01/06/2013 at 12:00 PM EST Courteney Cox and Ellen DeGeneres Michael Rozman/Warner Bros. The romance didn't work out for Courteney Cox and David Arquette, but the Cougar Town star still has plenty of love for her ex – as a friend."He's my best...

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Your medical chart could include exercise minutes

CHICAGO (AP) — Roll up a sleeve for the blood pressure cuff. Stick out a wrist for the pulse-taking. Lift your tongue for the thermometer. Report how many minutes you are active or getting exercise.Wait, what?If the last item isn't part of the usual drill at your doctor's office, a movement is afoot to change that. One recent national survey indicated only a third of Americans said their doctors asked...

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"Cliff" concerns give way to earnings focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors' "fiscal cliff" worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourth-quarter reports get under way next week. Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa , are expected to be only slightly better than the third-quarter's lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current...

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IHT Rendezvous: Hints of Taiwan Leading the Way on Same-Sex Marriage in Asia

BEIJING — Will Taiwan become the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013?Perhaps, judging from recent developments on the island, where the legislature has held its first hearings on the issue, a move that signifies “a major step towards becoming the first Asian territory to approve marriage equality,” the Shanghai-based Web site Shanghaiist reported, citing Gay Star News.In another...

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