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TOP STORIES:
HAMSTER MAINIA
NEW YORK — Zhu Zhu Pets, which retail for about $10, are this year's bona fide must-have toy, following in the footsteps of past crazes for Tickle Me Elmo and Cabbage Patch Kids. On resale Web sites like eBay and Craigslist, they fetch $40 or more. By Mae Anderson.
ONLINE SHOPPING
SAN FRANCISCO — Online retailers hope the convenience of the Web, plus discounts and deals, spur still-nervous shoppers to spend more online this holiday season — even as traditional retailers brace for mediocre sales. ComScore Inc. analysts expect online retail revenue to rise 3 percent to $28.8 billion during the holiday season, while the National Retail Federation sees retail sales dropping 1 percent, excluding online sales. By Rachel Metz.
HEALTH OVERHAUL-CAR INSURANCE
DENVER — Requirements that drivers get auto insurance before hitting the road are being mentioned as parallels in the health care debate, but the comparison isn't that simple. For starters, even though almost all states require auto insurance, some 14 percent to 16 percent of drivers still don't have it. By Kristen Wyatt.
INDUSTRY:
— CANADA-BOMBARDIER LAYOFFS — Bombardier Aerospace says it will lay off 715 workers in its Montreal-area facilities as it reduces production of its CRJ regional jets.
MARKETS and the ECONOMY:
WORLD MARKETS
HONG KONG — World stock markets drop as mostly positive economic news in the U.S. fails to inspire investors, and the dollar tumbles to its lowest point against the Japanese yen in more than 14 years. By Jeremiah Marquez. AP Photos.
OIL PRICES
UNDATED — Oil prices slipped towards $77 a barrel on Thursday as a sharp slide in stock markets raised worries about the pace of recovery in the global economy and demand for crude. By Barry Hatton.
TECHNOLOGY & MEDIA:
— PROVIDENCE JOURNAL-WEB FEES — The Providence Journal Co. is studying the possibility of charging for a portion of the news and information its Web site, projo.com.
— JAPAN-SONY — A third to half of the Sony Corp. TV sets sold annually will be packed with 3-D features by the year ending March 2013, a senior executive says.
— EU-CATHODE RAY TUBES — European Union antitrust regulators have charged Royal Philips Electronics NV and others with running a cartel to fix the price of cathode ray tubes used in televisions and computer monitors.
WASHINGTON:
INTERNATIONAL:
DUBAI-DESPERATE TIMES
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Once a seemingly unstoppable economic dynamo, Dubai is now so swamped in debt that it's asking for a six-month reprieve on paying its bills, causing a drop on world markets amid questions over the long-term damage to Dubai's reputation as a magnet for international investors. By Barbara Surk. AP Photos.
CHINA-ECONOMY
BEIJING — China's stimulus spending has fueled massive overexpansion in industrial capacity that could drive a surge in low-priced exports amid weak global demand, possibly igniting a protectionist backlash abroad, a European business group says Thursday. By Joe McDonald. AP Photos.
JAPAN-TOYOTA
TOKYO — Toyota is slashing bonus pay for managers as the Japanese automaker tackles a massive recall in the U.S. and deep losses for the second straight fiscal year. By Yuri Kageyama. AP Photos.
BRITAIN-BANK REFORM
LONDON — British banks should be forced to disclose the number of employees who earn more than 1 million pounds ($1.65 million) a year, a government-commissioned review of corporate governance in banks says.
— AUSTRALIA-TPG TAX BILL — Australian authorities have slapped U.S. private equity firm TPG with a bill for 678 million Australian dollars ($629 million) in taxes and penalties, a move that is sending chills down the spines of foreign investors.
— BELGIUM-DHL — DHL Express plans to shift its European headquarters from Belgium to Germany and the Czech Republic with the loss of up to 788 jobs in Brussels.
— BRITAIN-BAE SYSTEMS — BAE Systems PLC, the world's No. 2 defense contractor, plans to axe around 640 jobs because of an expected downturn in its workload.
— BRITAIN-LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE — The London Stock Exchange PLC has halted electronic trading because of technical issues.
— TAIWAN-ECONOMY — Taiwan's economy contracted at a slower pace year-over-year in the third quarter and the government raised its growth forecast for 2010 as rising demand from mainland China spurs a recovery.
