How Carnival can clean up PR mess

STORY HIGHLIGHTSDavid Bartlett: For Carnival, impact of 'cruise from hell' potentially devastating. Passenger video, media puts Carnival increasingly on the defensive, he says He says it must show real concern, lay out plan, go a long way to make amendsDon't try to justify or explain, he says, but get proactive now about fixing problemEditor's note: David Bartlett is a senior vice president of Levick,...

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Charlie Sheen pays for injured teen’s therapy dog

MILWAUKEE (AP) — MILWAUKEE (AP) — There’s a 15-year-old Florida girl who didn’t really know much about Charlie Sheen before this week — but does now.The actor wired $ 10,000 to Teagan Marti and her family on Thursday for a therapy dog to help in her rehabilitation from injuries sustained when she plummeted 100 feet from a Wisconsin amusement park ride in 2010.“I think he’s a very kind person for helping...

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When Sharing Taxes Might Not Be a Good Idea

As a married couple, you probably share almost everything. But is that such a good idea when it comes to filing taxes?Most couples file their return jointly, combining incomes and sharing deductions. That trend will probably continue, encouraged in large part by tax-law changes during the last few years to ease the marriage penalty. This filing phenomenon tended to show up when working spouses made...

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Wall Street flat as takeovers offset weak overseas data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as a flurry of merger deals and better-than-expected jobs data offset signs of economic weakness in Europe and Japan Shares of H.J. Heinz Co jumped 20 percent to $72.51 after it said Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital will buy the food company for $72.50 a share, or $28 billion including debt. Also...

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Pistorius' girlfriend was a model, law graduate

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The leggy blonde model tweeted that Valentine's Day should be "a day of love for everyone."Instead Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead in the home of her boyfriend, paralympian superstar Oscar Pistorius, who was charged with her murder.Steenkamp, South African model with a law degree, campaigned against rape and violence against women. Thursday morning, Reeva Steenkamp was to give an...

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Where's Obama's foreign policy?

By Isobel Coleman, Special to CNNFebruary 13, 2013 -- Updated 1653 GMT (0053 HKT)STORY HIGHLIGHTSIsobel Coleman: Obama mainly addressed domestic issues: economy, immigration, energy He spoke very little about and offered nothing much new on foreign policy, she saysColeman: He talked about ending Afghanistan War, spoke briefly about Iran, Syria, ChinaColeman: His reinvigorated free trade agenda seems...

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Irish composer Raymond Deane talks Achill, Alma and ABBA too

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish composer Raymond Deane chafes at what he sees as a lack of recognition in his homeland for classical composers in a country better known for traditional fiddling and rock supergroup U2 than for notes on staves.“Classical music means Mozart and Beethoven and when you say Irish classical music their eyes just widen,” Deane, who recently turned 60, told Reuters over lunch at...

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Want a Dog Like Banana Joe? There Are 7 For Sale in America

After two days of frenzied canine competition, a five year-old black-and-tan Affenpinscher named Banana Joe was crowned champion at the Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday night. But for those dog enthusiasts captivated by the dog’s Wookiee-ish countenance and shock of black hair—and hoping to snatch up one of their very own—we say: Good luck.The breed’s official site, recognized by the American Kennel...

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Mortgage Mess Still Mires Housing Recovery

President Obama says he wants more Americans to be able to save money by refinancing their mortgages. The trouble is that mortgage rates are rising, now at their highest level since September of last year, before the Federal Reserve announced it would buy more agency mortgage-backed securities in order to drive rates down. Last week applications to refinance fell 6 percent from the previous week,...

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Wall Street flat, S&P 500 touches November 2007 high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday after the S&P 500 index hit a November 2007 intraday high, but volume was low and investors stayed cautious with indexes near multi-year closing highs. The benchmark index got a boost from Comcast Corp when the cable company said it will buy the rest of NBC Universal for $16.7 billion from General Electric Co . ...

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