White House preps Plan B if debt talks fail

White House press secretary Jay Carney (Charles Dharapak/AP)President Barack Obama's budget office is preparing for the possibility that "fiscal cliff" talks will fail, triggering painful automatic cuts to domestic and defense programs that he and his Republican foes officially want to avoid. White House press secretary Jay Carney described the planning as an abundance of caution, not pessimism about...

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WestJet embraces tech to woo business travelers

TORONTO (Reuters) – WestJet Airlines Ltd will use technological innovation, including a new Internet ticket booking system, to help it transform from a no-frills carrier to a lower-cost full-service airline courting lucrative corporate travelers, its chief executive said on Monday.Canada’s second-biggest airline plans to launch a series of technology systems, most notably the new online booking engine,...

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Disney, Netflix sign exclusive TV distribution deal

(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co agreed to give Netflix exclusive TV distribution rights to its movies, becoming the first major studio to stream its movies to TV viewers via Netflix instead of distributing them to HBO, Showtime or other premium TV channels.The agreement begins in 2016, after Disney‘s current deal with Liberty Media’s pay-TV channel Starz expires.The deal gives Netflix streaming rights...

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Medicare Open Enrollment Period Comes to a Close on Dec. 7

Oklahoma residents age 65 or older and disabled residents have until midnight Friday to make their choices for supplement health insurance and/or prescription drug coverage — as do the residents in the rest of the nation.Medicare Open Enrollment 2012Medicare recipients have the opportunity to choose whether or not to add additional health care coverage to that which Medicare provides during the annual...

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Conservative Republicans booted from House budget panel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two of the most conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives have been kicked off the House Budget Committee, a rare move that could make it easier for the panel to advance a deal with Democrats to cut fiscal deficits. Representatives Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan - both favorites of the anti-tax Tea Party movement - are among those Republicans...

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Official: Syria moving chemical weapons components

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and allied intelligence have detected Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, as the Obama administration strongly warned the Assad regime against using them.A senior defense official said intelligence officials have detected activity around more than one of Syria‘s chemical weapons sites in the last week. The...

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Ericsson seeks U.S. import ban on Samsung products

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson has filed a request with the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban U.S. imports of products made by South Korean group Samsung,The request from Ericsson, which said on Monday the products infringe on its patents, came after it sued Samsung for patent infringement in a U.S. court last week.“The request for an import ban is a part of the...

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Turkey fines TV channel for “The Simpsons” blasphemy

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey‘s broadcasting regulator is fining a television channel for insulting religious values after it aired an episode of “The Simpsons” which shows God taking orders from the devil.Radio and television watchdog RTUK said it was fining private broadcaster CNBC-e 52,951 lira ($ 30,000) over the episode of the hit U.S. animated TV series, whose scenes include the devil asking God...

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Dial back esophageal cancer screening: internists

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A group of U.S. internal medicine doctors today recommended limiting esophageal cancer screening to people with chronic heartburn who have additional, more severe symptoms.Known as upper endoscopy, the screening procedure is often used to diagnose and manage gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) – which can be tied to a higher risk of esophageal cancer.But some of that...

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Boehner makes counteroffer on debt talks

WASHINGTON—House Republicans on Monday unveiled a counterproposal to a Democratic plan to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff that includes $800 billion in new government revenue by eliminating write-offs in the tax code while extending current tax rates for all income levels.In a letter sent to the White House, Republican leaders outlined a plan that they said would provide $2.2 trillion in deficit...

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