Fifth Third Closes $3.4 Bln Preferred Share Sale To Treasury

Treasury Department Defends $700B Bailout Program

BANGKOK, Dec. 31 (UPI) — At least 55 New Year’s revelers died when fire swept a popular Bangkok nightclub, police officials said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A smoking ban caused heart attacks to drop by more than 40 percent in one U.S. city and the decrease lasted three years, federal health experts reported Wednesday.

As the world prepared to ring in 2009, many European revelers said belt-tightening was their top New Year’s resolution. The vow followed the most volatile financial year in decades.

A militant arrested in Pakistan has confessed involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks and is giving investigators details of the plot, a senior Pakistani government official said today.

DALLAS - As a member of the famed Austrian crystal family, Vanessa Swarovski Piedra grew up around beautiful sparkling objects. Now she’s creating a few of her own.
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Burris’s qualifications are lauded, but many voice concern over how he was appointed and by whom.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has filed a motion seeking a 90-day extension to return of an indictment against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.