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OAKLAND, Calif. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) plans to appeal a $172 million judgment awarded to thousands of employees who claimed they were illegally denied lunch breaks. A jury on Thursday found the world’s largest retailer violated a 2001 state law that requires employers to give 30-minute, unpaid lunch breaks …

EL MONTE, Calif. – Booby-trapped pens have exploded and injured three people at Los Angeles area high schools, causing minor burns and scratches on their hands and faces. The pens were found lying on the ground and blew up when people pulled off their caps. The most recent case was …

MIAMI – Carnival Corp. (CCL), the world’s largest cruise operator, said Friday fiscal fourth-quarter earnings jumped 20 percent on the continued rise of ticket prices and onboard revenues. But its shares fell as it said earnings for 2006 would be lower than analysts expected. For the three months ended Nov. …

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Hewlett-Packard Co. on Monday jumped into the business of providing the technology — and building the rooms — for large companies to hold virtual face-to-face meetings regardless of the distance between participants. HP’s Halo Collaboration Studio offers a nearly immersive environment where people can see each …

WASHINGTON – U.S. consumer prices fell 0.6 percent in November, the largest decline in 56 years, as energy prices posted a record 8.0 percent drop in the month, the government said on Thursday. The slide in prices was slightly larger than the 0.4 percent reversal expected by Wall Street and …

TORONTO – Gunfire erupted on a busy Toronto street filled with holiday shoppers Monday evening, killing a young woman and wounding six other people, police said. They said two suspects were arrested and at least one gun was seized shortly after the 5:30 p.m. Monday violence near the popular Eaton …

CHICAGO – Linens ‘n Things Inc. (LIN) expects to meet sales and profitability targets required to finance its deal to be acquired by a private equity firm and its partners, the home decor retailer said late on Tuesday. Analysts had questioned for weeks whether the retailer would satisfy the criteria …

AMMAN, Jordan – Military prosecutors have charged four Jordanian militants with conspiracy to kill Americans working at a center to train Iraqi police east of the capital. The seven-page indictment released Wednesday said Ma’ath Breizat, 19, Ibrahim al-Jahawsheh, 28, Faisal al-Rweidhan, 28, and Ibadah al-Hiyari, 24, had conspired to carry …

BOGALUSA, La. – A mother was booked on a charge of first-degree murder for allegedly placing her 3-month-old son in a clothes dryer and turning it on. The infant had third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body and suffered blunt force trauma to the head, the St. Tammany Parish …

ALBANY, N.Y. – Before rushing to make salmon a staple of a heart-healthy diet, consumers should check the origin of their fish supply, a new study recommends. It turns out where the salmon comes from — and what they are fed — determine whether the health risks will outweigh the …