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NEW YORK – Movie sales on DVD are likely nearing their peak worldwide as more people look to computer downloads and video-on-demand to watch their favorite programming, according to a report from market research firm Instat released on Wednesday. “The PC industry is champing at the bit to provide downloaded …

BATON ROUGE, La. – New Orleans’ mayoral and city council elections should be postponed for up to eight months because of Hurricane Katrina, the state’s top election official recommended Friday. Gov. Kathleen Blanco has the final say on whether the elections will go forward as scheduled Feb. 4. She was …

NEW YORK – Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL), which warned last month it plans to build fewer homes, on Thursday cut its profit outlook for the current year and put its forecast for 2007 in doubt, citing the slowing U.S. housing market. The company also posted a better-than-expected …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi citizens turned over a high-ranking Al Qaeda member known as “the Butcher” to U.S. forces in Ramadi Friday a military statement said. Amir Khalaf Fanus was No. 3 on the 28th Infantry Division’s High Value Individual list for Ramadi, wanted for murder and kidnapping in connection …

WASHINGTON – The Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday voted 5-0 to require some companies to file financial reports faster, but pushed back implementation of the new schedule for large companies to early 2007 when most 2006 annual reports come out. Under the new rule, large companies with market capitalizations above …

JERUSALEM – The mild stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday abruptly raised the question of what would happen to Mideast peace prospects if the 77-year-old leader is incapacitated. Sharon’s transformation in recent times from hawk to pragmatist — becoming the first Israeli leader to relinquish land …

SAN FRANCISCO – Boeing Co.’s next-generation 787 Dreamliner marks a sharp break from the old way of doing things at the world’s largest aerospace company, a move that’s already paying off in dramatic fashion. As of last week, Boeing (BA) had booked 185 order commitments for the Dreamliner this year, …

NEW YORK – Young children live in their own worlds. They see the same people every day, do the same things and eat the same foods. Maybe they put ketchup or ranch dressing on pasta or pancakes and that’s considered normal — in their little worlds. Generally, all this routine …

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers intensified their scrutiny of the Red Cross on Thursday as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee asked the organization for correspondence, minutes of board meetings and other records. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, questioned the effectiveness of the agency’s Board of Governors in a letter requesting an …

WASHINGTON – President Bush is prepared to seek a Middle East peace on an “accelerated basis” now that there is an elected government in the Palestinian territories and violence has declined, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (search) said Friday. A day after meeting with Bush, Abbas praised Bush’s efforts to capitalize …