Desperate fight to save the euro

The euro plunged further into crisis yesterday as investors sold off Spanish, Portuguese and Belgian government bonds in record numbers on renewed fears that those nations would follow Greece and Ireland into the financial emergency ward, undermining confidence in the single currency. The spreading contagion suggests that the markets now view the break-up of the euro as a realistic possibility, and that "shock and awe" efforts to shore up individual economies with huge bailouts have not succeeded in insulating their neighbours from infection. Spain, in particular, is regarded as being "too big to save". Should Spain eventually need...

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Stock open higher on drop in jobless claims

NEW YORK  — Stocks rose sharply in early trading Wednesday after a batch of economic reports offered some hope that the U.S. economy was improving.Investors siezed on encouraging readings on the labor market and Americans' incomes while shrugging off a steep fall in new home sales and manufacturing orders.The upturn marked an abrupt reversal from Tuesday, when an exchange of artillary fire between North and South Korea led nervous investors to sell stocks and dash into gold, Treasurys and other assets often used as hiding spots.The government said first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell 34,000 to 407,000 last week. That was...

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Safe Makeup Bill Introduced In House

Ingredients in makeup, hair care products, and toiletries would be scrutinized more intensively by the government, if a bill introduced yesterday by Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky is passed. The bill would require more oversight by the Food and Drug Administration.Police in Washington County, Oregon, are searching for a suspect who grabbed a woman’s butt while riding a bike near the Nike World Campus in Beaverton. This is the fourth time a female jogger or walker has reported a butt-grabbing in the area.Baltimore’s Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III is under criticism for suggesting that his police department had not followed up on hundreds of rape reports because following up on “bad guys with guns” was more important. A recent poll of California...

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Fashion Forecast: 2010 Annual Graduation Fashion Show

THE BLANCHE MACDONALD CENTRE PRESENTS OVER 50 GRADUATE FASHION COLLECTIONSTuesday November 30 2010The Westin Bayshore1601 Bayshore Drive, Vancouver BCFashion Show begins at 7:00 pmSome of our Fashion Design graduates include Dace Moore of the hugely successful and media favourite DACE line, Theola Wong for Adidas for Missy Elliott, Tenille Magnusson, the in house designer for Aritzia’s Wilfrid line, Shannon Wilson, designer and owner of Lululemon, and Lisa Malcic whose Beba Bean designs are carried at Barney’s New York, Nordstroms and who was just featured on the highly acclaimed entrepreneurial show, Dragon’s Den to name a few.  Blanche Macdonald Fashion Merchandising graduates include top Fashion stylists Amy Lu Cameron whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Fashion and Interview...

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New Orleans aiming for 'New York-style fashion atmosphere'

I love people who have a passion for fashion. And the folks in New Orleans have given me yet another reason to love the Big Easy.The fashion culture is on the rise in the Crescent City, with big plans to host New Orleans International Fashion Week at Bourbon Park in 2011.In preparation for that event, a New Orleans Fashion Week Preview will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Biloxi on Dec. 9.The evening will start at 6:30 p.m. with a social and shopping opportunity, followed by a Fashion Production at 9 p.m., according to Lanzer M. Robinson, executive director of New Orleans International Fashion Week. General admission...

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