1. Stores look to basics to draw in holiday shoppers 29 minutes ago   permalink

Yahoo! News

AP - As stores prepare for hordes of Black Friday shoppers and mark down high-definition TVs and hot toys, they're also pushing deals on something more mundane — necessities like socks and diapers.

2. Filipino who lost wife in massacre files candidacy 1 hour ago   permalink

Yahoo! News

AP - A politician whose wife and relatives were among 57 people massacred in the southern Philippines in an apparent bid to stop him from running for governor filed his candidacy Friday for the election.

3. Have yourself a very merry black Friday 2 hours ago   permalink

Mary Elizabeth Williams / Salon

The author of "Scroogenomics" explains why holiday shopping is a drain on the wallet and the holiday spirit

related items

Jeremy / ILounge News: Black Friday iPod/iPhone deals round-up   —  Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season in the U.S., a day commonly referred to as “Black Friday.” As a service to our readers, we’ve rounded up some iPod-related deals being offered at major retailers across the country, as well as a few accessory and app specials. Toys ‘R Us: $50 Gift Card with any iPod touch purchase ...

4. Americans give thanks, see parades, feast in space 2 hours ago   permalink

Yahoo! News

AP - Giant balloons, floats, marching bands and clowns with confetti brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of revelers eager to catch a glimpse of a parade as steeped in Thanksgiving Day tradition as turkey and pumpkin pie.

5. Dubai struggles to ease debt default fears 2 hours ago   permalink

Reuters

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Dubai struggled to ease fears of debt default on Thursday after its move to delay repayments at two flagship firms shook confidence in the Middle East as a center for investment and a source of capital.

6. Hacker to appeal over extradition 2 hours ago   permalink

BBC News

Lawyers for computer hacker Gary McKinnon are to challenge the home secretary's decision not to block his extradition to the US.

7. Foursquare-python / 2 hours ago   permalink

Github.com

>>> import foursquare >>> fs = foursquare.Foursquare() >>> fs.cities() {'cities': [{'geolat': 52.378900000000002, 'name': 'Amsterdam', ...}]}

discussions

MG Siegler / TechCrunch :   4mapper Puts Foursquare On The Map

8. 'High levels' of force at prison 3 hours ago   permalink

BBC News

Prison officers at Belmarsh high-security jail use "extremely high" levels of force to subdue prisoners, a report reveals.

9. UK 'to block Sri Lanka talks bid' 3 hours ago   permalink

BBC News

The UK will try to block Sri Lanka's bid to host the next Commonwealth summit, sources say, as leaders gather in Trinidad.

10. Thanksgiving: a displaced Brit writes… 4 hours ago   permalink

Paul Carr / TechCrunch

When I first heard about this "Thanksgiving" thing, I thought it sounded like a great idea. We Brits spend a ridiculous amount of time each day giving thanks to strangers - we say thanks to people who hold doors for us, thanks to people who stop their cars to let us cross the road, thanks to waitresses when they give us our bill; even thanks ...

11. Gillmor Gang: Silverlight v. ChromeOS v. Chatter 5 hours ago   permalink

Steve Gillmor / TechCrunch

The Gillmor Gang convened Wednesday to ponder the last several weeks of events loosely contained in a discussion of the next generation Web operating system. Three major announcements set the table for this Thanksgiving edition: Google's ChromeOS, Microsoft's Silverlight 4, and salesforce's Chatter collaboration platform. The last might be ...

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TechCrunch Europe / TechCrunch Microsoft’s Dance With Newspapers Continues   —  We've been doing some more digging on the definitive moves by Microsoft to woo newspapers over to Bing and away from Google, a story we broke two weeks ago . Since then there have been some follow-up by various media outlets, notably the Financial Times this week which confirmed that Microsoft had had discussions with News Corp to “de-index” ...

12. Mandela's foreword was real – but old 8 hours ago   permalink

David Smith / World news and comment from the Guardian

• Mandela foundation forced into embarrassing climbdown over book • Congo-Brazzaville president used 1996 speech in foreword The Nelson Mandela Foundation has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown over its allegation that an African leader concocted a bogus endorsement by the anti-apartheid hero. There was anger – and worldwide ...

discussions

Mao / The Literary Saloon :   The New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books of 2009

related items

Www.abc.net.au New literary centre named after travel book founders   —  "The Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas is a fantastic initiative and it is humbling to have this honour in what is the reading and writing capital of Australia," Mr Wheeler said. Mao / The Literary Saloon :    The New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books of 2009

13. No Thanksgiving rest for retailers in sales race 4 hours ago   permalink

Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers may stretch tight budgets this year to reward loved ones after months of thrift, a softening of heart that store chains hope will erase the holiday season sales debacle of 2008.

14. India's final push to end the disease 4 hours ago   permalink

Sarah Boseley / World news and comment from the Guardian

Polio has almost been wiped out, but a few stubborn areas of resistance remain and India is on the frontline against the crippling disease In a school courtyard in Lucknow on a dusty Sunday afternoon, the final push in a heroic campaign to drive a crippling disease from the planet is under way. Among scores of wide-eyed children, four-year-old ...

15. PM backs US general's Afghanistan strategy 4 hours ago   permalink

Nicholas Watt / The Guardian World News

PM to speak in favour of 'McChrystalesque' military and political push, ahead of Commonwealth meeting Gordon Brown will embrace the central thrust of General Stanley McChrystal's report into the future of Afghanistan when he speaks today of the need to develop a military and political "push". Days before Barack Obama spells out US strategy in ...

16. You In? Yahoo Wants To Help Spread Ripples Of Kindness This Holiday Season 5 hours ago   permalink

Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch

The holiday season is in full swing, and that means it's time to share some of the comfort we enjoy year round with those who are a little less fortunate — and just to be nicer to people in general. This year, Yahoo is kicking off a drive called You In? , where it invites users worldwide to share their "purple acts of kindness" (purple has ...

17. Israel dismisses Palestinian rejection of freeze 7 hours ago   permalink

Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's foreign minister on Thursday shrugged off the Palestinian dismissal of a 10-month moratorium on some building in West Bank settlements, saying winning international support was more important.

18. Unusual Coma Recovery Case Attracts Doubters 11 hours ago   permalink

U.S.

Skeptics question the validity of the facilitated techniques that allow Rom Houben to communicate.

19. Russia: No Space for Space Tourists 11 hours ago   permalink

U.S.

With a full crew complement, the International Space Station can no longer accommodate paying guests.

20. All I Want For Christmas Is My Web 11 hours ago   permalink

Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM

I’m not really comfortable making broad technology predictions, but I’ve run across two things recently that perfectly illustrate for me the next generation of the web, which will consist of services that tell us what we want to know precisely when we want to know it.