Troubled retailer HMV reports a sharp fall in sales for the Christmas period but notes a slowing in the decline of its music and film business.

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HMV reports Christmas sales slump

Over six months, The Times examined the life and death of Derek Boogaard. The last article of a three-part series details his decline, and the determination that he had a brain condition believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head.

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Punched Out: Derek Boogaard: A Brain ‘Going Bad’

The unemployment rate plummeted to its lowest level in more than two years in November, as employers hired at a steady clip, according to new report that offers hope for the job market entering the holiday season. The jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent last month, from 9 percent in October, the lowest level since the economic free-fall of March 2009, the Labor Department reported Friday morning. But the improvement in the job market was not quite as strong as that drop would suggest: About half the decline was attributed to people dropping out of the labor force, no longer counting themselves as even looking for work. Read full article > >

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U.S. unemployment rate falls to 8.6% in November, raising hopes for growth

U .S. home prices are set to fall further. There is nothing policymakers can do to forestall this, but there are things they can do to mitigate the severity of the decline. With Europe in disarray , the supercommittee struggling to reduce the federal deficit and a payroll tax increase looming next year, help for the housing industry could make the difference between a continued economic recovery and a double-dip recession. Read full article > >

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With home prices headed down, three ideas to soften the fall

The farmland scourge of soil erosion, once on the decline, is again a threat, scientists and environmentalists say.

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High Prices Sow Seeds of Erosion

Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman surveys the last fifty years and sees the American presidency transformed into a potentially dangerous vehicle for political extremism and lawlessness. In his latest book, The Decline and Fall of the American Republic, he suggests some innovative constitutional remedies to address the situation. I put six questions to Ackerman about his new book. . . .

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SCOTT HORTON—The Decline and Fall of the American Republic : Six Questions for Bruce Ackerman

Post Offices could stay open for longer, cut their queues and offer more services, in an attempt to stop the decline of the branch network.

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Modernised Post Office plan revealed

There has been a sharp rise in the number of Americans who believe the US role as a world leader is on the decline, a survey suggests.

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US global leadership ‘declining’