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NEW YORK – L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL) Friday said it would buy Titan Corp. (TTN) for about $2 billion in cash, expanding its reach in defense-intelligence services. The deal is the latest by acquisition-hungry L-3, which has grown into one of the U.S.’s leading defense technology companies with dozens …

Now there’s yet another reason for women to get plenty of calcium and vitamin D. The bone-building nutrients may prevent PMS. PMS — premenstrual syndrome — is a collection of symptoms that come between ovulation and a woman’s menstrual period. Symptoms include depression, irritability, fatigue, abdominal cramps, breast tenderness, and …

WASHINGTON – Fifth grader Ronnie Cowsert of Florida looked a little heartsick Wednesday after he misspelled the word for liver disease. And sixth grader Marlee Labroo of Quincy, Ill., gave the spelling bee judge a sad smile when he corrected her stab at “hartebeest,” a type of antelope. Labroo and …

TULKAREM, West Bank – Israel freed 398 jailed militants Thursday, fulfilling a months-old pledge that officials hope will bolster Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (search) and his moderate allies as they contest with radical groups for support among Palestinians. The release, which came just hours after an agreement for the Israeli …

CHICAGO – Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s (search) father-in-law has signed on to help raise money for one of the governor’s most vocal critics, although the two men claim it has nothing to do with their public family feud. Chicago alderman Richard Mell (search) said he decided to help with a political …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Novelist and Civil War historian Shelby Foote (search), who became a national celebrity explaining the war to America on Ken Burns’ 1990 PBS documentary, has died at 88. Foote died Monday night, said his widow, Gwyn. The Mississippi native and longtime Memphis resident wrote a stirring, three-volume, …

WASHINGTON – The Army appears likely to fall short of its full-year recruiting goal for the first time since 1999, raising longer-term questions about a military embroiled in its first protracted wars since switching from the draft to a volunteer force 32 years ago. The Army says today’s economy offers …

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A World War II-era cargo plane crashed and burned Monday in the middle of a street in a residential neighborhood, authorities said. All three people on board survived. The three, though hospitalized, were “sitting up and talking on their cell phones” hours after the crash, hospital …

CHICAGO – Yum Brands Inc. (YUM), the parent company of fast-food chains KFC, Taco Bell (search) and Pizza Hut (search), Thursday said sales at U.S. restaurants open at least a year rose 6 percent in the latest 4-week period and stood by its second-quarter earnings forecast. Wall Street analysts expected …

AUSTIN, Texas – Retired U.S. Rep. J.J. “Jake” Pickle (search), who helped pass major Social Security reform in the 1980s and was a senior Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee during three decades in Congress, died Saturday. He was 91. Pickle died at his home, his family said …