Business Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP) , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was discharged from the hospital less than three hours after an apparent rear-end crash Friday afternoon on a Las Vegas freeway, a hospital spokeswoman said. Reid suffered rib and hip contusions in the crash that happened about 1:10 p.m. Friday on Interstate 15, staffers said.

WASHINGTON (AP) , Staffers at a pharmacy linked to the deadly meningitis outbreak documented dozens of cases of mold and bacteria growing in rooms that were supposed to be sterile, according to federal...

PANAMA CITY (AP) , Panama's government said Friday it will cancel plans to sell state-owned land in a duty-free zone on the Panama Canal following a week of sometimes violent protests in which a 10-year-old boy and two adults died.

BEIRUT (AP) , The embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad promised Thursday to observe a U.N.-proposed truce during a four-day Muslim holiday, while rebels claimed major gains in the key battleground...

TOKYO (AP) , Japan's Cabinet approved a 423 billion yen ($5.3 billion) economic stimulus package on Friday, moving to fend off recession as the recovery in the world's third biggest economy falters. ...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) , Strong sales of Galaxy phones propelled Samsung's quarterly profit to a record high, but its shares dropped Friday on the prospect its growth will slow in an increasingly crowded smartphone market.

BEIJING (AP) , Bank of China Ltd., one of the country's four main state-owned banks, says its quarterly profit rose 17 percent despite an economic slowdown and interest rate reforms. The bank said it earned 34.8 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) in the three months ending Sept. 30, up from 29.8 billion yuan a year ago. Net interest rose 15 percent to 65.4 billion yuan ($10.4 billion).

CANTON, Mass. (AP) , In newly unsealed testimony related to Staples founder Tom Stemberg's divorce, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he was initially skeptical of the idea for Staples, the office supply chain he lauds as a business success story that he helped create.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) , Vice President Joe Biden says George McGovern should be remembered as the "father of the modern Democratic Party," saying the former South Dakota senator helped open the party to women, young people and minorities.

NEW YORK (AP) , David Stern spent nearly 30 years growing the NBA, turning a league that couldn't even get its championship series on live prime-time TV into a projected $5 billion a year industry. Confident the NBA is in good shape and certain he has found someone who can make it even better, Stern is ready to end one of the most successful and impactful careers in sports history.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) , Hurricane Sandy lashed precarious shantytowns, stranded travelers and downed power lines with heavy wind and rain Wednesday as it roared across Jamaica and then headed for an overnight landfall in eastern Cuba and go on to threaten the Bahamas and possibly Florida.

DALLAS (AP) , The CEO of American Airlines said the company expects to hire 2,500 pilots over the next five years as it ramps up international flights. "The new American will be doing even more international flying, providing greater opportunities for career advancement and increased income for our people," AMR Corp. CEO Thomas Horton said Wednesday in a letter to employees.

BEIJING (AP) , China has decided to approve new nuclear power plants as part of plans to reduce reliance on oil and coal, ending the moratorium it imposed to review safety in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster last year.

NEW YORK (AP) , Samsung Electronics Co. has been running ads touting its Galaxy S III phone as its "next big thing." Now it has something bigger. The S III released a few months ago has a screen that measures 4.8 inches diagonally, making it bigger than even the iPhone 5, which is Apple's largest phone yet.

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about on Thursday: 1. GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR A SYRIAN TRUCE UN backs latest call for a cease-fire, though similar efforts have failed. 2. WHY ABORTION IS BACK IN POLITICAL FOREFRONT