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One company has abandoned the concept of a regular workday. Best Buy, the giant retailer of electronics, is encouraging much of its corporate staff to work whatever hours they want, and to do so wherever they please. The company says productivity is booming.

Yahoo Inc. has rebuffed an unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover offer from Microsoft Corp., an offer Yahoo said "substantially undervalues" the company. Microsoft is now expected to sweeten its bid, which valued Yahoo stock at $31 a share.

Retail sales fell sharply in October. It was the fourth straight month in which overall retail activity declined. The October decline of 2.8 percent looks worse than it actually is, however. Take out gas prices, which are declining, and retail sales decline 1.5 percent.

Mattel, the world's largest toymaker, had a reputation for a strong quality-assurance program in China. With many Christmas orders already in the pipeline, manufacturers and suppliers are scrambling to ensure the integrity of their products.

Following IndyMac's collapse, questions have been raised about Washington Mutual, one of the largest savings and loans. This week, WaMu issued a statement to show it was financially sound. But the company's own projections estimate losses of up to $19 billion.

The Nobel committee said that the laureates' work provides opportunities to develop "the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors."

In a cost-cutting move, Clark-Atlanta University plans to shut down its library sciences program. The program is one of only two in the nation at historically black colleges and universities, and since 1941 has graduated more black librarians than any other institution. Emily Kopp of Georgia Public Broadcasting reports.

The upcoming Super Bowl on Sunday makes longtime sports columnist Clark De Leon think about how sports fans in the city of brotherly love can sometimes be, well, a little passionate. It all goes back to a winter's day in 1968, when fans attacked Santa Claus at Franklin Field.

Sen. John Kerry declares himself able to win in any U.S. region as he celebrates winning the Democratic presidential primaries in Virginia and Tennessee. Kerry cites the support of his fellow veterans as he defeated two Southerners, Sen. John Edwards and retired Gen. Wesley Clark. Hear NPR's Michele Norris, Kerry and NPR's David Welna.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts wins his first presidential contests in the South, soundly defeating Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina in Virginia and Tennessee. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark is a distant third in both states. Hear NPR's Michele Norris, NPR's David Welna and NPR's Greg Allen.