(CNN) -- At least 18 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks targeting sites popular with tourists and business people, according to police and CNN's sister network in India.

Ongoing battles between police and gunmen were reported at two five-star hotels by CNN-IBN.

Gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades attacked targets including the hotels, a cafe, and a train station, police say.

Police confirmed two deaths but IBN said at least 18 people were killed in the coordinated strikes, according to IBN.

The attacks included five shootouts and two grenade attacks, said a police officer who answered Mumbai's police control room line.

IBN reported an ongoing gun battle at the five-star Oberoi Hotel where gunmen have reportedly taken hostages.

Breaking news available at CNN.Com as well as MSNBC.Com

Unemployment is rising, 401(k)s are shrinking and the global economy is sinking. Hardly an obvious time to be thankful. Or is it? Not to be too Pollyannaish about the current state of affairs, but America does remain the most prosperous country on earth, with a standard of living that's the envy of most of the planet's 6.7 billion people. There is plenty to be grateful for, and not just the basic joys-without-a-price-tag such as time spent with family and walks in the countryside. Here are half a dozen reasons to be thankful, despite — and, in some cases, because of — perilous economic times:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/11/six-reasons-to.html

A name-brand prescription drug manufacturer can be held liable for injuries caused by the generic version of the drug made by another manufacturer, a California appellate court has ruled.

The ruling, which allows a lawsuit against Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth Inc. to go to trial, is the opposite of numerous other decisions on the issue and could create liability concerns for brand drug manufacturers if upheld, attorneys say.

The government unveiled a bold plan Sunday to rescue troubled Citigroup, including taking a $20 billion stake in the firm as well as guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in risky assets.

The action, announced jointly by the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is aimed at shoring up a huge financial institution whose collapse would wreak havoc on the already crippled financial system and the U.S. economy.

Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value on growing worries over whether it has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses and despite new support from its largest individual investor.

The second-largest U.S. bank by assets is looking at options now, including a sale of parts of the company or a merger with another firm, after its stock fell 50 percent this week, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Discussions so far have been internal, and some options --such as entering into a merger where other executives end up running the company -- are unpalatable to managers at Citigroup, the person said. The bank's board of directors is set to meet on Friday, and Morgan Stanley is not considering a possible bid, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Citigroup did not comment on the report, repeating that it has a "very strong capital and liquidity position" and is focused on a strategy that will generate benefits "over time." Morgan Stanley did not immediately return a call for comment.

A paralyzed Woodland Hills man, who has filed more than 400 lawsuits against California businesses, can sue no more. The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Molski vs. Evergreen Dynasty Corp., owner of a Chinese restaurant in Solvang, California.

The 38-year-old Polish-born Molski filed more than 400 suits under the Americans With Disabilities Act before a federal judge barred him from future litigation in 2004. In a highly unusual action in 2004, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie, who has since died, branded Molski a "hit-and-run plaintiff," accusing him of systematic extortion of businesses across California.

Molski, who has used a wheelchair since a motorcycle accident two decades ago, sued restaurants, bowling alleys, wineries and other retail outlets for insufficient handicapped parking, misplaced handrails and other violations of the disabilities act.

Read the full story here on the KTLA website.

Watch it live here:

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Four insurance companies applied Friday to become thrift holding companies and acquire savings and loans, which opens the door for them to seek bailout funds.

Friday was the deadline to apply for funding from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Any bank, savings association, bank holding company or savings and loan holding company established and operating in the United States was eligible to apply for some amount of capital from the bailout plan. Insurers and foreign-controlled entities were not included.

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Lincoln National Corp., Genworth Financial Inc. and Aegon NV all submitted applications to become holding companies to the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) on Friday.

Read the full story here on CNN.Com.

This is a link to a live video feed (8:30 a.m. Central Time) from MSNBC where Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair testify before the House Financial Services Committee on the $700 billion financial bailout plan.

Here is the link to the video at MSNBC.Com

Hollinger Inc. announced today that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued an order on November 14, 2008 granting its preliminary approval of a settlement among certain parties to a class action lawsuit initiated by certain shareholders of Hollinger and Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. Proceedings in the class action have been stayed until further order of the Ontario Court.

The order will be set aside if the Settlement is not subsequently approved by all applicable courts or if the Settlement is terminated by the settling defendants. A final hearing to approve the Settlement will be scheduled by the Ontario Court on a date not less than 30 days following a final approval hearing in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Read the full story here on the MSNBC website.

About 25 years ago, KMBC-TV anchor Christine Craft filed a pioneering gender discrimination suit against the Kansas City television station — a suit that damaged its reputation for years.

Now three of the most senior female on-air personalities at KMBC (Channel 9) have filed their own gender and age discrimination suit against the station, claiming they were publicly humiliated, degraded and demoted.

Kelly Eckerman, Peggy Breit and Maria Albisu-Twyman, known on air as Maria Antonia, allege a “pattern and practice” of discrimination at Channel 9 and “a hostile environment, permeated with threats, intimidation and disrespect.”

Read the full story here on the KansasCity.Com website.

An unhappy guest at a Pembroke Pines resort described the hotel as filthy and bug-infested.

A dissatisfied patient of a Lauderhill cosmetic surgery clinic warned people to "avoid this place like the plague."

The reviews are just two of the thousands posted daily on the Internet about everything from fast-food restaurants to nursery schools. They also have something else in common.

Both have sparked libel lawsuits.

Increasingly, businesses are turning to the courts to combat online reviews they say could cost them customers, legal experts say. In some instances, the businesses get court orders to track down people who posted anonymously.

Read the full article here on the BusinessWeek website.

American Express Co. is seeking $3.5 billion in funds under the government's plan to directly invest in financial firms, according to a Wednesday report in The Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources. Earlier this week, American Express received approval from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company, which is a similar structure to traditional commercial banks. The credit card company now has access to financing from the Fed and the ability to grow a large deposit base.

The increased funding opportunities through government programs, including the potential $3.5 billion investment, could be a huge boost to American Express as one of its primary sources of funding has nearly disappeared amid the ongoing credit crisis.

Read the full story here on the Yahoo! Business website.

A Federal District Court judge ordered University of Phoenix to pay nearly $1.9 million for practicing religious discrimination against non-Mormon employees who worked as enrollment counselors.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a class action suit that the online university and its parent Apollo Group provided the best leads to its Mormon recruiters, promoted less qualified Mormon workers over non-Mormon peers, and disciplined non-Mormons for conduct they condoned with Mormon employees.

Besides securing the nearly $2 million monetary compensation for 52 individuals, the consent decree requires that University of Phoenix immediately halt all discriminatory actions, train all managers and employees on the issue of religious discrimination and hire a diversity officer to monitor compliance.

Read the full story here on the East Valley Tribune (Phoenix) website.

The Federal Reserve on Monday granted AmEx's request to become a commercial bank, opening the door for the credit card giant to accept deposits and permanently access financing from the Fed.

The Fed said it had approved the application for American Express and a related company, American Express Travel Related Services Co. Inc., to become bank holding companies.

The approval represented the latest reshaping of the financial services industry, which is undergoing its worst credit crisis in decades.

In announcing the action, the Fed cited "emergency conditions." AmEx filed its application with the Fed on Nov. 5.

Read the full story here on the BusinessWeek website.

The PLUS Blog had a weeklong hiatus to work and and attend the PLUS Conference.  And, if I might say so myself, what a Conference it was.

We opened with a video presentation titled "The Rise and Fall of Bill Lerach".  It was very well recieved, and if you didn't get a chance to see it, you can catch the buzz by asking someone who was there, checking the writeup about it in Insurance Journal, or checking back to the PLUS Website to see when it will next be shown.

Talk about timely, on the heels of one of the most historical elections in history, we had James Carville and Mary Matalin available to talk with us about the ramifications.  They talked about the upcoming work the Democrats have in front of them, steps the Republicans will need to take to solidify the party, and had time to answer questions from attendees.  We'll provde some video excerpts here on the blog in coming days.

In addition to presentations from Marvin Zonis, Stephen Flynn, and Michael Milken, PLUS was pleased to have more than 20 educational sessions running over the course of three days.  I've been hearing positive feedback about all of them, and we'll be showing some of the video for these as well.

We're back in the office today, and will be updating articles of interest again starting tomorrow!