Wall Street Week Ahead: Holiday "on standby" as clock ticks on cliff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the "fiscal cliff." Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff - nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown...

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Despite Threat of Steep Fines, Protesters Turn Out in Moscow

Pavel Golovkin/Associated PressPolice officers detained the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny during a rally in Lubyanka Square in Moscow on Saturday. MOSCOW — Forcing a showdown with the government of President Vladimir V. Putin, leaders of the Russian political opposition took to the streets on Saturday afternoon for an unsanctioned demonstration in a symbolic square in Moscow that is home...

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RIM shows how BlackBerry 10 touch screen keys could rival its traditional keyboards [video]

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Connecticut Shooting: Bodies Removed from School, Positively Identified

By Mike Fleeman 12/15/2012 at 10:25 AM EST Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance Mary Altaffer/AP A horrific day turned to a night of unspeakable grief as parents received formal notifications that their children were killed in the Connecticut school massacre.The last of the dozens of...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered...

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Wall Street steady on "cliff" apprehension, Apple drops

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday, with the Nasdaq weighed down by another drop in shares of Apple, and as the overhang of "fiscal cliff" negotiations kept buying to a premium. Apple slid 4 percent to $508.75 after UBS cut its price target on the stock to $700 from $780. The most valuable U.S. company has seen its stock hit hard in the last three months, and it fell on Friday...

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Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Foreign Minister, Resigns

JERUSALEM — Facing indictment for breach of trust and fraud, Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, resigned his post Friday afternoon amid mounting political pressure, upending the campaign landscape five weeks before national elections. Mr. Lieberman, a powerful but polarizing figure, wrote on his Facebook page, “I know that I committed no crime,” but said he was stepping down so...

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Home invasion victim gets help over Xbox headset

NORTH APOLLO, Pa. (AP) — Police say a Pennsylvania man used his Xbox headphones to call for help after being bound with duct tape and menaced with a gun during a home invasion.Investigators say the 22-year-old suburban Pittsburgh man was playing video games in an upstairs bedroom when he heard his front door open. The man initially thought it was a family member but saw an armed man wearing a ski...

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Charles and Camilla's Royal Christmas Card Revealed

By Stephen M. Silverman 12/14/2012 at 11:35 AM EST Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, on their Christmas card Danny Martindale/WireImage Why shouldn't Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall be smiling?It's been a year filled with happy news: the Queen's Jubilee, a baby on the...

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Fewer health care options for illegal immigrants

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — For years, Sonia Limas would drag her daughters to the emergency room whenever they fell sick. As an illegal immigrant, she had no health insurance, and the only place she knew to seek treatment was the hospital — the most expensive setting for those covering the cost.The family's options improved somewhat a decade ago with the expansion of community health clinics, which offered...

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Wall Street little changed as caution tempers data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell slightly on Thursday, pulling back from six straight days of gains despite a batch of positive economic releases as "fiscal cliff" negotiations in Washington weighed on sentiment. Weekly claims for jobless benefits dropped near the lowest level since February 2008 and retail sales rose in November after an October decline, improving the picture for...

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Chinese Court Said to Punish Tibetan Students with Prison Terms

BEIJING — A Chinese court has sentenced eight Tibetan students to prison for their role in street protests last month that unnerved security forces already coping with a wave of self-immolations, many of them by young people who have become increasingly radicalized in their opposition to Chinese policies in the region, a Washington-based advocacy group reported on Wednesday. According to...

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Lidl Christmas dinner offer goes viral on Twitter

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Discount retailer Lidl faces a 200,000-euro ($ 260,000) Christmas dinner bill after an offer of chicken vol-au-vents and ice cream cake for the poor went viral.The supermarket launched a Twitter campaign in Belgium on Monday, saying it would hand out five four-course Christmas dinners to food banks for each tweet on a hash tag.Lidl had expected to hand out about 1,000 of the 20-euro...

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Stephen Fishbach Blogs About Lisa Whelchel's End-Game Survivor Strategy

TV Watch Survivor By Stephen Fishbach 12/13/2012 at 11:45 AM EST Stephen Fishbach and Lisa Whelchel Monty Brinton/CBS (2) "You're going to want to show that either you were the top villain or the top hero or the top something. You're going to want to show you had...

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Dozens sue pharmacy, but compensation uncertain

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dennis O'Brien rubs his head as he details ailments triggered by the fungal meningitis he developed after a series of steroid shots in his neck: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, exhaustion and trouble with his speech and attention.He estimates the disease has cost him and his wife thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses and her lost wages, including...

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Wall Street adds gains, S&P at highest since early November

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks extended gains on Tuesday as an advance in tech shares sent indexes up 1 percent, helping the S&P 500 retrace all of its losses since the U.S. presidential election. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 123.10 points, or 0.93 percent, to 13,292.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 14.54 points, or 1.02 percent, to 1,433.09....

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Cheikh Modibo Diarra, Mali’s Prime Minister, Resigns After Arrest

BAMAKO, Mali — Soldiers arrested Mali’s prime minister at his residence late Monday night, signaling new turmoil in a West African nation racked by military interference and an Islamist takeover in the north. Associated PressPrime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra appeared on state television and announced his government’s resignation on Tuesday. ...

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WebMD to cut 14 percent of workforce to reduce expenses

(Reuters) – Health information website WebMD Health Corp said it will cut around 250 jobs, or 14 percent of its workforce, to reduce costs.The company, which had about 1700 employees according to Thomson Reuters data, said it would take a charge of about $ 6 million to $ 8 million in the fourth quarter, primarily on severance and other restructuring-related costs.WebMD, which is a popular and long-trusted...

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Camille Grammer: Kelsey Won't Let My Kids Say My Name in His House

By Tim Nudd 12/11/2012 at 11:35 AM EST From left: Camille Grammer, Rosanna Scotto and Anderson Cooper Kelsey and Camille Grammer's bitter split has led to a fragile co-parenting relationship that Camille says is all but broken – marred by an almost complete lack...

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New tests could hamper food outbreak detection

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's about to get faster and easier to diagnose food poisoning, but that progress for individual patients comes with a downside: It could hurt the nation's ability to spot and solve dangerous outbreaks.Next-generation tests that promise to shave a few days off the time needed to tell whether E. coli, salmonella or other foodborne bacteria caused a patient's illness could reach medical...

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Wall Street edges up with help from McDonald's

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were modestly higher on Monday, helped by stronger-than-expected sales from McDonald's, but gains were constrained as investors awaited any sign of progress in talks to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Developments in Europe also tempered sentiment after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he would resign once the 2013 budget is approved. The move added...

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U.S. Forecast as No. 2 Economy, but Energy Independent

WASHINGTON — A new intelligence assessment of global trends projects that China will outstrip the United States as the leading economic power before 2030, but that America will remain an indispensable world leader, bolstered in part by an era of energy independence. Russia’s clout will wane, as will the economic strength of other countries reliant on oil for revenues, the assessment says....

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Hug It Out: Public Charter and District Schools Given $25 Million to Get Along

If you need a loan, ask Bill and Melinda Gates. Or better yet, ask one of the seven cities that are splitting a new $ 25 million grant courtesy of the couple’s philanthropic foundation.The funds are going to promote cross collaboration between charter and district schools, which have previously operated in a strict and contentious independence from one another.The foundation announced the award this...

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Shannen Doherty Helps Police Thwart a Fan's Threatened Suicide

By Andrea Billups 12/10/2012 at 11:35 AM EST Shannen Doherty recently called 911 to help save a Twitter follower who was sending messages about wanting to commit suicide. The former Beverly Hills 90210 star, 41, who was in California, was so concerned by the message from a distraught fan who'd aggressively...

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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