Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures. The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August. The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index...

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Berlusconi Remains the Wild Card in Italy Race

ROME — One candidate promised to drop an unpopular new property tax and refund all prior payments in cash. Another called that proposal a “poisoned meatball,” disconnected from reality. A third suggested that Al Qaeda blow up the Italian Parliament — then backtracked — and the man generally considered the front-runner is campaigning on vague promises of stability, so has often been ignored. ...

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Biggest Loser's David: I'm Losing Weight and 'Emotional Baggage'

The Biggest Loser By Patrick Gomez 02/09/2013 at 08:30 AM EST Many Biggest Loser contestants look forward to running marathons, but David Jones wants to run after criminals!"It sounds terrible to say," Jones, a police officer, told reporters Tuesday. "But I've kind of been spoiling [for a foot chase.] I go to...

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

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Stock futures flat after China, German data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were little changed Friday following economic data out of China and Germany, though the benchmark S&P index, near five-year highs, was on track for its first weekly drop of the year. Data showed Chinese exports grew more than expected in January, while imports climbed 28.8 percent, highlighting robust domestic demand, while German data showed...

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Currents: Freedom Has Its Own Constraints

NEW YORK — On the surface, all they have in common is their Sunday airtime, at least in the United States. One television show is about English aristocrats, crisp, proper, well-dressed even in bed. The other is about four young women, often lost and very often unclothed, in a setting quite different from Yorkshire: Brooklyn, New York. But “Downton Abbey” and “Girls,” both hugely popular,...

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Honey Boo Boo's Mama June Shows Off Weight Loss over Holidays

You won't believe what Honey Boo Boo and family used to top their Christmas tree. Or, if you're a regular viewer, maybe you would. Either way, Mama June – showing the results of her 100-lb. weight loss over the holidays – oversees the annual assembly of the artificial white tree in this clip from the upcoming Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Christmas special.Subtitled double entendres fly, Honey Boo...

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Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.Blacks were five times more likely than whites...

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Stock index futures cut gains following jobless claims data

A Dallas woman has sued a national fitness company, alleging two employees sexually harassed her during personal training sessions. Jamie Johnson filed a lawsuit against Fitness International LLC, which does business under the name LA  Fitness, after the company denied her requests for a full...

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I.H.T. Special: Social Media Firms Move to Capitalize on Popularity in Middle East

Suhaib Salem/ReutersEgyptian protesters look at Facebook during a demonstration in Cairo on January 14. DUBAI — For its most recent advertising push, the Saudi Arabian telecommunications giant Mobily did not turn to the street or television to engage with customers. Mobily paid to promote itself on Twitter. The use of social media exploded during the Arab Spring as people turned to cyberspace...

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Monster Worldwide reports loss; exits Brazil, Mexico & Turkey

(Reuters) – Online recruitment company Monster Worldwide Inc, which is up for sale, reported a quarterly loss and said it had exited its businesses in Brazil, Mexico and Turkey.The company also said it sold its China operations to Saongroup, a Dublin-based recruitment firm, and took a 10 percent stake in the combined business.Monster said in November it would sell its money losing business in China...

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Channing Tatum, Charlize Theron Join Oscars Telecast

By Tim Nudd 02/07/2013 at 08:20 AM EST Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron Dave Kotinsky/Getty; Dave M. Benett/Getty PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, Channing Tatum, will make his debut on the Academy Awards stage this month as one of four newly announced special guests who are joining the Feb....

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New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have discovered the first U.S. cases of whooping cough caused by a germ that may be resistant to the vaccine.Health officials are looking into whether cases like the dozen found in Philadelphia might be one reason the nation just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. The new bug was previously reported in Japan, France and Finland."It's quite intriguing....

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Stock futures dip after Tuesday rally, earnings in focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures dipped on Wednesday, indicating the S&P 500 may pull back from a rally of more than 1 percent a day earlier as the index struggles to push past 5-year highs. Walt Disney Co beat estimates for quarterly adjusted earnings and said it expected the next few quarters to be better, with a stronger lineup of movies and rising attendance at its theme...

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IHT Rendezvous: The Phantom Province in China's Economy

BEIJING – China has a “phantom province” pumping out nearly 5.8 trillion renminbi (about $930 billion) in gross domestic product last year, about equivalent to the output of its richest province, Guangdong, Chinese media reported this week.How so?Deliberately inflated figures from local officials are largely to blame, domestic media reported, as officials seek promotion for delivering the high growth...

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Zynga 4Q loss narrows as game maker cuts costs

NEW YORK (AP) — Online games company Zynga said its loss narrowed in the latest quarter even though revenue was largely unchanged as the company cut expenses by laying off workers, closing offices and shutting down poorly performing games.The results exceeded Wall Street’s muted expectations, and Zynga Inc.‘s battered shares increased nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading after the release of the...

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Sean Lowe Blogs: Selma's 'Unwillingness to Compromise' Cost Her a Rose

TV Watch The Bachelor By Sean Lowe 02/06/2013 at 08:30 AM EST From left: Selma Alameri, Sean Lowe and Tierra LiCausi Kevin Foley/ABC(3) Sean Lowe is the star of season 17 of The Bachelor, which airs Mondays on ABC. The hunky Dallas businessman and entrepreneur will...

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until...

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Stock futures point to higher open, ADM up early

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a modestly higher open on Tuesday, retracing lost ground on Monday in the market's worst daily session since November. Investors will be looking to the Institute for Supply Management's January non-manufacturing index, due at 10 a.m. Economists forecast a reading of 55.2 versus 55.7 in December. Last week, ISM manufacturing...

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IHT Rendezvous: IHT Quick Read: Feb. 5

NEWS Gen. Moisés García Ochoa was blocked from becoming defense minister of Mexico after American officials expressed their concern that he had ties to drug traffickers. Ginger Thompson reports from New York, Randal C. Archibold from Mexico City, and Eric Schmitt from Washington. On Monday, confirming what many historians and archaeologists had suspected, a team of experts at the University of Leicester...

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iPad mini supply finally catching up with demand

Like other new mobile products Apple (AAPL) has launched in recent years, the company’s iPad mini has been in short supply ever since it was released this past November. The sleek device added a new, lower price point to Apple’s tablet portfolio and some analysts believe it will soon be more popular than Apple’s full-size iPad. While demand remained strong through the holidays, Apple managed to improve...

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The Bachelor: Sean Lowe Blogs About His Montana Dates

TV Watch The Bachelor By Sean Lowe 02/05/2013 at 08:15 AM EST Sean Lowe is the star of season 17 of The Bachelor, which airs Mondays on ABC. The hunky Dallas businessman and entrepreneur will be blogging about his romantic journey for PEOPLE.com.I couldn't wait to start my week in Montana on The Bachelor. The...

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Bullying study: It does get better for gay teens

CHICAGO (AP) — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time.The seven-year study involved more than 4,000 teens in England who were questioned yearly through 2010, until they were 19 and 20 years old. At the...

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Stock futures dip after 5-year highs with data, earnings due

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on Monday after the S&P 500 hit a five-year high and the Dow rose above 14,000 last week as investors waited for factory orders data and another round of corporate earnings. The benchmark S&P index <.spx> is up more than 6 percent for the year, with nearly half of the gains coming in the session after U.S. legislators...

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The Lede Blog: Frank Video of Mass Sexual Assault in Cairo Is Released by Anti-Harassment Activists

Egyptian activists released a brutally frank video on Friday, using images recorded during the mass sexual assault of a woman last week in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to urge volunteers to join their campaign against attacks during demonstrations.The video, created by the filmmakers Aida Elkashef and Salam Yousry, uses disturbing overhead images of a crowd of men swarming around a woman being assaulted...

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