Flu season puts businesses and employees in a bind

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half the 70 employees at a Ford dealership in Clarksville, Ind., have been out sick at some point in the past month. It didn't have to be that way, the boss says."If people had stayed home in the first place, a lot of times that spread wouldn't have happened," says Marty Book, a vice president at Carriage Ford. "But people really want to get out and do their jobs, and sometimes...

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Stock futures little changed after S&P hit five-year high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, a day after the S&P 500 hit a five-year high and following higher-than-expected results from Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo , the first major U.S. bank to post earnings this season, reported a higher fourth-quarter profit on Friday as it set aside less money to cover bad loans and made more fees from mortgages. Still,...

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IHT Rendezvous: Top Pirate Quits as Tide Turns Against Somali Raiders

LONDON — A notorious Somali sea raider known as Big Mouth is a pirate with a retirement plan.He announced this week that he was quitting after an eight-year career in which he and his pirate crews plagued shipping in the Indian Ocean and raised millions of dollars in ransom.Big Mouth — Mohamed Abdi Hassan — was named in a United Nations report last year as one of the most notorious and influential...

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Skype founder browses globe for next tech earner

LONDON (Reuters) – Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of internet phone service Skype, believes the next hot tech business will just as likely spring from Istanbul or Sao Paolo as from Silicon Valley or the coolest districts of London.And he is prepared to fly around the world to find it.“Talent can pop up anywhere in the world, it’s not just one city block,” the Swedish entrepreneur and venture capitalist...

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Kate's Official Portrait Unveiled

By Simon Perry 01/11/2013 at 08:40 AM EST From left: artist Paul Emsley, the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge REX USA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had an art outing early Friday – for the unveiling of her official portrait.And they were not alone. Kate's parents and siblings also made the...

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Flu season strikes early and, in some places, hard

NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers are turning away visitors or making them wear face masks, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to deal with the feverish patients.Flu season in the U.S. has struck early and, in many places, hard.While flu normally doesn't blanket the country until...

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Stock futures gain as China data spurs growth hopes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to rise at the open on Thursday as stronger-than-expected exports in China, the world's second-biggest economy, raised hopes for a more robust recovery in the global economy this year. Data showed China's export growth rebounded sharply to a seven-month high in December, a strong finish to the year after seven straight quarters of slowdown, even as...

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IHT Rendezvous: The Last Man Asian Literary Prize

HONG KONG — The five shortlisted novels of what will be the last Man Asian Literary Prize were announced last evening at the Man Group’s offices here. The British investment firm will end its support of Asia’s most prominent literary prize after the final award is given at a black-tie dinner in March.As usually happens, the shortlist announcement drew about two dozen people from the city’s relatively...

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It's a Girl for Lily Allen

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 01/10/2013 at 08:30 AM ET PA Photos/LandovCue the lullabies: Lily Allen is a mom — again!The “Smile” singer and her husband Sam Cooper welcomed her second daughter — and the baby girl shares her special day with rock legends Elvis and David Bowie. Marnie Rose arrived...

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Wall Street set to open higher after Alcoa's positive results

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised to open slightly higher on Wednesday after Alcoa got the earnings season under way with better-than-expected revenue and an encouraging outlook for the year. Alcoa Inc said it expects global demand for aluminum will continue to grow in 2013, though the company kept a cautious tone as worries lingered over a looming U.S. budget confrontation....

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