Defense Official Hints That Israel Is Stepping Back From Plans to Unilaterally Attack Iran

JERUSALEM — Israel’s departing defense minister, Ehud Barak, said that the Pentagon had prepared sophisticated blueprints for a surgical operation to set back Iran’s nuclear program should the United States decide to attack, a statement that was a possible indication that Israel has shelved plans of any unilateral strike. Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesEhud Barak,...

Read More..

New purported Galaxy Note 8.0 images confirm S-Pen support

Earlier this week, images that were purportedly of Samsung’s (005930) upcoming Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet leaked onto the Web. The slate looked like an oversized Galaxy S III smartphone and included the company’s physical home button, which had perviously been omitted from earlier Galaxy tablets. French blog Frandroid posted additional images of the tablet on Friday that confirmed it will include...

Read More..

Ashton Kutcher Parties in Sundance After jOBS Premiere

Caught in the Act 01/26/2013 at 01:50 PM EST Ashton Kutcher's much-hyped movie jOBS premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, and the star was on hand – minus girlfriend Mila Kunis – for all the festivities. Kutcher was one of the first to arrive at the official after party, hosted by Nur Khan Presents...

Read More..

CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very...

Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now. Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock...

Read More..

Chinese Officials Fired Over Chongqing Sex Scandal

BEIJING — The young women met the officials for illicit trysts with video cameras hidden in their purses. Every detail of the encounters was recorded. Then a group of men confronted the officials with the video recordings and made demands. China’s state news media reported on Friday details of a sex extortion ring that brazenly operated “honey traps” in the southwest metropolis of Chongqing...

Read More..

DUST 514, Online Shooter Set in EVE Online Universe, Enters Open Beta

First announced in 2009, CCP Games’ online first-person shooter tie-in to its popular sci-fi MMO, EVE Online, was finally released as an open beta on Tuesday. Called DUST 514, it allows PlayStation 3 owners to play in the same world as EVE Online, fighting ground battles while EVE Online pilots contest star systems. The results of DUST 514 matches affect worlds and in-game corporations in EVE Online,...

Read More..

Newark Mayor Cory Booker Comes to Freezing Dog's Aid

People Pets By Kiran Hefa 01/25/2013 at 12:55 PM EST Have no fear, Cory Booker is here!When Eyewitness News reporter Toni Yates spotted several dogs left outside in the cold in Newark, N.J., on Thursday afternoon, she Tweeted at Newark's mayor to let him know. "Make pet owners get their dogs out of the cold....

Read More..

Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

Read More..

Earnings lift Wall Street; S&P 500 advances for eighth day

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday as strong Procter & Gamble Co's earnings trumped weak housing numbers and helped carry the Standard & Poor's 500 index higher toward its longest winning streak in more than eight years. Procter & Gamble shares rose 3.9 percent to $73.15 and gave the biggest boost to both the Dow and S&P 500 after the world's top household...

Read More..

American Mumbai Plotter Sentenced to 35 Years

CHICAGO (AP) — An American drug dealer who had faced life in prison was sentenced instead to 35 years Thursday for helping plan the deadly 2008 attacks on Mumbai, India — a punishment prosecutors said reflected his broad cooperation with U.S. investigators but that a victim's family member called "an appalling dishonor." It was David Coleman Headley's meticulous scouting missions that facilitated...

Read More..

TSX near 18-month high, buoyed by Agrium, RIM

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index hit a near 18-month high on Thursday, as shares of Agrium Inc rose after the fertilizer maker raised its profit forecast and as U.S. manufacturing and labor data drove optimism on the economic outlook of Canada’s largest trade partner.Shares of Research In Motion Ltd also boosted the market, rising more than 3 percent after a report that China’s Lenovo...

Read More..

Kristen Bell's Birth Plan Involves Whiskey and a Baseball Bat

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 01/24/2013 at 11:00 AM ET Kristen Bell is very much looking forward to childbirth — and all the drugs, alcohol and violence that go with it.“I’ve got nothing to prove,” the House of Lies actress, 32, jokes about her birth plan — and whether she’ll go natural — in...

Read More..

CDC: New version of stomach bug causing US illness

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say a new strain of stomach bug that's sweeping the globe is taking over in the U.S.In the last four months, more than 140 outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by the new Sydney strain of norovirus. These kinds of contagious bugs cause bouts of diarrhea and vomiting.The new strain may not be unusually dangerous; some scientists don't think it is. But it is different,...

Read More..

Wall Street edges up in face of Apple decline

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 advanced on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P index on track for its first seven-day streak of gains in over six years as solid economic data managed to outweigh a steep decline in Apple shares. Apple Inc dropped 10.4 percent to $460.69 after the technology giant missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter as iPhone...

Read More..

The Lede Blog: Clinton Testifies on Benghazi Attacks

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economyThe Lede is following Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s testimony Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the American Consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Earlier today, she testified before...

Read More..

Prince Harry Returns to Britain from Fighting in Afghanistan

By Simon Perry 01/23/2013 at 01:50 PM EST Prince Harry arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire REX USA Prince Harry is back in Britain.The army captain and Apache helicopter co-pilot gunner touched down at RAF Brize Norton, in snowy Oxfordshire, shortly after...

Read More..

Sickening fog settles over Salt Lake City area

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of Utah doctors is declaring a health emergency over the Salt Lake City area's lingering air pollution problem.Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment planned to deliver a petition Wednesday demanding immediate action by elected officials.The group wants Gov. Gary Herbert and mayors of northern Utah cities to cut the pollution.The doctors suggest lowering highway speed...

Read More..

Tech stocks lift Dow, Nasdaq; S&P holds flat

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and Nasdaq advanced on Wednesday, lifted by IBM and Google whose stronger-than-expected profits helped to alleviate growing investor concern about the tech sector. IBM's and Google's earnings, released after Tuesday's close, were the latest reassuring fourth-quarter results that pushed the Dow and S&P 500 to five-year highs as worries about the "fiscal...

Read More..

Greek Prosecutors Seek Inquiry Over Deficit Claims

ATHENS — Greek prosecutors called on Tuesday for a criminal inquiry into the actions of the head of Elstat, the country’s statistical authority, and two of his subordinates, over claims that they manipulated budget figures to justify the country’s appeal for an international financial bailout. The agency head, Andreas Georgiou, a veteran of nearly two decades at the International Monetary...

Read More..

Is Facebook envy making you miserable?

LONDON (Reuters) – Witnessing friends’ vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers.A study conducted jointly by two German universities found rampant envy on Facebook, the world’s largest social network that now has over one billion users and has produced an unprecedented platform for social comparison.The...

Read More..

Chris Pratt Enjoying 'Firsts' All Over Again with Son Jack

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 01/22/2013 at 11:00 AM ET Chris Pratt is feeling practically reborn himself since welcoming son Jack last August.“There’s not that much left that really excites you … where you’re like, ‘Wow. I can’t believe that,’ ” the Zero Dark Thirty star explains says of being...

Read More..

Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

Read More..

Dow, S&P 500 edge higher as earnings eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks mostly edged up on Tuesday after ending last week at five-year highs, but gains were limited with investors showing caution as the earnings season picks up speed. Both the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 closed at five-year highs on Friday, boosted by better-than-expected results in the early part of the earnings season. Although major companies have...

Read More..

Syria Opposition Postpones Formation of Transitional Government

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Opponents of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria once again failed to form a transitional government in exile on Monday, deciding instead to postpone the step while new proposals are drawn up. The development at a conference in Istanbul was apparently a setback to the opposition’s plans to fill the power vacuum created by nearly two years of ever bloodier civil war. The National...

Read More..

Atari US files for Ch. 11 to separate from parent

NEW YORK (AP) — Video game maker Atari’s U.S. operations have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to separate from their French parent company.In a statement, Atari says the move is necessary to secure investments it needs to grow in mobile and digital gaming.Atari’s U.S. operations have shifted to focus on digital games and licensing, including developing mobile games, and have...

Read More..