Wall Street modestly higher as Alcoa beats revenue estimates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged up on Wednesday after Alcoa got the earnings season under way with better-than-expected revenue and an encouraging outlook for the year. The market's rise came after two-days of declines, with few catalysts to give direction and investors fretting about the start of earnings season after the prior quarter's lackluster performance. Alcoa Inc...

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Oil Sand Industry in Canada Tied to Higher Carcinogen Level

Todd Korol/ReutersAn oil sands mine Fort McMurray, Alberta. OTTAWA — The development of Alberta’s oil sands has increased levels of cancer-causing compounds in surrounding lakes well beyond natural levels, Canadian researchers reported in a study released on Monday. And they said the contamination covered a wider area than had previously been believed. For the study, financed by the Canadian...

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Target to match some rivals’ online prices year-round

(Reuters) – Target Corp said on Tuesday it will match on a year-round basis the prices found on the websites of key rivals Amazon.com Inc, Best Buy Co Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Toys R Us, its latest tactic to hold onto shoppers focused on price.The move extends an online price-matching program that Target introduced over the holiday season and which was supposed to last only from November 1 to...

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See Tori Spelling's Amazing Jade and Gold Push Present

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 01/08/2013 at 02:00 PM ET Better late than never!When Tori Spelling gave birth to Finn Davey in August 2012, there wasn’t a whole lot of time for husband Dean McDermott to find the perfect push present. But you can’t really blame the guy. He and Spelling more than...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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Wall Street declines as earnings clarity awaited

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks declined on Tuesday as the market continued its retreat from last week's rally on the "fiscal cliff" deal in Congress as investors awaited the start of the earnings season with muted expectations. Profits in the fourth quarter are seen above the previous quarter's lackluster results, but analysts' current estimates are down sharply from where they were in October....

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American Delegation Arrives in North Korea on Controversial Private Trip

David Guttenfelder/Associated PressEric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, arrived in Pyongyang on Monday. SEOUL, South Korea — Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, led a private delegation including Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, to North Korea on Monday, a controversial trip to a country that is among the most hostile to the Internet. Kim Kwang Hyon/Associated...

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Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer

DUBAI (Reuters) – A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the country’s ruler on Twitter, his lawyer said, the second to be jailed for the offence in as many days.The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has clamped down in recent months on political activists who have been using social media websites to criticize the government and the ruling family.Kuwait has seen a...

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Claire Danes: I'd Make a Lousy Stay-at-Home Mom

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 01/07/2013 at 11:00 AM ET Courtesy ELLE Long before she welcomed son Cyrus Michael Christopher in December, Claire Danes always knew a family was in her future.But the actress also knew a brood of babies would not close the curtain on her career.“I’ve always wanted...

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Your medical chart could include exercise minutes

CHICAGO (AP) — Roll up a sleeve for the blood pressure cuff. Stick out a wrist for the pulse-taking. Lift your tongue for the thermometer. Report how many minutes you are active or getting exercise.Wait, what?If the last item isn't part of the usual drill at your doctor's office, a movement is afoot to change that. One recent national survey indicated only a third of Americans said their doctors asked...

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