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...

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At Least 8 Die in Egyptian Riots after Soccer Verdict

CAIRO — An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death on Saturday on charges related to one of the world’s deadliest incidents of soccer violence, touching off an attempted jailbreak and a riot that killed another eight in the Mediterranean port city that is home to most of the defendants. The verdict follows deadly clashes between police and demonstrators on Friday, the second anniversary...

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Notre Dame’s Te’o says had no part in forming hoax

Jan 24 (Reuters) – Notre Dame football player Manti Te‘o said he was the victim of an elaborate online hoax and denied in an interview broadcast on Thursday having had any part in the construction of the dramatic story of his dying girlfriend.“No, I did not,” Te’o said in the interview with Katie Couric broadcast on the daytime talk show “Katie.” “I think what people don’t realize is that the same...

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Waiter Michael Garcia Refuses to Serve Man Who Insulted Boy with Down Syndrome

By Dahvi Shira 01/26/2013 at 09:00 AM EST Waiter Michael Garcia made his regular customer Kim Castillo feel like family last week at the Houston restaurant Laurenzo's Prime Rib.Castillo was eating there with her husband and their 5-year-old son Milo when several waiters came by their table to chat. Milo, who...

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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...

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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...

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India Ink: Five Questions For: Prajwal Parajuly

Prajwal Parajuly is an Indian writer whose first book “The Gurkha’s Daughter,” a collection of short stories on Nepalese-speaking people, was recently released in India. He spoke to India Ink from the Jaipur Literature Festival. What are the occupational hazards of being a writer?When there is a lot of adulation coming in a short time — one doesn’t feel grounded. Second, I would say, a lot of people...

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Somalia militants’ Twitter account down after hostage threat

NAIROBI (Reuters) – A Twitter account run by Somali militant group al Shabaab was unavailable on Friday, days after the al Qaeda-aligned rebels used the social media site to boast about killing a French agent and threatened to kill several Kenyan hostages.Al Shabaab often used its Twitter account to claim responsibility for attacks on African Union and Somali government troops, as well as senior officials...

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Vanessa Lachey: How I Told Nick I Was Pregnant

Courtesy of the LacheysAfter their destination wedding on the beaches of Necker Island in 2011, newlyweds Nick and Vanessa Lachey were ready to begin making good on the promise of a brood of babies.But six months into trying to get pregnant, Vanessa was ready to call it quits — at least temporarily — to allow nature to take its course.“Honestly, by mid-December, I resigned myself to the notion that...

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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...

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