The Saturday Profile: Leading the Tunisian Agency That Once Jailed Him

TUNIS — It was the first time Ali Laarayedh had inspected a prison cell, but even then, as the interior minister, his old instincts kicked in. “I turned around to see who would shut the cell door on me,” he said in his quiet manner. But no one bolted the door. For Mr. Laarayedh had experienced a profound reversal of fortune, mirroring that of the Islamist political party that he helped...

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..

U.S. Envoy Apologizes for Ship’s Grounding on Philippine Coral Reef

Philippine Western Command, via Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe Guardian, a Navy minesweeper, hit the Tubbataha Reef about 80 miles east of the Philippine island of Palawan on Jan. 17. MANILA — The United States ambassador to the Philippines apologized Friday for the grounding of an American naval ship on a reef in a marine sanctuary, the latest in a string of embarrassing episodes for the...

Read More..

Yandex says new mobile app is blocked by Facebook

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian internet company Yandex said on Friday its new experimental application to search on social networking sites from mobile devices was blocked by Facebook.The Wonder app is a recommendation tool for devices using Apple’s iOS software that allows U.S. users of social networks to retrieve information from these sites by voice or by typing questions.The application was released...

Read More..

Predict the SAG Award Winners!

Facebook Tweet Facebook Tweet Take our nominees poll, and download a printable ballot here Pollscompleted: ...

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..

S&P 500 vaults 1,500 as Wall Street extends rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years on Friday as strong U.S. earnings reports, including Procter & Gamble's, helped the benchmark extend its rally to eight days. The winning streak is the longest in eight years and left the S&P 500 about 4.1 percent away from its all-time closing high of 1,565.15...

Read More..

American Mumbai Plotter Sentenced to 35 Years

CHICAGO (AP) — Minutes before an American was sentenced to 35 years in prison for helping plan an attack on Mumbai, India, one of his victims tearfully pleaded for a harsh punishment despite the terrorist plotter's widespread cooperation with U.S. investigators following his arrest. David Coleman Headley, 52, shifted uncomfortably in a gray tracksuit and kept his eyes fixed on the Chicago...

Read More..

Microsoft profit dips on lower Xbox holiday sales

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp reported a dip in fiscal second-quarter profit on Thursday, as weaker sales of its Xbox game system in the holiday quarter offset a solid start for its new Windows 8 operating system.The world’s largest software company reported profit of $ 6.4 billion, or 76 cents per share, compared to $ 6.6 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.Overall sales...

Read More..

Marc Anthony and Shannon de Lima Split

By Kevin O'Donnell 01/24/2013 at 05:45 PM EST Shannon de Lima and Marc Anthony Jason Merritt/Getty It's over! Marc Anthony and Shannon de Lima have called it quits after dating for more than a year. "Marc is no longer dating model Shannon de Lima," his rep Blanca...

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..

S&P rises for seventh day but 1,500 too steep a climb

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The smallest of gains gave the Standard & Poor's 500 its seventh straight winning day on Thursday, but the index failed to hold above the 1,500 line, restrained by Apple's worst day in more than four years. Apple Inc slid 12.4 percent to $450.50 a day after it posted revenue that missed Wall Street's forecast as iPhone sales were poorer than expected. ...

Read More..

The Lede Blog: Clinton Testifies on Benghazi Attacks

The Lede followed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s testimony Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations 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.At a House Committee hearing last October investigating the attack, as reported...

Read More..

Nicole Richie Chops Off Her Hair!

Stylewatch Style News Now 01/23/2013 at 10:30 AM ET Courtesy Nicole RichieIt may be a bob, but don’t expect to see Nicole Richie‘s new ‘do behind the wheel of a minivan anytime soon.Richie took to Instagram to document her latest...

Read More..

S&P up for sixth day, Apple slip could halt rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose for a sixth day on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected profits from IBM and Google but the rally could be halted as Apple's after-hours miss sent its shares lower. The S&P was just 4.7 percent from its all-time closing high as IBM's and Google's earnings, released after Tuesday's close, followed on the heels of stronger U.S. economic data....

Read More..

France and Germany Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Élysée Treaty

BERLIN — France and Germany recently issued a joint postage stamp as part of a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty, the landmark agreement between the two former enemies. The stamp is identical, except for one telling difference. In each country, it bears a picture of a man and woman, side by side, peering through lenses colored in blue-white-red and black-red-gold....

Read More..

BlackBerry Z10 Looks Like iPhone 5, Takes on Siri

RIM is set to announce the first devices running its new BlackBerry 10 operating system at an event on January 30. A lucky few, however, have already gotten their hands on what looks to be the new hardware, including German site TelekomPresse.[More from Mashable: Watch These iPhone Knockoffs Get Bulldozed]The site has the BlackBerry Z10, a touchscreen device with a similar look to some of the other...

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..

Banks, commodity stocks lift S&P 500 to five-year high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank and commodity shares led the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index to a fresh five-year closing high on Tuesday on hopes that the global economy continues to mend. Travelers' shares climbed after the insurer's results and lifted the Dow Jones industrial average to a new five-year closing high. On Friday, both the Dow and the S&P 500 ended...

Read More..

Syria Rebels Postpone Formation of Transitional Government

MOSCOW — Russia announced Monday that it was sending two airplanes from its emergency services fleet to Beirut to evacuate around 100 Russian citizens leaving Syria, reflecting Moscow’s assessment that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces are losing control of the country after nearly two years of fighting. It was not clear whether the news signaled the beginning of a large-scale evacuation....

Read More..

Putin orders Russian computers to be protected after spy attacks

MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian authorities to protect state computers from hacking attacks, the Kremlin said on Monday, after an Internet security firm said a spy network had infiltrated government and embassy computers across the former Soviet bloc.Dubbed Red October, the network used phishing attacks – or unsolicited emails to intended targets – to infect the computers...

Read More..

President Obama: I Love Michelle's New Bangs

01/21/2013 at 04:20 PM EST President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama Matthew Cavanaugh/EPA/Landov First Lady Michelle Obama's new do has the approval of a very powerful man. Following his official swearing-in ceremony on Sunday, President Barack Obama attended...

Read More..