Wall Street ends 2012 riding high on "cliff" deal optimism

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed out 2012 with their strongest day in more than a month, putting the S&P 500 up 13.4 percent for the year, as lawmakers in Washington closed in on a resolution to the "fiscal cliff" negotiations. The S&P 500's gain for the year marks its best performance since 2009, as stocks navigated through debt crises in Europe and the United States that...

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Cold-Weather Aid Trickles Into Afghan Camps

But camp leaders and Afghan government officials criticized the aid delivery as inadequate to protect residents from the weather and to prevent more deaths. Last winter, more than 100 children died of the cold in refugee camps around Kabul, with 26 dying in the Charahi Qambar camp alone. That is the same camp where the 3-year-old died on Friday; it was the first confirmed death because of...

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Autonomy’s Lynch defends record as HP confirms Federal probe

LONDON (Reuters) – Mike Lynch, the founder of the software firm sold to Hewlett-Packard last year in a deal tainted by accusations of accounting fraud, said he would defend the company’s accounts to U.S. Federal investigators.HP confirmed in a filing late on Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating Autonomy‘s books.The PC and printer maker bought the British company for $ 11...

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Dick Clark New Year's Eve Love Story - Same Couple Dancing Since 1972

By Dahvi Shira 12/30/2012 at 02:45 PM EST This New Year's Eve will be just like any other for Kathy and Louie Novoa, except without their dear friend Dick Clark, who passed away in April.The pair met on American Bandstand and have since taken part in every one of his New Year's Rockin' Eves since they began...

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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

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Fiscal deal stalls as clock ticks to deadline

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Efforts to prevent the economy from tumbling over a "fiscal cliff" stalled on Sunday as Democrats and Republicans remained at loggerheads over a deal that would prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day. One hour before they had hoped to present a plan, Democratic and Republican Senate leaders said they were still unable to reach a compromise...

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Victim of Gang Rape in India Dies at Hospital in Singapore

NEW DELHI — A young woman who had been in critical condition since she was raped two weeks ago by several men who lured her onto a bus here died early Saturday, an official at the hospital in Singapore that is caring for her said. The woman, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student whose rape on Dec. 16 had served as a reminder of the dangerous conditions women face in India, “died peacefully”...

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Sofia Vergara Sizzles in Cut-Out Bathing Suit

12/28/2012 at 05:00 PM EST After posting this WhoSay photo, Sofia Vergara will have men dreaming of a black and white Christmas."Holyday!" wrote the Modern Family star, 40, showing off her famous curves in a peek-a-boo cut-out bathing suit while basking in the Miami sun over the holidays. Spending time with...

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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated...

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Wall Street ends sour week with 5th straight decline

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell for a fifth straight day on Friday, dropping 1 percent and marking the S&P 500's longest losing streak in three months as the federal government edged closer to the "fiscal cliff" with no solution in sight. President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders met at the White House to work on a solution for the draconian debt-reduction measures set...

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