"Fiscal cliff" worries linger, futures flat

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures were little changed on Thursday in what could be another choppy session as the progress of fiscal negotiations in Washington continues to determine the market's fate. President Barack Obama said there could be a quick deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" - tax hikes and spending cuts set to begin next year, possibly driving the U.S. economy back into recession...

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India Ink: India's Parliament Opens Door to Foreign Retail Investors

After two days of sometimes ear-splitting debate, India’s Lok Sabha, or lower house, of Parliament voted down a measure prohibiting large foreign retailers like Wal-Mart from entering the country. Of the 543 members in the house, 218 voted in favor of a proposition banning these companies from the country, and 253 against.Rival leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav...

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Habla el hombre que definió qué significa ser un hacker

“Soy un hacker.” La frase la pronuncia, sin titubeos, Pekka Himanen, un finlandés de 39 años que publicó, en 2001, La ética del hacker y el espíritu de la era de la información , un libro fundacional en su análisis de lo que significa la tecnología moderna en nuestra sociedad, y la influencia que tendrán los hackers en la sociedad futura.La entrevista está por comenzar. El punto de encuentro es un...

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John Krasinski: I'm 'Totally in Love' with Matt Damon

By Paul Chi 12/05/2012 at 08:55 AM EST John Krasinski and Matt Damon at the Promised Land premiere in N.Y.C. Andrew H. Walker/WireImage Move over, Ben Affleck! John Krasinski wants to be Matt Damon's new best friend."Matt is one of the coolest guys I know, and...

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Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for longer...

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Stock futures edge higher on China optimism

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures rose on Wednesday after comments from China's new leader boosted global growth expectations. Still, some earlier gains were trimmed after data showed U.S. private-sector employers added 118,000 jobs in November, shy of economists' expectations. Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping said the country would maintain its fine-tuning of economic...

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At War Blog: In Afghanistan, Humor Finds Its Way in Lost Translation

Funny isn’t an adjective often used to describe Afghanistan. Yet to many Afghans, the war and the foreigners waging it can present a surprising source of humor.Afghans around the country tell anecdotes about encounters with NATO troops. The best of these are encapsulated, shared and sometimes aggrandized in the form of half-funny, half-sad tales told over warm chai or at picnics. Sometimes told with...

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Student group to go to court over Facebook privacy policy

VIENNA (Reuters) – An Austrian student group plans to go to court in a bid to make Facebook Inc, the world’s biggest social network, do more to protect the privacy of its hundreds of millions of members.Campaign group europe-v-facebook, which has been lobbying for better data protection by Facebook for over a year, said on Tuesday it planned to go to court to appeal against decisions by the data protection...

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Cops Seek Subway Killer After Man Is Pushed to His Death in Manhattan

By Tim Nudd 12/04/2012 at 08:15 AM EST Suspect in N.Y.C. subway killing New York City police are searching for a man who allegedly pushed another man to his death in front of a subway train in Manhattan on Monday. Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Elmhurst, Queens, was shoved...

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Fossil fuel subsidies in focus at climate talks

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Hassan al-Kubaisi considers it a gift from above that drivers in oil- and gas-rich Qatar only have to pay $1 per gallon at the pump."Thank God that our country is an oil producer and the price of gasoline is one of the lowest," al-Kubaisi said, filling up his Toyota Land Cruiser at a gas station in Doha. "God has given us a blessing."To those looking for a global response to climate...

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