Wall Street Week Ahead: A lump of coal for "Fiscal Cliff-mas"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street traders are going to have to pack their tablets and work computers in their holiday luggage after all. A traditionally quiet week could become hellish for traders as politicians in Washington are likely to fall short of an agreement to deal with $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in early next year. Many economists forecast that this...

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Douglas wins AP female athlete of the year honors

When Gabby Douglas allowed herself to dream of being the Olympic champion, she imagined having a nice little dinner with family and friends to celebrate. Maybe she'd make an appearance here and there."I didn't think it was going to be crazy," Douglas said, laughing. "I love it. But I realized my perspective was going to have to change."Just a bit.The teenager has become a worldwide star since winning...

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Wild Weather Upends Holiday Travel

Snow, wind and rain have disrupted holiday travel plans across the Midwest, South and Northeast in the past two days, prompting reports of 200 severe weather incidents and four tornadoes.Lashing winds and blowing snow stretched from Nebraska to Michigan overnight, shutting down major highways across the region as drivers struggled to stay on the road. At least 1,000 accidents have been reported, with...

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Will media stay on gun story?

STORY HIGHLIGHTSHoward Kurtz: Conventional wisdom is that media will lose interest in gunsHe says that's been the pattern of media behavior after Columbine, other shootingsThis time seems like it might be different, he saysKurtz: Reporters profoundly shaken by story, should stay on itEditor's note: Howard Kurtz is the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and is Newsweek's Washington bureau chief. He is...

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2 children dead in Englewood fire, 2 others rescued

A young boy and girl died this morning in a fire in the Englewood neighborhood, officials say. A young boy and girl died this...

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Egypt's constitution seen passing in referendum

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on a constitution drafted by Islamists on Saturday in a second round of balloting expected to approve a charter that opponents say will create deeper turmoil in the Arab world's most populous nation. Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, who was elected in June, say the constitution is vital to moving Egypt towards democracy two years after...

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Wall Street drops 1 percent, fiscal deal unlikely before 2013

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks sank more than 1 percent on Friday after a Republican proposal for averting the "fiscal cliff" failed to pass, diminishing hopes a deal would be reached soon in Washington. Trading is expected to be volatile as investors view a fiscal agreement between the White House and Republicans before the year-end as increasingly unlikely. With volume thin ahead of the...

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AP IMPACT: Big Pharma cashes in on HGH abuse

A federal crackdown on illicit foreign supplies of human growth hormone has failed to stop rampant misuse, and instead has driven record sales of the drug by some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, an Associated Press investigation shows.The crackdown, which began in 2006, reduced the illegal flow of unregulated supplies from China, India and Mexico.But since then, Big Pharma has been...

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Does President Obama know what he wants?

The president’s puzzling expenditure of political capital on Susan Rice and Chuck Hagel raises real questionsThe fiscal cliff. The jobless recovery. Comprehensive immigration reform. Climate change. Implementing ObamaCare. Cutting healthcare spending. Rebuilding our infrastructure. Addressing student debt. Fixing the tax code. Gun control. There is no shortage of domestic issues that this president...

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Goodbye, U.S. Postal Service?

This Christmas could be the Post Office's last, says John Avlon. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe U.S. Postal Service is bleeding money and heading toward insolvency John Avlon: Congress can save the postal service in deal on the fiscal cliff He says the urgency is clear, let's hope for a Christmas miracle Avlon: But be prepared that Washington dysfunction can doom the postal service Editor's note: John Avlon...

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First snowstorm of season fails to measure up

Chicago's first snowstorm of the season fell short of expectations, dumping far less than the 6 inches predicted for some areas...

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Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels began to push into a strategic town in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday and laid siege to at least one town dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect, activists said. The operation risks inflaming already raw sectarian tensions as the 21-month-old revolt against four decades of Assad family rule - during which the president's Alawite sect...

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Wall Street ticks lower on "fiscal cliff" stalemate

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged slightly lower on Thursday as investors fretted that a deal on the U.S. budget wouldn't come as soon as they had hoped after President Barack Obama threatened to veto a controversial Republican plan. The market barely reacted to a round of strong data, including on gross domestic product growth and housing, suggesting talks to avert the "fiscal cliff,"...

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AP IMPACT: Steroids loom in major-college football

WASHINGTON (AP) — With steroids easy to buy, testing weak and punishments inconsistent, college football players are packing on significant weight — 30 pounds or more in a single year, sometimes — without drawing much attention from their schools or the NCAA in a sport that earns tens of billions of dollars for teams.Rules vary so widely that, on any given game day, a team with a strict no-steroid...

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