Travel Disrupted in China Amid Unusually Cold Weather

China Daily/ReutersInvestigators inspected a port where ships are stuck in ice in Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, on Saturday. BEIJING (AP) — China is experiencing unusually cold weather this winter, with the national average temperature hitting the lowest point in 28 years, and snow and ice leading to closed highways, canceled flights, stranded tourists and power failures in several provinces. ...

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Ohio sheriff confronts protesters in football rape case

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) – A county sheriff under fire for how he has handled a high school rape investigation faced down a raucous crowd of protesters on Saturday and said no further suspects would be charged in a case that has rattled Ohio football country.Ma’lik Richmond and Trenton Mays, both 16 and members of the Steubenville High School football team, are charged with raping a 16-year-old...

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Bethenny Frankel Divorcing Jason Hoppy

By Sarah Michaud 01/05/2013 at 05:00 PM EST Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy Albert Michael/Startraks It's official – Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy's marriage is over.Having announced a separation over the holidays, the reality star began the divorce process...

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FDA: New rules will make food safer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration says its new guidelines would make the food Americans eat safer and help prevent the kinds of foodborne disease outbreaks that sicken or kill thousands of consumers each year.The rules, the most sweeping food safety guidelines in decades, would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are...

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"Cliff" concerns give way to earnings focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors' "fiscal cliff" worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourth-quarter reports get under way next week. Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa , are expected to be only slightly better than the third-quarter's lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current...

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John Sheardown, Canadian Who Sheltered Americans in Tehran, Dies at 88

When militant radicals seized the United States Embassy in Iran in November 1979, they intended to take all its employees hostage. But five were elsewhere in the embassy compound and escaped capture. After six tense days of furtively moving around Tehran, one of them, Robert Anders, placed a call to a Canadian diplomat with whom he played tennis, and asked for help. Sheardown Family,...

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“GameStick” Will Be the Size of a USB Memory Stick, Plug into Your TV

When the Ouya game console (scheduled to launch in April) made headlines last year, it was for three reasons. One, its size and price — the $ 99 box, which plugs into a TV, is the size of a Rubik’s cube. Two, its choice of operating system — it runs the same Android OS which powers smartphones and tablets. And three — its rise to fame on Kickstarter, where it shattered records and received millions...

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Taylor Swift, Harry Styles Pose with Fans in the Caribbean

01/04/2013 at 04:30 PM EST Taylor Swift in a photo by @emmycfield Courtesy Emily Canfield It looks like Taylor Swift and Harry Styles are having a relaxing holiday ... with fans!Before Christmas, the couple enjoyed the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, but now...

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FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.The long-overdue regulations are aimed at reducing the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria...

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S&P 500 finishes at 5-year high on economic data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index ended at a five-year high on Friday, lifted by reports showing employers kept up a steady pace of hiring workers and the vast services sector expanded at a brisk rate. The gains on the S&P 500 pushed the index to its highest close since December 2007 and its biggest weekly gain since December 2011. Most...

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Obama Signs Defense Bill, With Conditions

WASHINGTON — President Obama set aside his veto threat and late Wednesday signed a defense bill that imposes restrictions on transferring detainees out of military prisons in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But Mr. Obama attached a signing statement claiming that he has the constitutional power to override the limits in the law. His move awakened a dormant issue from Mr. Obama’s first...

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Samsung and Apple are still the only winners in the mobile market

The duopoly of the U.S. mobile market intensified dramatically in 2012. Despite increased efforts from Motorola, LG (066570), HTC (2498), Nokia (NOK) and Microsoft (MSFT) to gain market share, Samsung (005930) and Apple (AAPL) continue to steal customers away from every other company. During a three-month period ending in November, comScore found that Samsung’s lead in the U.S. smartphone market increased...

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Nicki Minaj: Is It Even Cool to Be a Judge on American Idol?

TV Watch American Idol UPDATED 01/03/2013 at 04:45 PM EST • Originally published 01/03/2013 at 04:15 PM EST Nicki Minaj Jonathan Leibson/WireImage Nicki Minaj wasn't always sure about becoming a judge on American Idol.Addressing "a judgmental...

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CDC: 1 in 24 admit nodding off while driving

NEW YORK (AP) — This could give you nightmares: 1 in 24 U.S. adults say they recently fell asleep while driving.And health officials behind the study think the number is probably higher. That's because some people don't realize it when they nod off for a second or two behind the wheel."If I'm on the road, I'd be a little worried about the other drivers," said the study's lead author, Anne Wheaton...

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Fed minutes short-circuit Wall Street rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dipped on Thursday after signs the Federal Reserve has growing concern about its highly stimulative monetary policy, giving investors reason to pull back after a two-day rally. The minutes from the Fed's December policy meeting, released on Thursday, showed increasing reticence about adding to the central bank's $2.9 trillion balance sheet, which it expanded...

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Dozens of Syrians Killed in Explosions Around Damascus

Andoni Lubaki/Associated PressRebel fighters patrol a neighborhood in Aleppo on Wednesday. BEIRUT, Lebanon — Dozens of Syrians were killed or wounded in an explosion at a gas station east of Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Wednesday, and explosions in another Damascus suburb killed at least six people and wounded many more, including women and children, according to videos and reports from antigovernment...

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Julianne Hough: I Was Physically Abused as a Child

By Mike Fleeman 01/02/2013 at 04:45 PM EST When Julianne Hough was 10 years old, she lived in London, away from her parents in Utah, studying dance.That's when the abuse began, she says. "I was abused, mentally, physically, everything," she says in Cosmopolitan magazine's February issue, on newsstands Jan. 8. While...

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"Cliff" deal drives Wall Street rally to start new year

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks kicked off the new year with their best day in over a year on Wednesday, sparked by relief over a last-minute deal in Washington to avert the "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts that threatened to derail the economy's growth. In 2013's first trading session, the S&P 500 achieved its biggest one-day gain since December 20, 2011, pushing the...

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Brain image study: Fructose may spur overeating

This is your brain on sugar — for real. Scientists have used imaging tests to show for the first time that fructose, a sugar that saturates the American diet, can trigger brain changes that may lead to overeating.After drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn't register the feeling of being full as it does when simple glucose is consumed, researchers found.It's a small study and does not prove...

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Laos May Bear Cost of a Chinese Railroad

OUDOM XAI, Laos — Wang Quan, the new Chinese owner of a hotel in this farm town tucked into the tropical mountains of northern Laos, is hoping that the first of 20,000 Chinese workers will arrive here soon to start construction on a new railroad. Justin Mott for The New York TimesA Chinese construction truck passed through a small Hmong village on Route 13 in Oudom Xai Province, Laos....

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Four Android productivity apps you should use in 2013

Happy New Year! Like most folks, I am working on some resolutions for 2013. One resolution I have is to be more productive. One way I am going to do this is by using my Android phone better. Now there are apps that I have, but really have not used to their fullest. As I work on this resolution, I might discover even better apps. For now I will focus on these impressive apps that can make anyone more...

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Restaurateur Joe Bastianich Blogs: Why Quitting Can Be the Best Start to Your New Year

Celebrity Blog 01/01/2013 at 04:40 PM EST Joe Bastianich is a successful restaurateur, vineyard owner and author of the memoir Restaurant Man. He's also a judge on MasterChef, which challenges home cooks to prove they can cut it in top professional kitchens. This week he's blogging about helping people keep...

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