Stock index futures trade flat to higher

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a flat to higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.1 percent at 0844 GMT. Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 futures were unchanged. European shares were also flat, with the FTSEurofirst 300 <.fteu3> just shy of a two-year high. The pan-European index has risen almost 3 percent since the start...

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Russia rejects Assad exit as precondition for Syria deal

MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia voiced support on Saturday for international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi but insisted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's exit cannot be a precondition for a deal to end the country's conflict. Some 60,000 Syrians have been killed during the 21-month-old revolt and world powers are divided over how to stop the escalating bloodshed. Government aircraft bombed...

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People’s Choice Awards Will Air on Xbox 360 Tonight

CBS’s televised broadcast of the People’s Choice Awards will also be aired on Xbox 360, Microsoft’s gaming and entertainment-streaming console.Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers in the United States can tune in and interact with the festivities starting at 8 p.m. EST with the red carpet event. The ceremony begins at 9 p.m. EST.[More from Mashable: NBC Comedy ’1600 Penn’ Launches Social Media Cupcake Contest]Using...

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Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan Wins Miss America

01/12/2013 at 11:45 PM EST Miss American 2013 Mallory Hytes Hagan CraigSjodin/ABC The crown is headed to the Big Apple!Brooklyn, N.Y., native Mallory Hytes Hagan was crowned Miss America in Las Vegas on Saturday. Miss New York, 23, beat out Miss South Carolina...

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Q&A: Scramble for vaccine as flu season heats up

WASHINGTON (AP) — Missed flu-shot day at the office last fall? And all those "get vaccinated" ads? A scramble for shots is under way as late-comers seek protection from a miserable flu strain already spreading through much of the country.Federal health officials said Friday that there is still some flu vaccine available and it's not too late to benefit from it. But people may have to call around to...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Attention turns to financial earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After over a month of watching Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Avenue, Wall Street can get back to what it knows best: Wall Street. The first full week of earnings season is dominated by the financial sector - big investment banks and commercial banks - just as retail investors, free from the "fiscal cliff" worries, have started to get back into the markets. ...

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Obama, Karzai accelerate end of U.S. combat role in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed on Friday to speed up the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces, raising the prospect of an accelerated U.S. withdrawal from the country and underscoring Obama's determination to wind down a long, unpopular war. Signaling a narrowing of differences, Karzai appeared to give ground...

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Softbank to sell stake in eAccess to Samsung, others: source

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Softbank Corp is in final talks to sell its stake in eAccess Ltd, representing around 67 percent of voting rights, to Samsung Electronics Co and 10 others, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.The sale would ease concerns that Softbank could hold a monopoly on spectrum allocation designated by Japan’s Communications Ministry, the source said.Softbank,...

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Britney & Jason's Love Story in 6 Sweet Shots

From a snuggle in the surf to a surprise engagement, see the former couple's most romantic moments Credit: Kevin Mazur/Wireimage Updated: Friday Jan 11, 2013 | 07:00 AM EST By: Cara Lynn Shultz Subscribe Now ...

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Flu season puts businesses and employees in a bind

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly half the 70 employees at a Ford dealership in Clarksville, Ind., have been out sick at some point in the past month. It didn't have to be that way, the boss says."If people had stayed home in the first place, a lot of times that spread wouldn't have happened," says Marty Book, a vice president at Carriage Ford. "But people really want to get out and do their jobs, and sometimes...

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