White House Presses for Drone Rule Book

WASHINGTON — Facing the possibility that President Obama might not win a second term, his administration accelerated work in the weeks before the election to develop explicit rules for the targeted killing of terrorists by unmanned drones, so that a new president would inherit clear standards and procedures, according to two administration officials. The matter may have lost some urgency...

Read More..

AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: Political wrangling to pinch market's nerves

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Volatility is the name of this game. With the S&P 500 above 1,400 following five days of gains, traders will be hard pressed not to cash in on the advance at the first sign of trouble during negotiations over tax hikes and spending cuts that resume next week in Washington. President Barack Obama and U.S. congressional leaders are expected to discuss...

Read More..

Protests Erupt After Egypt’s Leader Seizes New Power

Tara Todras-Whitehill for The New York TimesEgyptians in central Cairo ran from tear gas during clashes with the police on Friday. Protesters took to the streets in several cities. More Photos »CAIRO — Protests erupted across Egypt on Friday, as opponents of President Mohamed Morsi clashed with his supporters over a presidential edict that gave him unchecked authority and polarized an already divided...

Read More..

What Made Jessica Biel Want to Steal a Girdle?

Stylewatch Style News Now 11/21/2012 at 11:00 AM ET Suzanne TennerHer wedding gown was dreamy, pink and modern, but while filming Hitchcock, Jessica Biel found herself taken with her character’s muted — and binding — mid-century...

Read More..

AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

Read More..

Shoppers welcome early start to "Black Friday"

NEW YORK/BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota (Reuters) - Retailers declared their experiment with earlier store openings to kick off the holiday shopping season a success on Friday, with those new hours expected to be a Thanksgiving night staple for more retailers next year. Stores such as Target Corp opened hours before midnight on Thursday to try to capture a bigger piece of the retail pie. The move seemed...

Read More..

With Cease-Fire Joy in Gaza, Palestinian Factions Revive Unity Pledges

Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesAfter the Cease-Fire: Palestinians and Israelis returned to a semblance of normal life after eight days of lethal conflict between Israel and Hamas.GAZA — Palestinians erupted in triumphant celebrations here on Thursday, vowing new unity among rival factions and a renewed commitment to the tactic of resistance, while Israel’s leaders sought to soberly sell the achievements...

Read More..

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is Good, But No iPad Killer [REVIEW]

Unboxing the Kindle Fire HD 8.9Click here to view this gallery.[More from Mashable: Apple Now Owns the iMessage Name] Amazon expands its tablet sights with the bigger, more powerful Kindle Fire HD 8.9. Can it compete against Apple‘s iPad?If there’s one company that deserves credit for reigniting the iPad competitor market,...

Read More..

Jake Owen Welcomes a Daughter

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 11/22/2012 at 08:30 PM ET Courtesy Jake Owen It’s a Thanksgiving baby!Jake Owen and his wife Lacey welcomed their first child, daughter Olive Pearl Owen, on Thursday, Nov. 22 in Nashville, Tenn., his rep confirms to PEOPLE.Pearl, as she will be called after...

Read More..

AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

Read More..

Asia shares set for best week in 2 months as outlook improves

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian shares ambled higher on Friday and were on course for a weekly gain of more than 2 percent, their best in two months, after manufacturing surveys from China and the United States raised hopes that the global growth outlook is improving at last. The euro was also enjoying a positive week, despite data on Thursday pointing to the euro zone sliding into its deepest...

Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: Remake of 'Red Dawn' Changes Its Political Hue

HONG KONG — There are essentially two versions of North Korea available to cartoonists, filmmakers, political analysts and Jon Stewart. The first is the Acme-rocket, Wile E. Coyote kind of place where the leisure-suited, bouffant-haired dictator receives daily injections of the blood of young virgins and makes a dozen holes-in-one during his first-ever round of golf.The second version of North Korea...

Read More..

Mayim Bialik and Michael Stone Divorcing

By Mike Fleeman 11/21/2012 at 05:00 PM EST After "much consideration and soul-searching," Mayim Bialik announced Wednesday that she and husband Michael Stone are divorcing after nine years of marriage.The Big Bang Theory star, who has sons Miles, 7, and Fred, 4, with Stone, cites "irreconcilable differences"...

Read More..

Study finds mammograms lead to unneeded treatment

Mammograms have done surprisingly little to catch deadly breast cancers before they spread, a big U.S. study finds. At the same time, more than a million women have been treated for cancers that never would have threatened their lives, researchers estimate.Up to one-third of breast cancers, or 50,000 to 70,000 cases a year, don't need treatment, the study suggests.It's the most detailed look yet at...

Read More..

Asian shares rise on firm China, U.S. factory data

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Thursday as a survey showed China's manufacturing sector expanded for the first time in 13 months in November, adding to optimism after firm U.S. factory data that the global growth slowdown may have turned a corner. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> extended early gains to rise 0.8 percent to a one-week...

Read More..

Toll Rises as U.S. Pushes for Israel-Hamas Truce

JERUSALEM — Efforts to agree on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas intensified Tuesday, but the struggle to achieve even a brief pause in the fighting emphasized the obstacles to finding any lasting solution. On the deadliest day of fighting in the week-old conflict, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived hurriedly in Jerusalem and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

Read More..

Eric Stonestreet Wasn’t Drunk, He Swears

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:RELATED: What Happens When You Sing ‘All Night Long’ All Night...

Read More..

The Voice: Top Eight Contestants Revealed

TV Watch By Julia Haskins 11/20/2012 at 10:05 PM EST From left: Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and host Carson Daly Mark Seliger/NBC Following what Blake Shelton called the "best episode of The Voice we've ever had", spirited group...

Read More..