Syrian Kidnappings Raise Fear of Expanded Conflict

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The tit-for-tat kidnappings of more than 140 people have provoked fears of expanded sectarian conflict in Syria’s northern Idlib Province in recent days, but one set of hostages was released in good condition on Saturday after negotiations between residents of two of the affected villages, according to a rebel commander. Kidnappings for money or political reasons have become...

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The Bachelor: Sean's Hometown Date with Desiree Gets Interrupted - By an Ex?

The ex who pops back into the picture has been a common storyline in recent seasons of The Bachelor. And this season is no exception. In this exclusive preview of Monday night's episode, Sean Lowe meets more of Desiree Hartsock's loved ones than he bargained for. "As Des and I are getting dinner ready for her parents, I feel like we're a couple," says Sean. "And I'm excited for her family to...

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UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.Edwards...

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G20 steps back from currency brink, heat off Japan

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations declared on Saturday there would be no currency war and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets, underlining broad concern about the fragile state of the world economy. Japan's expansive policies, which have driven down the yen, escaped direct criticism in a statement thrashed out in Moscow by policymakers from the G20, which spans developed...

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The Lede: Spectacular Video of Meteor Over Siberia

Video posted on YouTube on Friday appeared to catch an explosion caused by a meteor streaking over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.Last Updated, 1:15 p.m. As our colleagues Ellen Barry and Andrew Kramer report, Russians recorded video of bright objects, apparently debris from a meteor, “streaking through the sky in western Siberia early on Friday, accompanied by a boom that damaged buildings across...

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Looking Good! See Shakira's Post-Baby Body!

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 02/15/2013 at 12:30 PM ET 7pix/Face to FaceCaliente!Just three weeks after welcoming son Milan Piqué Mebarak, new mom Shakira stepped out for an appointment in Barcelona, Spain Thursday looking comfy, casual — and rocking an incredible curvy figure.With her blonde...

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Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction

BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.The findings, published online Thursday in...

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Wall Street dips but S&P on pace for seventh weekly gain

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Friday as equities continued a phase of consolidation after a strong start to the year but the seven-week winning streak for the S&P 500 remained intact. The S&P 500, up nearly 7 percent so far this year, is facing strong technical resistance near the 1,525 level. But investors, expecting the index to advance further in the quarter, have...

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Israel Museum’s Herod Show Draws Anger Over Use of West Bank Objects

Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto AgencyThe exhibition “Herod the Great: The King’s Final Journey” includes a reconstruction of his tomb, with his sarcophagus, center. JERUSALEM — In one room sits a sarcophagus of reddish-pink limestone believed to have held the body of King Herod, painstakingly reconstructed after having been smashed to bits centuries ago. In another, there are frescoes from Herod’s...

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Oscar Pistorius's Nike Ad Calling Him a 'Bullet' Pulled from His Website

By Stephen M. Silverman 02/14/2013 at 01:30 PM EST Screen grab of Nike ad on Oscar Pistorius website as of Feb. 5, 2013 A Nike ad with Olympian Oscar Pistorius in his trademark blades – and bearing the tagline "I am the bullet in the chamber" – was yanked from...

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Morning-after pill use up to 1 in 9 younger women

NEW YORK (AP) — About 1 in 9 younger women have used the morning-after pill after sex, according to the first government report to focus on emergency contraception since its approval 15 years ago.The results come from a survey of females ages 15 to 44. Eleven percent of those who'd had sex reported using a morning-after pill. That's up from 4 percent in 2002, only a few years after the pills went...

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Wall Street flat as takeovers offset weak overseas data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as a flurry of merger deals and better-than-expected jobs data offset signs of economic weakness in Europe and Japan Shares of H.J. Heinz Co jumped 20 percent to $72.51 after it said Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital will buy the food company for $72.50 a share, or $28 billion including debt. Also...

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International Military Officials Investigate Afghan Deaths

KABUL, Afghanistan — International military officials are investigating two episodes in which as many as 11 Afghan civilians may have been killed in what appeared to be American-led military actions. In the more lethal episode, Afghan officials said 10 civilians were killed overnight in Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan in a village where two known Taliban commanders were visiting family...

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Ryan Reynolds Punches Costar Scott Speedman on Set of New Film

By Maggie Coughlan 02/13/2013 at 01:50 PM EST Ryan Reynolds and Scott Speedman AKM-GSI Don't mess with Ryan Reynolds!The actor, 36, proved he knows how to pack a punch while filming a scene for Queen of the Night in Sudbury, Canada, on Tuesday. On the receiving...

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Report: Tracking system needed to fight fake drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting the problem of fake drugs will require putting medications through a chain of custody like U.S. courts require for evidence in a trial, the Institute of Medicine reported Wednesday.The call for a national drug tracking system comes a week after the Food and Drug Administration warned doctors, for the third time in about a year, that it discovered a counterfeit batch of the...

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Wall Street rally stalls, S&P 500 skims November 2007 high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday amid investor caution after the S&P 500 index briefly hit its highest intraday level since November 2007. The benchmark index got a boost from Comcast Corp , which said it will buy the rest of NBC Universal for $16.7 billion from General Electric Co . Equities have been strong performers until recently, buoyed...

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India Ink: In Kashmir, Clashes and Dwindling Supplies As Curfew Continues

The Kashmir Valley is on the fourth day of a government-imposed shutdown begun immediately after the hanging of the militant Muhammad Afzal, also known as Afzal Guru, who comes from the town of Sopore in Baramulla district.Many residents are running out of food and milk in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital. Meanwhile, dozens have been injured and at least one killed in protests against Mr. Afzal’s...

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Julianne Hough: Ryan Seacrest Makes Valentine's Day Super Romantic

By Carlos Greer 02/12/2013 at 01:40 PM EST Ryan Seacrest and Julianne Hough Michael Buckner/WireImage Who knew Ryan Seacrest was such a romantic? His girlfriend, Julianne Hough, tells PEOPLE he likes to go all out for Valentine's Day."[He likes] surprising me and ending up at a restaurant...

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Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life

The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.There may be more behind the story of why Pope Benedict XVI decided to leave a job normally held for...

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Wall Street edges up ahead of Obama speech as housing gains

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 holding near multi-year highs ahead of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, as housing stocks advanced. The economy will be a major topic of Obama's speech before a joint session of Congress set for 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday). Investors will listen for any clues on a deal with Republicans to avert...

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The Lede: Latest Updates on the Pope’s Resignation

The Lede is providing updates on Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement on Monday that he intends to resign on Feb. 28, less than eight years after he took office, the first pope to do so in six centuries. (Turn off auto-refresh to watch video...

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Tia Mowry-Hardrict: Cree 'Gets a Little Jealous' of Aden

Bret Hartman/APTia Mowry-Hardrict and her twin sister Tamera Mowry-Housley couldn’t be closer, but the siblings have to work a bit harder to get their little boys on that same level.“I will be honest, Cree [20 months] gets a little jealous [of his 3-month-old cousin],” Mowry-Hardrict, 34, tells PEOPLE Tuesday at Blushington in West Hollywood.“When I was trying to feed Aden, Cree started crying....

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What heals traumatized kids? Answers are lacking

CHICAGO (AP) — Shootings and other traumatic events involving children are not rare events, but there's a startling lack of scientific evidence on the best ways to help young survivors and witnesses heal, a government-funded analysis found.School-based counseling treatments showed the most promise, but there's no hard proof that anxiety drugs or other medication work and far more research is needed...

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Stock rally stalls as investors seek catalysts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slipped on Monday on lack of catalysts to move the market higher after a six-weeks-long advance that has taken the S&P 500 index near record highs. The benchmark index is up more than 6 percent so far this year after a steep rally in January that has stalled as the S&P and Dow industrials near multiyear highs. Google Inc shares fell 1...

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India Ink: More Than Two Dozen Killed in Kumbh Mela Stampede

ALLAHABAD, Uttar Pradesh — As many as 30 people were killed Sunday in a stampede at a train station here as millions gathered for a Hindu religious festival.The stampede erupted on a platform of the main railway station in Allahabad as religious pilgrims passed through it on their way to the festival, Kumbh Mela on the banks of the Ganges River.Sunday was one of the busiest days of the 55-day...

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Chris Brown Crashes Car During Paparazzi Chase

By Alison Schwartz 02/10/2013 at 12:40 PM EST Grammy weekend got off on a bumpy start for Chris Brown.The best urban contemporary album nominee walked away uninjured after crashing his black Porsche into a wall during a paparazzi chase, reports the Associated Press. Beverly Hills police say the accident occurred...

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

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