Wall Street Week Ahead: Holiday "on standby" as clock ticks on cliff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the "fiscal cliff." Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff - nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown...

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness."There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant...

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Syrians Face a Bread Shortage in Aleppo and Elsewhere

Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesA bakery in Aleppo. The price has shot up from 25 Syrian pounds, about 35 cents, for a bag of about eight flat, pitalike loaves to more than 200 pounds, nearly $3. GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Jalal al-Khanji, the closest thing the Syrian city of Aleppo has to a mayor, hopes to organize elections there within two weeks, but he fears that residents with empty stomachs are in no...

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Connecticut Shooting: Bodies Removed from School, Positively Identified

By Mike Fleeman 12/15/2012 at 10:25 AM EST Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance Mary Altaffer/AP A horrific day turned to a night of unspeakable grief as parents received formal notifications that their children were killed in the Connecticut school massacre.The last of the dozens of...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Holiday "on standby" as clock ticks on cliff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last two weeks of December are traditionally quiet for stocks, but traders accustomed to a bit of time off are staying close to their mobile devices, thanks to the "fiscal cliff." Last-minute negotiations in Washington on the so-called fiscal cliff - nearly $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January that could cause a sharp slowdown...

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Rome Journal: As Mario Monti Prepares to Step Down, Italians Express Disappointment

ROME — As Prime Minister Mario Monti prepares to exit the stage, he has burnished Italy’s image — and his own — abroad, but he is less beloved at home. Italians are irate about higher taxes, while critics say that Mr. Monti failed to carry out the basic structural changes he said were needed, leaving a legacy more of austerity than growth. While Mr. Monti passed tax increases, introduced...

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Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 might not launch until 2014

Nintendo (NTDOY) says its kickstarted the next generation of video game consoles with the Wii U. But considering its graphics and processing power are comparable to Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3, hardcore gamers are holding out for the next Xbox, tentatively dubbed “Xbox 720,” and next-generation PlayStation, tentatively called...

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Dozens Reported Dead in Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

Breaking News By Stephen M. Silverman UPDATED 12/14/2012 at 01:55 PM EST • Originally published 12/14/2012 at 01:00 PM EST State police personnel lead children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shannon Hicks/Newtown Bee/Reuters/Landov A...

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APNewsBreak: Texas cancer probe draws NCI scrutiny

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The National Cancer Institute confirmed Friday that federal officials are taking a closer look at a troubled $3 billion cancer-fighting effort in Texas that is under a criminal investigation over a lucrative taxpayer-funded grant awarded by the state agency.The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has coveted status as an NCI-approved funding entity — an exclusive...

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Selling flak jackets in the cyberwars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove of classified documents, some see a lawless Internet.But Matthew Prince, chief executive at CloudFlare, a little-known Internet start-up that serves some of the Web’s most controversial characters, sees a business...

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