Taylor Swift, Marie Osmond Draw Love, Laughs from Readers This Week

By Andrea Billups 01/12/2013 at 08:30 AM EST Taylor Swift and Rachael, Gabriel and Marie Osmond Steve Granitz/Wireimage; Courtesy R&C What's on the minds of PEOPLE readers this week? We love receiving your feedback, and as always, you weighed in with plenty...

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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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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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IHT Rendezvous: Hostages Caught Up in France's African Intervention

LONDON — The widespread satisfaction expressed in France at the government’s decision to intervene militarily against Islamic militants in Mali was tempered on Saturday by news of a failed overnight French hostage rescue mission on the other side of Africa.After reports emerged from Somalia of a helicopter-borne commando raid in the south of the country, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French defense minister...

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The Worst ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Player Ever

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: Movie and Television Characters Need a Lesson in Talking TrashIf we’re ever on Wheel of Fortune...

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Ryan Gosling: What Makes The Star Who Has Driven Fans To Obsession Tick?

By Michelle Tauber 01/11/2013 at 10:00 AM EST Hey girl, sometimes dreams do come true.Last fall, officials at the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin hoped to entice Ryan Gosling to attend a charity fundraiser by posting an open invitation in the form of the flirty "Hey Girl" Internet meme that riffs on his...

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Flu season strikes early and, in some places, hard

NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers are turning away visitors or making them wear face masks, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to deal with the feverish patients.Flu season in the U.S. has struck early and, in many places, hard.While flu normally doesn't blanket the country until...

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Wall Street to open firm after Thursday's gains, Wells Fargo results

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to firm at the open on Friday after the S&P 500 climbed to a five-year high a day earlier, as record profit from Wells Fargo failed to excite investors who awaited fresh trading incentives. "The bigger news lies ahead of us in terms of earnings and also reports on Christmas sales, which seem to be poor so far," said Rick Meckler, president of investment...

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IHT Rendezvous: Top Pirate Quits as Tide Turns Against Somali Raiders

LONDON — A notorious Somali sea raider known as Big Mouth is a pirate with a retirement plan.He announced this week that he was quitting after an eight-year career in which he and his pirate crews plagued shipping in the Indian Ocean and raised millions of dollars in ransom.Big Mouth — Mohamed Abdi Hassan — was named in a United Nations report last year as one of the most notorious and influential...

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Skype founder browses globe for next tech earner

LONDON (Reuters) – Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of internet phone service Skype, believes the next hot tech business will just as likely spring from Istanbul or Sao Paolo as from Silicon Valley or the coolest districts of London.And he is prepared to fly around the world to find it.“Talent can pop up anywhere in the world, it’s not just one city block,” the Swedish entrepreneur and venture capitalist...

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It's a Girl for Lily Allen

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 01/10/2013 at 08:30 AM ET PA Photos/LandovCue the lullabies: Lily Allen is a mom — again!The “Smile” singer and her husband Sam Cooper welcomed her second daughter — and the baby girl shares her special day with rock legends Elvis and David Bowie. Marnie Rose arrived...

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Retooling Pap test to spot more kinds of cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, doctors have lamented that there's no Pap test for deadly ovarian cancer. Wednesday, scientists reported encouraging signs that one day, there might be.Researchers are trying to retool the Pap, a test for cervical cancer that millions of women get, so that it could spot early signs of other gynecologic cancers, too.How? It turns out that cells can flake off of tumors in...

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Wall Street climbs at open on China data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced at the open on Thursday as stronger-than-expected exports in China, the world's second-biggest economy, raised hopes for a more robust recovery in the global economy this year. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 51.22 points, or 0.38 percent, to 13,441.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> climbed 8.01 points, or 0.55...

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India Ink: The Delhi Gang Rape Accused: Vinay Sharma, a 'Quiet and Simple' Boy

To keep her children warm on Wednesday night, Champa Devi tried to get a small fire going by puffing air into four pieces of wood outside their home in a South Delhi slum.“I am heartbroken,” she said, coughing as a cloud of smoke billowed around her. “When I wake up, it feels like my heart has been torn away.”Ms. Champa, 37, is the mother of Vinay Sharma, one of the six accused in the gang rape of...

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Netflix announces ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming for select ISPs

Netflix (NFLX) on Tuesday announced new enhanced streaming options for users on select ISPs. Following a series of rumors that suggested as much, Netflix has confirmed the availability of “Super HD” streaming — which is simply Netflix’s branding for 1080p content — and 3D video streaming. Both services are available immediately with a huge caveat: only Netflix subscribers with Cablevision or Google...

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Kate Celebrates Her 31st Birthday 'Privately'

By Simon Perry 01/09/2013 at 10:00 AM EST Even with so much to celebrate, the Duchess of Cambridge is unlikely to be partying into the night or toasting her 31st birthday with glasses of bubbly.Pregnant Kate, 31 on Wednesday, and entering her second trimester, is said to be keeping a low profile and spending her special day "privately,"...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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Wall Street edges up at open after Alcoa results

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened slightly higher on Wednesday after Alcoa got the earnings season under way with better-than-expected revenue and an encouraging outlook for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 36.93 points, or 0.28 percent, to 13,365.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 2.64 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,459.79. The Nasdaq...

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Record Heat Fuels Widespread Fires in Australia

Lukas Coch/European Pressphoto AgencyFirefighters battled a grass fire in Oura, near Wagga Wagga, Australia, on Tuesday. On Monday, Australia’s hottest day on record, the national average was 104.59 degrees. SYDNEY, Australia — Australia on Wednesday was grappling with an unprecedented heat wave that has sparked raging bushfires across some of the country’s most populated regions — pushing firefighters...

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European businesses slow to go online: study

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European businesses are not doing enough to use the internet to grow their customer base and promote products, Belgian database and marketing firm Email-Brokers said after studying 13 million websites.Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have the highest proportion of companies online but even in these countries 40 percent of business have no internet presence, it found.The European...

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George Clooney, Meryl Streep & More Announced as Golden Globe Presenters

By Tim Nudd 01/08/2013 at 09:55 AM EST George Clooney and Meryl Streep Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Dave Hogan/Getty It's almost time to party!George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Garner are among the stars who will present at the Golden Globe Awards this Sunday,...

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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer."There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer...

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Wall Street dips as earnings season begins

A $20,000 diamond ring found in a tanning salon in St. Charles, Mo., appears to be at the center of a legal dispute over "finders keepers." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch attempts to explain murky statutes revolving around found property versus stealing. After Bonnie Land found the expensive ring and agreed to return it weeks later, she was arrested. She subsequently sued the ring's owner for $66,500...

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Videos of Chávez Promote Stability During Illness

Meridith Kohut for The New York TimesIn Caracas on Saturday, Venezuelans showed support for President Hugo Chávez, who is in Cuba after an operation. CARACAS, Venezuela — They run around the clock on state television, highly polished videos of President Hugo Chávez hugging children, kissing grandmothers, playing baseball and reciting poetry. As supporters around the world hold up hand-lettered signs...

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Conn. lawmaker apologizes over Facebook post

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut lawmaker has apologized after saying in a Facebook post that shooting victim and former Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords should “stay out of my towns.”Giffords last week visited Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 young children and six adults at an elementary school last month. The Democrat, who met with families of the victims, was critically wounded...

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Downton Abbey: 5 Best Moments from Season 3 Premiere

TV Watch TV News By Aaron Parsley 01/07/2013 at 09:35 AM EST Dame Maggie Smith and Shirley Maclaine on the set of Downton Abbey Nick Briggs Downton Abbey is back! Sunday's two-hour premiere was full of developments – upstairs, downstairs and outside of the Crawleys'...

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Your medical chart could include exercise minutes

CHICAGO (AP) — Roll up a sleeve for the blood pressure cuff. Stick out a wrist for the pulse-taking. Lift your tongue for the thermometer. Report how many minutes you are active or getting exercise.Wait, what?If the last item isn't part of the usual drill at your doctor's office, a movement is afoot to change that. One recent national survey indicated only a third of Americans said their doctors asked...

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Stocks dip at open after five-year high

DEAR ABBY: I spent the afternoon running errands. As I left the shopping center, I saw a young couple with a baby and a toddler holding a sign requesting help with food, as the husband had just been laid off. I drove past, then considered the children and circled back. I had no cash with me, so I stopped and offered them our family's dinner -- a jar of premium spaghetti sauce, a pound of fresh ground...

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