Wall Street flat after data, Greek deal delay

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were flat on Wednesday as consumer sentiment stalled because of growing uncertainty over federal tax and spending plans next year and the absence of a deal by international lenders on emergency aid for Greece

Other U.S. economic data came in as expected, such as initial weekly claims for jobless benefits, depriving the market of any clear direction.

Euro zone finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank failed for a second week to agree on how to make Greece's debt sustainable, which is necessary before the next cash infusion can be made to the fiscally beleaguered nation.

European shares edged up as investors looked for signs of progress on a deal before the next meeting of lenders on Monday. The FTSEurofirst 300 <.fteu3> gained 0.2 percent. <.eu/>

"The European situation has been around for so long, there is nothing new there and everybody realizes it is going to be a long-term workout. From some progress over the last couple of months, all of a sudden we've had no progress," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

Labor Department data showed initial jobless claims dropped 41,000 to a seasonally adjusted 410,000 in the latest week, in line with expectations though still elevated in the wake of superstorm Sandy.

The S&P 500 had dropped 5.3 percent since Election Day on November 6 because of worries over U.S. fiscal negotiations and continued debt problems in Europe. But over the past three session, the index <.spx> has risen 2.6 percent, boosted by positive rhetoric from Washington on fiscal discussions and a market many viewed as oversold.

Gains made early in the day on Tuesday were mostly erased after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned that the central bank lacked the tools to cushion the U.S. economy from the impact of the "fiscal cliff."

"We are in a bit of a holding period here. Everybody is focused on the fiscal cliff and any indications of a settlement between Congress and the White house and any indications of what that settlement might be," said Ghriskey.

The fiscal cliff is a series of tax hikes and spending cuts which, failing agreement in Congress, will go into effect in the new year and threaten the nation's fragile economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 18.46 points, or 0.14 percent, to 12,806.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> shed 0.33 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,387.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> lost 0.09 points, or 0.00 percent, to 2,916.59.

Financial information firm Markit said its U.S. "flash," or preliminary, manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 52.4, its quickest pace in five months, from a three-year low of 51.0 in October.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading of the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 82.7, a touch up from 82.6 the month before but down from a preliminary reading of 84.9 released earlier in the month.

Trading is expected to be light ahead of a U.S. holiday Thursday for Thanksgiving.

Deere & Co lost 2.7 percent to $83.66 after the world's largest farm equipment maker, reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit.

Salesforce.com Inc jumped 7.3 percent to $156.52 after the business software provider beat Wall Street expectations for the third quarter and maintained its outlook for the rest of the year.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Clinton Visits in Effort to Defuse Gaza Conflict; Egypt Hints at Truce

JERUSALEM — Diplomatic efforts accelerated Tuesday to end the deadly confrontation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, as the United States sent Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the Middle East and Egypt’s president expressed confidence that a cease-fire was close.

The diplomatic moves to end the nearly week-old crisis came on a day of some of the most intense violence yet. Militants in Gaza fired a long-range rocket toward Jerusalem for the second time in a week. The rocket fell short, but Israeli forces responded with an aerial assault on the suspected launching site near Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital that killed at least nine people. A delegation visiting Gaza from the Arab League postponed a news conference because of the Israeli assault, as wailing ambulances brought victims to the hospital, some of them decapitated.

The announcement of Mrs. Clinton’s active role in efforts to defuse the crisis added a strong new dimension to the multinational push to avert a new Middle East war and raised expectations of a truce. Israel has amassed thousands of soldiers on the border with Gaza and has threatened to invade the crowded Palestinian enclave for the second time in four years to stop the persistent rockets that have been lobbed at Israel.

Mrs. Clinton, who accompanied President Obama on his three-country Asia trip, left Cambodia on her own plane immediately for the Middle East. She was en route to Jerusalem to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, then head to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian leaders and finally to Cairo to consult with Egyptian officials.

In Cairo, President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt added to the atmosphere of guarded optimism. The official Middle East News Agency quoted him as saying Israel’s “aggression” against Gaza would end, and Egyptian-mediated efforts would produce “positive results” in several hours.

The decision to dispatch Mrs. Clinton dramatically deepens the American involvement in the crisis. Mr. Obama made a number of late-night phone calls from his Asian tour to the Middle East on Monday night that contributed to his conclusion that he had to become more engaged and that Mrs. Clinton might be able to accomplish something.

With Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, also scheduled to arrive in Israel on Tuesday, a senior official in the prime minister’s office said Israel had decided to give more time to diplomacy before launching a ground invasion into Gaza. But Israel has not withdrawn other options.

“I prefer a diplomatic solution,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement at the start of a meeting in Jerusalem with the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle. “I hope that we can get one, but if not, we have every right to defend ourselves with other means and we shall use them.

“As you know, we seek a diplomatic unwinding to this, through the discussions of cease-fire,” Mr. Netanyahu added. “But if the firing continues, we will have to take broader action and we won’t hesitate to do so.”

About three hours before Mr. Ban was scheduled to meet Mr. Netanyahu in Jerusalem, sirens sounded across the city in the early afternoon announcing an incoming rocket from Gaza. The military wing of Hamas said it had fired at the city. The rocket fell short, landing harmlessly in the West Bank just south of Jerusalem, and the military said it landed on open ground near a Palestinian village.

The rocket attack on the city, which is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, was the second in less than a week. On Friday, a rocket landed in a similar location, the police said.

The Israeli military said its air force had struck Tuesday morning at 11 Palestinian squads involved in planting explosives and firing rockets, as well as underground rocket launchers and a store of weapons and ammunition. The military said it had also used tank shells and artillery fire against unspecified targets in Gaza.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said the Palestinian death toll had climbed by late Tuesday morning to 112, roughly half of the dead civilians, including children. Three Israelis died in a rocket attack last week.

After an Asian summit dinner in Phnom Penh on Monday night, Mr. Obama called President Morsi to discuss the situation, then spoke with Mr. Netanyahu and called Mr. Morsi back. He was up until 2:30 a.m. on the phone, the White House said. He consulted with Mrs. Clinton repeatedly on the sidelines of the Asian summit meetings on Tuesday.

“This morning, Secretary Clinton and the president spoke again about the situation in Gaza, and they agreed that it makes sense for the secretary to travel to the region, so Secretary Clinton will depart today,” said Benjamin Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Obama. “Her visits will build on the engagement that we’ve undertaken in the last several days.”

Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem and Peter Baker from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Reporting was contributed by Jodi Rudoren from Gaza City, David D. Kirkpatrick from Cairo and Rick Gladstone from New York.

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The Killing's Jamie Anne Allman Expecting Twins

Mom & Babies
Celebrity Baby Blog

11/20/2012 at 11:00 AM ET

Tsuni/Gamma

Jamie Anne Allman is good at keeping secrets — but she’s ready to let this one out of the bag.

The Killing star and husband Marshall Allman are expecting their first children — a set of twins! — this spring, the couple tell PEOPLE exclusively.

“We were ecstatic to find out we were pregnant and overjoyed to learn they were fraternal twins,” the couple tell PEOPLE.

“Twins run in both of our families so we were prepared for the possibility, but we know we’re gonna need all the prayers and help we can get.”

Jamie Anne and Marshall, best known for his roles as Tommy on True Blood and L.J. on Prison Break, broke the news to friends and family the best way they knew how.

“Both of us being actors, we made a film,” they tell PEOPLE. “It made it super fun and easy to share the news in a surprising way across the country.”

The Allmans were married in Austin, Texas in June 2006.

– Sarah Michaud

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.

Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.

The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make HIV screening simply a routine part of a check-up, something a doctor can order with as little fuss as a cholesterol test or a mammogram. Since 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has pushed for widespread, routine HIV screening.

Yet not nearly enough people have heeded that call: Of the more than 1.1 million Americans living with HIV, nearly 1 in 5 — almost 240,000 people — don't know it. Not only is their own health at risk without treatment, they could unwittingly be spreading the virus to others.

The updated guidelines will bring this long-simmering issue before doctors and their patients again — emphasizing that public health experts agree on how important it is to test even people who don't think they're at risk, because they could be.

"It allows you to say, 'This is a recommended test that we believe everybody should have. We're not singling you out in any way,'" said task force member Dr. Douglas Owens of Stanford University and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

And if finalized, the task force guidelines could extend the number of people eligible for an HIV screening without a copay in their doctor's office, as part of free preventive care under the Obama administration's health care law. Under the task force's previous guidelines, only people at increased risk for HIV — which includes gay and bisexual men and injecting drug users — were eligible for that no-copay screening.

There are a number of ways to get tested. If you're having blood drawn for other exams, the doctor can merely add HIV to the list, no extra pokes or swabs needed. Today's rapid tests can cost less than $20 and require just rubbing a swab over the gums, with results ready in as little as 20 minutes. Last summer, the government approved a do-it-yourself at-home version that's selling for about $40.

Free testing is available through various community programs around the country, including a CDC pilot program in drugstores in 24 cities and rural sites.

Monday's proposal also recommends:

—Testing people older and younger than 15-64 if they are at increased risk of HIV infection,

—People at very high risk for HIV infection should be tested at least annually.

—It's not clear how often to retest people at somewhat increased risk, but perhaps every three to five years.

—Women should be tested during each pregnancy, something the task force has long recommended.

The draft guidelines are open for public comment through Dec. 17.

Most of the 50,000 new HIV infections in the U.S. every year are among gay and bisexual men, followed by heterosexual black women.

"We are not doing as well in America with HIV testing as we would like," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, CDC's HIV prevention chief, said Monday.

The CDC recommends at least one routine test for everyone ages 13 to 64, starting two years younger than the task force recommended. That small difference aside, CDC data suggests fewer than half of adults under 65 have been tested.

"It can sometimes be awkward to ask your doctor for an HIV test," Mermin said — the reason that making it routine during any health care encounter could help.

But even though nearly three-fourths of gay and bisexual men with undiagnosed HIV had visited some sort of health provider in the previous year, 48 percent weren't tested for HIV, a recent CDC survey found. Emergency rooms are considered a good spot to catch the undiagnosed, after their illnesses and injuries have been treated, but Mermin said only about 2 percent of ER patients known to be at increased risk were tested while there.

Mermin calls that "a tragedy. It's a missed opportunity."

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S&P 500, Nasdaq turn up; Dow trims loss

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Like the 10 winners before him, Phillip Phillips faces the uneven road from "American Idol" victor to pop-chart mainstay. After the success of his Top 10 hit, "Home," the Georgia native is facing a new challenge - to replicate the mainstream successes of past "Idol" winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson on his debut album, "The World from the Side of the Moon," released on Monday by Interscope Records. ...

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Palestinian Death Toll Rises as Israel Presses Onslaught

GAZA CITY — After a night of sustained Israeli strikes by air and sea and a morning of rocket attacks on Israel, the Health Ministry here said on Monday that the Palestinian death toll in six days of conflict had risen to 91 with 700 wounded, including 200 children, as the assault ground on unrelentingly despite efforts toward a cease-fire.

The casualties — 19 people reported killed since midnight local time — included Palestinians killed in strikes by warplanes and a drone attack on two men on a motorcycle. Another drone attack killed the driver of a taxi hired by journalists and displaying “Press” signs, although it was not clear which journalists hired it, Palestinian officials said.

On Sunday, Israeli forces attacked two buildings housing local broadcasters and production companies used by foreign outlets. Israeli officials denied targeting journalists, but on Monday Israeli forces again blasted the Al Sharouk block used by many local broadcasters as well as Britain’s Sky News and the Al Arabiya channel.

The attack, apparently aimed at a computer shop on the third floor of the building, sparked a blaze that sent plumes of dark smoke creeping up the sides of the building. Video footage showed clouds of gray smoke billowing from the high-rise building as the missiles struck home.

An Israeli bomb pummeled a home deep into the ground here on Sunday, killing 11 people, including nine in three generations of a single family, in the deadliest single strike in six days of cross-border conflict. Members of the family were buried Monday in a rite that turned into a gesture of defiance and became a rally supporting Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.

A militant leader said Tel Aviv, in the Israeli heartland, would be hit “over and over” and warned Israelis that their leaders were misleading them and would “take them to hell.”

The airstrikes further indicated that Israel was striking a wide range of targets. Three Israelis have been killed and at least 79 wounded by continued rocket fire into southern Israel and as far north as Tel Aviv.

Israel says its onslaught is designed to stop Hamas from launching the rockets, but, after an apparent lull overnight, more missiles hurtled toward targets in Israel, some of them intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. Of five rockets fired on Monday at the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, four were intercepted but one smashed through the concrete roof at the entrance to an empty school. There were no reports of casualties. Other rockets rained on areas along the border with Gaza. 

Later a second volley struck Ashkelon. Several rockets were intercepted, but one crashed down onto a house, causing damage but no casualties. News reports said 75 rockets had been fired by midafternoon.

On Sunday, a new blitz of Palestinian rockets totaled nearly 100 by nightfall, including two that soared toward the population center of Tel Aviv but were knocked out of the sky by Israeli defenses.

In a statement on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said overnight targets included “underground rocket launchers, terror tunnels, training bases, Hamas command posts and weapon storage facilities.” But news reports said the strikes flattened two houses belonging to a single family, killing two children and two adults and injuring 42 people, while a shrapnel burst from another attack killed one child and wounded others living near the rubble of the former national security compound.

The latest exchanges offered a grim backdrop to Egyptian-led cease-fire efforts that have so far proved inconclusive. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, was set to join the effort in Cairo on Monday.

Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said there had been a reduction of up to 40 percent in rocket fire from Gaza, while Israeli forces had launched 40 attacks on tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, both at the entrances and along the road leading to them, causing considerable damage.

He said six rocket launching teams and two men on motorcycles were hit, while the Israeli forces continued to intercept Palestinian radio signals to urge Gaza residents to steer clear of activists.

In the Israeli strike on Sunday morning, it took emergency workers and a Caterpillar digger more than an hour to reveal the extent of the devastation under the two-story home of Jamal Dalu, a shop owner. Mr. Dalu was at a neighbor’s when the blast wiped out nearly his entire family: His sister, wife, two daughters, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren ages 2 to 6 all perished under the rubble, along with two neighbors, an 18-year-old and his grandmother.

Fares Akram and Jodi Rudoren reported from Gaza City, and Alan Cowell from London. Reporting was contributed by Isabel Kershner from Ashkelon, Israel; Ethan Bronner, Myra Noveck and Irit Pazner Garshowitz from Jerusalem; Rina Castelnuovo from Ashdod, Israel; Peter Baker from Bangkok; and David D. Kirkpatrick from Cairo.

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Amazon’s larger Kindle Fire HD ships early

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has started shipping the larger version of its Kindle Fire HD tablet computer on Thursday, five days ahead of schedule.

Amazon is short on stock, though, so new orders won’t ship until Dec. 3. Amazon.com Inc. had been taking orders for shipment on Nov. 20.

The Kindle Fire is one of several tablets challenging Apple’s iPad.

The tablet, which has an 8.9-inch screen measured diagonally, is available on Amazon’s website for $ 299. The tablet will be available at Best Buy stores beginning Friday and at more retailers in the coming weeks.

A version with cellular access is available for $ 499 and will start shipping next week as planned, though new orders won’t ship until Dec. 3.

The smaller version, which has a 7-inch screen, has been available since September.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Apolo Ohno Blogs About the 'Hardest Week' on Dancing with the Stars

TV Watch
Only on People.com

By Apolo Ohno

11/19/2012 at 11:45 AM EST

Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff

Craig Sjodin/ABC

Apolo Ohno is a former Dancing with the Stars champion, winning the coveted mirror-ball trophy in season 4 with Julianne Hough. The ice-skating Olympian is now blogging for PEOPLE.com about competing with Karina Smirnoff in the all-star season.

It felt good not going home on Tuesday, but at the same time, I never want to see anyone else go home either. Everybody's dancing so well and you become friends with everybody on the show during the time you're there. You cheer everybody on and you watch them grow as dancers and as people.

Now that we've made it to week nine, oh, man, I'm dying. Not really, but for me this is by far the absolute hardest week I've ever had on Dancing with the Stars. We have big top jazz, which is a dance that I know zero about. I've never done it before on the show, and I don't think we've ever seen it before on the show.

Our choreography is super intense, different, unique, fun, almost Cirque du Soleil-like a little bit. It's crazy. There's so much content in it. I feel like I need another two weeks just to work on that dance. Then we also have the rumba, which we haven't even started yet.

I can't control the outcome of the show. The fans have carried us this far, which has been an absolute blessing. But I take every week on the show as if it's my last. The only thing I can control is how much time, energy and effort we put into each week. Who cares about the scores? Who cares if somebody dances better? Doing my very best is rewarding internally.

I think voters know that we work extremely hard and we have fun. I hope that, especially over the past couple of weeks, people have been able to see how much in character we get. It's acting, it's fun, it's theatrical, it's emotional, it's physical. It's all in one package.

Looking back on the season thus far, I had no idea the competition was going to be this difficult. I knew there were going to be challenges, but I didn't know they were going to be this big. Every single week has been a true test for me to really dig deep and find what is possible beyond just the dance floor.

Luckily, Karina [Smirnoff] has been there as an absolutely incredible teacher who is so passionate and so into giving her best. That's what it takes. I feel like we've overcome so many challenges so far. I feel like we are champions already, regardless of what happens in the next couple of weeks. I feel like that's going to show when we dance on Monday. We are truly going to push the boundaries this week.

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

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Wall Street bounces on budget talk optimism, housing data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street bounced on Monday as investors were heartened by signs of progress in talks to resolve the fiscal crunch and data that showed the recovery in the housing sector was gaining strength.

The major indexes climbed more than 1 percent after tumbling in recent weeks on nervousness over when and if Washington will come to an agreement to avoid the series of tax and spending changes that will start to come into effect in the new year.

Over the weekend, leading Democratic and Republican lawmakers expressed confidence that they could reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff", even as they laid down markers on raising taxes and spending cuts that may make any agreement more difficult.

"What you're seeing today is an oversold bounce in the market," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial in Westport, Connecticut.

"This could last for a few more days, but ultimately we'll need to see what type of legislation or forward progress comes out of Washington."

Stronger-than-expected earnings from Lowe's and Tyson Foods, as well as encouraging housing data also contributed to the market's advance.

U.S. home resales unexpectedly rose in October, while separate data showed homebuilder sentiment rose to its highest level in over six years in November.

The PHLX Housing Index <.hgx> rose 1.7 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 163.07 points, or 1.30 percent, to 12,751.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 21.52 points, or 1.58 percent, to 1,381.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> climbed 46.51 points, or 1.63 percent, to 2,899.64.

The S&P 500 was approaching its 200-day moving average around 1,382. Rising back above the key technical level could provide additional support for the index.

Shares of Lowe's Cos Inc , the world's No. 2 home improvement chain, jumped 6.3 percent to $33.99 after the company reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year sales forecast.

Tyson Foods Inc likewise beat expectations and gave an upbeat forecast, sending its stock up 8.5 percent at $18.32.

Intel shares erased earlier losses to trade higher after the company said its chief executive will retire in May. Intel was up 0.9 percent at $20.37.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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