S&P 500 ends higher for fourth session in light volume

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks finished modestly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up for a fourth session although trading volume was one of the year's lowest on the day ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Investors welcomed news that a ceasefire was declared to end the flare-up in violence between Israel and the Palestinians, though the lack of a deal to release emergency aid for...

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Egyptian-brokered Hamas-Israel ceasefire takes hold

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip agreed on Wednesday to an Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire to halt an eight-day conflict that killed 162 Palestinians and five Israelis. Both sides fought right up to 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) when hostilities were due to stop, with several explosions shaking Gaza City and rockets hitting the Israeli city of Beersheba....

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PlayStation Mobile Now Lets PS Vita Owners Create Their Own Games

Think you (or someone you know) has what it takes to write games for the PlayStation Vita? Sony just opened up its PlayStation Mobile game store to anyone who wants in. All you need is a half-decent Windows PC and a Vita, and the cash for a $ 99 developer fee — the same yearly price Apple charges.​How PlayStation Mobile fits in PlayStation...

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Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou Separate

People Exclusive 11/21/2012 at 04:15 PM EST Djimon Hounsou and Kimora Lee Simmons Shareif Ziyadat/Getty It's over for Djimon Hounsou and Kimora Lee Simmons."Djimon Hounsou and Kimora Lee Simmons have officially separated after 5½ years," the actor's rep tells...

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US abortions fall 5 pct, biggest drop in a decade

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. abortions fell 5 percent during the recession and its aftermath in the biggest one-year decrease in at least a decade, perhaps because women are more careful to use birth control when times are tough, researchers say.The decline, detailed on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, came in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Both...

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Bernanke's "cliff" comments break two-day rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street halted its two-day rally on Tuesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank lacks tools to cushion the economy from the impact of the "fiscal cliff." The day's biggest disappointment was Hewlett-Packard Co shares , which sank to a 10-year low after the computer and printer maker swung to a fourth-quarter loss and announced a...

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Clinton in Jerusalem as Gaza truce still elusive

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Jerusalem for talks on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as expectations rose of a ceasefire soon to end a week of fighting around the Gaza Strip. However, Gaza's rulers, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, revised a statement that a truce would start overnight, saying it was still waiting...

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Tablets, discounters top U.S. holiday shopping lists: Reuters/Ipsos

(Reuters) – Move over computers, your sleek siblings are the prized gift of the holidays.One-third of U.S. consumers are thinking about buying an electronic tablet this holiday season, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters. And 22 percent of those who want one of the hot devices said they plan to cut back on other holiday purchases...

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Kelly Clarkson: I'm Not Engaged - But Am Waiting for That Ring

By Mike Fleeman 11/20/2012 at 03:30 PM EST Brandon Blackstock and Kelly Clarkson Rick Diamond/Getty As hints go, this one wasn't too subtle, seeing as Kelly Clarkson dropped it on national television.Appearing Tuesday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the pop star...

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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...

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