Lovie Smith fired as Bears coach after 9 seasons

LAKE FOREST, Ill. The Chicago Bears fired coach Lovie Smith on Monday after the team missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons. Smith was informed of the decision by general manager Phil Emery on the day after the Bears beat Detroit to finish 10-6 but still didn't make the playoffs. 10 PhotosNFL coaches, GMs sacked in firing frenzy Smith led the Bears to a Super Bowl, but also saw...

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Clinton's Blood Clot Could've Been Life Threatening

Hillary Clinton's latest health update -- cerebral venous thrombosis -- is a rare and potentially "life-threatening" condition, according to medical experts, but one from which the globe-trotting secretary of state is likely to recover from.In an update from her doctors, Clinton's brain scans revealed a clot had formed in the right transverse venous sinus, and she was being...

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Bombs kill 23 across Iraq as sectarian strife grows

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 23 people were killed and 87 wounded in attacks across Iraq on Monday, police said, underlining sectarian and ethnic divisions that threaten to further destabilize the country a year after U.S. troops left. Tensions between Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni factions in Iraq's power-sharing government have been on the rise this year. Militants strike almost daily...

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US hits debt ceiling with 'fiscal cliff' still unresolved

WASHINGTON: The US Treasury said the country would hit its debt ceiling on Monday as expected, forcing it to take measures to keep funding the government while political leaders battle over the deficit.The Treasury said it would adjust its handling of civil service pension fund assets to be able to keep operating under the $16.394 trillion borrowing limit without slashing federal spending,...

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Unlock your Hyundai with a tap of your smartphone by 2015

In the future, you'll be able to unlock your Hyundaicar, start its engine, and more with little more than your NFC-enabled smartphone. Using the new Hyundai i30 (known here in the States as the Elantra GT) as its Connectivity Concept test platform, Hyundai showed off a variety of wireless technologies that it hopes to implement as early as 2015. According to Hyundai, "the Connectivity Concept allows...

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Five killed in Oregon tour bus crash

LA GRANDE, Ore. Authorities say five people died and about 20 more were injured in a tour bus crash on an icy stretch of interstate in Oregon. Police say the bus lost control around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon. The bus crashed through a guardrail and went down an embankment a few hundred feet. Rescue workers are using ropes to help retrieve...

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Fiscal Cliff-Hanger: No Vote Tonight, Reid Says

With less than two days remaining for Congress to reach a budget agreement that would avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," a senior White House official tells ABC News that President Obama is still "modestly optimistic" that a deal can be struck to prevent middle class taxes from increasing on New Year's Day.But a resolution to the ordeal won't come tonight.Senate Majority Leader...

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Body of India rape victim cremated in New Delhi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The body of a woman, whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India, arrived back in New Delhi on Sunday and was cremated at a private ceremony. Scuffles broke out in central Delhi between police and protesters who say the government is doing too little to protect women. But the 2,000-strong rally was confined to...

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Brazil, Mexico have most Latin American billionaires

MEXICO CITY: Brazil and Mexico have the most billionaires in Latin America but earn the least from estate taxes, according to a new study from a regional economic group.Brazil tops the billionaires list with 30, followed by Mexico, with 11, said this month's report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.Mexico's Carlos Slim is the richest in the world according...

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Predicting the most unlikely tech events that will happen in 2013

Mr. Pop on his flip phone. (Credit:Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)The other day I was lying on the beach when an older, bronzed man came and lay down next to me.He made some groaning noises and chatted on his flip phone. He was Iggy Pop. This, in itself was unusual. However, at the very moment he was there I was reading a book called "Paris, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down," by Rosencrans Baldwin....

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Indian gang rape victim dies in hospital

SINGAPORE A young Indian woman who was gang-raped and severely beaten on a bus in New Delhi died early Saturday at a hospital in Singapore, the hospital said. The 23-year-old victim "died peacefully," according to a statement by Singapore's Mount Elizabeth hospital where she was being treated. The woman's horrific ordeal galvanized Indians, who have held almost daily demonstrations to demand greater...

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'Cliff' Summit Brings Hope for a Deal

Washington brinkmanship appears to have created a last minute chance for the White House and Congress to agree on a plan to avoid sending the country over the fiscal cliff.President Obama emerged from a White House summit this evening to say "we had a constructive meeting today" and that he was "optimistic" that they could devise a proposal ahead of a Jan. 1 deadline that would...

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Syria opposition leader rejects Moscow invitation

ALEPPO PROVINCE, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition leader has rejected an invitation from Russia for peace talks, dealing another blow to international hopes that diplomacy can be resurrected to end a 21-month civil war. Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's main international protector, said on Friday it had sent an invitation for a visit to Moaz Alkhatib, whose six-week-old...

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Obama "modestly optimistic" for fiscal deal

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said Friday he was "modestly optimistic" a deal could be agreed with Republicans to head off a "fiscal cliff" crisis that could trigger a recession and rock global markets.Obama said after meeting top congressional leaders that Senate Democrats and Republicans would work overtime this weekend to try to head off a $500 billion time bomb of tax hikes...

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Upcoming book gives look at early Apple designs

Ghosts of iPhones past.(Credit:Hartmut Esslinger/Designboom)Apple fanatics may find themselves foaming at the mouth over some retro conceptualMac computer photos featured in Hartmut Esslinger's upcoming book "Design Forward: Creative Strategies for Sustainable Change."The book explores Esslinger's journey as a German designer who worked with Sony, Louis Vuitton, and others before moving on to Apple...

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"Low-end blizzard" eases in Northeast

Updated 3:50 p.m. ETCONCORD, New Hampshire A powerful winter storm blamed for 16 deaths in other parts of the country is bringing rain to southernNew England and snow further north, but the region has been largely spared the pounding that other states took. The storm pushed through the Upper Ohio Valley and made its way into the Northeast Wednesday night, leaving up to a foot of snow in some locations...

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Utah Teachers Flock to Gun Training

The perception of schools as sanctuaries from violence has been "blown up" by recent events and some believe it's time for educators to literally take the situation into their own hands and carry guns."We've had this unwritten code, even among criminals, that schools are off limits. Those are our kids. You don't mess with that," Utah Shooting Sports Council (USSC) Chairman Clark...

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Russia's Putin signals he will sign U.S. adoption ban

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signaled on Thursday he would sign into law a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children and sought to forestall criticism of the move by promising measures to better care for his country's orphans. In televised comments, Putin tried to appeal to people's patriotism by suggesting that strong and responsible countries should take care...

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Egypt's Mubarak back in hospital as health worsens

CAIRO: Egypt's state prosecutor on Thursday ordered imprisoned former dictator Hosni Mubarak transferred to a military hospital after his health deteriorated, a source at the prosecutor's office said.Mubarak, serving a life sentence over the killings of protesters, was briefly taken to hospital on December 19 for scans after he fell in his prison bathroom and hurt his head.Mubarak, 84,...

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Microsoft to Google: You're not 'serious' about business apps

Even though Google execs have made some recent noises about making inroads on Microsoft's business-applications turf, the software giant claims it's not breaking a sweat. Google "has not yet shown they are truly serious," about the enterprise app business, general manager in Microsoft's business division Julia White told the New York Times. "From the outside, they are an advertising company." Google...

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Fmr. President Bush battling "stubborn" fever

Updated 6:40 p.m. ETA "stubborn" fever that kept former President George H.W. Bush in a hospital over Christmas has gotten worse, and doctors have put him on a liquids-only diet, his spokesman said Wednesday, describing Bush's condition as guarded to CBS News. Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, had said earlier in the day that the fever had gone away, but he later corrected himself. "It's...

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WH Lashes Out at 'Congressional Stupidity'

With only days to come up with a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, the White House said “congressional stupidity” was damaging the economy but that an agreement could be reached if Republican leaders don’t get in the way.President Obama cut his Hawaiian vacation short and headed back to Washington today while the Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Thursday. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said...

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Syria to discuss Brahimi peace proposals with Russia

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent a senior diplomat to Moscow on Wednesday to discuss proposals to end the conflict convulsing his country made by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Syrian and Lebanese sources said. Brahimi, who saw Assad on Monday and is planning to hold a series of meetings with Syrian officials and dissidents in Damascus this week, is trying...

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