Syrian Refugees Entering Jordan in Record Numbers, U.N. Says

GENEVA — Syrians are fleeing into Jordan in record numbers to escape escalating violence and destruction that is making it increasingly difficult for civilians to survive, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday. More than 4,000 Syrians arrived at a camp in Zaatari in northern Jordan on Thursday and another 2,000 people overnight, Melissa Fleming, the spokeswoman for the United Nations...

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Matt Damon Takes Over Jimmy Kimmel Live

TV Watch By Stephen M. Silverman 01/25/2013 at 08:00 AM EST Matt Damon (foreground) and Jimmy Kimmel Matt Damon more than made up for his decade of being bumped from Jimmy Kimmel Live. Declaring "I am in command of this ship," Damon not only hijacked the show...

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

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Stock futures up, S&P 500 poised to rally for an eighth day

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures gained on Friday and the S&P 500 looked set to extend its best winning streak in more than six years, as rosy earnings from Procter & Gamble came amid a broader backdrop of healthy corporate results. The strong start to the year for the equities market has also been attributed to agreement in Washington to extend the government's borrowing...

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India Ink: India Rape Trial Starts With Renewed Ban on Media Coverage

The trial of five men accused in the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in New Delhi is being watched closely as a symbol of India’s commitment to justice for women, but information about the ongoing court proceedings may be scarce.As court proceedings began Thursday, the presiding judge said  there would be a blanket ban on reporting on the trial. The judge, Yogesh Khanna,  also...

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Go forth and Tweet! Pope sees web networks as “portals of truth”

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict urged Catholics on Thursday to use social networks like Twitter and Facebook to win converts, as he launched his own smartphone app streaming live footage of his speeches.The websites – often associated with endless postings of idle gossip and baby photos – could be used as “portals of truth and faith” in an increasingly secular age, the pontiff said in his 2013...

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Adrienne Maloof: Why I'm 'Casually Dating' Rod Stewart's Son

TV Watch By Raha Lewis 01/24/2013 at 08:00 AM EST Adrienne Maloof and Sean Stewart Splash News Online Adrienne Maloof wants to make one thing clear about Sean Stewart: "We are not living together. He has his own place. He has a nice place."Otherwise, she tells...

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AP Interview: UN wants better family planning

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The U.N.'s top population official wants governments to do more to ensure that women have access to family planning.The U.N. says the world will add a billion people to its current population of some 7 billion within a decade, further straining the planet's resources.Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, says more than 220 million women in...

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Stock futures drop as Apple revenue miss to halt stocks rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures fell Thursday as Apple slid nearly 10 percent following a revenue miss, and analysts said equities may be due for a pullback after a six-day rally for the S&P 500. Apple Inc missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter after iPhone sales came in below expectations, fanning fears its dominance of consumer electronics is...

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IHT Rendezvous: Taiwan's Diverse Literature and History on Show in Two New Museums

TAINAN — Two new museums in Tainan, a city in Taiwan’s south, say much about how the island’s people have worked in recent years to build an unusually inclusive cultural identity, a model for Chinese-speaking societies, as I write in my Letter from Taiwan this week.At the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, founded in 2003, exhibits explore the writing, film and music of indigenous cultures such...

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