Discover Financial Services 4Q net income rises

 Discover Financial Services on Thursday reported higher earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, as users of its namesake credit card stepped up purchases and the company wrote off fewer unpaid balances.Even so, the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company's results fell short of Wall Street expectations, and investors sent its shares down over 3 percent Thursday.Discover, the nation's sixth-largest credit...

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Richardson: NKorea trip is private, humanitarian

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says the State Department should not be nervous about a visit he's making to North Korea with Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt.The State Department has advised against his making the trip. But Richardson says he doesn't work for the U.S. government.Richardson said Friday he's concerned about an American citizen detained in North Korea,...

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Abbas sees Palestinian unity as Fatah rallies in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave."Soon we will regain our unity," Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions, said...

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Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani teen shot by Taliban, is released from UK hospital

A daily summary of global reports on security issues. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen who was shot in the head by the Taliban in the fall for promoting girls’ education, was released from a British hospital yesterday. Malala, who will spend the next few weeks with her family in the UKbefore returning to the hospital for more surgery, quickly became an international symbol of...

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What does Google want with North Korea?

Google chairman Eric Schmidt plans to visit North Korea as early as next week in what analysts see as part of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s drive to give an appearance of closing the vast digital divide between his isolated country and the rest of the world.Although Mr. Schmidt is not expected to reach any real deal with the North, his presence there seems to show a desire in North Korea to improve...

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France's Bardot threatens exile over elephants

PARIS (AP) — Sex symbol-turned-animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot is threatening to join actor Gerard Depardieu in Russian exile unless France halts the scheduled euthanasia of two sick circus elephants.The 1960s screen diva says authorities have ignored her "numerous proposals" to save Baby and Nepal, a pair of 42-year-old elephants dying of tuberculosis at a Lyon zoo.In a statement on her foundation's...

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Macy's key revenue figure rises in December

 Macy's said Thursday that revenue in stores open at least one year rose 4.1 in December, edging past Wall Street estimates.But the figure grew less than the company expected during the combined two-month November and December period, the key holiday shopping months, and Macy's lowered its fourth-quarter guidance.The department store chain also said it will close six underperforming stores.Analysts...

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Stocks sink as Congress heads for another showdown

 The stock market pulled back slightly Thursday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average posted its strongest gain in more than a year.Retailers reported mixed sales and the prospect of a new budget battle in Congress helped nudge stocks lower.The Dow Jones industrial average was down 25 points to 13,387 an hour after the opening bell. UnitedHealth Group led the Dow lower, sinking $1.65...

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Stocks pause on Wall Street after a two-day rally

Stocks are little changed on Wall Street as the market pauses following a huge two-day rally.The Dow Jones industrial average was off four points at 13,408 at midday Thursday. UnitedHealth Group led the Dow lower after analysts at Deutsche Bank and other firms cut their ratings on the insurer's stock.The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up a point to 1,463 and the Nasdaq composite rose three...

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World stocks put relief rally on pause

 Enthusiasm faded on Wall Street and in European markets Thursday over U.S. legislators' deal to stave off the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could have hurt the world's largest economy.While the deal passed by Congress this week avoids the near-term risk of a major blow to businesses and households, it left unsolved several budget measures,...

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