PREVIEW-NFL-Texans' Schaub facing big test against Patriots

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub starts his first road playoff game, at the New England Patriots on Sunday, with the pressure on.The Patriots, corning in from a bye week, loom as favorites in the American Football Conference (AFC) divisional round clash as they look to go one better than last season when they lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.New England crushed...

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Texans' Schaub facing big test against Patriots

(Reuters) - Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub starts his first road playoff game, at the New England Patriots on Sunday, with the pressure on.The Patriots, corning in from a bye week, loom as favorites in the American Football Conference (AFC) divisional round clash as they look to go one better than last season when they lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.New England crushed Houston...

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Chiefs announce coordinators, assistant coaches

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andy Reid is wasting about as much time putting together his first coaching staff in Kansas City as he did in finding his new job.The Chiefs coach announced Friday that former Eagles coach Doug Pederson would be his offensive coordinator and longtime Jets assistant Bob Sutton the defensive coordinator, along with the majority of the staff Reid hopes will turn around a 2-14...

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Analysis: In battle for the car, Sirius faces fight from Pandora

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius XM Radio Inc's grip on drivers is under an increasing threat as the availability of Internet connections in more cars is helping Pandora Media Inc counter some of its rival's big selling points.In a sign of how important drivers are to the two companies, each of their top executives made the trek to Las Vegas this week to court automakers at the annual Consumer Electronics...

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CES 2013: Shhh, don’t tell, but Las Vegas likes secrets, even at a trade show

LAS VEGAS—In a leather banquette in a sparkling Las Vegas club, a knockout blonde discreetly kicked the Louis Vuitton bag at her feet.“It’s in there,” she whispered to me, conspiratorially. I followed this dame’s fishnet-clad legs down to her shoe’s pointed toe. Beautiful bag. “I call it the football,” she said. “I’m not going to bring it out yet.”Leslie Bradshaw’s honey-colored Cali perfection brings...

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Whitman says it will take five years to turn HP around

Whitman says it will take five years to turn HP aroundTo understand what an unholy mess HP (HPQ) is in right now, consider that CEO Meg Whitman says she needs more time to fix the company than she would have had to fix the entire California economy if she’d been elected governor. In a long Businessweek article about HP’s current turmoil, Whitman says that it will take her five years to execute her...

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New York governor wants casinos to spur upstate economy

(Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed on Wednesday dozens of new initiatives for the state, including new casinos and other measures aimed at helping upstate areas regain their financial footing after decades of economic decline.Cuomo, in his annual State of the State address, proposed locating up to three casinos upstate to increase tourism and provide some local property tax relief...

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ECB to hold fire as euro zone economy shows glimmers of hope

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.75 percent on Thursday, refraining from a cut as the euro zone economy shows some signs of stabilising and inflation still tops its target.The 17-country euro zone is in recession, but recent data points to some stabilisation, and ECB President Mario Draghi could strike a slightly more positive...

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Asia stocks rise on positive start to US earnings

BANGKOK (AP) — A positive start to U.S. corporate earnings season helped boost Asian stock markets Thursday.Major regional benchmarks rose on the heels of a handful of better-than-expected results that also lifted Wall Street.Consumer products maker Helen of Troy, whose brands include Dr. Scholl's and Vidal Sassoon, reported a 15 percent profit increase. Electronic payments processor Global Payments...

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Venezuela postpones inauguration for cancer-stricken Chavez

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will postpone the inauguration of President Hugo Chavez for a new term due to health problems, the government said on Tuesday, another sign the socialist leader's cancer may be bringing an end to his 14 years in power.The 58-year-old former soldier who has dominated the South American OPEC nation since 1999 has not been heard from since surgery on December 11 in Cuba...

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Officials: US may leave no troops in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration gave the first explicit signal Tuesday that it might leave no troops in Afghanistan after December 2014, an option that defies the Pentagon's view that thousands of troops may be needed to keep a lid on al-Qaida and to strengthen Afghan forces."The U.S. does not have an inherent objective of 'X' number of troops in Afghanistan," said Ben Rhodes, a White...

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Rwanda opposes use of drones by the U.N. in eastern Congo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rwanda on Tuesday opposed the use of surveillance drones in eastern Congo as proposed by the United Nations until there is a full assessment of their use, saying it did not want Africa to become a laboratory for foreign intelligence devices.Envoys said U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the Security Council during a closed-door session that the U.N mission in the...

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U.S. health cost growth slowed in 2011 but with signs of pickup

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. healthcare spending rose at a historically low rate of 3.9 percent for the third consecutive year in 2011, but showed underlying signs of acceleration as the economy recovered from recession, the Obama administration said on Monday.The report, released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and published in the journal Health Affairs, said the sprawling...

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UK stores suffer lacklustre Christmas sales - BRC

LONDON (Reuters) - British retailers suffered from lacklustre sales last month, as a tough economy limited consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas when many stores make most of their profits, a leading trade body said on Tuesday.The British Retail Consortium said the total value of goods sold was up just 1.5 percent from December 2011, while on a like-for-like basis which excludes new floorspace...

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Asia stocks down ahead of US corporate earnings

 Asian stock markets headed lower Tuesday as investors turned cautious before U.S. earnings season kicks off this week.Investors will get a feel for corporate America's outlook as earnings reports start coming. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. will launch the reporting season for the fourth quarter of 2012 on Tuesday after U.S. markets close. Events during the quarter such as Superstorm Sandy, the...

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AP Interview: Palestinian PM warns of cash crisis

The Palestinian self-rule government is in "extreme jeopardy" because of an unprecedented financial crisis, largely because Arab countries have failed to send hundreds of millions of dollars in promised aid, the Palestinian prime minister said Sunday.The cash crunch has gradually worsened in recent years, and the Palestinian Authority now has reached the point of not being able to pay the salaries...

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Defiant Assad pledges to continue fighting

A defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad rallied a chanting and cheering crowd Sunday to fight the uprising against his authoritarian rule, dismissing any chance of dialogue with "murderous criminals" that he blames for nearly two years of violence that has left 60,000 dead.In his first public speech in six months, Assad laid out terms for a peace plan that keeps himself in power, ignoring international...

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Analysis: Air assaults raise doubts about Myanmar's reformist rulers

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Unprecedented aerial attacks on ethnic Kachin rebels by Myanmar's military have raised doubts about whether the retired generals in a government hailed for its reforms have really changed their harsh old ways.Assurances by the quasi-civilian government that it wants a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and that the military is exercising "maximum restraint" are...

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