Xtra!

When asked in front of a national audience this week to defend his ability to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Ron Paul responded by emphasizing the real contest: the race for delegates. "The delegates [are] what counts," Paul said at the NBC presidential debate in Tampa, Fla., after noting that the Iowa caucuses (in which [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fitch downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain on Friday, indicating there was a 1-in-2 chance of further cuts in the next two years. In a statement, the ratings agency said the affected countries were vulnerable in the near-term to monetary and financial shocks. "Consequently, these sovereigns do not, in Fitch's view, accrue the full benefits of the euro's reserve currency status," it said. ...

A federal judge in Seattle sentenced the "Barefoot Bandit" to the maximum six and a half years in prison for a string of thefts and burglaries after the 20-year-old bragged to friends in emails from jail that prosecutors were fools and he'd emerge unscathed.

Marco Rubio condemned unnamed members of his own party Friday for using "inexcusable" rhetoric about illegal immigrants. "For those of us who come from the conservative movement, we must admit that there are those among us who have used rhetoric that is harsh and intolerable, inexcusable," Rubio said at a conference for the conservative Hispanic Leadership [...]

MIAMI (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich struggled to regain momentum in the race for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination on Friday as another poll showed him falling behind his main rival Mitt Romney, who was seen as the winner of the final debate before the Florida primary. The two men courted Florida's sizable Hispanic vote, many of them Cubans, with appearances on Friday at the Hispanic Leadership Network where Romney received an unusually warm reception and the reaction to Gingrich was more sedate. ...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Fighting sanctions with sanctions in a test of strength with the West over its nuclear ambitions, Iran warned on Friday it may halt oil exports to Europe next week in a move calculated to hurt ailing European economies. The Tehran government grappling with its own economic crisis under Western trade and banking embargoes, will host a rare visit on Sunday by U.N. nuclear inspectors for talks that the ruling clergy may hope can relieve diplomatic pressure as they struggle to bolster public support. Since the U.N. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a rebuilding of stocks by businesses and slower business spending warned of weaker growth in early 2012. Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent in the prior three months. It was, however, a touch below economists expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3 percent rate, and two-thirds of the increase was due to the build-up in business inventories. ...

How does a man move on with his life after losing his wife and daughters to two ruthless home invaders who tormented, then killed them?

Seeking to influence other states and Washington, California air regulators passed sweeping auto emission standards Friday that include a mandate to have 1.4 million electric and hybrid vehicles on state roads by 2025.

(Reuters) - Facebook's initial public offering is likely to set a new standard for how low investment banks are willing to go on advisory fees to win big business. The world's largest online social network is expected to tap public markets for $10 billion in the coming months in an offering that will value the company at up to $100 billion, according to sources familiar with the planned IPO. It will be one of the biggest U.S. market debuts ever, and a prized trophy for the investment bankers seeking to win lead advisory roles. ...

PALM HARBOR, Florida (Reuters) - There's one small-government idea that Republican presidential candidates are reluctant to discuss in this retiree-heavy state: their plans to rein in health care costs for the elderly. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, front-runners for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Barack Obama on November 6, both support reforms to the Medicare government health insurance program for the elderly that could help set federal spending on a sustainable course. ...

Cynthia Nixon learned the hard way this week that when it comes to gay civil rights, the personal is always political. Very political.

On serve and when whipping his forehand, Novak Djokovic's grunt is that of a bullfrog, "WooooAH-UH." Rafael Nadal goes for a throatier, "AAArrgggHH." Occasionally, Andy Murray offers up a more hushed, constricted, "Eeeeeehhh." From Roger Federer, of course, we tend to get the sound of silence.

An asteroid about the size of a bus shaved by Earth on Friday in what spacewatchers described as a "near-miss," though experts were not concerned about the possibility of an impact.

Size doesn't matter: a small spider builds the world's biggest webs. Many of the animal kingdom's most amazing architects are tiny creatures -- including a few who make structures visible from space.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fitch downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain on Friday, indicating there was a 1-in-2 chance of further cuts in the next two years. In a statement, the ratings agency said the affected countries were vulnerable in the near-term to monetary and financial shocks. "Consequently, these sovereigns do not, in Fitch's view, accrue the full benefits of the euro's reserve currency status," it said. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a rebuilding of stocks by businesses and slower business spending warned of weaker growth in early 2012. Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent in the prior three months. It was, however, a touch below economists expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3 percent rate, and two-thirds of the increase was due to the build-up in business inventories. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial institutions as part of a new effort to investigate misconduct in the packaging and sale of home loans to investors, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday. Holder declined to provide specifics, including the names of the firms. "We are wasting no time in aggressively pursuing any and all leads," Holder said at a news conference announcing details of a new working group to investigate misconduct in the residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market, "you can expect more to follow. ...

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece and its private creditors head back to the negotiating table on Saturday to put together the final pieces of a long-awaited debt swap agreement needed to avert an unruly default. After weeks of muddling through round after round of inconclusive talks, the negotiations appear to be in their final phase with both sides hoping to secure a preliminary deal before Monday's summit of euro zone leaders. ...

(Reuters) - Facebook's initial public offering is likely to set a new standard for how low investment banks are willing to go on advisory fees to win big business. The world's largest online social network is expected to tap public markets for $10 billion in the coming months in an offering that will value the company at up to $100 billion, according to sources familiar with the planned IPO. It will be one of the biggest U.S. market debuts ever, and a prized trophy for the investment bankers seeking to win lead advisory roles. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc has never turned "a blind eye" to the problems in its supply chain and any suggestion it does not care about the plight of workers is "patently false," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in an email to employees. Cook was responding to a report in The New York Times about working conditions at Apple's main contract manufacturer, Foxconn, in China, an issue that for years has been a thorn in the company's side. Apple responded in the past by launching independent audits and publishing the results. ...

CAMBRIDGE, Maryland (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to push back hard against Republicans who try to obstruct his election-year proposals on taxes and jobs, as he sought to rally congressional Democrats and move past a period of strained relations. Wrapping up a cross-country tour to promote a populist agenda laid out in this week's State of the Union address, Obama hammered home a reelection campaign appeal for greater economic fairness and called on fellow Democrats to close ranks with him. ...

(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co reported a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Friday as commodity costs shot up and results from operations outside North America fell short of expectations. The No. 2 U.S. automaker's losses in Europe nearly quadrupled during the quarter as the economy suffered amid the ongoing debt crisis. Flooding in Thailand led to a loss in Asia, and increased competition blunted profits in South America. ...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Security forces killed 37 people in Syria on Friday, activists and residents said, as people in Homs mourned 14 members of a family they said were slain by militiamen in one of the worst sectarian attacks in a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. The U.N. Security Council was to meet later in the day to discuss Syria before a possible vote next week on a new Western-Arab draft resolution aimed at halting 10 months of bloodshed. ...

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took the fight to chief rival Newt Gingrich on Thursday in his most aggressive debate performance yet, five days ahead of Florida's primary vote. A neck-and-neck race for Florida and its importance for the Republican presidential nomination made for a combustible atmosphere at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville as the candidates sparred repeatedly. ...

Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria killed at least 74 people, including small children, as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad shelled residential buildings and fired on crowds in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists said Friday.

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney urged conservatives to back off aggressive anti-immigration policies as the Republican presidential candidates vied for Hispanic votes Friday, a day marked by heightened tensions entering the final weekend before Florida's primary.

President Barack Obama fired a warning at the nation's colleges and universities on Friday, threatening to strip their federal aid if they "jack up tuition" every year and to give the money instead to schools showing restraint and value.

The American economy may not be truly healthy yet, but it's healing.

A U.S. citizen kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta has been freed after a week in captivity, the U.S. Embassy said.

When Facebook makes its long-expected debut as a public company this spring, the social-networking company will likely vault into the ranks of the largest public companies in the world, alongside McDonald's, Amazon.com and Bank of America.

The two teens had a detailed plot, blueprints of the school and security systems, but no explosives. They had hours of flight simulator training on a home computer and a plan to flee the country, but no plane.

The voyage of a cargo boat that carries space rocket components to Florida's coast for NASA and the Air Force has stalled in a western Kentucky river after it slammed into an aging traffic bridge.