Bhutto's 19-year old son likely to be named successor

A senior official of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party told TIME late Saturday that the slain former prime minister's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, will likely be named as her political heir and the new party leader on Sunday.

New-Home Sales Hit 12-Year Low

Sales of new homes plunged 9 percent in November.

Gift cards, the gift that keeps on taking

$97 billion dollars is expected to be spent on gift cards in 2007. Gift cards are the #1 gift purchased for loved ones and friends. Fees can easily eat up the unused balance of a card over time. TowerGroup predicts $7.8 billion will go unspent on gift cards this year. Now states are stepping in and claiming as much as 60% of this unclaimed property

Fixed-income investing beyond the bank

Interest rates are down and may go down more. That’s not so hot if you want to buy bonds or put money in the bank. So where’s the best place to put your fixed-income holdings?

Studios: Writers Lost More Striking Than Sought in Contract

The studios say the writers have lost $151 million in the eight-week-strike.

New Hello Kitty Products Target Men

Hello Kitty is no sexist. Products featuring cute cat will target young men.

Oil Rising: How to Save at the Pump

Inflate your tires, empty your trunk, get oil changes regularly and other tips.

GPS baby Jesus stolen again, found across the street

The folks in Florida noticed that their GPS-equipped baby Jesus we mentioned the other day was missing from his nativity, and fired up the old GPS tracker. Turns out they didn't have to look far: baby Jesus had been swiped Wednesday night and brought to a house across the street from the nativity.

Tax Refunds Delayed for Millions

IRS says more than 3 million could have to wait until February to get refund.

Operation Falcon and the Looming Police State

Operation Falcon is the clearest indication yet that the Bush administration is fine-tuning its shock-troops so it can roll up tens of thousands of people at a moment’s notice and toss them into the newly-built Halliburton detention centers. This should be a red flag for anyone who cares at all about human rights.

No American Has Died from "Homegrown Terrorism" since 9/11

Congress is perched to enact the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007," probably the greatest assault on free speech and association in the United States since the 1938 creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Since September 11, 2001 no American has died from homegrown terrorism.

Cigna defends decision to let teen die -- on Christmas eve

In a case of truly brilliant PR, the Philadelphia-based insurance company that denied a liver transplant to a California teenager who subsequently died issued a letter to employees and the press Monday defending their decision.

Bill Moyers & Dr Benjamin Barber - The Crisis of Capitalism

"Here we are, at the height of the holiday season. The malls and the shops are packed. Stuff is flying off the shelves. And like Grinch or Scrooge you stand up and say, 'Capitalism's in trouble.' Why?"

Hillary Clinton Voted to Continue Cluster Bombing Civilians

The main point: Hillary Clinton voted to let our military continue to use cluster bombs in areas with concentrated civilian populations, despite the thousands of innocent children who have died or been handicapped due to picking up unexploded cluster bomblets.

Town may pay seniors to work off taxes

A New York town is pushing a program that would let seniors work part-time, for $7 an hour, to help pay off some of their property taxes.

Hearing airs credit card rate-change policies

Some credit card companies are raising interest rates on good customers even if they pay down their balances, on time, every month.

Cruficied By Your House: The Next Depression?

In 1896 William Jennings Bryan brough down the house with his Cross of Gold speech in which he railed against the gold standard. Americans responded because many felt they had indeed been crucified upon a cross of gold by the bankers and the rich men of the east. Today it's their houses they've been nailed to, and their houses they'll go down with.

Andrew, CommScope set final merger terms (Reuters)

Reuters - Communications equipment makers Andrew
Corp and CommScope Inc. on Monday announced
the final terms of their merger, which they said was due to
close on December 27.

Baby For Sale!

A couple tries to sell a baby at a car wash for $30.

United Rentals ends takeover, demands $100 million fee (Reuters)

Reuters - Equipment rental group United Rentals
Inc said on Monday it terminated its $4 billion
takeover by Cerberus Capital Management and asked Cerberus to
pay it a $100 million termination fee.

Giving Well: Charity Starts Online

Charitable donating can be easy and safe when it's done on the Web.

Lawyers Stepping Up- DEMAND BUSH HEARINGS

1,000 attorneys call for probes into criminal, unconstitutional activity.

Left-out territories earn place on quarter

After nearly 10 years of lobbying, a measure will extend the popular state quarter program to the nation's capital as well as five territories.

Please stop the money bombs!

A commentary calling for the end of the money bombs. And I agree.

FBI Prepares Vast Database Of Biometrics

The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad. Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems.

RSS Feed: Send News to Your Computer

Get the latest business headlines from ABC News.

Forget Weather, Airlines Cause Own Delays

Pilot shortages, long refuelings and mechanical breakdowns are root of delays.

Stores desperately seeking shoppers on Super Saturday (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. shoppers, come out, come out,
wherever you are. "Super Saturday," the last Saturday before
Christmas, is often the biggest shopping day of the holiday
season, according to the National Retail Federation.

Credit jitters spread to student loan market

Credit-market tremors — like the ones linked to the housing crisis — are beginning to show up in the $85 billion student-loan market.

MBIA details huge mortgage exposure, shares collapse (Reuters)

Reuters - MBIA Inc, the world's largest bond
insurer, said it had guaranteed $8.1 billion of the riskiest
mortgage securities, imperiling its entire net worth and
sending its shares plunging 26 percent.

Occupation's Toll: 5 Million Iraqi Children Orphaned

It is said that Iraq is the world's best-known conflict but the least well-known humanitarian crisis.

10 tips on tipping: Who gets how much?

Have you ever felt unsure whether you really should be tipping someone at the end of the calendar year? Here are 10 tips on who should get how much.

Castro suggests he will not hold on to power

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public for 16 months, suggested on Monday he might give up his formal leadership posts, the first time he has spoken of his possible retirement. ''My elemental duty is not...

New York Times in Iraq: ''Blackwater shot our dog''

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards -- this time of the New York Times's dog. Staff at the newspaper's Baghdad bureau said Blackwater bodyguards shot...

Money and relationships: Take our survey

Is money destroying your relationship? Or do you always agree with your partner on financial issues? ?Take our exclusive Money, Sex and Love survey.

Police: Princeton Student Faked Attack

A Princeton University student who argued that his conservative views were not accepted on the campus confessed to fabricating an assault and sending threatening e-mail messages to himself and some friends who shared his views, authorities said Monday.

Billionaire marriages: Why get hitched?

For most people, a wedding is a simple, joyous occasion. For billionaires it's more complicated, with stresses and strains that others don't bear.

10 Things Christians and Atheists Can (And Must) Agree On

The war that is coming between the fundamentalist Christians and the hard core Atheists might not be the most violent of the holy wars. But it has the potential to be the most annoying.

Worried About Foreclosure?

Tell Your Story to ABC News

'12 Days of Christmas' Gets Costly

The price of gifts listed in 'Twelve Days of Christmas' Carol Hits $78,100.

Doorman? Barber? Day Care? Who to Tip

The list can be long and expensive, so find out what's appropriate to give.

Gas Prices Spur Consumer Inflation

Surge in Gasoline Prices Pushes Consumer Inflation Higher While Economy Slows

Report: Ohio voting machines have 'critical flaws,' could un

It's unbelievable how this isn't fixed yet. Safeguard the vote!

Harvard to replace all loans with grants

Harvard University announced Monday a major expansion of financial aid that will reduce tuition bills by thousands of dollars — even for families earning six figures.

Should I sell my house now — or wait?

The housing market seems likely to get worse before it gets better. That has some would-be sellers wondering should I sell my house now, before things get worse?

Mortgage Crisis Forces Big Cuts at WaMu

Mortgage Woes Force WaMu to Close Offices, Slash Over 3,100 Jobs and Drop Subprime Loans

U.S. Commits, Lies About Domestic Human Rights Violations

Under the Bush administration, the United States routinely commits human rights violations within its borders, according to a new report by the U.S. Human Rights Network.

Is raising kids a fool's game?

Parenting is fulfilling, but the financial burden can be overwhelming — and then there's the crimp it puts in your leisure time . Is it all worth it?

Tips for Finding and Securing a Virtual Assistant

Finding the right business is important to achieving your goals. Having the money to finance it is one thing, but if you can't get passionate about it, you will never succeed. Other than finding the right area of business to get into, you need to find the right employees, and perhaps more important, finding the right assistant. You are going to be extremely busy and it may be tough to handle all your responsabilites. To alleviate some of your worries, read Tips For Finding and Securing a Virtual Assistant.


franchise information, franchise tips

Bushed! on Habeas Corpus, 9/11 Air and the NIE on Iran

Keeping track of all the Bush administration scandals so we don’t have to, today’s edition of Bushed! recounts recent events regarding Habeas Corpus, Christie Todd Whitman’s statements on the safety of the air surrounding Ground Zero after 9/11 and President Bush’s continued ignoring of the intelligence from the NIE report on Iran.

6 Shot After Exiting Vegas Schoolbus

Six junior high or high school students were shot Tuesday after they got off a school bus, and two were critically hurt, police said.

Dow Jones proxy count shows buyout approved: report (Reuters)

Reuters - Dow Jones & Co shareholders
holding more than 50 percent of the voting power of the company
approved its $5.6 billion sale to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp
(NWSa.N), the Wall Street Journal Web site said on Wednesday.

Tax Tactics front page

For millions of Americans, retirement planning involves creating a "nest egg” of savings to pay for a comfortable standard of living after the paychecks stop.? But the process ?often raises more questions than it answers – some of which are unknowable. So how do you know how much you'll need? By msnbc.com's JohnW. Schoen.

New Docs Reveal Huckabee's Support For Freeing Rapist

In the wake of revelations that Mike Huckabee pushed for the parole of a convicted rapist who went on to rape and murder two other women, the former Arkansas governor has sought to distance himself from the story and questioned the legitimacy of the relevant documents.

Don't Get Drunk, Get a Raise!

Holiday office parties are a great place to get a new job.