Oil prices closed in on $100 a barrel Friday in Asia amid expectations an improving U.S. economy will boost demand for crude.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 23 cents to $99.76 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 86 cents to finish at $99.53 on Thursday.

In the little town of Bethlehem, a cloistered nun whose luminous blue eyes entranced Elvis Presley in his first on-screen movie kiss is praying for a Christmas miracle.

Dolores Hart, who walked away from Hollywood stardom in 1963 to become a nun in rural Bethlehem, Conn., now finds herself back in the spotlight. But this time it's all about serving the King of Kings, not smooching the King of Rock and Roll.

You know Dasher and Dancer and the rest of the gang. But do you recall, the most "Perfect Christmas Crowd-Bringer" of all?

That's how executives at Montgomery Ward originally described Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who first appeared in a 1939 book written by one of the company's advertising copywriter and given free to children as a way to drive traffic to the stores.

Melanie Amaro has "The X Factor."

The powerful 19-year-old vocalist from Sunrise, Fla., won the Fox talent competition Thursday over soulful 30-year-old singer Josh Krajcik of Wooster, Ohio.

A 9-year-old autistic boy who misbehaved at school was stuffed into a duffel bag and the drawstring pulled tight, according to his mother, who said she found him wiggling inside as a teacher's aide stood by.

The mother of fourth-grader Christopher Baker said her son called out to her when she walked up to him in the bag Dec. 14. The case has spurred an online petition calling for the firing of school employees responsible.

There sure is a lot of cool stuff going on in "Kiss the Air," the latest effort from choreographer Elizabeth Streb. Dancers hang from spinning ladders, twirl in harnesses, splash into pools, crash into each other with yelps, and (gulp) belly-flop to the ground from ledges high enough to make you sick.

But is it dance? An intriguing question, one it's probably not best to spend much time on.

Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday it has agreed to sell its gelatin business as the struggling photography pioneer looks to boost its dwindling cash reserves.

Kodak is selling the Eastman Gelatine business to Rousselot, a division of the Vion Food Group. Terms were not disclosed. Eastman Gelatine produces gelatin used in photographic and printing processes as well as in food, pharmaceuticals.

Suicide bombers hit two security service bases in Damascus on Friday, killing at least 40 people, in attacks the regime blamed on al-Qaida but which the opposition said were the work of the regime itself.

The bombings, which officials blamed on al-Qaida, were the first attacks against Syria's powerful security services in the heart of the capital since the uprising began and overshadowed new protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Seize the day.

Only 52 weeks and a day are left before Dec. 21, 2012, when some believe the Maya predicted the end of the world.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has been a fervent photographer, snapping more than 10,000 pictures of the asteroid Vesta since it slipped into orbit around the giant space rock last summer.

The views were taken from a distance away — until now. On Wednesday, the space agency released new images of the hummocky surface as Dawn circled from an average altitude of 130 miles (209 kilometers) above the surface — the closest it'll get.