LONDON (Reuters) - World shares extended gains on Tuesday and the dollar hovered near a three-year high, spurred on by a good start to the U.S. earnings season that added extra gloss to last week's strong jobs data.

Share markets reacted positively after Alcoa , the largest U.S. aluminum producer, kicked off the country's reporting season with a larger-than-expected adjusted second-quarter profit.

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300share index climbed almost 1 percent to its highest level in a month as a deal to drip-feed Greece the latest 6.8 billion euro instalment of its bailout added to the upbeat mood.

Core and peripheral euro zone debt also made solid gains and the euro moved off the seven-week low it has been hovering around since the European Central Bank made clear last week it remains ready to cut interest rates again.

"What I think to has been very positive for the markets is that the ECB was more dovish than expected last week," said Rabobank macro strategist Emile Cardon.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share averagefinished up almost 2.6 percent, near a six-week high, as the bright U.S. data helped the yen slip back below 101 yen to the dollar.

The dollar indexthat measures it versus six major currencies was back on the front foot at 84.236 by mid-morning, near Monday's three-year high of 84.588.

With more U.S. earnings due later, stock futures pointed to Wall Street opening up around 0.5 percent. In a note over the weekend Goldman Sachs said rising earnings, coupled with stable margins, should lift the S&P 500 by 8 percent to the investment bank's year-end target of 1,750.

The index ended at 1,640.46 on Monday.

DOMINANT DOLLAR

The late evening Greek aid deal in Brussels helped nudge the euro up to $1.2886. But it was slipping back again by 05:45 a.m. EDT, and with the Fed and the ECB appearing to be facing in opposite policy directions analysts saw more dollar strength.

"In the medium term I see the dollar broadly stronger," said Vasileios Gkionakis, Global Head of FX Strategy at UniCredit in London.

"Firstly on the back of the two dovish central bank announcements (from the ECB and Bank of England) we saw in Europe last week plus the fact data in the U.S. is getting better and better."

Ian Stannard, head of European FX strategy at Morgan Stanley, said any hints on Wednesday in the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting that U.S. monetary stimulus could be tapered soon would also support the dollar.

Expectations that a stronger U.S. economy will give the Fed room to begin scaling back its bond-buying, most likely in September, have sparked a near 5 percent rally in the dollar and some 50-basis point rise in the benchmark 10-year U.S. bond yield since mid-June.

The yield on U.S. 10-year notes had risen as high as 2.755 percent on Monday, though bargain-hunting pushed it back to 2.656 percent ahead of the U.S. restart on Tuesday.

STERLING SUFFERS

Back in Europe, sterling fell to a near four-month low against the euro while gilts rallied after data showed British manufacturing output unexpectedly contracted in May while the trade deficit widened.

Oil futures dipped, slipping from Monday's multi-month highs as news that a major Libyan oilfield and an Iraqi pipeline were returning to service eased concerns about global oil supplies sparked by unrest in Egypt.

Gold extended a rebound to a second day after breaking through a key technical level and as Chinese inflation data boosted its appeal as a hedge against rising prices in the world's second-biggest buyer of the metal.

Spot gold rose 1.7 percent to $1,250 an ounce by 0935 GMT.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by John Stonestreet)

The 38-year-old season ticket holder estimates she has texted 5,000 times on Puig's behalf to ensure he lands the last roster spot on the NL team for next week's game at Citi Field in New York.

Ramos was working her phone some more in between watching the Dodgers' road game at Arizona on Tuesday night from Barney's Beanery in Old Town Pasadena, along with other blue-and-white clad fans.

"He's exciting. He brings a lot of energy to the game," said Ramos, of South Gate.

The viewing and voting party was the second of three hosted by the Dodgers around the Los Angeles area to give Puig a final push in the balloting, which ends Thursday at 1 p.m. PDT.

He needs it, too.

Puig trailed first-place Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves entering Tuesday, when more than 33.2 million votes had been cast. Toronto reliever Steve Delabar led voting for the last AL spot.

"I vote every day until I get tired," said Priscilla Cabrera of Silver Lake, who made up her face in blue, red and white paint with Puig's No. 66 in white on her right cheek. She carried a sign that played on the phrase, yes we can, doctoring it to read in Spanish, "Si Se Puige!"

Cabrera uses her cellphone and iPad to vote, estimating she's punched in the code for Puig more than 1,000 times.

"Ever since he got to the Dodgers he's had this impact that has lifted the whole team up from the slump that they were in," the 20-year-old college student said.

The Dodgers have climbed from last place in the NL West to second, 3 games behind leading Arizona going into the teams' game Tuesday.

Puig came into Tuesday night's game his 34th in the big leagues batting .409 with 19 RBI and eight home runs. He got called up from the minors last month and immediately caused a sensation with his hitting and fielding, and youthful enthusiasm.

His base hit in the first inning drew cheers from the bar crowd, many of whom sported T-shirts bearing his name.

"He's so electric, he's so fresh," marveled Ryan Rossi, a 22-year-old college student from Pasadena who wore a Puig T-shirt. "He's got a future in the league and it's nice to see this on the Dodgers because we've been pretty bad."

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, whose locker is next to Puig's in the clubhouse, is a candidate for the last NL All-Star spot. But he's already thrown his support, and vote, behind the Cuban defector.

"I think Adrian is going to be the odd-man out," former Dodgers star Steve Garvey said.

Garvey, who made the 1974 All-Star Game as a write-in candidate, was on hand at the bar as honorary campaign manager. He disagrees with critics, including some managers, who say Puig hasn't been in the big leagues long enough to merit an All-Star berth.

"They don't really understand this is the entertainment business," Garvey said. "This is our showcase. It's an international league now with international players. It's good for the game. If you're the National League, you want him on your team because you want to win."

Garvey tossed in a plug for Puig to participate in Monday's Home Run Derby.

"You can't sneak a 100-mph fastball past this guy," he said.

Janet Luke of Alta Loma has seen a lot of Dodgers come and go since she first became a fan in 1962, and she hopes the 22-year-old Cuban right fielder has staying power.

"I just don't want him to be a flash in the pan," she said. "He's so young. I hope he makes good choices."

That said, the 66-year-old woman is backing Puig to the hilt.

"I voted for him until my fingers fell off," Luke said. "He's ignited the spirit of baseball for all the fans. The sport needs somebody like him to keep it alive."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A privacy group is asking the Supreme Court to stop the National Security Agency from collecting the telephone records of millions of Verizon customers in the United States.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center said Monday that it wants justices to step into the controversy over American intelligence agencies looking at phone records of millions of U.S. customers. EPIC said in court papers only the Supreme Court can overrule a decision by the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, whose order allowing the NSA to get the records cannot be reviewed by other federal courts.

EPIC says "it is simply not possible that every phone record in the possession of a telecommunications firm could be relevant to an authorized investigation."

There was no immediate reaction from the court.

Here's Apple's : Deneve will be "working on special projects as a vice president reporting directly to Tim Cook."

It's not as odd a hire as it may seem on its surface. Yes, Deneve has worked managing a string of luxury fashion brands since 1997, but he is also an Apple alumnus: From 1990 to 1997 he held a series of marketing and sales jobs in Apple's European operations. "Marketing luxury goods, after all, is what taking the helm of Yves Saint Laurent is all about," , and it's really "not a far cry to go back to marketing Apple products, the high-design luxury goods of the tech world."

Bloomberg's Adam Satariano is a little more blunt,that "the jobs in high fashion give Deneve experience selling products at a premium price." But he quashes the idea, floated first , that the YSL chief was hired to lead Apple's retail operations, a position that has stubbornly remained vacant sincein October 2012.

Dilger alsoa more intangible motive for hiring Deneve: "Recruiting an established member of the fashion and luxury goods sector could be a move to propel Apple's brand internationally," building on the iPhone's global cachet. Jason D. O'Grady at ZDNet has ain mind: "My money's on ."

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When I brought up the idea to my mother a few months ago, she was against it. She said if I do this it will change my relationship with her. My boyfriend and I are college graduates, have good jobs and are self-supporting. If things work out between us, we will most likely be getting married next year.

I am an only child and I don't want to hurt my mother or have our relationship change, but I want to be able to live my own life. I would like her support, but don't know how to tell her what we have decided or if it would be worth breaking the special bond between my mother and me. -- ONLY CHILD IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR ONLY CHILD: Stop beating around the bush and tell your mother what your plans are. At 25, you are old enough -- and this relationship has gone on long enough -- that moving in together is a natural progression toward a permanent commitment. Her resistance is based on fear of what your independence from her will mean -- to her.

However, if you truly can't decide whether cutting the umbilical cord is worth it, then keep things as they are -- and remain her little girl forever.

DEAR ABBY: I am a teenager who has liked this guy for a long time. We've been best friends forever, and I have liked him for two years. Recently he asked me out, and I was ecstatic -- at first. I still like him, but every time I think about him or I'm around him, or anything about him comes up, I get this horrible nausea. I have actually vomited because of it. How can I like him but he makes me feel ill? Is there a way to remedy this? -- LOVESICK IN PHOENIX

DEAR LOVESICK: Severe anxiety can cause someone to have the symptoms you have described. It's not unlike the feeling one has when riding a roller coaster. You appear to be suffering from an extreme case of young love, and there is no medication that can cure it. Try to remain calm, and your symptoms should subside over time.

DEAR ABBY: Your column often provides helpful tips to your readers. May I suggest that you remind those who are, or know someone who is, college-bound never to hesitate to apply for as many scholarships as possible -- regardless of how small.

My local conservation association has been giving scholarships for 11 years. Some years we get no applicants! The amounts are $500 and $1,000. This money could pay for books, lab fees or go toward tuition, but we get few applicants. Many fraternal organizations also give out numerous small scholarships. These all add up and can help to reduce the college debt burden we hear so much about.

It's never too soon to start. There are middle school and high school contests, too. Now is the time for students to start their college funds with all the prizes and scholarships they can accumulate. -- HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION

DEAR HELPING: I'm sure many families will thank you for this reminder. Readers, many small scholarships are available -- and the thing to do is talk to your school counselor and research online or at your local library. Indeed, it's never too soon to start looking.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For everything you need to know about wedding planning, order "How to Have a Lovely Wedding." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Wedding Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

The increase along with a jump in homebuilder confidence this month suggests the housing market continues to recover.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales rose 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million. That's up from 4.69 million in September, which was revised lower.

The sales pace is roughly 11 percent higher than a year ago. But it remains below the more than 5.5 million that economists consider consistent with a healthy market.

As the economy slowly recovers, more people have started looking to buy homes or rent apartments. Prices are steadily climbing, while mortgage rates have been low all year. At the same time, rents are rising, making the purchase of a single-family home or condominium more attractive.

"Altogether, the report is encouraging," said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital. "Our view is that housing is in a recovery phase," he added, though it will be restrained by limited credit and modest job gains.

A separate report Monday showed confidence among homebuilders rose this month to its highest level in six and a half years. The increase was driven by strong demand for newly built homes and growing optimism about conditions next year.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index increased to 46, up from 41 in October. Readings below 50 suggest negative sentiment about the housing market. The index last reached that level in April 2006. Still, the index has been trending higher since October 2011, when it stood at 17.

The Realtors' group said Superstorm Sandy delayed some sales of previously occupied homes in the Northeast. Sales fell 1.7 percent there, the only region to show a decline. Those sales will likely be completed in future months, the group said.

The median price for previously occupied homes increased 11.1 percent from a year ago to $178,600, the Realtors' said.

A decline in the number of homes available for sale is helping push prices higher. There were only 2.14 million homes available for sale at the end of the month, the lowest supply in 10 years. It would take only 5.4 months to exhaust that supply at the current sales pace. That's the lowest sales-to-inventory ratio since February 2006.

Prices are also benefiting from the mix of homes being sold. Sales of homes priced at $500,000 and above have jumped more than 40 percent in the past year. Sales of homes and condominiums that cost less than $100,000 fell 0.6 percent.

There have been other positive signals from the housing market. Applications for mortgage loans to buy homes jumped 11 percent in the week ended Nov. 9, compared with a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers' Association said last week. Purchase applications are up 22 percent in the past year.

Foreclosures are slowing. The number of properties that began the foreclosure process in the first 10 months of the year fell 8 percent compared with the same period last year, RealtyTrac said last week.

And builders broke ground on new homes and apartments at the fastest pace in more than four years in September. The jump could help boost the economy and hiring.

Still, the market has a long way back to full health. Many potential home buyers cannot meet stricter lending standards or produce larger down payments required by banks.

That can be a particular problem for first-time homebuyers. They accounted for 31 percent of sales in October, down slightly from September and below the 40 percent that is common in a healthy market.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that banks' overly tight lending standards may be preventing sales and holding back the U.S. economy.

___

Veiga reported from Los Angeles.

Notably, the country now ranks 10th in the world in the percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds whove graduated high school, . Americans claim the top spot for 55- to 64-year-olds globally. There also has been a similar skid in college: The older age group places third among those with a diploma, and younger Americansthose no more than a decade out of what could have been their college yearsare 13th across the globe.

CFR notes that an educational slide endangers a nations innovation, prosperity and national security. But the countrys economy aside, how does living a life sans a degree hit home for individual Americans, at least anecdotally? Yahoo News asked younger readers who havent obtained high school or college degrees to write about their choices not to graduate. Here are a few of their perspectives.

No apologies from a valedictorian

Roderick Brenes (Courtesy of Roderick Brenes)

Roderick Brenes, 28, of California, graduated as high school valedictorian in 2003 and assumed hed head to college. But with his family stuck in a financial netherworldthey earned too much for financial aid and too little to pay for his college of choicehe grew frustrated. After just two months at a community college in Merced, he dropped out and moved to Prague, where he pulled down $800 a month teaching at an all-English preschool. After five years, he traveled to China to study Mandarin. All along, he told himself hed eventually go back to college.

He writes:

It never happened. I kept telling myself, I'll go back next year.

China was awesome, but after three years I grew tired of the traveler lifestyle. Plus, the 6,000-renminbi-per-month salary just didn't allow me to save much in dollars. I began to feel that money was going to be the key to a secure future, and I started researching how to make more of it. A host of deadends and scams eventually led me to a business training community where I learned the basics of online business. At the same time, I had also started a brick-and-mortar sandwich shop with a buddy of mine in China. It was becoming clear that I would not be going to university any time soon.

The sandwich shop failed due to a lack of financial backing, but my online business ventures were very successful. I have since returned to the United States, and I am now self-employed as an online marketer, building websites and ranking them in search engines.

I never did make it to college. And that was the best decision I ever made. I have zero debt in college loans. I've been to more countries than my age in years. I speak two foreign languages fluently. Lastly, being the sole proprietor of a successful online business is something I love doing.

.

Lack of degree cripples finances

Shauna Silva (Courtesy of Shauna Silva)

Shauna Silva, 30, of Connecticut, is unemployed after working in retail for several years. She earned her high school diploma in 2001 and studied psychology at Teikyo Post University in Waterbury. She dropped out when she realized she didn't have the money to complete her degree.

She writes:

Life without a degree is financially crippling. I am stuck making minimum wage. I'm looking for writing jobs or something in the medical field, and I have applied to about two dozen jobs in the past month, yet I've secured only one interview. Paying back student loans, not to mention credit cards, has been tough. I am nearly $30,000 in debt.

I made a lot of mistakes in my 20s, and I'm paying for it now. It is tough to find a positive aspect of not having a degree. The only bright spot: I have experience in various fields, which could work out in my favor once I return to the working world. If I had finished my schooling and earned my degree, I know I would have made four times moreat least $40,000than what I have been making per year.

.

Eschewing college is justified when there's no solid direction

Brandie Parton and her children (Courtesy of Brandie Parton)

Brandie Parton, 32, of Georgia, got married a month after graduating from high school in 1999. But her wedding didnt halt her college plans. She says she just lacked direction, and she didnt want to toss time and money at college until inspiration hit her. She now writes from home and cares for her 9- and 11-year-old children.

I occasionally wish that I had a degree. I am not sure what the future will hold for me in regard to higher learning. I may go to college when my kids are grown. I would most likely earn an English degree to help me with my writing if I did go back. However, it is possible that I will go into a totally different career field. However, since I got married young and had children young, I have plenty of time to find my niche in life. Therefore, I have not regretted not obtaining a degree.

My choice of neglecting college was the best decision for me. I have enjoyed staying home with my children and personally being there as they took their first steps and said their first words. Being able to witness these events and attending school parties and field trips with them now is worth far more than any college degree. It's too bad there isn't some sort of college credit for shaping the next generation, as I think I would be close to earning a bachelor's degree.

.

Assault in high school derails lifes plans

Sonya Abarcar (Courtesy of Sonya Abarcar)

Sonya Abarcar, 34, of Indiana, left her inner-city Chicago high school midway through her senior year after she accused a teacher of sexually assaulting her. After the charges were droppedand when students and teachers began bullying her, she saidshe considered transferring but instead dropped out. Because she excelled academically, dropping out was one of her biggest mistakes, she says. She hasnt had trouble finding work, but she regrets not graduating.

I was always a highly motivated person, so I began applying for jobs. I taught myself to speak Spanish, I could type 80 words per minute, and I had many other talents that I used to land a job with a utility company in Chicago. Within a year, I worked my way up the ladder and found myself making a salary of $32,000 in a customer service job.

I've done well in my life by always maintaining a secure job with great benefits to take care of my only child but my life would have been much different if I would have received my diploma.

I now work for a transportation company and make more than $60,000 a year with excellent benefits. Even with all of that, I'm not happy. We live in a world that will judge you based on titles and education. Due to this class system, if you haven't attained a certain level of education, you receive less respect in some venues.

I am often mistaken for a college graduate when I speak, but I am mortified when I have to admit that I didn't finish school. I can cite Voltaire, speak German, and calculate the escape velocity from Earth, but it means nothing to many people because I don't have my diploma and degree. I have decided to get my GED and enroll in college classes to major in astrophysics, a subject that I've always studied and loved. Although I can't complain, I know that I would have built a better career for myself if I would have stayed in school.

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More stories of high school and college dropouts:

Across Cairo, the showdown atmosphere was underscored by neighborhoods turned into rival bastions either demanding Morsi's return or celebrating his demise.

In the eastern suburb of Nasr City near the main rallying point for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood lines of vigilante-style fighters brandished homemade weapons and body armor at road blocks affixed with Morsi's picture.

Next door in the relatively upscale Heliopolis district, people chanted against Morsi and honked car horns in appreciation of roadblocks manned by Egypt's military whose snub of Morsi's authority earlier this week tipped the scales against Egypt's first elected leader.

Even though traffic was light, bottlenecks soon appeared as cars were forced into side streets to navigate around blocked highways.

In a further sign of the concern the unrest could spin out of control, Egypt's interim president held talks with the army chief and interior minister whose office said at least eight policemen have been killed since the eve of the anti-Morsi protests on June 30, marking his anniversary in office. No other details on the deaths were immediately given.

Officials have briefly detained top figures from Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and have kept the toppled president from the public eye, under detention in an undisclosed location.

But Morsi's supporters have vowed to take to the streets until the toppled Islamist leader is reinstated. His opponents, meanwhile, have called for more mass rallies to defend what they call the "gains of June 30."

"The people here and in all of Egypt's squares are ready for martyrdom to restore legitimacy," said Abdullah Shehatah, a senior leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political arm. Speaking at the main sit-in site of Morsi supporters in Cairo, he said: "This coup and all its institutions are illegal."

There were no reports of major clashes in Egypt after dawn Saturday, following a night of street battles that added to an overall death toll of at least 75 in the past week.

Later, in the northern part of Sinai peninsula, gunmen shot dead a Christian priest while he shopped for food in an outdoor market on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear if the shooting was linked to the political crisis, but there has been a backlash against Christians since just before and after Morsi's ouster. Attacks have occurred on members of the minority by Islamists in at least three provinces south of Egypt. Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt's 90 people. Morsi's Brotherhood and hard-line allies claim the Christians played a big part in inciting against the ousted leader.

Near the main pro-Morsi gathering in Cairo, Security forces stepped up their presence.

But it did not deter thousands of people braving a merciless summer sun in a sit-in outside the Rabia al-Adwaiya mosque in the Nasr City district, traditionally a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold.

They hoisted posters of Morsi. Volunteers with tanks of ice water strapped on their backs sprayed participants to cool them off.

There were smaller crowds of Morsi supporters elsewhere in Cairo, including about 2,000 outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard, where Morsi was first confined by the military before he was taken to an undisclosed Defense Ministry facility. Soldiers in full combat gear watched from behind razor wire.

With both sides digging in, the country's acting president, Adly Mansour, met with army chief and Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as well as Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police, at the Ittihadiya presidential palace.

It was the first time Mansour, a previously little-known senior judge, has worked out of the president's main offices since he was sworn-in Thursday as the country's interim leader, a day after the military shunted Morsi aside after four days of the street protests that brought millions out into the streets.

Mansour also met Saturday with leaders of Tamrod, or Rebel, the youth movement that organized the mass anti-Morsi demonstrations, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Mansour was recently appointed by Morsi as chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, and was only sworn in as the chief justice minutes before he took the oath of office as president.

He took the helm of a fiercely divided country.

Late Friday, violence erupted in central Cairo as the rival camps clashed on a bridge over the Nile River. Gunfire crackled in the streets and flames leaped from a burning car. The chaotic scenes ended only after the army rushed in with armored vehicles to separate the feuding groups.

The clashes had intensified after the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, defiantly proclaimed his followers would not give up street action until the toppled president's return to office.

"God make Morsi victorious and bring him back to the palace," Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie proclaimed Friday before cheering supporters at a Cairo mosque in his first appearance since the overthrow. "We are his soldiers we defend him with our lives."

Hours later, his deputy, Khairat el-Shater, considered the most powerful figure in the organization, was arrested in a Cairo apartment along with his brother on allegations of inciting violence, Interior Ministry spokesman Hani Abdel-Latif told The Associated Press. Two senior leaders of the Brotherhood were released from detention on Friday pending the completion of an investigation into their alleged role in inciting violence.

Mohammed Sultan, deputy head of the national ambulance service, said at least 36 people were killed in Friday's clashes, the highest death toll in one day since the protests began last Sunday. Another 1,076 were injured.

In his first public appearance since he was sworn in, Mansour was photographed at the Muslim Friday prayers, which he performed at a mosque near his house in a suburb west of Cairo.

"I want everyone to pray for me. Your prayers are what I need from you," he told worshippers who approached him to shake his hand and wish him well, according to the independent daily el-Tahrir.

The paper said the president spoke to its reporter in a brief interview after the prayer. The president's office could not be immediately reached to confirm the comments.

"We all need national reconciliation and we will work to realize it," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "Egypt is for everyone."

On Saturday, a Cairo court adjourned to Aug. 17 the retrial of former President Hosni Mubarak over charges of corruption and involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ousted him.

Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, who are on trial for corruption, appeared at the court session.

___

Associated Press writers Paul Schemm and Mariam Rizk contributed to this report.

LONDON (Reuters) - Speculation about baby names, hair colour and hypnosis swirled around the Duchess of Cambridge on Thursday during her last solo public appearance before she gives birth to a royal heir.

British glossy magazine Grazia reported the duchess has considered using hypno-birth for a delivery expected next month in which women use a form of self-hypnosis to control pain by learning techniques to boost production of pain-relieving hormones.

Bookmakers said bets favoured the duchess joining the growing band of women dubbed "too posh to push" by opting for a caesarean rather than a natural birth.

The royal family has declined to give any details on plans for the first child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, 31, who have been officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge since their marriage in April 2011.

A royal spokeswoman said she was aware of rising speculation about the birth but declined to confirm or deny any details for the baby who will be the third in line to the British throne after Prince Charles and his oldest son William.

"This is a happy occasion and there is lot of speculation about what the duchess might and might not do but this really is a private matter," the spokeswoman said.

Royal watchers expect the baby to be born at St Mary's Hospital in central London where Princess Diana gave birth to William, who turns 31 next week, and his brother Prince Harry.

The duchess was under scrutiny for any hints about the baby during her last solo public engagement on Thursday when she launched Princess Cruises' new 3,600-passenger vessel Royal Princess in Southampton on England's south coast.

BABY TALK

Wearing a black hat and Dalmatian print coat, the duchess was careful to give nothing away after a slip in March when she accepted a teddy saying: "Thank you, I'll take this for my d.."

Rupert Adams from bookmaker William Hill said this dropped "d" led to such wide speculation that the baby was a girl that it suspended all bets on gender just weeks later while rival bookmaker Paddy Power paid out on bets that it was girl.

Bets on names have continued to roll in with Alexandra the clear favourite followed by Diana, after Prince William's mother who died in a car crash in 1997, and then Elizabeth.

Alexandra has a history in the royal family with Princess Alexandra, 76, a cousin of the Queen and Queen Victoria's son Edward VII married to Alexandra of Denmark in 1863.

The favourite boy's name is George and the favoured date for the birth is July 17.

"We are seeing lots of small bets from over 100 countries. The Aussies and Canadians particularly love this," said Adams.

Rory Scott from Paddy Power said people were also putting money on more obscure bets, such as the baby's future career, university, and hair colour with brown favoured over ginger.

"You combine the royal family with betting and you have two of the favourite pastimes in Britain," Scott said.

Both bookmakers found gamblers expected the duchess to opt for a caesarean instead of natural birth with one in four babies now delivered this way in the UK, up from 12 percent in 1990.

The focus on how the duchess gives birth has drawn her, unwittingly, into the complex web of childbirth politics where campaigners of different birthing methods battle for supremacy.

The Blissful Birth website which deals with hypno-birthing said a number of hypno-birthing practitioners have "spun" speculation about the duchess using hypno-birthing into suggestions that she was considering their particular approach.

But the website's founder Heidi Woodgate, urged these practitioners to stop the race for recognition.

"Quite frankly, whether my customers are royalty, celebrities or normal everyday women, the focus should be on their birth story, not the particular hypno-birthing programme they used," Woodgate wrote in a blog on the website.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

Notably, the country now ranks 10th in the world in the percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds whove graduated high school, . Americans claim the top spot for 55- to 64-year-olds globally. There also has been a similar skid in college: The older age group places third among those with a diploma, and younger Americansthose no more than a decade out of what could have been their college yearsare 13th across the globe.

CFR notes that an educational slide endangers a nations innovation, prosperity and national security. But the countrys economy aside, how does living a life sans a degree hit home for individual Americans, at least anecdotally? Yahoo News asked younger readers who havent obtained high school or college degrees to write about their choices not to graduate. Here are a few of their perspectives.

No apologies from a valedictorian

Roderick Brenes (Courtesy of Roderick Brenes)

Roderick Brenes, 28, of California, graduated as high school valedictorian in 2003 and assumed hed head to college. But with his family stuck in a financial netherworldthey earned too much for financial aid and too little to pay for his college of choicehe grew frustrated. After just two months at a community college in Merced, he dropped out and moved to Prague, where he pulled down $800 a month teaching at an all-English preschool. After five years, he traveled to China to study Mandarin. All along, he told himself hed eventually go back to college.

He writes:

It never happened. I kept telling myself, I'll go back next year.

China was awesome, but after three years I grew tired of the traveler lifestyle. Plus, the 6,000-renminbi-per-month salary just didn't allow me to save much in dollars. I began to feel that money was going to be the key to a secure future, and I started researching how to make more of it. A host of deadends and scams eventually led me to a business training community where I learned the basics of online business. At the same time, I had also started a brick-and-mortar sandwich shop with a buddy of mine in China. It was becoming clear that I would not be going to university any time soon.

The sandwich shop failed due to a lack of financial backing, but my online business ventures were very successful. I have since returned to the United States, and I am now self-employed as an online marketer, building websites and ranking them in search engines.

I never did make it to college. And that was the best decision I ever made. I have zero debt in college loans. I've been to more countries than my age in years. I speak two foreign languages fluently. Lastly, being the sole proprietor of a successful online business is something I love doing.

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Lack of degree cripples finances

Shauna Silva (Courtesy of Shauna Silva)

Shauna Silva, 30, of Connecticut, is unemployed after working in retail for several years. She earned her high school diploma in 2001 and studied psychology at Teikyo Post University in Waterbury. She dropped out when she realized she didn't have the money to complete her degree.

She writes:

Life without a degree is financially crippling. I am stuck making minimum wage. I'm looking for writing jobs or something in the medical field, and I have applied to about two dozen jobs in the past month, yet I've secured only one interview. Paying back student loans, not to mention credit cards, has been tough. I am nearly $30,000 in debt.

I made a lot of mistakes in my 20s, and I'm paying for it now. It is tough to find a positive aspect of not having a degree. The only bright spot: I have experience in various fields, which could work out in my favor once I return to the working world. If I had finished my schooling and earned my degree, I know I would have made four times moreat least $40,000than what I have been making per year.

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Eschewing college is justified when there's no solid direction

Brandie Parton and her children (Courtesy of Brandie Parton)

Brandie Parton, 32, of Georgia, got married a month after graduating from high school in 1999. But her wedding didnt halt her college plans. She says she just lacked direction, and she didnt want to toss time and money at college until inspiration hit her. She now writes from home and cares for her 9- and 11-year-old children.

I occasionally wish that I had a degree. I am not sure what the future will hold for me in regard to higher learning. I may go to college when my kids are grown. I would most likely earn an English degree to help me with my writing if I did go back. However, it is possible that I will go into a totally different career field. However, since I got married young and had children young, I have plenty of time to find my niche in life. Therefore, I have not regretted not obtaining a degree.

My choice of neglecting college was the best decision for me. I have enjoyed staying home with my children and personally being there as they took their first steps and said their first words. Being able to witness these events and attending school parties and field trips with them now is worth far more than any college degree. It's too bad there isn't some sort of college credit for shaping the next generation, as I think I would be close to earning a bachelor's degree.

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Assault in high school derails lifes plans

Sonya Abarcar (Courtesy of Sonya Abarcar)

Sonya Abarcar, 34, of Indiana, left her inner-city Chicago high school midway through her senior year after she accused a teacher of sexually assaulting her. After the charges were droppedand when students and teachers began bullying her, she saidshe considered transferring but instead dropped out. Because she excelled academically, dropping out was one of her biggest mistakes, she says. She hasnt had trouble finding work, but she regrets not graduating.

I was always a highly motivated person, so I began applying for jobs. I taught myself to speak Spanish, I could type 80 words per minute, and I had many other talents that I used to land a job with a utility company in Chicago. Within a year, I worked my way up the ladder and found myself making a salary of $32,000 in a customer service job.

I've done well in my life by always maintaining a secure job with great benefits to take care of my only child but my life would have been much different if I would have received my diploma.

I now work for a transportation company and make more than $60,000 a year with excellent benefits. Even with all of that, I'm not happy. We live in a world that will judge you based on titles and education. Due to this class system, if you haven't attained a certain level of education, you receive less respect in some venues.

I am often mistaken for a college graduate when I speak, but I am mortified when I have to admit that I didn't finish school. I can cite Voltaire, speak German, and calculate the escape velocity from Earth, but it means nothing to many people because I don't have my diploma and degree. I have decided to get my GED and enroll in college classes to major in astrophysics, a subject that I've always studied and loved. Although I can't complain, I know that I would have built a better career for myself if I would have stayed in school.

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