After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

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Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures. The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August. The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index...

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Israel's Lieberman says Palestinian peace accord impossible

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has no chance of signing a permanent peace accord with the Palestinians and should instead seek a long-term interim deal, the most powerful political partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. The remarks by Avigdor Lieberman, an ultranationalist whose joint party list with Netanyahu narrowly won a January 22 election while centrist challengers...

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New next-gen Xbox details emerge, reinforcing reports that used games will be unplayable

The mystery surrounding Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 4 will soon dissipate when the company unveils its next-generation video game console on February 20th. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s (MSFT) upcoming rival console is still very much a mystery, though pieces of the puzzle continue to come together. The latest report comes from Edge, which cites multiple unnamed people with “first-hand experience of Microsoft’s...

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Tiger Woods & Lindsey Vonn Are 'Spending More Time' Together: Source

Buzz By Steve Helling 02/09/2013 at 06:00 PM EST Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn Mick Tsikas/Reuters/Landov; Luis Guerra/Ramey It was quite the gesture. After Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury during the Alpine World Championships in Austria, she got a bit...

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

Read More..

Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures. The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August. The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index...

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Japan may release data proving Chinese radar incident: media

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan may release data it says will prove a Chinese naval vessel directed its fire control radar at a Japanese destroyer near disputed islands in the East China Sea, local media reported. Japan has said a Chinese frigate on January 30 locked its targeting radar on a Japanese destroyer - a step that usually precedes the firing of weapons - but China insists that its vessel...

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Einhorn case against Apple rests on rarely used legal tactic

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hedge fund star David Einhorn wants to force Apple Inc to share some of its huge cash pile with investors, but his lawsuit rests on a U.S. securities rule that has little court precedent surrounding it.Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital sued the iPad and iPhone maker in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Thursday to try to prevent Apple from eliminating preferred stock from its charter....

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Minka Kelly: 'I'm Not Worthy' of Acting with Oprah

By Jennifer Cress 02/08/2013 at 07:40 PM EST Minka Kelly as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Pacific Coast News It's intimidating enough to play Jackie O, but Minka Kelly felt even more pressure to perform when she found out who was joining the cast of her latest film,...

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Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.Blacks were five times more likely than whites...

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Asian shares inch higher on solid China trade data

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged up on Friday after China's trade data for January handily beat forecasts to underscore a recovery trend, but prices were capped by investors seeking to book profits before next week's Chinese new year holidays. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> edged up 0.2 percent, wiping earlier losses when bearish...

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Opposition leader's funeral brings day of reckoning for Tunisia

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's political crisis looked likely to deepen on Friday with strikes and protests planned around the funeral of assassinated opposition politician Chokri Belaid. Belaid's killing on Wednesday has brought thousands of people onto the streets of the capital Tunis and other cities in violence-marred protests. Unions have called a general strike for Friday,...

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LibreOffice, a Free Alternative to Office, Is New and Improved

I understand that some people need Microsoft Office – that for the sake of compatibility, familiarity and features, nothing else will do.But anyone who doesn’t feel that way should consider trying LibreOffice, a free, open-source alternative. The new version, LibreOffice 4, offers better compatibility and more features than the previous version, along with lots of under the hood improvements.I’ve...

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American Idol: Early Favorites Eliminated in Hollywood

TV Watch American Idol By Steve Helling 02/07/2013 at 10:30 PM EST From left: Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Ryan Seacrest, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban Michael Becker/FOX. At the beginning of Thursday's American Idol, there were 43 men left in the competition. The...

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New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have discovered the first U.S. cases of whooping cough caused by a germ that may be resistant to the vaccine.Health officials are looking into whether cases like the dozen found in Philadelphia might be one reason the nation just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. The new bug was previously reported in Japan, France and Finland."It's quite intriguing....

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Asian shares pause, caution before ECB

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro paused on Thursday, with investors seeking clues from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on growth prospects for the euro zone economy at a policy meeting later in the day, amid optimism that the worst may be over. Japanese equities underperformed Asian bourses as a break in the yen selling pulled them from Wednesday's four-year peak....

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Tunisian government dissolved after critic's killing causes fury

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's ruling Islamists dissolved the government and promised rapid elections in a bid to restore calm after the killing of an opposition leader sparked the biggest street protests since the revolution two years ago. The prime minister's announcement late on Wednesday that an interim cabinet of technocrats would replace his Islamist-led coalition came at the end of...

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Timothy Geithner’s new book: Twitter’s funniest title suggestions

From Crime and No Punishment to The Stock Market CorrectionsFormer Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to write a book about his time in government, with a focus on “how to fight global financial crises,” according to Zachary Goldfarb at The Washington Post. Geithner was at the front line of the government’s response to the financial crisis, first as the president of the Federal Reserve...

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American Idol: It's a Guys' Night in Hollywood

TV Watch American Idol By Jamie Bufalino 02/06/2013 at 11:00 PM EST From left: Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Ryan Seacrest, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban George Holz/FOX Caution: Contains spoilers!"It does feel a bit like The Hunger Games," said Keith Urban, ramping...

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until...

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Asian shares recover on firm euro zone data, yen slips

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares recovered on Wednesday as solid euro zone data calmed nerves jarred by potential political turmoil in Spain and Italy, while the prospect of a dovish new governor for the Bank of Japan dragged the yen to a new low. Sentiment for other risk assets also improved, pushing London copper up 0.4 percent to $8,302.75 a tonne to a near four-month high, while Brent...

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Stabbing at Ecuador campaign rally not politically motivated: Correa

QUITO (Reuters) - A knife attack in Ecuador that killed two government supporters was perpetrated by a man under the influence of drugs and alcohol and was not politically motivated, President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday. The man killed two Correa supporters and injured five more at a campaign rally on Monday, about two weeks before a presidential election that the leftist leader is...

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