Wall Street Week Ahead: Earnings, money flows to push stocks higher

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With earnings momentum on the rise, the S&P 500 seems to have few hurdles ahead as it continues to power higher, its all-time high a not-so-distant goal. The U.S. equity benchmark closed the week at a fresh five-year high on strong housing and labor market data and a string of earnings that beat lowered expectations. Sector indexes in transportation...

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Te'o tells ESPN: Not involved in creating hoax

NEW YORK (AP) — Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o insisted he had no role in the bizarre hoax involving his "dead" girlfriend and told ESPN on Friday night that he was duped by a person who has since apologized to him.In an off-camera interview Friday with ESPN, Te'o said Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old acquaintance who lives in California, contacted him two days ago and confessed to the prank. Deadspin.com...

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‘Planetary Parks’ Could Protect Space Wilderness

It’s a wilderness out there in outer space. And as robotic surrogates set the stage for human footprints on Mars and other planetary bodies, just how much respect for other worlds should we have?One suggested response would establish planetary parks for the solar system, an answer that ties together space science and exploration, ethics, law, policy, diplomacy and communications.The parks would be...

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Why Africa backs French in Mali

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Notre Dame's Te'o: 'There is no way that I could be part of this'

James Brown, host of "The NFL Today" on CBS Sports, talks to Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell about the Manti Te'o hoax and its possible effect on his future. ...

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Algerian army stages "final assault" on gas plant

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - The Algerian army on Saturday carried out a "final assault" on al Qaeda-linked gunmen holed up in a desert gas plant, killing 11 of the Islamists after they took the lives of seven foreign hostages. "It is over now, the assault is over, and the military are inside the plant clearing it of mines," a local source familiar with the operation told Reuters....

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Wall Street edges lower on earnings, China data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell modestly on Friday, a day after the S&P 500 rose to its highest level in five years, as a weak outlook from Intel was weighed against encouraging data out of China and a fourth-quarter profit at Morgan Stanley . The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was down 6.68 points, or 0.05 percent, at 13,589.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx>...

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IOC VP: Armstrong must tell 'whole truth'

LONDON (AP) — Lance Armstrong's doping confession to Oprah Winfrey was "too little, too late" and failed to provide any new information that will help clean up the sport he tarnished through years of cheating, the vice president of the IOC said Friday.A day after stripping Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the IOC urged the disgraced former Tour de France champion to supply...

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Accumulating snow starts to fall across Southeast

ATLANTA (AP) — A winter storm that dumped 4 inches of snow in parts of Mississippi was hitting Alabama on Thursday afternoon, with the system expected to spread across northern Georgia and into the Washington, D.C., area, according to the National Weather Service.The winter blitz follows days of heavy rain across much of the Southeast.In Huntsville, Ala., a mix of thick snowflakes and sleet fell,...

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U.S. 'needs tougher child labor rules'

Cristina Traina says in his second term, Obama must address weaknesses in child farm labor standards STORY HIGHLIGHTSCristina Traina: Obama should strengthen child farm labor standardsShe says Labor Dept. rules allow kids to work long hours for little pay on commercial farmsShe says Obama administration scrapped Labor Dept. chief's proposal for tightening rulesShe says Labor Dept. must fix lax standards...

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Exhumation starts for lottery winner poisoned by cyanide

Several helicopters hovered over Rosehill Cemetery on Chicago's North Side this morning as police exhumed the body of a West...

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Sixty foreigners still caught in Sahara hostage crisis

ALGIERS (Reuters) - About 60 foreigners were still being held hostage or missing inside a gas plant on Friday after Algerian forces stormed the desert complex to free hundreds of captives taken by Islamist militants, who threatened to attack other energy installations. The attack, which plunged capitals around the world into crisis mode, is a serious escalation of unrest in northwestern...

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Wall Street hits five-year high at open on data, eBay

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks hit a five-year high at the open on Thursday after better-than-expected results from online marketplace eBay and as data showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a five-year low. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 31.80 points, or 0.24 percent, to 13,543.03. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> gained 3.67...

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Manti Te'o girlfriend's death apparently a hoax

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Not long before Notre Dame played Michigan State last fall, word spread that Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o had lost his grandmother and girlfriend within hours of each other.Te'o never missed a practice and made a season-high 12 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery in a 20-3 victory against the Spartans. His inspired play became a stirring story line for...

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Tiny Solar Activity Changes Affect Earth’s Climate

Even small changes in solar activity can impact Earth’s climate in significant and surprisingly complex ways, researchers say.The sun is a constant star when compared with many others in the galaxy. Some stars pulsate dramatically, varying wildly in size and brightness and even exploding. In comparison, the sun varies in the amount of light it emits by only 0.1 percent over the course of a relatively...

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Did Scientology ad cross line?

The Church of Scientology is also at fault for thinking the advertorial would survive The Atlantic readers' scrutiny, Ian Schafer says.STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe Atlantic published and pulled a sponsored Scientology "story"Ian Schafer: On several levels, the ad was a mistakeHe says the content was heavy-handed and comments were being moderatedSchafer: Experimenting to raise revenue makes sense, but standards...

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Teen killed following Simeon-Morgan Park game; 2 in custody

The Simeon and Morgan Park High School basketball teams ended their game at Chicago State University with a melee between players on the court. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune) ...

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