Wall Street surges to five-year highs; Dow ends above 14,000

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose to five-year highs on Friday, with the Dow closing above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007, after jobs and manufacturing data showed the economy's recovery remains on track. The S&P touched its highest since December 2007 after a 5 percent gain in January, which was its best start to a year since 1997. The index is now just about 60 points...

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NFL's Goodell: Proper tackling, HGH key issues

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league needs to make football safer by doing more to eliminate blows to the head and knees and by suspending players for illegal hits.During his annual news conference two days before the Super Bowl, Goodell also said Friday he wants a "new generation" of the Rooney Rule because "we didn't have the outcomes we wanted" when none of 15 recent...

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Exclusive: Obama leaning toward picking McCarthy for EPA chief – sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama is leaning toward choosing Gina McCarthy, a top official in charge of air quality at the Environmental Protection Agency, to run the EPA in his second term, according to two sources familiar with the matter.McCarthy, currently the assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, would take on the top job as the agency leads Obama’s...

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Hillary: Secretary of empowerment

Girls hug U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.STORY HIGHLIGHTSDonna Brazile: Clinton stepping down as Secretary of State. Maybe she'll run for presidentShe says as secretary she expanded foreign policy to include effect on regular people She says she was first secretary of state to focus on empowering women and girlsBrazile:...

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Reward increased to $30,000 in Hadiya Pendleton slaying

The best friend of Hadiya Pendleton talks about the moments before her friend was shot in Chicago on January 31, 2013. (Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune) ...

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Suicide bomber kills guard at U.S. embassy in Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, officials said, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air. The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. A lower leg and other human remains lay on the street. ...

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S&P 500 posts biggest monthly gain since October 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Thursday on caution ahead of Friday's all-important jobs report, but the S&P 500 still posted its best monthly gain since October 2011. The benchmark S&P 500 advanced 5.1 percent in January as investors cheered a compromise that temporarily postponed the impact of the "fiscal cliff" and fourth-quarter earnings were better than expected....

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Gorillas to Be Protected with New Congo National Park

The Republic of Congo has declared a new national park that conservationists hope with protect a core population of western lowland gorillas, a critically endangered species, as well as other threatened species, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced today (Jan. 31).The WCS discovered a population of 125,000 western lowland gorillas in the northern part of Congo in 2008. After the discovery,...

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Ready to rumble: Super Bowl fans get in the game

NEW YORK (AP) — You don't have to be a football player to be a part of the action on Super Bowl Sunday.Coca-Cola is asking people to vote for an online match between three groups competing in a desert for a Coke on Game Day. Pepsi and Toyota are using viewers' photos in their ads. Audi let people choose the end of its Super Bowl ad, while Lincoln based its spot on more 6,000 tweets from fans about...

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Fear and loathing in Egypt's Port Said

Behind the maskScales of justiceMoment of truthFans celebrate Armed and readyRally at the clubPortrait of the deadACABDown with MorsiArmy in controlPort Said women protestAl Masry ultrasThe sound of machine gunsAftermathProtestShots firedEmpty standsHarrowing reminder<<<123456789101112131415161718>>>STORY HIGHLIGHTSChaos erupted in Egypt after 21 people were sentenced to death following...

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