Stock futures rise on deals, extend seven-week rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures advanced on Tuesday, indicating the S&P 500 will build on its seven-week winning streak on optimism about M&A activity and before data on the housing market. The S&P 500 <.spx> has risen for seven straight weeks, its longest streak since January 2011, and is up 6.6 percent for the year. The strong start to the year...

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Pistorius says no intentions to kill girlfriend

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius told a packed courtroom Tuesday that he shot his girlfriend to death by mistake, thinking she was a robber. The prosecutor called it premeditated murder.The double amputee said in an affidavit read by his lawyer at his bail hearing that he felt vulnerable because he did not have on his prosthetic legs when he pumped bullets into the locked bathroom door....

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Time to respect Chavez's merits?

By Samuel Moncada, Special to CNNFebruary 18, 2013 -- Updated 1218 GMT (2018 HKT)One Venezuelan official says the reforms enacted in Hugo Chavez's 14-year tenure deserve respect.STORY HIGHLIGHTSDespite perceptions, Hugo Chavez has brought social progress to VenezuelaMoncada: Venezuela's critics have engineered a false narrative of impending disasterVenezuela has used its vast oil reserves to transform...

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Prosecution details 'horrific' murder case against Pistorius

PRETORIA -- "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius put on his artificial legs and walked across his bedroom before firing four handgun...

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Chavez back in Venezuela, on Twitter with 4 million followers

CARACAS (Reuters) - After Hugo Chavez spent two months out of the public eye for cancer surgery in Cuba, the Venezuelan government hailed his homecoming on Monday and said the president had achieved another milestone - four million followers on Twitter. The 58-year-old flew back from Havana before dawn and was taken to a military hospital. No new details were given on his health, and...

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Euro, dollar up after G20, stocks ease on growth concern

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro and the dollar rose against the yen on Monday after the G20 decided not to criticize Japan for its expansionist policies, but shares eased as Europe's weak growth outlook weighed on sentiment. Financial leaders from the world's 20 biggest economies promised on Saturday not to devalue their currencies to boost exports, aiming to defuse talk of currency wars...

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Danica Patrick wins pole for NASCAR's Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick is at her best in the spotlight.Good thing, too, because she's going to be there all week.Patrick won the Daytona 500 pole Sunday, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any race in NASCAR's premier circuit. It's by far the biggest achievement of her stock-car career. She's braced for the attention that will follow."I think when pressure's on...

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Model: Getting what I don't deserve

STORY HIGHLIGHTSModel Cameron Russell's TED Talk has been viewed more than a million timesShe says, as winner of "genetic lottery," she has been able to have a modeling careerHer looks fit a narrow definition of beauty, she saysRussell: I work hard but my modeling career gives my views undeserved attentionEditor's note: Cameron Russell has been a model for brands such as Victoria's Secret, Calvin...

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2 questioned in fatal shooting of Chicago teen

Janay McFarlane, 18, was shot on the way to a store, the same day Obama spoke on gun violence. Two people are being questioned...

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U.N. says has list of Syrian war crimes suspects

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrians in "leadership positions" who may be responsible for war crimes have been identified, along with units accused of perpetrating them, United Nations investigators said on Monday. Both government forces and armed rebels are committing war crimes, including killings and torture, spreading terror among civilians in a nearly two-year-old conflict, they said. ...

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