Banks, commodity stocks lift S&P 500 to five-year high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank and commodity shares led the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index to a fresh five-year closing high on Tuesday on hopes that the global economy continues to mend. Travelers' shares climbed after the insurer's results and lifted the Dow Jones industrial average to a new five-year closing high. On Friday, both the Dow and the S&P 500 ended...

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At War Blog: A Veteran's Plea to President Obama

Dear Mr. President,Congratulations on your re-election. As you now begin your second term, there are myriad important issues plaguing the veteran community that we wish to bring to the forefront.There are nearly 23 million veterans living in the United States, making up 8.1 percent of the population. We’re a minority, yes – but a sizable one. What’s more, we’re a minority that continually sacrifices...

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Samsung decides to kick RIM when it’s down by bashing BlackBerry in new ad [video]

Samsung (005930) is well known for its clever ads mocking Apple (AAPL) and its fans, but the company has decided to pick on a less powerful target in its newest ad that takes swipes RIM (RIMM) and its BlackBerry smartphones. The ad revolves around an office that is implementing its own bring-your-own-device policy and is meant to show that both the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II are ideal...

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PHOTOS: The Inauguration Diary of Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys watches history – and makes some of her own – in Washington, D.C., by attending the Inauguration and performing at three balls. The artist, whose album Girl on Fire debuted at No. 1, shares her exclusive photos with PEOPLE Credit: Courtesy of Alicia Keys Updated: Monday Jan 21, 2013 | 06:00 PM EST ...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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European shares test two-year highs, yen volatile before BOJ

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares inched towards two-year highs on Monday, as a political attempt to break a budget impasse in the United States and expectations of aggressive Japanese stimulus bolstered the appetite for shares. U.S. House Republican leaders said on Friday they would seek to pass a three-month extension of federal borrowing authority in the coming days to buy time for...

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Iran Publicly Hangs 2 Men Convicted in Stabbing

Ebrahim Noroozi/Fars, via Associated PressIranians reacted in Tehran on Sunday at the execution of two men, whose stabbing of a man, caught on a video camera and posted online, caused an uproar. TEHRAN — An eerie silence filled the air as a crowd of around 300 gathered Sunday just before sunrise in a Tehran park. They awaited the arrival of two young men who were about to die. Amir...

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BlackBerry 10 camera software revealed, including built-in Instagram-like photo filters [video]

Just when we start to think we know everything there is to know about BlackBerry 10, new details leak. Mobile blog The Gadget Masters on Friday published a video revealing the new BlackBerry 10 camera software included on a pre-release version of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. While the software on this prototype phone likely isn’t final, several new features that will be included in RIM’s (RIMM)...

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Selena Gomez vs. Justin Bieber: Who Sang It Better?

By Alison Schwartz 01/20/2013 at 06:00 PM EST Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber Bryan Bedder/Getty; Steve Mack/FilmMagic Selena Gomez didn't officially comment on the status of her relationship with on-again, off-again beau Justin Bieber at her New York City acoustic...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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