Wall Street opens lower after jobless data

TORONTO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Canada's Rebecca Marino, a rising star in women's tennis, stepped away from the sport in search of a normal life on Wednesday, weary of battling depression and cyber-bullies. Ranked number 38 in the world two years ago, the 22-year-old admitted she had long suffered from depression and was no longer willing to make the sacrifices necessary to reach the top. "After thinking...

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The Lede: Reporters in Syria See No End in Sight

It has been nearly two years since Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, deployed troops to clear the streets of first peaceful protesters and then armed rebels intent on overthrowing him.The ensuing war, a mix of the sectarian, political and personal, has turned bustling streets, workplaces and homes across the country into rubble-strewn battlegrounds, contested bitterly for the smallest strategic...

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Downton Abbey Cast Covers One Direction's 'What Makes You Beautiful'

TV Watch By Maggie Coughlan 02/20/2013 at 09:45 AM EST You don't know you're beautiful, Downton Abbey. But comedian Richard Sandling does! Sandling is the brains behind a video mashup of the Crawley crew performing One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful." Using footage from seasons 1 through 3 (and both Christmas...

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Future science: Using 3D worlds to visualize data

CHICAGO (AP) — Take a walk through a human brain? Fly over the surface of Mars? Computer scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago are pushing science fiction closer to reality with a wraparound virtual world where a researcher wearing 3D glasses can do all that and more.In the system, known as CAVE2, an 8-foot-high screen encircles the viewer 320 degrees. A panorama of images springs from...

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Wall Street little changed after data, Fed minutes on tap

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday after housing and inflation data pointed to a continuation of modest economic improvement and ahead of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting later in the session. Groundbreaking to build new U.S. homes fell 8.5 percent in January but new permits for construction rose to a 4 1/2-year high while...

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The Lede: North Korean Video Shows Obama in Flames

North Korea has released a new propaganda video that shows President Obama and United States troops in flames and credits Washington with leading the impoverished country to become a proud nuclear power.Songs, operas and novels that stoke hatred against the United States and belittle South Korea are daily fare for North Koreans living under a leadership that uses propaganda as a critical tool of governing....

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Judge says Apple likely violated SEC rules

Major Apple (AAPL) shareholder Greenlight Capital, headed by billionaire hedge-fund manager David Einhorn, recently sued the consumer electronics giant in an effort to limit the company’s ability to offer preferred stock. At the heart of its claims, Greenlight is arguing that combining three separate items into one proposition — one of which would change the way Apple’s board issues...

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Michael Jackson's Son Prince Michael Works as TV Reporter

Only on People.com By Jennifer Garcia 02/19/2013 at 09:35 AM EST From left: James Franco, Zach Braff and Prince Michael Jackson Courtesy ET Michael Jackson's son, Prince Michael, stepped into a world his late father knew well, becoming a special correspondent for...

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Hip implants a bit more likely to fail in women

CHICAGO (AP) — Hip replacements are slightly more likely to fail in women than in men, according to one of the largest studies of its kind in U.S. patients. The risk of the implants failing is low, but women were 29 percent more likely than men to need a repeat surgery within the first three years.The message for women considering hip replacement surgery remains unclear. It's not known which models...

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Wall Street opens higher on M&A activity

(Reuters) - A Texas mother had a one-in-70-million kind of Valentine's Day this year when she gave birth to two sets of identical twin boys, a Houston hospital announced on Monday. The four brothers were delivered at 31 weeks to Tressa Montalvo, 36, via Cesarean section at The Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston, according to a news release from the hospital. Tressa and Manuel Montalvo Jr. were not...

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