Jan
21

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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Harbaugh brothers take 49ers, Ravens to Super Bowl

This Super Bowl will be filled with firsts — and one significant last.The Harbaughs, San Francisco's Jim and Baltimore's John, will be the first pair of brothers to coach against each other in the NFL title game.Quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers and Joe Flacco of the Ravens each will be playing in his first Super Bowl — where success is the ultimate measure of elite QBs.It'll be Baltimore's...
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How Obama made opportunity real

STORY HIGHLIGHTSLZ Granderson: Specifics of Obama's first term may not be rememberedHe says his ability to win presidency twice is unforgettableGranderson: Obama, the first black president, makes opportunity real for manyHe says it makes presidency a possibility for people of all backgroundsEditor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the...
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“Les Miserables” soundtrack tops UK albums chart

LONDON (Reuters) – The soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated movie “Les Miserables” climbed to the top spot in the UK albums chart, the first film cast recording to do so since Madonna’s “Evita” in 1997, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday.A film version of a hugely successful stage musical based on a novel by 19th century French writer Victor Hugo, “Les Miserables” has already picked up a Golden...
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Jan
20

What’s In An Inch? Subway Comes Up Short

Don’t be so literal; the “Subway Footlong” is a registered trademark, not an actual measurement. So wrote Subway Australia on its Facebook page on Jan. 16, after customer Matt Corby’s photo of an 11-inch sub sandwich, measured against a ruler, went viral.According to ABC News, the Subway response, which is no longer posted on the page, read: “The length of the bread baked in the restaurant cannot...
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Canadian companies feel the world’s pain

By Claire SibonneyTORONTO (Reuters) – Financial results from Canada’s biggest companies are likely to disappoint investors in the coming weeks with weak global growth and mixed commodity prices expected to have pummeled the quarterly earnings of oil companies and miners.Energy and materials shares make up about half of the value of the Toronto Stock Exchange’s benchmark S&P/TSX composite index...
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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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Djokovic plays another Australian Open marathon

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The opponent was different, the match three rounds earlier. Still, the result gave Novak Djokovic a familiar feeling, and another chance to rip off his shirt in celebration.Djokovic needed just over 5 hours to beat Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 12-10 in a fourth-round match Sunday night at the Australian Open, on the same court where he needed 5:53 to beat...
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Obama's speech: Learn from Lincoln

STORY HIGHLIGHTSJulian Zelizer: Second term inaugural addresses are always a challengeHe says the public has had four years to make a judgment about the presidentObama can learn from second term speeches of Lincoln, Wilson, FDRZelizer says they did a good job of unifying America and sketching vision of the futureEditor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton...
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Chastain bests Arnold, Wahlberg at box office

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Chastain easily outmuscled Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mark Wahlberg over the weekend, topping the box office with her supernatural horror film “Mama.”According to studio estimates Sunday, “Mama” earned $ 28.1 million. Chastain held the top two spots with both “Mama” and the Osama bin Laden manhunt drama “Zero Dark Thirty,” for which she’s nominated by the best actress Oscar....
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