Stock futures dip on Europe, Japan growth data; Cisco weighs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures fell on Thursday in the wake of weaker-than-expected growth data from Europe and Japan and a disappointing outlook from technology bellwether Cisco Systems . Though weakness in Europe has persisted over recent quarters, underwhelming economic growth data from the region and from Japan, which could impact global growth and U.S. corporate profits, may...

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IHT Rendezvous: Mario Draghi Takes the E.C.B.'s Message to Spain

MADRID—The European Central Bank and its president, Mario Draghi, want to ensure that their voices get heard beyond the financial district of Frankfurt.But their efforts to travel around Europe and spread their message more directly to its citizens have ended up backfiring, at least when it comes to visiting Spain, one of the countries at the center of the Continent’s debt crisis.Last May, the E.C.B....

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One Direction, Taylor Swift Among Kids' Choice Awards Nominees

By Andrea Billups 02/13/2013 at 08:50 AM EST One Direction, (from left) Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Harry Styles Jon Furniss/AP Time to get slimed! Wednesday brought the nominations for Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, set to air March 23 with Josh Duhamel as...

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Study questions kidney cancer treatment in elderly

In a stunning example of when treatment might be worse than the disease, a large review of Medicare records finds that older people with small kidney tumors were much less likely to die over the next five years if doctors monitored them instead of operating right away.Even though nearly all of these tumors turned out to be cancer, they rarely proved fatal. And surgery roughly doubled patients' risk...

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Stock futures point to modest gains at open

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to slight gains at the open on Wednesday, suggesting the market would continue a recent advance that lifted benchmark indexes to multi-year highs. Equities have been strong performers of late, buoyed largely by healthy growth in corporate earnings, with the S&P 500 gaining 6.5 percent so far this year. The Dow is about 1 percent from...

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The Female Factor: Dancing on Behalf of a Billion

LONDON — Anyone who happens to be passing through Westminster at 11 o’clock on Valentine’s Day may — if things go as planned — catch an unusual glimpse of a few members of Parliament gathered somewhere in the shadow of Big Ben, dancing along the footpath. The actress Thandie Newton will be leading members of the public and a few politicians in a flash mob dance on Thursday to mark the One...

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The Bachelor's Sean Lowe Blogs About His Dates in St. Croix

Sean Lowe and Tierra on The Bachelor Sean Lowe is the star of season 17 of The Bachelor, which airs Mondays on ABC. The hunky Dallas businessman and entrepreneur is blogging about his romantic journey for PEOPLE.com. I'd developed really strong feelings for the final six women on The Bachelor – and I could hardly wait to take them to St. Croix. Our...

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Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life

The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.There may be more behind the story of why Pope Benedict XVI decided to leave a job normally held for...

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Stock futures dip before Obama speech, Coca-Cola shares off

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures dipped in low volume on Tuesday, hovering near multi-year highs as traders awaited President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. The economy will be one of the main themes of Obama's speech at 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday). Investors will listen for any clues on a deal with Republicans in Congress to avert automatic spending cuts due to take effect...

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The Lede: Latest Updates on Pope's Resignation

The Lede is providing updates on Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement on Monday that he intends to resign on Feb. 28, less than eight years after he took office, the first pope to do so in six centuri...

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