The Bachelor: Sean's Hometown Date with Desiree Gets Interrupted - By an Ex?

The ex who pops back into the picture has been a common storyline in recent seasons of The Bachelor. And this season is no exception. In this exclusive preview of Monday night's episode, Sean Lowe meets more of Desiree Hartsock's loved ones than he bargained for. "As Des and I are getting dinner ready for her parents, I feel like we're a couple," says Sean. "And I'm excited for her family to...

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UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.Edwards...

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G20 steps back from currency brink, heat off Japan

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations declared on Saturday there would be no currency war and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets, underlining broad concern about the fragile state of the world economy. Japan's expansive policies, which have driven down the yen, escaped direct criticism in a statement thrashed out in Moscow by policymakers from the G20, which spans developed...

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NATO air strikes for Afghan security forces must end: Karzai

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces will be banned from calling for NATO air strikes in residential areas to help in their operations, President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday, three days after 10 civilians died in such a strike in the country's east. NATO air strikes and civilian casualties have become a significant stress point in the relationship between Karzai and his international...

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Facebook says it was a target of sophisticated hacking

SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Facebook Inc said on Friday hackers had infiltrated some of its employees’ laptops in recent weeks, making the world’s No.1 social network the latest victim of a wave of cyber attacks, many of which have been traced to China.It said none of its users’ data was compromised in the attack, which occurred after a handful of employees visited a website last month that...

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Looking Good! See Shakira's Post-Baby Body!

Mom & Babies Celebrity Baby Blog 02/15/2013 at 12:30 PM ET 7pix/Face to FaceCaliente!Just three weeks after welcoming son Milan Piqué Mebarak, new mom Shakira stepped out for an appointment in Barcelona, Spain Thursday looking comfy, casual — and rocking an incredible curvy figure.With her blonde...

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Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction

BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.The findings, published online Thursday in...

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Wall Street dips but S&P on pace for seventh weekly gain

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Friday as equities continued a phase of consolidation after a strong start to the year but the seven-week winning streak for the S&P 500 remained intact. The S&P 500, up nearly 7 percent so far this year, is facing strong technical resistance near the 1,525 level. But investors, expecting the index to advance further in the quarter, have...

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Meteor explodes over central Russia, over 1,000 injured

CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - A meteor streaked across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, raining fireballs over a wide area and causing a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured more than 1,000 people. People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt the shock wave, according to a Reuters...

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Verizon’s Galaxy S IV detailed in purported benchmarks

Samsung’s (005930) upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone for Verizon (VZ) may have been detailed in newly discovered benchmark test results. The device carries the model number SCH-i545 and is similar to the model number SCH-i535, which is found on the carrier’s Galaxy S III smartphone. According to results from the Nenamark benchmark site, the Galaxy S IV will be equipped with a 1920 x 1080-pixel...

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Oscar Pistorius's Nike Ad Calling Him a 'Bullet' Pulled from His Website

By Stephen M. Silverman 02/14/2013 at 01:30 PM EST Screen grab of Nike ad on Oscar Pistorius website as of Feb. 5, 2013 A Nike ad with Olympian Oscar Pistorius in his trademark blades – and bearing the tagline "I am the bullet in the chamber" – was yanked from...

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Morning-after pill use up to 1 in 9 younger women

NEW YORK (AP) — About 1 in 9 younger women have used the morning-after pill after sex, according to the first government report to focus on emergency contraception since its approval 15 years ago.The results come from a survey of females ages 15 to 44. Eleven percent of those who'd had sex reported using a morning-after pill. That's up from 4 percent in 2002, only a few years after the pills went...

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Wall Street flat as takeovers offset weak overseas data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as a flurry of merger deals and better-than-expected jobs data offset signs of economic weakness in Europe and Japan Shares of H.J. Heinz Co jumped 20 percent to $72.51 after it said Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital will buy the food company for $72.50 a share, or $28 billion including debt. Also...

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"Blade Runner" Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, was charged on Thursday with shooting dead his girlfriend at his upscale home in Pretoria. Police said they opened a murder case after a 30-year-old woman was found dead at the Paralympic and Olympic star's house in the Silverlakes gated complex...

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The Pope’s Legacy, a Buddhist Scandal, and the Science of Violent Video Games

Behind the New York Times pay wall, you only get 10 free clicks a month. For those worried about hitting their limit, we’re taking a look through the paper each morning to find the stories that can make your clicks count.RELATED: The Republican National Convention, Ryanomics, and K-popTop Stories: Though his written teachings were praised, Pope Benedict XVI “often appeared...

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Ryan Reynolds Punches Costar Scott Speedman on Set of New Film

By Maggie Coughlan 02/13/2013 at 01:50 PM EST Ryan Reynolds and Scott Speedman AKM-GSI Don't mess with Ryan Reynolds!The actor, 36, proved he knows how to pack a punch while filming a scene for Queen of the Night in Sudbury, Canada, on Tuesday. On the receiving...

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Report: Tracking system needed to fight fake drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting the problem of fake drugs will require putting medications through a chain of custody like U.S. courts require for evidence in a trial, the Institute of Medicine reported Wednesday.The call for a national drug tracking system comes a week after the Food and Drug Administration warned doctors, for the third time in about a year, that it discovered a counterfeit batch of the...

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Wall Street rally stalls, S&P 500 skims November 2007 high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday amid investor caution after the S&P 500 index briefly hit its highest intraday level since November 2007. The benchmark index got a boost from Comcast Corp , which said it will buy the rest of NBC Universal for $16.7 billion from General Electric Co . Equities have been strong performers until recently, buoyed...

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Pope confident his resignation will not hurt Church

ROME (Reuters) - A visibly moved Pope Benedict tried to assure his worldwide flock on Wednesday over his stunning decision to become the first pontiff in centuries to resign, saying he was confident that it would not hurt the Church. The Vatican, meanwhile, announced that a conclave to elect his successor would start sometime between March 15 and March 20, in keeping with Church rules...

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Despite numbers, Burton still bullish on boarding

DENVER (AP) — Three decades after snowboarders barged their way onto the mountain, Shaun White is a household name and the sight of an iPod-wearing teenager carving turns down the hills of a family resort doesn’t even raise an eyebrow.Those are good things, industry leaders say, because snowboarding is now firmly entrenched in the mainstream it once disdained.Those are bad things, those leaders also...

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Julianne Hough: Ryan Seacrest Makes Valentine's Day Super Romantic

By Carlos Greer 02/12/2013 at 01:40 PM EST Ryan Seacrest and Julianne Hough Michael Buckner/WireImage Who knew Ryan Seacrest was such a romantic? His girlfriend, Julianne Hough, tells PEOPLE he likes to go all out for Valentine's Day."[He likes] surprising me and ending up at a restaurant...

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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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Wall Street edges up ahead of Obama speech as housing gains

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 holding near multi-year highs ahead of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, as housing stocks advanced. The economy will be a major topic of Obama's speech before a joint session of Congress set for 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday). Investors will listen for any clues on a deal with Republicans to avert...

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North Korean nuclear test draws anger, including from China

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from around the world, including from its only major ally, China, which summoned the North Korean ambassador to protest. Pyongyang said the test was an act of self-defense against "U.S. hostility" and threatened stronger steps if necessary. The U.N....

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