US Air, AMR near $11 billion merger, deal seen within week : sources

NEW YORK (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc and AMR Corp are nearing an $11 billion merger that would create the world's largest airline and could announce a deal within a week, after resolving key differences on valuation and management structure, people familiar with the matter said. Under terms of a deal that are still being finalized, US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker would become...

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Brazil Seethes Over Public Officials’ ‘Super Salaries’

Lalo de Almeida for The New York TimesSÃO PAULO, Brazil — There are many ways of striking it rich in Brazil, but one strategy may come as a particular surprise in today’s economic climate: securing a government job. While civil servants in Europe and the United States have had their pay slashed or jobs eliminated altogether, some public employees in Brazil are pulling down salaries and benefits...

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Kelly Clarkson Shouts Out 'Sexy' Fiancé in Grammy Acceptance Speech

Kelly Clarkson took home best pop vocal album – and possibly best acceptance speech of the night at Sunday's Grammy Awards. Clarkson, 30, made her way to the stage, explaining why it took her so long to get up there. "So sorry, I got stuck to Miranda Lambert ... there's a story and a song, for later ... after alcohol, I'm just kidding, children," she said with a laugh. Despite admitting, "I get...

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

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Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures. The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August. The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index...

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New Focus in Mali Is Finding Militants Who Have Fled Into Mountains

Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesA fish market, above, in Konna, Mali, that had been occupied by Islamist rebels. It was the seizure of Konna, in the Mopti region, that provoked France’s military intervention last month. DAKAR, Senegal — Just as Al Qaeda once sought refuge in the mountains of Tora Bora, the Islamist militants now on the run in Mali are hiding out in their own forbidding landscape, a...

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7 million iPhones and iPads have been jailbroken in just four days

The Evad3rs Jailbreak Team on Monday released their evasi0n jailbreak tool for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS 6.0 or iOS 6.1. Jay Freeman, the man behind the jailbroken app store known as Cydia, announced that nearly seven million iOS devices have been freed from Apple’s walled garden in only four days, Forbes reported. The astonishing number makes evasi0n the fastest-adopted...

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Tiger Woods & Lindsey Vonn Are 'Spending More Time' Together: Source

Buzz By Steve Helling 02/09/2013 at 06:00 PM EST Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn Mick Tsikas/Reuters/Landov; Luis Guerra/Ramey It was quite the gesture. After Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury during the Alpine World Championships in Austria, she got a bit...

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four...

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Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures. The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August. The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index...

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