Wall Street gains on Bernanke comments, S&P above 1,500

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday, with major indexes posting their best daily gains since early January, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke remained steadfast in supporting the Fed's stimulus policy and data pointed to economic improvement. In a second day before a congressional committee, Bernanke defended the Fed's buying of bonds to keep interest rates low to boost...

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Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's stunned political parties searched for a way forward on Tuesday after an inconclusive election gave none of them a parliamentary majority and threatened prolonged instability and a renewal of the European financial crisis. The results, notably the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo, left the center-left bloc with a majority...

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See Which Star Dyed Her Hair Red for The Amazing Spider-Man

Stylewatch Style News Now 02/26/2013 at 12:30 PM ET Splash News Online; Inset: LandovEmma Stone went blonde for her role in the Spider-Man series, and now another star has made a change for the franchise. Shailene Woodley debuted...

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C. Everett Koop, 'rock star' surgeon general, dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. C. Everett Koop has long been regarded as the nation's doctor— even though it has been nearly a quarter-century since he was surgeon general.Koop, who died Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H., at age 96, was by far the best known and most influential person to carry that title. Koop, a 6-foot-1 evangelical Presbyterian with a biblical prophet's beard, donned a public health uniform...

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Huge protest vote pushes Italy towards deadlock

ROME (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government. With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the center left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower...

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Oscar Gowns: The 12 Best Dresses of the Night

02/25/2013 at 05:50 PM EST Jason Merritt/Getty; John Shearer/AP; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic In order to earn a spot in the PEOPLE.com Oscars Best Dressed gallery, a gown must do one of two things: get the unanimous approval of the entire PEOPLE.com style staff…or wow one editor so much that...

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Koop, who transformed surgeon general post, dies

With his long silver beard and uniform with braided trim, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop became one of the most recognizable figures of the Reagan era — and one of the most unexpectedly enduring.His nomination in 1981 met a wall of opposition from women's groups and liberal politicians, who complained President Ronald Reagan selected Koop, a pediatric surgeon and evangelical Christian from...

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Wall Street trips and falls on cloudy Italian election

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks on Monday suffered their biggest drop since November after a strong showing in Italian elections by groups opposed to the country's economic reforms triggered worry that Europe's debt problems could once again destabilize the global economy. The decline marks the biggest percentage drop for the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index since November7, and...

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Channing Tatum & Jenna Dewan-Tatum Show Off Baby Bump at Oscars

By Maggie Coughlan 02/24/2013 at 06:45 PM EST Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum Jason Merritt/Getty Who is your bump wearing?Parents-to-be Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum brought a very special guest to Sunday night's 85th Annual Academy Awards – wearing a black lace, backless dress,...

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FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent...

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