Danica Patrick Makes History as First Woman to Win Daytona 500 Pole Slot

By Andrea Billups 02/18/2013 at 11:30 AM EST Danica Patrick made racing history on Sunday, becoming the first woman to win the coveted pole position for this year's Daytona 500 in just her second season of racing NASCAR after years as an IndyCar driver."I was brought up to be the fastest driver, not the fastest...

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Study: Better TV might improve kids' behavior

SEATTLE (AP) — Teaching parents to switch channels from violent shows to educational TV can improve preschoolers' behavior, even without getting them to watch less, a study found.The results were modest and faded over time, but may hold promise for finding ways to help young children avoid aggressive, violent behavior, the study authors and other doctors said."It's not just about turning off the television....

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Florida hit by "tsunami" of tax identity fraud

MIAMI (Reuters) - Bruce Parton was only a few weeks from retirement after 30 years as a mail carrier in sunny Florida. He never lived to fulfill his retirement plan of moving back to a quiet life in the Catskill mountains of New York, not far from where he grew up on Long Island. Instead, he was gunned down on his daily mail route in December 2010 by members of an identity...

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IHT Rendezvous: Should Common Plastics Be Labeled Toxic?

THE HAGUE — Hoping to reduce one of the most ubiquitous forms of waste, a global group of scientists is proposing that certain types of plastic be labeled hazardous.The group, led by two California scientists, wrote in this week’s issue of the scientific journal Nature:We believe that if countries classified the most harmful plastics as hazardous, their environmental agencies would have the power...

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Cuban dissident blogger prepares “victory” tour

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba‘s best-known dissident, blogger Yoani Sanchez, says she plans to make good use of “my victory” when she leaves on an 80-day-tour of more than a dozen countries on Sunday.Sanchez, under Cuba’s sweeping migration reform that went into effect this year, was given her passport two weeks ago, after being denied permission to travel more than 20 times over the past five years.Sanchez,...

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Katy Perry Gets a Heart-Shaped Ring from John Mayer

02/17/2013 at 11:45 AM EST Katy Perry and John Mayer on Feb. 14 with her ring (inset) David Tonnessen/Pacific Coast News John Mayer put a ring on Katy Perry's finger – just not the kind you might expect.After the couple was photographed leaving Vincenti, an Italian...

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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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Karzai to Forbid His Forces From Requesting Foreign Airstrikes

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that he would issue a decree barring Afghan security forces from asking international troops to carry out airstrikes under “any circumstances.” The announcement came amid anger over a joint Afghan-NATO operation last week that Afghan officials said killed 10 civilians, including women and children, in northeast Kunar Province....

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Blue Ivy Looks Just Like Dad Jay-Z in New Photo

02/16/2013 at 11:30 AM EST Daddy's little girl, indeed!A new photo of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's 1-year-old daughter Blue Ivy – apparently leaked from the songstress's upcoming HBO documentary – shows the proud mama holding up her little girl, who bears a striking resemblance to her famous papa. "When I wake up in...

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