Rodman tells Kim Jong Un he has 'friend for life'

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman hung out Thursday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un on the third day of his improbable journey with VICE to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later dining on sushi and drinking with him at his palace."You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting...

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Syria war is everybody's problem

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: United States will give food and medical aid to rebel fighters for the first timeNEW: It's not clear how much that aid is worth, but $60 million will go to opposition councilNEW: "Behave as a human being," opposition leader urges Syrian presidentU.S. officials are considering more nonlethal military aidRome (CNN) -- The United States stepped further into Syria's civil war Thursday,...

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Pope leaves Vatican before abdication

Pope Benedict XVI gives final farewell at Vatican. (WGN - Chicago) VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict left the Vatican on...

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U.S. to give Syrian rebels medical, food aid, not arms

ROME (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it will for the first time give non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels and more than double its aid to Syria's civilian opposition, disappointing opponents of President Bashar al-Assad clamoring for Western weapons. The United States cast the aid as a way to bolster the rebels' popular support. It will include medical supplies, food for rebel...

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S&P 500 rises more than 1 percent

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, was briefly hospitalized due to her bipolar disorder, the actress' spokeswoman said on Tuesday after video emerged of Fisher giving an unusual stage performance. The video came from a show Fisher gave aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean last week, according to celebrity website TMZ, which posted...

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Benedict: Pope aware of his flaws?

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his last Angelus Blessing to thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square on February 24.STORY HIGHLIGHTSSister Mary Ann Walsh: Pope Benedict acknowledged that he made mistakesWalsh: In firestorm over scholarly quotes about Islam, he went to great lengths to atoneWalsh: Similarly, he quickly reversed a decision that had angered Jews and repaired tiesEven his stepping...

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Obama to meet with leaders over $85B in sequestration cuts

Speaker of the House John Boehner tells Scott Pelley in a "CBS...

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Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary

ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears of a secret weapons program. The United States, China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany offered to ease sanctions slightly in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive...

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Dow, S&P rise as Bernanke defends policy, warns on cuts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks mostly rose on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus before Congress, but warned forced spending cuts that could be triggered this week represented a headwind for the economy. Gains in homebuilders and other consumer stocks, following strong economic data, kept the S&P 500 nearly unchanged, while a 5...

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Experts: Pistorius violated basic firearms rules

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Even if Oscar Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star athlete violated basic gun-handling regulations and exposed himself to a homicide charge by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it.Particularly jarring for firearms instructors and legal experts is that Pistorius testified...

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