Wall Street flat near multi-year highs, M&A helps

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors found few reasons to keep pushing prices higher with major averages near multi-year highs, though a flurry of merger deals kept indexes steady. Wall Street has rallied lately, with the S&P 500 briefly hitting its highest intraday level since November 2007 in Wednesday's session. Still, there are few obvious catalysts...

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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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Broadcasters blame zombie hack on easy passwords

(Reuters) – Poor password security paved the way for hackers to broadcast a bogus warning on television networks, saying that the United States was under attack by zombies, broadcasters said.Cyber security experts said the equipment the hackers broke into remained vulnerable to further breaches, and that hackers could potentially take control of the equipment to prevent the government from sending...

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Jeff Probst Wants an All-Celebrity Season of Survivor

TV Watch Survivor By Steve Helling 02/13/2013 at 03:30 PM EST Neil Patrick Harris (left) and Jeff Probst Getty; CBS Will Neil Patrick Harris soon be scheming his way to a Survivor victory? It could happen. Host Jeff Probst has spoken to the How I Met Your Mother...

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Clues to why most survived China melamine scandal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists wondering why some children and not others survived one of China's worst food safety scandals have uncovered a suspect: germs that live in the gut.In 2008, at least six babies died and 300,000 became sick after being fed infant formula that had been deliberately and illegally tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. There were some lingering puzzles: How did it cause...

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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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Ovation for Pope Benedict at final public mass

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A capacity crowd in St Peter's Basilica gave Pope Benedict a thunderous standing ovation on Wednesday at an emotional last public Mass before he resigns at the end of the month. "Thank you. Now, let's return to prayer," the 85-year-old pontiff said, bringing an end to several minutes of applause that clearly moved him. In an unusual gesture, bishops took off their...

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Employee Facebook privacy bill advances in Colo.

DENVER (AP) — Facebook profiles and other social-media accounts could be off-limits to employers under a bill approved unanimously in a Colorado House committee Tuesday.The measure, approved 11-0, would bar most employers from requiring access to their workers’ personal accounts. Several states already have such protections, and dozens more are considering them.The bill would not prohibit companies...

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Ed Sheeran: Five Things to Know

By JESSICA HERNDON 02/12/2013 at 03:50 PM EST Elton John doesn't perform with just anyone. So when he took the stage at Sunday night's Grammys with folkie Brit Ed Sheeran to duet on the newcomer's Grammy nominated hit "The A Team," it was a moment to remember.Here are five things to know about the 21-year-old...

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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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