| News |
| Sweet 16: Streaking Spurs go up 2-0 on Clippers |
 On his 30th birthday, Tony Parker first kept the San Antonio Spurs on pace for what might be another lopsided playoff sweep. Then the All-Star who's always quick to needle Tim Duncan about his age finally acknowledged his own.
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| Myanmar president feeling ill, resting at home |
 Myanmar's President Thein Sein was resting at his home in Yangon on Friday after military doctors paid a house call but an adviser said his condition was "nothing to worry about."
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| Miss World boss plans Fiji trip after fiasco |
 The head of the Miss World beauty queen franchise says she plans to travel to Fiji "as soon as possible" to address the problems that turned last month's pageant in the island nation into a fiasco.
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| Asia stock markets sink on US, Europe worries |
 Asian stocks dived Friday after discouraging U.S. economic reports unnerved investors already worried about the stability of the 17-country euro currency union.
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| China shadow looming, Taiwan's Ma set for 2nd term |
 Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has leveraged growing economic ties with China to reduce tensions to their lowest level since the two sides split in 1949. China's incessant effort to draw the democratic island closer politically has been on the back burner, and as Ma's second term begins Sunday the question is whether he can keep it there.
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| Spanish banks' debt ratings cut amid recession |
 Concerns over Europe's debt crisis deepened as the ratings of 16 Spanish banks were cut after the country slipped into recession while Greece was also downgraded on fears it could exit the eurozone.
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| Oil hovers below $93 after sharp 2-week sell-off |
| Oil prices hovered below $93 a barrel Friday in Asia, pausing after the latest twists in Europe's debt crisis triggered a sharp two-week selloff. |
| Killing of Florida teen 'ultimately avoidable': police |
 A police report said the confrontation that led to an unarmed black teenager in Florida being shot dead by a neighborhood watch volunteer was "ultimately avoidable."
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| Obama, Hollande to press euro crisis remedies at G8 |
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek to cement a bond with France's new leader at the White House on Friday before heading to Camp David for a G8 summit where he is set to press Europe to do more to fix the region's deepening economic crisis. Francois Hollande, sworn in this week as French president, has already made waves by challenging Europe's austerity focus and saying he will pull French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. ...
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| LA Kings beat Phoenix, move to brink of Cup final |
 When Daymond Langkow beat Jonathan Quick on a breakaway and celebrated Phoenix's first lead in the Western Conference finals, captain Dustin Brown was almost curious how his Los Angeles Kings would respond to the first serious adversity they've faced in weeks.
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| China sentences fugitive smuggler Lai to life term |
 The man once considered China's most-wanted fugitive was sentenced to life in prison for smuggling and bribery in a lurid corruption case that reached into the highest echelons of the Communist Party and involved a decade-long extradition fight.
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| Pacers pound Heat 94-75 in Game 3 |
 LeBron James grabbed a seat on Miami's bench, lowered his head and stared down at the floor.
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| Japan launches rocket with first foreign satellite |
 A rocket has lifted off in Japan in the country's first commercial launch of a foreign satellite — one from South Korea designed to monitor the environment.
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| Bus plunges into Vietnam river bank; 34 killed |
 A crowded bus plunged into a river bank in central Vietnam, killing 34 people and injuring 21 others in one of the country's deadliest road accidents.
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| Pavarotti manager Herbert Breslin dead at 87 |
| Herbert Breslin, the hard-driving manager who helped propel Luciano Pavarotti to international fame during the 36 years they worked together, has died, his wife said Thursday. He was 87. |
| 'American Idol' down to final 2 singers |
 "American Idol" finalist Joshua Ledet won't be belting it out on this season's final showdown.
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| Japan government ups economic outlook on consumption, exports |
 TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government took a brighter view of the economy in a report on Friday, thanks to improvements in private consumption and exports, but it warned that Europe's debt crisis and financial market swings could worsen the outlook. The upgrade, the first since August last year, comes one day after data showed Japan's economy grew faster than the United States, Germany and Britain in the first quarter as subsidies boosted sales of energy-efficient cars. ...
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| Trayvon evidence fails to answer who screamed for help |
 ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - An FBI expert found crucial evidence in the Trayvon Martin case was inconclusive, saying it was impossible to tell if the voice screaming for help belonged to the black Florida teenager or his shooter George Zimmerman just before the neighborhood watch captain pulled the trigger. That detail came from a mass of evidence made public on Thursday in the case that sparked civil rights protests across the United States and debates over guns, self-defense laws and race relations in America. ...
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| Questions and answers on blockbuster Facebook IPO |
 A company started in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 has just raised $16 billion and is valued at $104 billion. All that from an initial public offering of stock.
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| Investors brace for Facebook debut on Wall Street |
 (Reuters) - Investors are bracing for Facebook's Wall Street debut on Friday after the world's No.1 online social network raised about $16 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history. Valued at $104 billion, Facebook is larger than Starbucks Corp and Hewlett-Packard combined, sparking intense speculation on how much higher its valuation will rise once shares start trading. "A 15 to 20 percent pop is in the realm of possibility," said Tim Loughran, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame. ...
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| Facebook's IPO one of world's largest |
 Facebook is about to find out just how much status updates, puppy photos and billions of "likes" are worth on Wall Street.
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| Global leaders seek to corral Europe crisis |
 The leaders of eight of the world's biggest economies meet this weekend outside Washington, seeking to keep Europe's debt crisis from spiraling out of control and jeopardizing fledgling recoveries in the U.S. and elsewhere.
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| Today in History |
| Today is Friday, May 18, the 139th day of 2012. There are 227 days left in the year. |
| US eases economic sanctions to reward Myanmar |
 President Barack Obama on Thursday declared a new chapter in U.S. relations with Myanmar, easing an investment ban and naming the first U.S. ambassador to the former pariah state in 22 years to reward it for democratic reforms.
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| Documents shed new light on Trayvon Martin killing |
 Trayvon Martin's autopsy shows he had marijuana in his system the night he was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, and a gunshot to his chest came from close range, according to nearly 200 pages of previously undisclosed documents released Thursday.
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| Filipino Christian group protests Lady Gaga shows |
| About 70 Christian youths in the Philippines have chanted "Stop the Lady Gaga concerts" at a rally calling for the singer's shows in Manila next week to be canceled. |
| '11 Nelson runner-up Palmer leads with opening 64 |
 Ryan Palmer has been thinking about redemption at the Byron Nelson Championship, and a chance at home to hold up that trophy.
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| Former editor says Murdoch sowed seeds of hacking scandal |
 LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch sowed the seeds of the phone hacking scandal that has tarnished his reputation by forcing Britain's most respected newspapers into "a Faustian bargain" with the powerful, a former editor of the UK's Times newspaper said on Thursday. Harry Evans told a British media inquiry how as editor of the Times he battled attempts by Murdoch to compel him to support Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. At the Leveson inquiry last month, Murdoch denied influencing the editorial stance of the Times papers. ...
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| US Navy destroyers steal the show in 'Battleship' |
 US Navy sailors tend to be overlooked when it comes to Hollywood blockbusters, but the new action movie "Battleship" features American destroyers and their crews in the starring role, waging war against hostile aliens in the Pacific Ocean.
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| Wayne Newton sued over Las Vegas home museum plans |
 Plans to turn Wayne Newton's sprawling Las Vegas estate into a celebrity museum have shifted into an ugly legal battle citing mismanagement, animal abuse and sexual harassment.
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