One Direction's 2nd CD hits No. 1, sells 540,000

NEW YORK (AP) — One Direction's "Take Me Home" is the taking the boys to the top of the charts — and to new heights.The group's sophomore album has sold 540,000 in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the year's third-highest debut behind Taylor Swift's "Red," which sold 1.2 million units its first week earlier this month, and Mumford & Sons' "Babel," which sold more than 600,000...

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OB/GYNs back over-the-counter birth control pills

WASHINGTON (AP) — No prescription or doctor's exam needed: The nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.Tuesday's surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women's advocates to make the pill more accessible.But no one expects the pill to be sold without a prescription...

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Clinton presses on with Israel-Hamas truce efforts

JERUSALEM (AP) — JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.S. secretary of state will try on Wednesday to wring an elusive truce deal from Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers after earlier efforts to end more than a week of fighting broke down amid a furious spasm of violence.With thousands of Israeli ground troops massed on the Gaza border and awaiting a possible order to invade, Hillary Rodham Clinton joined other...

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Obama wades into thorny Asian territorial row

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — President Barack Obama's attendance at an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders sets him right in the eye of the region's most stormy dispute: the long-raging rivalry between China and five neighbors for control of strategic and resource-rich waters of the South China Sea.Neither the U.S. nor China is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, but each has...

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Yahoo shares reach 18-month high as investors warm to new CEO

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Yahoo Inc shares reached their highest level in a year and a half, as investor confidence grows that new Chief Executive Marissa Mayer can pull off a comeback that eluded three of her predecessors.The Internet pioneer has yet to actually provide Wall Street with any hard evidence that its business is turning a corner – and she...

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Wahlberg hopes Jennifer Esposito is 'doing good'

NEW YORK (AP) — Donnie Wahlberg hopes his "Blue Bloods" co-star Jennifer Esposito is OK, but has no idea when, or if, she's returning to the show.CBS suspended the actress from the police drama, claiming she can't fulfill the full-time demands of the show. Esposito fired back over Twitter accusing the network of "absolutely shameful behavior."For the time being, her role as Wahlberg's partner is being...

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make...

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Israeli aircraft hit Hamas bank HQ in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli aircraft have battered the headquarters of the Gaza Strip bank the territory's Hamas rulers set up to sidestep international sanctions.Tuesday's strike on the Islamic National Bank in Gaza City is part of a widening Israeli onslaught against the militants and their rocket squads targeting Israel. The offensive is now in its seventh day.The inside of the bank was...

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Myanmar frees political prisoners in new amnesty

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar has set free dozens of political prisoners around the country in an amnesty that coincides with the historic visit of President Barack Obama.At least 44 political prisoners were among 66 detainees released Monday, including several prominent human rights activists, said former prisoner of conscience Soe Tun.The amnesty order was announced by state television Sunday....

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Shirtless photo a “joke,” says FBI agent who began Petraeus inquiry

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The FBI agent who began the investigation that led David Petraeus to resign as CIA director said that a shirtless photo he sent to a woman at the center of the probe was a “joke” sent to many friends, and was not meant to be sexual.Frederick Humphries told the Seattle Times in an interview published Thursday that the photo...

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