French troops deployed in last Mali rebel strongholds

DOUENTZA, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - French troops seized the airport in Mali's northern town of Kidal, the last urban stronghold held by Islamist insurgents, as they moved to wrap up the first phase of a military operation to wrest northern Mali from rebel hands. France has deployed some 4,500 troops in a three-week ground and air offensive to break the Islamist rebels' 10-month grip on...

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Europe will get its money back, says Bank of Greece

BERLIN: Greece will pay back the billions of euros of European aid it has received to fight its debt crisis, the head of the country's central bank told Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung."I understand the concern of European taxpayers," Governor of the Bank of Greece George Provopoulos, said in Thursday's edition of the daily newspaper."But I can tell you one thing: this time, the government...

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Facebook moving fast on mobile, and spending tons on everything

Risk. What risk? Facebook's ballooning mobile audience is proving to be anything but a bubble-bursting group. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg today told analysts that the social network's laser-focus on mobile is paying off handsomely -- the result, in part, of accidental good fortune. "There's no argument, Facebook is a mobile company," Zuckerberg told investors after the company reported fourth-quarter...

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Obama: "No doubt" Congress will pass immigration, gun bills

Play VideoObama: "No doubt" gun, immigration bills will pass in coming monthsThere's more bipartisan support in Congress for comprehensive immigration reform than gun control legislation, President Obama said tonight during an interview with Univision, but qualified that even under his proposal, illegal immigrants shouldn't be harboring expectations that they'll be granted citizenship "manana." ...

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Former Police Captain Cleared of Ex-Wife's Murder

A former Ohio police captain has been cleared in the murder of his ex-wife and released from prison, where he had been for 15 years -- but prosecutors say they plan to appeal the ruling."I'm just a jumble of emotions and I just can't wait to hug all of my family," Douglas Prade told reporters outside the prison when he was released Tuesday afternoon, according to ABC News' Cleveland...

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Sixty-five people executed in Syria's Aleppo: activists

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 65 people were found shot dead with their hands bound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday in a "new massacre" in the near two-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. Opposition campaigners blamed the government but it was impossible to confirm who was responsible. Assad's forces and rebels have been battling in Syria's commercial...

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21,227 cartons of contraband cigarettes seized

SINGAPORE: Customs officers seized 21,227 cartons of contraband cigarettes and arrested five men and a woman during islandwide operations last week.Singapore Customs said on Wednesday that the total value of the cigarettes seized was over S$2 million, while the total duty and goods and services tax (GST) evaded was S$1.8 million.Three distribution networks were disrupted.The biggest seizure...

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Obama backs immigration reform for skilled tech workers

Obama announced today that he backs immigration reform.(Credit:White House)Tech companies may score a victory in their hopes to get immigration reform passed for skilled tech workers. President Obama urged Congress today to work on immigration policy that would allow foreign-born startup founders to stay in the country. At the same time, several U.S. senators introduced a bill focusing on the same....

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Grandson of oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens dies in Texas

Updated 8:35 PM ET FORT WORTH, Texas A 21-year-old grandson of Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens died Tuesday after being rushed to a hospital in Fort Worth, according to police and a family spokesman. Play VideoCan Wind Aid Energy Crisis? Thomas Boone Pickens IV, who went by Ty, was a junior at Texas Christian University. Pickens' spokesman, Jay Rosser, called the death an "unspeakable family...

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Jodi Arias Borrowed Gas Cans Before Killing Ex

Accused murderer Jodi Arias borrowed two five-gallon gas cans from a former boyfriend the day before she drove to Arizona to kill another ex, Travis Alexander, according to testimony in Arias' murder trial today.In cross examination, prosecutors also forced Arias' former live-in boyfriend Darryl Brewer to describe his sex life with Arias as "pretty aggressive."Brewer, 52, dated...

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