French seal off Mali's Timbuktu, rebels torch library

GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops retook control of Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Monday after Islamist rebel occupiers fled the ancient Sahara trading town and torched several buildings, including a library holding priceless manuscripts. The United States and the European Union are backing a French-led intervention in Mali against al Qaeda-allied militants they...

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HDB offers 3,346 new flats under 6 BTO projects

SINGAPORE: The HDB has launched six Build-To-Order (BTO) projects where there will be a total of 3,346 new flats in three non-mature towns - Choa Chu Kang, Hougang and Yishun - and three mature towns - Ang Mo Kio, Kallang Whampoa and Tampines.This is the first tranche of the 23,000 BTO flats which HDB has planned for 2013.Eligible first-timer households can enjoy up to S$60,000 of housing...

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House panel demands answers regarding Swartz prosecution

Saying they had "many questions" about the prosecution of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide earlier this month, two key members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have requested a briefing with the Justice Department.Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) sent a letter (see below) today to Attorney General Eric...

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Massive loss of life in Brazil nightclub fire

Last Updated 5:17 p.m. ET BRASILIA, Brazil Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.Witnesses said a flare or firework lit...

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'Barrier of Bodies' Trapped Nightclub Fire Victims

A fast-moving fire roared through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, within seconds filling the space with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers who gasped for breath and fought in a stampede to escape.It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.Firefighters responding to the blaze at...

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Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic. Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual...

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Football: Rodgers fumes at Liverpool under-performers

OLDHAM, United Kingdom: Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers castigated his players after they crashed to a defeat at third-tier Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup fourth round.Rodgers named fringe players Brad Jones, Sebastian Coates, Jack Robinson and Jordan Henderson in his starting XI at Boundary Park and the plan back-fired as the 18-time English champions were beaten 3-2 by League One Oldham.Striker...

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Nokia to offer paid upgrade to Lumia-only music service

Music+ will offer premium music options to subscribing Lumia owners.(Credit:Nokia)A few months after jumping in to the free music streaming sector, Nokia is getting ready to give its Lumia-only service a jump-start with a premium upgrade.Nokia Music+, an upgrade to the free Mix Radio service that Nokia launched last September, will offer Lumia owners unlimited skips and unlimited downloads, the Finnish...

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1 officer killed, 2 wounded near La. casino

Updated 8:50 PM ET NEW ORLEANS Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after allegedly setting fire to a mobile home in south Louisiana, where an elderly man's body was found. A Chitimacha tribal officer was pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings in Charenton, while two St. Mary Parish sheriff's deputies...

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Newtown Families March for Gun Control in DC

Jan 26, 2013 4:59pm (YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, D.C. — Near-freezing temperatures didn’t stop several thousand gun-control activists from bearing their pickets today, carrying signs emblazoned with “Ban Assault Weapons Now” and the names of gun violence victims in a demonstration organized as a response to the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. last month.Walking...

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