Italians head to polls in crucial vote for euro zone

ROME (Reuters) - Italians vote on Sunday in one of the most closely watched elections in years with markets nervous about whether it will produce a strong government to pull Italy out of recession and help resolve the euro zone debt crisis.

A huge final rally by anti-establishment-comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo on Friday before a campaigning ban kicked in has highlighted public anger at traditional parties and added to uncertainty about the election outcome.

Polling booths will open between 02:00 am-04:00 pm EST on Sunday and 01:00 am-09:00 am EST on Monday. Exit polls will come out soon after voting ends and official results are expected by early Tuesday.

The election will be followed closely by financial markets with memories still fresh of the potentially catastrophic debt crisis that brought technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti to power more than a year ago.

Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, is stuck in deep recession, struggling under a public debt burden second only to Greece's in the 17-member currency bloc and with a public weary of more than a year of harsh austerity policies.

Italy's Interior Ministry has urged some 47 million eligible voters to not let bad weather forecasts put them off, and said it was prepared to handle even snowy conditions in some northern regions to ensure everyone had a chance to vote.

Final polls published two weeks ago showed center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani with a five-point lead, but analysts disagree about whether he will be able to form a stable majority that can push though the economic reforms Italy needs.

Bersani is now thought to be just a few points ahead of center-right rival Silvio Berlusconi, the four-times prime minister who has promised tax refunds and staged a media blitz in an attempt to win back voters in recent weeks.

While the center left is still expected to gain control of the lower house thanks to rules that guarantee a strong majority to whichever party wins the most votes nationally, a much closer battle will be fought in the Senate, which any government also needs to control in order to be able to pass laws.

Seats in the upper house are awarded on a region-by-region basis, meaning that support in key regions can decisively influence the overall result.

Pollsters still believe the most likely outcome is a center-left government headed by Bersani and possibly backed by Monti, who is leading a centrist coalition.

But strong campaigning by Berlusconi and the fiery Grillo, who has drawn tens of thousands to his election rallies, have thrown the election wide open, causing concern that there may be no clear winner.

Whatever government emerges from the vote will have the task of pulling Italy out of its longest recession for 20 years and reviving an economy largely stagnant for two decades.

The main danger for Italy and the euro zone is a weak government incapable of taking firm action, which would rattle investors and could ignite a new debt crisis.

Monti replaced Berlusconi in November 2011 after the euro zone's third-largest economy came close to Greek-style financial meltdown while the center-right government was embroiled in scandals.

The former European Commissioner launched a tough program of spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reforms which won widespread international backing and helped restore Italy's credibility abroad after the scandals of the Berlusconi era.

Italy's borrowing costs have since fallen sharply after the European Central Bank pledged it was prepared to support countries undertaking reforms by buying unlimited quantities of their bonds on the markets.

But economic austerity has fuelled anger among Italians grappling with rising unemployment and shrinking disposable incomes, encouraging many to turn to Grillo, who has tapped into a national mood of disenchantment.

(Reporting by Catherine Hornby; Editing by Jason Webb)

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Michelle Obama's dance moves go viral on YouTube

WASHINGTON - A video clip of First Lady Michelle Obama grooving with a dressed-in-drag Jimmy Fallon on his late-night comedy talk show on Saturday has gone viral on YouTube.

In the video, the pair, each clad in conservative slacks and cardigans, and Fallon with a long brown-haired wig, perform a routine dubbed "Evolution of Mom Dancing," to promote Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" youth fitness and nutrition campaign.

The dance moves -- with names like "The 'Go Shopping, Get Groceries,'" and "The 'Out of Sync Electric Slide'" according to titles splashed on the bottom of the screen -- progress from a simple side-to-side step and ends with Fallon stalking off set as Michelle Obama rocks a smooth "Dougie."

The clip, which has already been viewed nearly a half million times since being posted Saturday and "liked" more than 10,000 times, has prompted effusive comments about the first lady and her first family.

"For the first time... we have a first lady with soul," wrote zestydude87.

And Rina Lubit wrote, "it may be just me but i really love the presidential family. they just really seem like sincerely good and chill people."

In an interview later on the show, Michelle Obama rates her husband's dance skills a "B," saying "he's got, like, three good moves."

Michelle Obama also touts her "Let's Move!" campaign, saying it has seen progress since she launched it three years ago, but there is still work to do.

"Over the past three years, we've seen a culture shift. Now people understand that this is an issue," she said.

"We've got better lunches in the schools, we've got companies putting grocery stores in under-served communities. We've got our athletes, our Olympians, working to get our kids more active. It's really heartening to see."

Obesity is a major health problem in the United States, where one in three adults and almost one in five children is overweight.

Among other initiatives for "Let's Move," the first lady, an attorney by training, has planted the White House's first garden since World War II and written a book with healthy recipes.

- AFP/ir

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The Facebook mistakes people make after a date

February can make people excitable.

A new year is barely old. Hope springs eternal. And then there's Valentine's Day to add a little piquancy to their emotional state.

Sometimes, though, lovers suffer from a certain lack of self-control. This can manifest itself on society's everyday manifest: Facebook.

I was moved, therefore, that someone had taken the time to list the major faux pas that occur when social contact accelerates beyond decent norms.

I am lovingly grateful to Ranker, which has taken it upon itself to reduce the rancor that might be caused by Facebooked overenthusiasm -- the site has listed behavior to avoid.

Apparently the worst thing you can do after meeting someone in whose charm and personality you might be interested is to immediately send them a Facebook friend request.

This might seem obvious to some.

You don't necessarily have any idea what the other person might really think of you. You know, inside their heads.

And, as Ranker wisely offers: "Now you've just given yourself something else to obsess over: 'Why hasn't my friend request been accepted? Why is it taking so long? Did they even see it?!'

And from one small click, a whole new series of sessions with your shrink is created.

It seems, though, that the human imagination has found many more ways of ruining the course of true love on Facebook.

People apparently pore over their new date's Facebook page, seeking secrets to their true friends, thoughts, and, who knows, other objects of affection.

Some devolve into what seems utterly psychotic behavior, such as liking old photos of their new potential paramour. Who does that? Twisted humans, that's who.

But Facebook offers so many more opportunities for self-destruction.

There's revealing too much in your status update. Sample: "I just went on the best date ever with Marie Dupree and her sexy knees."

More Technically Incorrect

Some people, though, go even further and attempt to insert themselves into comments on their love-object's Facebook page, should they already be Facebook friends. Sample: "You look so WONDERFUL when you're saluting the sun, Shoshanna. Can't wait until we do some saluting together!!"

No, it doesn't end there.

The Facebook gauche end up stalking every second of their new friend's Timeline. ("She dated a clown in 2008? Why would she DO that?")

Worse, there are apparently instances of enthusiasts who get so carried away that they start friending the families of their new objects of affection. ("Hi, Mrs. Aziel, you don't know me, but your daughter and I...." Oh, you finish the sentence.)

Facebook offers so many avenues of potential despair that there is only one way that you can use it to avoid complication, pain, sorrow, heartbreak, sleepless nights, and that bottomless feeling of lost opportunity: Don't go anywhere near it.

Top 10 Facebook Mistakes to Avoid After 1st Dates

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Severe budget cuts to hit economy at delicate time

(CBS News) As the automatic budget cuts known in Washington as the sequester draws closer, consider this: the federal government does $500 billion worth of business with private contractors, including as many as 120,000 small businesses.

That's everyone from the makers of nearly a million pairs of combat boots each year to the roughly 700 companies in 44 states that make parts for the Boeing C-17 military transport plane.

Jill Schlesinger, editor at large of CBS MoneyWatch, told "CBS Evening News" Saturday anchor Jim Axelrod that the blunt cuts come during a delicate time of the nation's economic recovery.

"Let's say that we're running a town, and we just had to make these across-the-board spending cuts," Schlesinger said. "What if we had to cut 20 firemen at the exact same we're going to cut 20 librarians? I mean, I love the library, but they are not equal, and what this sequestration does is it equalizes the pain across every single agency without a forethought, without saying, 'Wait a minute, what's important to safety? What's important to actually bringing money in the door?'"

The cuts would drag on the nation's economic growth, Schlesinger said.

"The economy is still fragile," she said. "Yes, we have been in recovery for a couple of years, and that's good, but this is not a robustic recovery. We're not growing at 3 or 3-and-a-half percent. We're only growing by 2 percent."

Still, the cuts aren't likely to have as negative of an effect on Wall Street because investors saw them coming, Schlesinger said.

"They've built it into their models," she said. "They've said, 'OK, we're going to give up a half a percent of growth, but we still believe that we will be able to grow enough so companies can make money.'"

A lot of the investors Schlesinger spoke to said that if things take a turn for the worse they suspect that Congress will come together and do something retroactively to potentially delay the cuts.

"No one," she said, "wants to be in office presiding over an economy that goes into a double-dip."

Watch Schlesinger's full conversation with Axelrod in the player above

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Fiery Last-Lap Daytona Crash Injures 15 Fans

A fiery last-lap crash at the Daytona International Speedway injured a number of spectators today, who were seen being carried away from the stands on stretchers.

Fifteen spectators were taken to the hospital, according to ESPN, with one on the way to surgery with head trauma.

The 12-car crash happened moments before the end of the Nationwide race, and on the eve of the Daytona 500, one of NASCAR's biggest events.

The crash was apparently triggered when driver Regan Smith's car, which was being tailed by Brad Keselowski on his back bumper, spun to the right and shot up the track. Smith had been in the lead and said after the crash he had been trying to throw a "block."

Rookie Kyle Larson's car slammed into the wall that separates the track from the grandstands, causing his No. 32 car to go airborne and erupt in flames.

When a haze of smoke cleared and Larson's car came to a stop, he jumped out uninjured.

His engine and one of his wheels were sitting in a walkway of the grandstand.

"I was getting pushed from behind," Larson told ESPN. "Before I could react, it was too late."

Driver Michael Annett was taken to the hospital after he slammed head-on into a barrier during the chaos. NASCAR officials told ESPN the driver was awake and alert.

Tony Stewart pulled out the win, but in victory lane, what would have been a celebratory mood was tempered by concern for the injured fans.

"We've always known this is a dangerous sport," Stewart said. 'But it's hard when the fans get caught up in it."

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Abe vows to revive Japanese economy, sees no escalation with China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Americans on Friday "I am back and so is Japan" and vowed to get the world's third biggest economy growing again and to do more to bolster security and the rule of law in an Asia roiled by territorial disputes.

Abe had firm words for China in a policy speech to a top Washington think-tank, but also tempered his remarks by saying he had no desire to escalate a row over islets in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls and Beijing claims.

"No nation should make any miscalculation about firmness of our resolve. No one should ever doubt the robustness of the Japan-U.S. alliance," he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"At the same time, I have absolutely no intention to climb up the escalation ladder," Abe said in a speech in English.

After meeting U.S. President Barack Obama on his first trip to Washington since taking office in December in a rare comeback to Japan's top job, he said he told Obama that Tokyo would handle the islands issue "in a calm manner."

"We will continue to do so and we have always done so," he said through a translator, while sitting next to Obama in the White House Oval Office.

Tension surged in 2012, raising fears of an unintended military incident near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Washington says the islets fall under a U.S.-Japan security pact, but it is eager to avoid a clash in the region.

Abe said he and Obama "agreed that we have to work together to maintain the freedom of the seas and also that we would have to create a region which is governed based not on force but based on an international law."

Abe, whose troubled first term ended after just one year when he abruptly quit in 2007, has vowed to revive Japan's economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, big spending, and structural reform. The hawkish leader is also boosting Japan's defense spending for the first time in 11 years.

"Japan is not, and will never be, a tier-two country," Abe said in his speech. "So today ... I make a pledge. I will bring back a strong Japan, strong enough to do even more good for the betterment of the world."

'ABENOMICS' TO BOOST TRADE

The Japanese leader stressed that his "Abenomics" recipe would be good for the United States, China and other trading partners.

"Soon, Japan will export more, but it will import more as well," Abe said in the speech. "The U.S. will be the first to benefit, followed by China, India, Indonesia and so on."

Abe said Obama welcomed his economic policy, while Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the two leaders did not discuss currencies, in a sign that the U.S. does not oppose "Abenomics" despite concern that Japan is weakening its currency to export its way out of recession.

The United States and Japan agreed language during Abe's visit that could set the stage for Tokyo to join negotiations soon on a U.S.-led regional free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In a carefully worded statement following the meeting between Obama and Abe, the two countries reaffirmed that "all goods would be subject to negotiations if Japan joins the talks with the United States and 10 other countries.

At the same time, the statement envisions a possible outcome where the United States could maintain tariffs on Japanese automobiles and Japan could still protect its rice sector.

"Recognizing that both countries have bilateral trade sensitivities, such as certain agricultural products for Japan and certain manufactured products for the United States, the two governments confirm that, as the final outcome will be determined during the negotiations, it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs upon joining the TPP negotiations," the statement said.

Abe repeated that Japan would not provide any aid for North Korea unless it abandoned its nuclear and missile programs and released Japanese citizens abducted decades ago to help train spies.

Pyongyang admitted in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s. Five have been sent home, but Japan wants better information about eight who Pyongyang says are dead and others Tokyo believes were also kidnapped.

Abe also said he hoped to have a meeting with new Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who takes over as president next month, and would dispatch Finance Minister Taro Aso to attend the inauguration of incoming South Korean President Park Geun-hye next week.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Doug Palmer; Editing by David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao)

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Street theatre catches fancy of India's youth

NEW DELHI: Theatre, which is a big part of Indian tradition, has evolved over the years.

An ancient form of theatre which was once practised to drive home political agendas is today being extensively used to create awareness of social issues in the country.

The growing prominence of street theatre has also caught the fancy of the young.

She moves about with her arms stretched, hair strewn and in ragged clothes.

Delivering her dialogue in a shrill tone, she trails around throwing questions at the surprised audience.

This is not a scene from a Bollywood movie but a snippet of a street play on the status of women in India.

With no stage, arch lights, make-up and minimum props, the medium of street theatre - also known as the people's theatre - has gained wide-spread acceptance and popularity in modern India.

As realistic as it gets, street theatre has become a popular medium to spread awareness about pressing social and political issues in the country.

Dramatist and film-maker, Siddhant Malhotra, said: "I think it is the best possible way to spread awareness, because there is a group of 100 people watching your play.

"You can interact with them, you can engage them right on and they will get your point. By performing a 30-minute play, if you're engaging 100 people at a time, you're changing 100 people at a time which even an advertisement cannot do."

As the name suggests, street plays can be performed anywhere on busy roads, market places or outside offices.

This enables it to reach out to the majority of people for whom theatre is not accessible, like in rural and backward areas.

The shows are not ticketed or pre-scheduled, as the main aim is not to make money but to reach out to as many people as possible.

Often packed with dramatic dialogues, catchy songs and hyperbole, street plays have a telling effect on the masses.

Young dramatists, who often use this medium to generate awareness, feel that a casual approach and lack of a formal atmosphere help them in connecting with the viewers.

Ayushi Kumar, a student and dramatist, said: "Street theatre is one of the art form where actually we are so close to the audiences that we are almost with them. So we can talk, we can connect and to bring that feeling in which they can reflect on themselves. I believe street is the strongest form of theatre for that."

Another student and dramatist, Shiva Sreenivasan, said: "You have a lot of fun when you watch it and when you are having fun you are also getting a message in your head. That is the most important thing. You're just not there and watching it like a niche audience that watches a street play. It's not like that.

"The thing is that we address proper moral issues for the society and for the people of the country. So, it is very easy for us to connect with them, explain our point and get our point through."

Street theatre practitioners hope that the tradition can help to bring about long-term change to Indian society, which despite its progress is reeling under the darkness of social evils like rape, dowry and child marriage.

- CNA/ir

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Apple yanks proxy proposal after judge backs Einhorn

In response to a court ruling today in favor of hedge fund manager David Einhorn, Apple has yanked a proxy proposal that would eliminate its ability to issue "blank check" preferred stock without investor approval.

Apple issued a statement concerning the ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan, who granted Einhorn's bid to block next week's shareholder vote on the proposal:

"We are disappointed with the court's ruling. Proposal #2 is part of our efforts to further enhance corporate governance and serve our shareholders' best interests. Unfortunately, due to today's decision, shareholders will not be able to vote on Proposal #2 at our annual meeting next week."

Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund run by the famed short seller Einhorn, sued Apple on February 7, asserting that the company needed to distribute preferred stock to current shareholders and that Apple had balked at the idea when it was first discussed. Einhorn argues that issuing high-yielding preferred shares to existing shareholders would allow Apple to share the value on the balance sheet but still hold a large amount of cash.

Apple's latest proxy statement, which details items up for a vote at its February 27 shareholder meeting, had included a proposal that would eliminate such preferred stock. Einhorn's suit sought an injunction to prevent Apple from bundling that provision with several other items. Rather, he wanted each item to be voted on separately.

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Wash. state governor: 6 underground nuclear tanks leaking

Updated 8:11 PM ET

YAKIMA, Wash. Six underground tanks that hold a brew of radioactive and toxic waste at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site are leaking, federal and state officials said Friday.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the leaking material poses no immediate risk to public safety or the environment because it would take a while — perhaps years — to reach groundwater.

But the leaking tanks raise new concerns about delays for emptying them and strike another blow to federal efforts to clean up south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation, where successes often are overshadowed by delays, budget overruns and technological challenges.

Department of Energy spokeswoman Lindsey Geisler said there was no immediate health risk and said federal officials would work with Washington state to address the matter.

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, right, is joined by Maia Bellon, director of the Department of Ecology, at a news conference to discuss a tank leak at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, in Olympia, Wash.

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AP Photo/Rachel La Corte

State officials just last week announced that one of Hanford's 177 underground tanks was leaking 150 to 300 gallons a year, posing a risk to groundwater and rivers. So far, nearby monitoring wells haven't detected higher radioactivity levels.

Inslee traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to discuss the problem with federal officials. He said Friday that he learned in meetings that six tanks are leaking waste.

"We received very disturbing news today," the governor said. "I think that we are going to have a course of new action and that will be vigorously pursued in the next several weeks."

The federal government built the Hanford facility at the height of World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. The remote site produced plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, and continued supporting the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal for years.

Today, it is the most contaminated nuclear site in the country, still surrounded by sagebrush but with Washington's Tri-Cities of Richland, Kennewick and Pasco several miles downriver.

Hanford's tanks hold some 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste — enough to fill dozens of Olympic-size swimming pools — and many of those tanks are known to have leaked in the past. An estimated 1 million gallons of radioactive liquid already leaked there.

The tanks also are long past their intended 20-year life span — raising concerns that even more tanks could be leaking — though they were believed to have been stabilized in 2005.

Inslee said the falling waste levels in the six tanks were missed because only a narrow band of measurements was evaluated, rather than a wider band that would have shown the levels changing over time.

"It's like if you're trying to determine if climate change is happening, only looking at the data for today," he said. "Perhaps human error, the protocol did not call for it. But that's not the most important thing at the moment. The important thing now is to find and address the leakers."

There are legal, moral and ethical considerations to cleaning up the Hanford site at the national level, Inslee said, adding that he will continue to insist that the Energy Department completely clean up the site.

He also stressed the state would impose a "zero-tolerance" policy on radioactive waste leaking into the soil.

Cleanup is expected to last decades and cost billions of dollars.

The federal government already spends $2 billion each year on Hanford cleanup — one-third of its entire budget for nuclear cleanup nationally. The Energy Department has said it expects funding levels to remain the same for the foreseeable future, but a new Energy Department report released this week includes annual budgets of as much as $3.5 billion during some years of the cleanup effort.

Much of that money goes toward construction of a plant to convert the underground waste into glasslike logs for safe, secure storage. The plant, last estimated at more than $12.3 billion, is billions of dollars over budget and behind schedule. It isn't expected to being operating until at least 2019.

Given those delays, the federal government will have to show that there is adequate storage for the waste in the meantime, Inslee said.

"We are not convinced of this," he said. "There will be a robust exchange of information in the coming weeks to get to the bottom of this."

Inslee and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber have championed building additional tanks to ensure safe storage of the waste until the plant is completed. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said earlier this week that he shares their concerns about the integrity of the tanks but he wants more scientific information to determine it's the correct way to spend scarce money.

Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge, a Hanford watchdog group, said Friday it's disappointing that the Energy Department is not further along on the waste treatment plant and that there aren't new tanks to transfer waste into.

"None of these tanks would be acceptable for use today. They are all beyond their design life. None of them should be in service," he said. "And yet, they're holding two-thirds of the nation's high-level nuclear waste."

Wyden noted the nation's most contaminated nuclear site — and the challenges associated with ridding it of its toxic legacy — will be a subject of upcoming hearings and a higher priority in Washington, D.C.

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Jodi Arias' Friends Believe in Her Innocence

Accused murderer Jodi Arias believes she should be punished, but hopes she will not be sentenced to death, two of her closest friends told ABC News in an exclusive interview.

Ann Campbell and Donavan Bering have been a constant presence for Arias wth at least one of them sitting in the Phoenix, Ariz., courtroom along with Arias' family for almost every day of her murder trial. They befriended Arias after she first arrived in jail and believe in her innocence.

Arias admits killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander and lying for nearly two years about it, but insists she killed Alexander in self defense. She could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.

Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Doesn't Remember Stabbing Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video

Nevertheless, she is aware of the seriousness of her lies and deceitful behavior.

The women told ABC News that they understand that Arias needs to be punished and Arias understands that too.

"She does know that, you know, she does need to pay for the crime," Campbell said. "But I don't want her to die, and I know that she has so much to give back."

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

The lies that Arias admits she told to police and her family have been devastating to her, Bering said.

""She said to me, 'I wish I didn't have to have lied. That destroyed me,'" Donovan said earlier this week. "Because now when it's so important for her to be believed, she has that doubt. But as she told me on the phone yesterday, she goes, 'I have nothing to lose.' So all she can do is go out there and tell the truth."

During Arias' nine days on the stand she has described in detail the oral, anal and phone sex that she and Alexander allegedly engaged in, despite being Mormons and trying to practice chastity. She also spelled out in excruciating detail what she claimed was Alexander's growing demands for sex, loyalty and subservience along with an increasingly violent temper.

Besides her two friends, Arias' mother and sometimes her father have been sitting in the front row of the courtroom during the testimony. It's been humiliating, Bering said.

"She's horrified. There's not one ounce of her life that's not out there, that's not open to the public. She's ashamed," she said.

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French, Malian forces fight Islamist rebels in Gao

GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops fought Islamists on the streets of Gao and a car bomb exploded in Kidal on Thursday, as fighting showed little sign of abating weeks before France plans to start withdrawing some forces.

Reuters reporters in Gao in the country's desert north said French and Malian forces fired at the mayor's office with heavy machineguns after Islamists were reported to have infiltrated the Niger River town during a night of explosions and gunfire.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a news conference in Brussels that Gao was back under control after clashes earlier in the day.

"Malian troops supported by French soldiers killed five jihadists and the situation is back to normal," he said.

In Kidal, a remote far north town where the French are hunting Islamists, residents said a car bomb killed two. A French defense ministry source reported no French casualties.

French troops dispatched to root out rebels with links to al Qaeda swiftly retook northern towns last month. But they now risk being bogged down in a guerrilla conflict as they try to help Mali's weak army counter bombings and raids.

"There was an infiltration by Islamists overnight and there is shooting all over the place," Sadou Harouna Diallo, Gao's mayor, told Reuters by telephone earlier in the day, saying he was not in his office at the time.

Gao is a French hub for operations in the Kidal region, about 300 km (190 miles) northeast, where many Islamist leaders are thought to have retreated and foreign hostages may be held.

"They are black and two were disguised as women," a Malian soldier in Gao who gave his name only as Sergeant Assak told Reuters during a pause in heavy gunfire around Independence Square.

Six Malian military pickups were deployed in the square and opened fire on the mayor's office with the heavy machineguns. Two injured soldiers were taken away in an ambulance.

French troops in armored vehicles later joined the battle as it spilled out into the warren of sandy streets, where, two weeks ago, they also fought for hours against Islamists who had infiltrated the town via the nearby river.

Helicopters clattered over the mayor's office, while a nearby local government office and petrol station was on fire.

A Gao resident said he heard an explosion and then saw a Malian military vehicle on fire in a nearby street.

Paris has said it plans to start withdrawing some of its 4,000 troops from Mali next month. But rebels have fought back against Mali's weak and divided army, and African forces due to take over the French role are not yet in place.

Islamists abandoned the main towns they held but French and Malian forces have said there are pockets of Islamist resistance across the north, which is about the size of France.

CAR BOMB

Residents reported a bomb in the east of Kidal on Thursday.

"It was a car bomb that exploded in a garage," said one resident who went to the scene but asked not to be named.

"The driver and another man were killed. Two other people were injured," he added.

A French defense ministry official confirmed there had been a car bomb but said it did not appear that French troops, based at the town's airport, had been targeted.

Earlier this week, a French soldier was killed in heavy fighting north of Kidal, where French and Chadian troops are hunting Islamists in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, which border Algeria.

Operations there are further complicated by the presence of separatist Tuareg rebels, whose rebellion triggered the fighting in northern Mali last year but were sidelined by the better-armed Islamists.

Having dispatched its forces to prevent an Islamist advance south in January, Paris is eager not to become bogged down in a long-term conflict in Mali. But their Malian and African allies have urged French troops not to pull out too soon.

(Additional reporting by Emanuel Braun in Gao, Adama Diarra in Bamako, David Lewis and John Irish in Dakar and Adrian Croft in Brussels; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Jason Webb and Roger Atwood)

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Asian markets mixed, yen claws back some losses

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed on Friday, with Tokyo dragged by a further strengthening in the yen, while the euro faced selling pressure following weak eurozone data.

Losses on Wall Street added to the gloom after disappointing US economic figures, while traders were casting an eye to a general election in Italy at the weekend.

Tokyo fell 0.50 per cent by the break, Hong Kong lost 0.85 per cent and Shanghai was off 0.16 per cent, but Sydney jumped 1.26 per cent and Seoul added 0.23 per cent.

While some markets were lifted by bargain hunting, sentiment was still weak after minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting that stoked fears it could end its huge monetary easing sooner than expected.

Japan's Nikkei was weighed as the yen rose against the dollar and euro, clawing back some of the massive losses it has seen in recent months.

In early Tokyo trade the dollar sat at 93.04 yen, compared with 93.11 yen in New York Thursday. However, the Japanese unit -- which has lost about 17 per cent against the greenback since November -- is much stronger than the 94.00 yen seen at the start of the month.

And the euro fetched 122.78 yen, against 122.81 yen, and well off the 125.50 yen earlier in the week.

The euro bought $1.3189, against $1.3188 in New York Thursday and well short of the $1.3350 on Monday.

The euro came under increased pressure after a leading eurozone growth indicator showed private business activity hit a two-month low in February.

The Purchasing Managers' Index published by London-based Markit fell to 47.3 in February from 48.6 the previous month.

The February figures contrasted sharply with an improvement in the previous three months, which saw it hit a 10-month high in January.

There is nervousness about Sunday's Italian election, which is too close to call and which markets have warned could send the economy back into crisis if there is no clear winner.

Some fear a return of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, which could lead to the dismantling of recent economic reforms that have helped draw the country back from economic crisis.

On Wall Street the Dow was down 0.34 per cent, the S&P 500 eased 0.63 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 1.04 per cent after worse-than-expected US business activity data, while new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week.

Consumer prices also came in flat for a second month in a row in January, underscoring weak inflationary pressures in the world's number one economy.

Meanwhile, traders are becoming increasingly concerned about the lack of progress in Washington on a deal to avert the sequester, deep government spending cuts economists say will slow US growth.

Oil prices rose, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April gaining 17 cents to $93.01 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April adding 17 cents to $113.70.

Gold was at $1,581.30 at 0247 GMT, compared with $1,568.41 late Thursday.

- AFP/ck

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Social media aggregator Memolane to shut down

Memolane's timeline service.

(Credit:
Eddie Echo/CNET)

Memolane, a social-media aggregator that promised trips down memory lane, announced today that it is shutting down immediately and will delete users' account content tomorrow.

Launched in 2010, the Web app extracted each moment users shared on popular social-networking services such as Facebook, Last.fm, Twitter, Foursquare, and others and combined them into one visual timeline. Posts, comments, tweets, and so on were organized by their respective dates and posted as memos under each date.

The San Francisco-based company had raised $2.5 million in venture capital but announced today in a company blog post that it is joining another company that it did not identify that would "utilize the Memolane features in an expanded way, adding more value to all the great memories captured on social media."

Our goal was to make it exciting to relive great adventures with friends. We are proud that we could bring joy to people's lives by sending out daily e-mails with fun memories from the past. As well, it has been a thrill to share in the excitement when one of our fans rediscovers a precious moment that was once lost.

It wasn't immediately clear if Memolane had been acquired by another company, and if so, who that company might be. But Memolane said the "merger" means that all accounts and their contents would be deleted Friday but noted that the content would still be available at users' original social-media sources.

The company also suggested users try formerly competing services offered by Timehop and Jolicloud.

CNET has contacted Memolane for more information and will update this report when we learn more.

(Via TNW)

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Midwest swaddled in blanket of snow

ST. LOUIS Powdery snow, up to a foot and a half in some places, bombarded much of the nation's midsection Thursday, impeding travel and shutting down airports, schools and state legislatures.

The widespread winter storm system swirled to the north and east Thursday night, its snow, sleet and freezing rain prompting winter storm warnings in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.

Corey Mead, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said the winter storm would be centered in the upper Midwest by Friday morning.

"Even across Kansas, the snowfall rates should continue to taper off through the evening," Mead said.

Chris Suchan, chief meteorologist at CBS affiliate KCTV Kansas City, told "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley Thursday that the worst is over with. "This morning we had widespread thundersnow from Levenworth, Kansas [and] Overland Park to Warrensburg, Missouri," Suchan said. "Snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour brought this area to its knees with our motoristsbridges were closed for a while.

Play Video

The sound and fury of "thundersnow"

"Now what we're anticipating is another round for this evening, perhaps another 2 to 4 inches of snowfall, some freezing drizzle right now, and wind chills in the single digits. The storm total for us is about 8 to 12-14 inches of snowfall for Kansas City."

The system left behind impressive snow accumulations, especially in western Kansas, where 17 inches fell in Hays.

Several accidents and two deaths were blamed on icy and slushy roadways; two people died in crashes Wednesday. Most schools in Kansas and Missouri, and many in neighboring states, were closed. Legislatures shut down in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Truett said the "thundersnow" that rumbled through Kansas and Missouri earlier Thursday was the result of an unstable air mass, much like a thunderstorm.

Chuck Carroll, center, uses a snowblower to clear the sidewalk in front of his business in downtown Salina, Kan., Feb. 21, 2013.

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AP Photo/Salina Journal

"Instead of pouring rain, it's pouring snow," Truett said. And pouring was a sound description, with snow falling at a rate of 2 inches per hour or more in some spots.

Topeka got 3 inches of snow in one 30-minute period, leaving medical center worker Jennifer Carlock to dread the drive home.

"It came on fast," Carlock said as she shoveled around her car. "We're going to test out traction control on the way home."

Snow totals passed the foot mark in many places: Monarch Pass, Colo., had 17-and-a-half inches, the Kansas cities of Hutchinson, Macksville and Hanston all saw 14 inches, and Wichita, Kan., had 13 inches. A few places in far northern Oklahoma saw between 10 to 13-and-a-half inches of snow. Missouri's biggest snow total was 10 inches, shared by the Kansas City metropolitan area, Rockport in the northwest corner and Moberly in the central part of the state.

Transportation officials in affected states urged people to simply stay home.

"If you don't have to get out, just really, please, don't do it," Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said.

Drivers were particularly warned away from the Kansas Turnpike, which had whiteout conditions. Interstate 70 was also snow-packed, and a 200-mile stretch was closed between Salina and Colby.

A firefighter places wheelblocks as he prepares to extinguish a vehicle fire in Lawrence, Kan., Feb. 21, 2013. The car caught on fire trying to make it up a snow covered hill.

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AP Photo

Cases of wine and beer -- as well as bottles of scotch and whiskey -- were flying off the shelves at Ingersoll Wine and Spirits ahead of the storm's arrival in Des Moines, Iowa.

"A lot of people have been buying liquor to curl up by the fire," wine specialist Bjorn Carlson said.

NWS forecasts showed 3 to 9 inches of snow were expected in Iowa overnight, and Nebraska will see an additional 2 to 5 inches.

Heavy, blowing snow caused scores of businesses in Iowa and Nebraska to close early, including two malls in Omaha, Neb. Mardi Miller, manager of Dillard's department store in Oakview Mall, said most employees had been sent home by 4 p.m., and she believed "only two customers are in the entire store."

The storm brought some relief to a region that has been parched by the worst drought in decades.

Vance Ehmke, a wheat farmer near Healy, Kan., said the nearly foot of snow was "what we have been praying for." Climatologists say 12 inches of snow is equivalent to about 1 inch of rain, depending on the density of the snow.

"The big question is, `Is the drought broke?' " Ehmke asked.

Near Edwardsville, Ill., farmer Mike Campbell called the precipitation a blessing after a bone-dry growing season in 2012. He hopes it is a good omen for the spring.

"The corn was just a disaster," Campbell said of 2012.

In Colorado, the U.S. Forest Service planned to take advantage of the snow to burn piles of dead trees on federal land. Areas in the Texas Panhandle also had up to 8 inches of snow, and in south central Nebraska, Grand Island reported 10 inches of snow. And Arkansas saw a mix of precipitation -- a combination of hail, sleet and freezing rain in some place, 6 inches of snow in others.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency Thursday morning. All flights at Kansas City International Airport were canceled for Thursday night, and officials said they'd prepare to reopen Friday morning. More than 320 flights at Lambert Airport in St. Louis were canceled by Thursday afternoon. Traffic throughout the state was snarled by hundreds of accidents and vehicles in ditches.

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Las Vegas Shooting Launches Multi-State Manhunt

An argument in the valet area of a Las Vegas hotel led to a deadly drive-by shooting on the occupants of a Maserati on Vegas' glitzy strip, initiating a multi-state manhunt for the black Range Rover from which the shots were fired.

Three people were left dead in the attack, including two who died when their taxi was struck by the careening sports car and exploded into flames.

"What happened is not just tragic, but underscores the level of violence we see sometimes here in Las Vegas as well as across America," Las Vegas Metropolitan Sheriff Doug Gillespie said at a news conference today. "Clearly, the suspects in this shooting have no regard for the lives and safety of others."

The altercation took place in the valet area of the Aria resort and casino. Gillespie said there is currently "no indication" what the squabble was about.

Gillespie said that authorities do not know how many people are in the SUV, but that they are considered armed and dangerous. He warned members of the public to stay away from it.

"You should not take action," he said. "Instead, call your local police department and alert them to the whereabouts of the suspect vehicle."

Authorities in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and California are all on alert for the car.

"These individuals will be found," Gillespie said. "They will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun/AP Photo

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The Range Rover SUV shot at two people in the Maserati, which caused a multi-car crash. Police have not released the model of the Maserati, but the price of a new Maserati ranges from $123,000 to $142,000.

Police said that they believe a group of men riding in a black Range Rover Sport SUV pulled up alongside the Maserati around 4:20 a.m. today and fired shots into the car, striking the driver and passenger, according to Officer Jose Hernandez of the Las Vegas Metropolitan police department.

The Maserati then swerved through an intersection, hitting at least four other cars. One car that was struck, a taxi with a driver and passenger in it, caught on fire and burst into flames, trapping both occupants, Hernandez said.

The SUV then fled the scene, according to cops.

Gillespie said investigators are in the process of gathering video footage from hotels, casinos and the taxi cabs that were at the intersection.

The driver of the Maserati died from his gunshot wounds at University Medical Center shortly after the shooting, according to Sgt. John Sheahan.

The driver and passenger of the taxi both died in the car fire.

At least three individuals, including the passenger of the Maserati, were injured during the shooting and car crashes and taken to UMC hospital for treatment.

Authorities said the Maserati passenger, identified only as a man, sustained only a minor injury to his arm. He is speaking to and cooperating with police.

They do not yet know whether the cars had local plates or were from out of state.

No bystanders were hit by gunfire, Hernandez said.

"We're currently looking for a black Range Rover Sport, with large black rims and some sort of dealership advertising or advertisement plates," Hernandez said. "This is an armed and dangerous vehicle."

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority had no immediate comment about the safety of tourists in the wake of the shooting today.

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French general urges EU to equip "impoverished" Mali army

BAMAKO, Mali (Reuters) - The European Union should complement a mission to train Mali's army, routed by rebels last year, by providing equipment from uniforms to vehicles and communications technology, a French general said on Wednesday.

General Francois Lecointre, appointed to head the EU training mission to Mali (EUTM) that was formally launched this week, said in Bamako equipping the "very impoverished" and disorganized Malian army was as important as training it.

Europe, along with the United States, has backed the French-led military intervention in Mali which since January 11 has driven al Qaeda-allied Islamist insurgents out of the main northern towns into remote mountains near Algeria's border.

European governments have ruled out sending combat troops to join French and African soldiers pursuing the Islamist rebels.

But the EU is providing a 500-strong multinational training force that will give military instruction to Malian soldiers for an initial period of 15 months at an estimated cost of 12.3 million euros ($16.45 million).

While hailing what he called the EU's "courageous, novel, historic" decision to support Mali, Lecointre told a news conference the Malian army's lack of equipment was a problem.

"I know the Malian state is poor, but the Malian army is more than poor," the French general told a news conference, adding that it urgently needed everything from uniforms and weapons to vehicles and communications equipment.

Last year, when Tuareg separatist forces swelled by weapons and fighters from the Libyan conflict swept out of the northern deserts, a demoralized and poorly-led Malian army collapsed and fled before them, abandoning arms and vehicles.

Mali's military was further shaken by a March 22 coup by junior officers who toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure, sowing division among rival army factions. Islamist radicals allied to al Qaeda later hijacked the victorious Tuareg rebellion to occupy the northern half of the country.

In a fast-charging military campaign led by Paris, French and African troops have driven the jihadists out of principal northern towns like Gao and Timbuktu, and are fighting the rebels in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains.

HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUCTION

Flanked by Mali's armed forces chief, General Ibrahima Dembele, Lecointre said he was disappointed that a meeting of international donors last month pledged funds for an African military force, known as AFISMA, being deployed in Mali, but included "very few" contributions for the Malian army itself.

"The European Union needs to invest today in the equipping of the Malian army and not just in its training," the general said, adding he would make this point strongly in a report to EU member state representatives early next month.

Asked how much re-equipping the army would cost, he said it would be "much more" than the 12 million euros of EU financing for the training mission, but could not give a precise estimate.

Starting early in April, the EU mission will start instructing Malian soldiers with a plan to train four new battalions of 600-700 members each, formed from existing enlisted men and new recruits.

Lecointre said the EU training would include instruction in human rights. Demands for this increased after allegations by Malian civilians and international human rights groups that Malian soldiers were executing Tuaregs and Arabs accused of collaborating with Islamist rebels.

The European training contingent is drawn from a range of European countries, but the main contributors would be France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain, EUTM officers said.

Mali's army has received foreign training before - several battalions that fled before the rebels last year were trained by the U.S. military and the leader of the March 22 coup, Captain Amadou Sanogo, attended training courses in the United States.

Dembele said U.S. training failed to forge cohesion among Malian units and he hoped the EU training would achieve this.

The United States, which halted direct support for the Malian military after last year's coup, could eventually resume aid if planned national elections in July fully restore democracy to the West African country.

Washington is providing airlift, refuelling and intelligence support to the French-led military intervention in Mali. ($1 = 0.7479 euros)

(Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Jason Webb)

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It's 'The Oscars', now officially

LOS ANGELES: They are the 85th Academy Awards, the climax of Hollywood's awards season, this coming weekend -- except officially they're not. This year, they've been rebranded to "The Oscars."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which organizes Tinseltown's biggest awards, did not confirm the change revealed by show co-producer Neil Meron, who said "85th Academy Awards" was too "musty."

But it seems it's true, for this year at least: references to Academy Awards and that it's the 85th show -- a significant anniversary, one might have thought -- quietly disappeared from official AMPAS materials a few weeks ago.

"We're rebranding it," Meron told entertainment news website TheWrap in an interview with co-producer Craig Zadan this week, days before Hollywood's finest take to the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday.

"We're not calling it 'The 85th annual Academy Awards,' which keeps it mired somewhat in a musty way. It's called 'The Oscars'," he said, adding that he believed the new approach would continue in years to come.

An AMPAS spokeswoman declined to confirm the change, but said: "We use Academy Awards and the Oscars interchangeably. We'll begin considering next year's marketing campaign in the spring."

Last year's Oscars poster was quite clearly emblazoned with "The 84th Academy Awards." This year's shows a picture of smiling host Seth MacFarlane under "The Oscars," in gold.

The Oscars organizers are widely understood to be targeting a younger audience for their annual show -- and "Family Guy" creator MacFarlane could be part of that strategy.

Two years ago a clear get-the-young-viewers ploy, with actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway jointly fronting the show, was widely criticized, with Franco's wooden performance drawing particular scorn.

Last year Eddie Murphy was initially set to host but pulled out at the last minute after an embarrassing gay slur row involving one of the producers, and the Academy fell back on veteran Billy Crystal, who hosted for a ninth time.

- AFP/sf

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Samsung TV Discovery service launches this quarter

Samsung America Senior Vice President Joe Stinziano describes new features for TVs, including a feature that allows users to search all video services and live TV in one screen.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)

Samsung today revealed more details about its TV discovery service -- except for the finalized name for the U.S. version -- as the Korean electronics giant gears up for the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. Samsung first unveiled the service last month during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. At that time, it said users would be able to use one app to navigate all of their different video services on their smart TVs and
tablets, and use their mobile devices as remotes to control their TVs.

Today, it noted that the service will give consumers a way to find live TV and video content, as well as glean personalized recommendations based on viewing and preference history. In the U.S., the offering initially will aggregate content from Netflix and Blockbuster.

The offering will be called "TV Discovery" in most regions, though the U.S. branding has not yet been finalized.

It will launch on Samsung 2013 smart TVs this quarter in the U.S., Korea, and 14 European countries such as the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany. It will expand to mobile devices in the second quarter.

One of the biggest criticisms of smart TVs like those from Samsung is that they're too difficult to use. It can be frustrating and time consuming to navigate between all the different video streaming services on a device, as well as including live TV in the mix. Samsung has said it's making a big push this year to simplify its products, and TV Discovery is one product it hopes will appeal to customers.

"The more you engage with the service, the more relevant the returned recommendations for TV, movies, and other on-demand entertainment," Won-Pyo Hong, president and head of Samsung's Media Solution Center, said. "It could not be simpler."

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Library of Congress works to save priceless recordings

(CBS News) CULPEPER, Va. -- Cameras and microphones are virtually everywhere these days, and it seems just about everything that happens is preserved forever on the internet.

Of course, it wasn't always that way. The Library of Congress has just reported that 80 percent of motion pictures filmed before 1930 -- and countless audio recordings from that era -- are gone. But the library has a plan to stop this bleeding of priceless history.

A 1936 Louis Armstrong recording is an artifact nearly lost to time. It's a nickel-plated disc widely used to record sound in the first half of the 20th century.

Patrick Loughney

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CBS News

"It's the equivalent to an original camera negative for a motion picture," says Patrick Loughney, who is leading the effort to save these cultural relics for the Library of Congress.

"What goes on here is the archaeology of American popular audio-visual history," Loughney says.

When you think of the Library of Congress, you think of old documents and typewriter-smudged papers. Not here.

"It's quite remarkable that the library, very early on, got into the acquisition of sound recordings and then radio programs," Loughney says. "They were considered a cultural record."

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Cylinders invented by Thomas Edison in the 1800s were recently donated by a private collector. They are the first known devices to record sound.

"It was literally beeswax, so it could melt if you heated it up too high or dropped it would break," says Loughney.

One recording, now digitally restored, is an 1896 campaign song for William McKinley.

Watch: Library of Congress sports interviews go beyond wins and losses, below.

The library has 90 miles of shelves at its 45-acre conservation campus in Culpeper, Va. Here, specialists are preserving more than a million motion pictures, including an 1894 film called "Annabel Butterfly." It's one of the oldest known films ever restored -- each frame was originally colored by hand.

Technicians have digitized thousands of TV shows, including the only appearance of The Doors on "The Ed Sullivan Show." They've even restored color to a 1975 blues documentary.

"There is a growing amnesia about America past," Loughney says. "Our job is to try and bolster that American memory, try to save it for future generations who might find value in what we're preserving."

A mission to re-record America's cultural past and preserve it for a digital future.

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Armstrong Snubs Offer From Anti-Doping Officials

Lance Armstrong has turned down what may be his last chance at reducing his lifetime sporting ban.

Armstrong has already admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey to a career fueled by doping and deceit. But to get a break from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, all he had to do was tell his story to those who police sports doping. The deadline was today, and Armstrong now says he won't do it.

"For several reasons, Lance will not participate in USADA's efforts to selectively conduct American prosecutions that only demonize selected individuals while failing to address the 95 percent of the sport over which USADA has no jurisdiction," said Tim Herman, Armstrong's longtime lawyer. "Lance is willing to cooperate fully and has been very clear: He will be the first man through the door, and once inside will answer every question, at an international tribunal formed to comprehensively address pro cycling."

But the "international tribunal" Armstrong is anxious to cooperate with has one major problem: It doesn't exist.

The UCI, cycling's governing body, has talked about forming a "truth and reconciliation" commission, but the World Anti-Doping Agency has resisted, citing serious concerns about the UCI and its leadership.

READ MORE: Armstrong Admits to Doping

Livestrong, Elizabeth Kreutz/AP Photo

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WATCH: Armstrong's Many Denials Caught on Tape

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency officials seemed stunned by Armstrong's decision simply to walk away.

"Over the last few weeks, he [Armstrong] has led us to believe that he wanted to come in and assist USADA, but was worried of potential criminal and civil liability if he did so," said Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "Today, we learned from the media that Mr. Armstrong is choosing not to come in and be truthful and that he will not take the opportunity to work toward righting his wrongs in sport."

Armstrong's ongoing saga plays out amid a backdrop of serious legal problems.

Sources believe one reason Armstrong wants to testify to an international tribunal, rather than USADA, is because perjury charges don't apply if Armstrong lies to a foreign agency, they told ABC News.

While Armstrong has admitted doping, he has not given up any details, including the people and methods required to pull off one of the greatest scandals in all of sport.

Armstrong is facing several multimillion-dollar lawsuits right now, but his biggest problems may be on the horizon. As ABC News first reported, a high-level source said a criminal investigation is ongoing. And the Department of Justice also reportedly is considering joining a whistleblower lawsuit claiming the U.S. Postal Service was defrauded out of millions of dollars paid to sponsor Armstrong's cycling team.

READ MORE: 10 Scandalous Public Confessions

PHOTOS: Olympic Doping Scandals: Past and Present

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Syria "Scud-type" missile said to kill 20 in Aleppo

AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian missile killed at least 20 people in a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Tuesday, opposition activists said, as the army turns to longer-range weapons after losing bases in the country's second-largest city.

The use of what opposition activists said was a large missile of the same type as Russian-made Scuds against an Aleppo residential district came after rebels overran army bases over the past two months from which troops had fired artillery.

As the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, now a civil war, nears its two-year mark, rebels also landed three mortar bombs in the rarely-used presidential palace compound in the capital Damascus, opposition activists said on Tuesday.

The United Nations estimates 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict between largely Sunni Muslim rebels and Assad's supporters among his minority Alawite sect. An international diplomatic deadlock has prevented intervention, as the war worsens sectarian tensions throughout the Middle East.

A Russian official said on Tuesday that Moscow, which is a long-time ally of Damascus, would not immediately back U.N. investigators' calls for some Syrian leaders to face the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Moscow has blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions that would have increased pressure on Assad.

Casualties are not only being caused directly by fighting, but also by disruption to infrastructure and Syria's economy.

An estimated 2,500 people in a rebel-held area of northeastern Deir al-Zor province have been infected with typhoid, which causes diarrhea and can be fatal, due to drinking contaminated water from the Euphrates River, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

"There is not enough fuel or electricity to run the pumps so people drink water from the Euphrates which is contaminated, probably with sewage," the WHO representative in Syria, Elisabeth Hoff, told Reuters by telephone.

The WHO had no confirmed reports of deaths so far.

BURIED UNDER RUBBLE

In northern Aleppo, opposition activists said 25 people were missing under rubble of three buildings hit by a several-meter-long missile. They said remains of the weapon showed it to be a Scud-type missile of the type government forces increasingly use in Aleppo and in Deir a-Zor.

NATO said in December Assad's forces fired Scud-type missiles. It did not specify where they landed but said their deployment was an act of desperation.

Bodies were being gradually dug up, Mohammad Nour, an activist, said by phone from Aleppo.

"Some, including children, have died in hospitals," he said.

Video footage showed dozens of people scouring for victims and inspecting damage. A body was pulled from under collapsed concrete. At a nearby hospital, a baby said to have been dug out from wreckage was shown dying in the hands of doctors.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Opposition activists also reported fighting near the town of Nabak on the Damascus-Homs highway, another route vital for supplying forces in the capital loyal to Assad, whose family has ruled Syria since the 1960s.

Rebels moved anti-aircraft guns into the eastern Damascus district of Jobar, adjacent to the city centre, as they seek to secure recent gains, an activist said.

"The rebels moved truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns to Jobar and are now firing at warplanes rocketing the district," said Damascus activist Moaz al-Shami.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a news conference a U.N. war crimes report, which accuses military leaders and rebels of terrorizing civilians, was "not the path we should follow ... at this stage it would be untimely and unconstructive."

Syria is not party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and the only way the court can investigate the situation is if it receives a referral from the Security Council, where Moscow is a permanent member.

(Writing by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Jason Webb)

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What children should know by Pri 1 - the new Kindergarten Framework

Singapore: To offer both parents and educators with a better idea of how much and what children need to learn by the end of Kindergarten 2, an updated version of the Kindergarten Curriculum Framework has been unveiled.

Launched by the Ministry of Education(MOE) on Wednesday, the refreshed framework was drawn up in consultation with early childhood experts, primary and pre-school educators.

It gives a sharper focus on the learning outcomes of pre-school education, such as a child's ability to count up to 10, ask simple questions and respond confidently by the time they go to Primary One.

It also emphasises the need to build confidence and social skills during the pre-school years and to prepare children for lifelong learning.

The changes come amid recent concerns on how much and how far parents should prepare their children for Primary One.

The new framework will be distributed to all kindergartens and childcare centres.

- CNA/sf

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Apple, Facebook, Twitter hacks said to hail from Eastern Europe

While many security experts have been pointing the blame at China for the recent wave of cyberattacks on U.S. companies and newspapers, Bloomberg reports that some of the malware attacks actually may be coming from Eastern Europe.

Investigators familiar with the matter told Bloomberg they believe a cybercriminal group based in either Russia or Eastern Europe is carrying out the high-level attacks to steal company secrets, research, and intellectual property, which could then be sold on the black market.

Evidence that the attacks may be coming from Eastern Europe is the type of malware being used by the hackers, which is more commonly used by cybercriminals than by government spying. Also, investigators have tracked at least one server being used by the hackers to a Ukrainian hosting company.

Roughly 40 companies have been victims of cyberattacks over the past several months. These companies included tech businesses, such as Apple, Facebook, and Twitter, and newspapers, such as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press.

Apple announced today that hackers targeted computers used by its employees, but that "there was no evidence that any data left Apple." In a statement, the company said it discovered malware that made use of a vulnerability in the Java plug-in, and that it was sourced from a site for software developers. Apple blocked Java from some of its Macs late last month using its XProtect antimalware tool and citing security vulnerabilities.

A report by The New York Times yesterday claimed that an "overwhelming percentage" of the cyberattacks on U.S. corporations, government agencies, and organizations came from an office building in Shanghai with ties to the People's Liberation Army. These allegations remain unconfirmed and flatly denied by Chinese authorities.

The hack on The New York Times itself was months long and included the theft of corporate passwords of Times employees, as well as spying on personal computers. The attacks on Facebook, Twitter, and Apple were a bit different in that reportedly only a small number of systems were infected and the hackers got in via the Java vulnerability.

This isn't the first allegation of cybercriminals operating out of Eastern Europe. Security firm McAfee Labs published a report in December that warned of increasing attacks on U.S. financial institutions from Eastern European hackers. Dubbed Project Blitzkrieg, McAfee said the possible attacks would be done with a highly developed Trojan that could infect victims' computers, plant software, and allow cybercriminals to steal information and money.

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Injuries reported in massive Kansas City fire

Updated 8:22 PM ET

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Multiple injuries were being reported Tuesday evening after a suspected gas explosion sparked a massive fire that engulfed an entire block at an upscale shopping center in Kansas City.

Police spokeswoman Rhonda Flores said it appeared that a car crashed into a gas main near a restaurant at 6:03 p.m. Flores said injuries were reported but that did not know how many or how severe. She noted an initial call for three ambulances had been increased to 10. She said she had not heard of any reported fatalities. Flores said the car crash appeared to have been an accidental.

Kerry O'Connor, a spokeswoman for St. Luke's Hospital, which is near the scene of the fire, said several patients were on the way to the hospital. She said they haven't been assessed yet but "they appear to be critical at this time."

Fire officials didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday evening.

The, but television video showed flames shooting out of the Country Club Plaza.

The smell of gas was very strong near the area long after the suspected explosion.

Video showed dozens of firefighters and other emergency responders battling a massive blaze that appeared to have engulfed an entire block, with flames burning through the roofs. Black smoke swirled in the air and debris littered surrounding streets.

CBS affiliate KCTV Kansas City reported witnesses seeing customers and workers running out of a restaurant covered in blood.

The shopping area was established in 1922 by J.C. Nichols. Based on the architecture of Seville, Spain, it includes retail, restaurants, apartments and offices.

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Report Fingers Chinese Military Unit in US Hacks

A Virginia-based cyber security firm has released a new report alleging a specific Chinese military unit is likely behind one of the largest cyber espionage and attack campaigns aimed at American infrastructure and corporations.

In the report, released today by Mandiant, China's Unit 61398 is blamed for stealing "hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations" since 2006, including 115 targets in the U.S. Twenty different industrial sectors were targeted in the attacks, Mandiant said, from energy and aerospace to transportation and financial institutions.

Mandiant believes it has tracked Unit 61398 to a 12-story office building in Shanghai that could employ hundreds of workers.

"Once [Unit 61398] has established access [to a target network], they periodically revisit the victim's network over several months or years and steal broad categories of intellectual property, including technology blueprints, proprietary manufacturing processes, test results, business plans, pricing documents, partnership agreements, and emails and contact lists from victim organizations' leadership," the report says.

The New York Times, which first reported on the Mandiant paper Monday, said digital forensic evidence presented by Mandiant pointing to the 12-story Shangai building as the likely source of the attacks has been confirmed by American intelligence officials. Mandiant was the firm that The Times said helped them investigate and eventually repel cyber attacks on their own systems in China last month.

Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied involvement in cyber intrusions and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said today that the claims in the Mandiant report were unsupported, according to a report by The Associated Press.

"To make groundless accusations based on some rough material is neither responsible nor professional," he reportedly said.

Mandiant's report was released a week after President Obama said in his State of the Union address that America must "face the rapidly growing threat from cyber attack."

"We know hackers steal people's identities and infiltrate private e-mail. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, and our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy," he said.

Though Obama did not reference China or any country specifically, U.S. officials have previously accused the Asian nation of undertaking a widespread cyber espionage campaign.

Referring to alleged Chinese hacking in October 2011, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said in an open committee meeting that he did not believe "that there is a precedent in history for such a massive and sustained intelligence effort by a government agency to blatantly steal commercial data and intellectual property."

Rogers said that cyber intrusions into American and other Western corporations by hackers working on behalf of Beijing -- allegedly including attacks on corporate giants like Google and Lockheed Martin -- amounted to "brazen and widespread theft."

"The Chinese have proven very, very good at hacking their way into very large American companies that spend a lot of money trying to protect themselves," cyber security expert and ABC News consultant Richard Clarke said in an interview last week.

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Chavez back in Venezuela, on Twitter with four million followers

CARACAS (Reuters) - After Hugo Chavez spent two months out of the public eye for cancer surgery in Cuba, the Venezuelan government hailed his homecoming on Monday and said the president had achieved another milestone - 4 million followers on Twitter.

The 58-year-old flew back from Havana before dawn and was taken to a military hospital. No new details were given on his health, and there were no images of his arrival. Officials say his condition remains delicate.

The normally loquacious socialist leader, who is struggling to speak as he breathes through a tracheal tube, took to Twitter with a passion back in April 2010, tweeting regularly and encouraging other leftist Latin American leaders to do likewise.

His @chavezcandanga account quickly drew a big mixed following of fans, critics and others just curious to see how his famously long speeches and fiery anti-U.S. invective would work within the social media network's 140-character limit.

But as he fought the cancer and underwent weeks of grueling chemotherapy and radiation therapy, he began to tweet less and less frequently, before stopping altogether on November 1.

Early on Monday morning, he made his reappearance.

"It was 4:30, 5 a.m. He got to his room and surprised everyone: rat-tat-tat, he sent three or four messages, and at that moment fireworks began to go off around the country," Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised cabinet meeting.

During the day, Maduro added, the president's number of followers had shot up to well over four million.

"It's incredible, in just a few hours ... he's the second most-followed president in the world (after Barack Obama), and the first if we make the comparison by per capita," he said.

Obama has more than 27 million Twitter followers and is No. 5 most followed globally. Chavez is Twitter's No. 190 globally.

4TH MILLION FOLLOWER

Maduro said Chavez's four millionth follower was a 20-year-old single Venezuelan woman named Alemar Jimenez from the gritty San Juan neighborhood in downtown Caracas, near the military hospital where the president arrived earlier in the day.

"She's one of the golden generation of youth who support the fatherland and have been waiting with growing love for commander Hugo Chavez," Maduro said, before presenting a dazzled-looking Jimenez to the cameras and giving her a bunch of flowers.

"We were really emotional" she said, recounting how she was with her mother when they heard Chavez had returned. "I sent him a message on Twitter saying he must get better."

There are still big questions over the president's health. He could have come back to govern from behind the scenes, or he may be hoping to ease political tensions and pave the way for a transition to Maduro, his preferred successor.

Chavez has often ordered followers to fight back against opposition critics of his self-styled revolution by using social media, leading from the front himself on Twitter and referring to the Internet as a "battle trench."

As his ranks of followers grew, Chavez said he hired 200 assistants to help him respond to messages - which he said were a great way to receive first-hand the requests, demands, complaints and denunciations of citizens in the thousands.

During his re-election campaign last year, the government launched an SMS text message service that forwards his tweets to cellphones that lack Internet service, broadening their reach to the poorest corners of the South American country.

"He's a communication revolution!" Maduro said, later unbuttoning his shirt on TV to show he was wearing a T-shirt bearing Chavez's eyes emblazoned across his chest.

For the tens of thousands who signed up on Monday to follow Chavez on Twitter, it is unclear how much will be posted there in the weeks and months ahead. Venezuela's 29 million people are mostly wondering something similar.

(Additional reporting by Diego Ore; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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Rugby: All Blacks coach frustrated at Kahui move

WELLINGTON: All Blacks coach Steve Hansen expressed disappointment at Richard Kahui's decision to play in Japan next year, saying he was frustrated the centre never gave him a chance to change his mind.

Kahui announced last week that he would move to Top League club Toshiba Brave Lupus in 2014 after seeing out the Super 15 season with the Waikato Chiefs.

"We were very disappointed with that because he didn't really speak to us, or his agent didn't," Hansen told commercial radio. "I always find that a bit frustrating."

Hansen said he would have appreciated an opportunity to put a counter-offer to Kahui, who was a key member of New Zealand's World Cup-winning team in 2011 and helped the Waikato Chiefs to the Super 15 title last year.

Kahui said last week that he decided to play in Japan to secure his future after a string of shoulder injuries, which has restricted him to just 17 Tests since his international debut in 2008.

The 27-year-old will not be eligible to play for the All Blacks while in Japan but has canvassed the possibility of returning to his homeland in 2015 so he can help New Zealand defend its World Cup title in England.

Hansen said Kahui was taking a gamble as there was no guarantee an up-and-coming centre would not cement a spot in his absence.

"He's talked about coming back, but he, like everybody else, takes a big risk when they leave because there're other people here who have got talent," he said.

"But he's weighed that up and believes he can come back. Hopefully, he does and hopefully he comes back and plays to the level that can get him selected."

- AFP/al

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Microsoft quietly raises price of Office for Mac by 17 percent

Office 2013

(Credit:
Microsoft)

Microsoft has quietly increased the prices of its Office for Mac 2011 by as much as 17 percent, putting it on price par with Office 2013 for Windows.

The software giant has also quit selling multi-license packages, which allowed customers to purchase multiple copies of the application suite at a discounted rate.

The single-license Office for
Mac Home & Student now costs $140, an increase of about 17 percent from the previous price of $120. Meanwhile, Microsoft raised the price of Office for Mac Home & Business, which includes Outlook, to $220, a 10 percent price hike over the previous $200 price.

Microsoft doesn't seem to have publicized the price increase, so it's not clear when the price increase took effect. However, Computerworld, which first reported the increase, estimates it occurred around January 29, the same day that
Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365 was launched.

CNET has contacted Microsoft for more information on the price increase and will update this report when we learn more.

In addition to the price increase, Microsoft ceased sales of multi-license editions. The multi-user packs are still for sale on Amazon (while supplies last) at a significant discount, but the listing notes that the software is an older edition.

The moves are apparently intended to redirect customers toward Office 365, which costs $100 for an annual subscription. The new offering is part of effort by Microsoft to bring its suite of Office server tools and collaboration work flows onto the cloud.

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