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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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,...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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,...

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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...

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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...

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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"...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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