French seal off Mali's Timbuktu, rebels torch library

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

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Australia PM's partner apologises for Asian doctor joke

SYDNEY: The partner of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, whose fiery speech against sexism last year made global headlines, apologised Tuesday for making a quip about an "Asian female doctor".Tim Mathieson made the comment during a reception at The Lodge in Canberra on Monday night attended by members of the West Indies cricket team.Mathieson, who has worked to raise awareness about...

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Rdio rolls out six months of free streaming in 15 countries

Rdio announced today that it is offering the majority of its international customers the same deal that people get in the U.S.: six months of free music streaming. The online music service lets users access its library of more than 18 million songs that come without ads or interruptions and can be listened to and shared across the Web, social networks, and mobile devices. "The countries that will...

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"Maternity Tourism": How Chinese couples buy U.S. citizenship

(CBS News) CHINO HILLS, Calif. - Any child born in the United States is automatically an American citizen. Mexican mothers have, for years, crossed the border to give birth here for that reason. Maternity tourism in America has also caught on now with mothers in China. Ada Lin, a young Chinese girl whose parents traveled to America so she could be born an American citizen/CBS News Ada Lin is 4...

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US Mom Missing in Turkey Took Side Trips

Sarai Sierra, the New York mother who disappeared in Turkey while on a solo trip, took several side excursions out of the country, but stayed in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.Turkish media reported today that police were trying to establish why Sierra visited Amsterdam and Munich. Police were also trying to establish the identity of a...

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Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil

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

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Sensitive skin problems aren't skin deep

SINGAPORE: Most might assume that sensitive skin is mainly due to in an intake of the wrong food, or the application of the wrong product. However, the main reason for sensitive skin lies on the surface of the skin, and what that layer is subjected to from the daily environment.In a sensitive skin survey held by Curél, the dermatological research oriented brainchild of Japanese chemical...

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Nokia to offer paid upgrade to Lumia-only music service

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

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Massive loss of life in Brazil nightclub fire

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

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'Barrier of Bodies' Trapped Nightclub Fire Victims

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

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