Mali official says Islamists driven from Konna

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Islamist militants have been driven out of Konna, a city the extremists captured earlier this week, as French forces have launched military operations in north Mali, a Mali military official said Saturday.Lt. Col. Diarran Kone said the military does not yet control the city of Konna and are still searching for any hidden Islamist extremist elements there."The Islamists have been...

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Mali official says Islamists driven from Konna

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Islamist militants have been driven out of Konna, a city the extremists captured earlier this week, as French forces have launched military operations in north Mali, a Mali military official said Saturday.Lt. Col. Diarran Kone said the military does not yet control the city of Konna and are still searching for any hidden Islamist extremist elements there."The Islamists have been...

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Radical Islamists hold on to gains in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Radical Islamists held on to a city in central Mali Friday after sending the Malian military reeling in retreat. With the militants showing the capability to press even further into government-held territory, international aid organizations began evacuating staff from the narrow central belt of the country.French President Francois Hollande said France, which used to rule Mali...

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Ichiro's patience snaps with Yankees: report

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has lost patience with the New York Yankees over a contract extension and has begun talking with other teams, his agent said on Friday.The Yankees have been busy locking up their principle pitchers, paying Hiroki Kuroda $15 million, Andy Pettitte $12 million and Mariano Rivera $10 million, drawing frustration from Ichiro."At the beginning we talked...

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Yankees' Rodriguez to have hip surgery

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will likely miss the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball (MLB) season because of hip surgery, the team said on Monday.The 37-year-old Rodriguez, MLB's active home runs leader, must complete a four-to-six week pre-rehabilitation regimen before having a left hip arthroscopy in January that will require four to six months of recovery,...

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Ex-baseball star Lenny Dykstra sentenced in bankruptcy fraud case

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lenny Dykstra, the 1980s World Series hero who pleaded guilty earlier this year to bankruptcy fraud, was sentenced on Monday to six months in federal prison and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.The 49-year-old former ballplayer - who is already serving time in state prison for grand theft auto, lewd conduct and assault with a deadly weapon - was also ordered...

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Go Ahead, Keep Being Mean to Celebrities on Twitter

We realize there's only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today: RELATED: The Honey Boo Boo Nature Special; Everyone's Favorite Sleepwalking MomWe usually don't condone...

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Samsung seeks broader chip base as Apple cuts loose

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co is looking to supply chips to more Chinese and other emerging smartphone makers, the head of its system chip business said, to counter any fall-off in demand from Apple Inc, which is weaning itself off Samsung chips used in its iPhones and iPads.Samsung and its main U.S. rival, and biggest customer, together account for more than half the global smartphone...

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Aereo CEO: Hollywood Apathy, "Irrelevant" Ads Inspired the Controversial Service

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Sorry, networks, but Aereo - the streaming TV service you love to hate - has no plans to go away. In fact, CEO Chet Kanojia and company are planning a major expansion thanks to $38 million in new spending money.That's not just to fund the service's move from New York into 22 other major cities, as announced Tuesday, but onto videogame consoles, Smart TVs and the Android operating...

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Celebrity, Inc.

What can four drunk airplane passengers, first time parents, and a delightful new book called Celebrity, Inc. do for your wallet?Plenty.Let me start with the drunks and new parents. Monday night I boarded a very delayed flight from Houston to Los Angeles. Behind me were four 20/30-somethings boisterously swigging from "coffee" cups. (Our gate was across from a Cantina and you could practically smell...

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Pension Red Alert: 70% Of Pensions Are Never Audited

Chances are that your pension or 401k plan has never been audited. No one's checking annually to see if the money's really there. Worried yet? It should freak you out, in my opinion. According to regulators, seventy percent of the nation's pensions have never been audited.Lest you think I'm an alarmist, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor earlier this year in his Semiannual Report...

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Rate on 30-year mortgage ticks up to 4 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on the 30-year mortgage stayed hovered above the record low for a third straight week. But cheap mortgage rates have done little to boost home sales or refinancing.Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan ticked up to 4 percent from 3.99 percent. Six weeks ago, it dropped to a record low of 3.94 percent, according to the National Bureau of Economic...

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Pitcher Adams agrees to two-year deal with Phillies

(Reuters) - The Philadelphia Phillies and relief pitcher Mike Adams have agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract, Major League Baseball's website said on Saturday.The deal is pending a physical.Adams, 34, posted a 5-3 record with a 3.27 earned run average in 61 appearances with the Texas Rangers last season.Regarded as one of the major league's top setup men, Adams underwent surgery in October...

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Hamilton to give Angels everything on and off field

(Reuters) - Josh Hamilton was introduced as a member of the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday and the slugger immediately promised to give everything he has to the team on and off the field.A five-time All-Star who overcame drug and alcohol addictions to become one of Major League Baseball's most feared hitters, Hamilton signed a five-year, $125 million deal with the Angels earlier in the week, leaving...

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Blue Jays acquire Cy Young winner Dickey from Mets

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Blue Jays bolstered an already formidable starting rotation by acquiring reigning National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey in a seven-player swap with the New York Mets, the team said on Monday.Dickey, a 38-year-old knuckleball pitcher who went 20-6 with a 2.73 earned-run average last season, is the centerpiece of a trade that also sends catcher Josh Thole...

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End-of-the-Year Checklist for Divorcing Women

Most women wait until after the holidays to move forward with their divorces --and that’s completely understandable. Many don’t want to disrupt family traditions for their children. Some welcome the distraction offered by the hustle and bustle of the season. And, of course, others want to avoid the discussions that inevitably seem to arise whenever and wherever relatives gather.Interestingly, though,...

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It's Not Too Late: Year-End Tax Moves

Once you’ve reached the last month of the tax year, your options are limited to minimize your income taxes. But there are a few things that could still be done, so don’t give up hope.For example, you could double up your real estate taxes by prepaying next year’s tax during December. Doing this with, for example, a $3,000 per year real estate tax bill could result in a reduction of tax for the year...

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New Website Takes Social Approach To Personal Finance

The Internet is a great source of information on personal finance, but often this information lacks the personal touch. The new website MyMoneyCircles.com aims to provide that personalized element by taking an interactive, social media-style approach.Though it focuses on the human element, MyMoneyCircles is anything but soft and fuzzy. The website refers to its approach as a "boot camp" for personal...

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Chavez's VP says ailing leader still 'delicate'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president is returning home Wednesday from a visit with Hugo Chavez in Cuba and says the ailing president's condition remains "delicate" three weeks after his cancer surgery.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that he had met with the president twice and had spoken with him."He's totally...

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Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumors

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's opposition demanded that the government reveal specifics of President Hugo Chavez's condition Wednesday, criticizing secrecy surrounding the ailing leader's health more than three weeks after his cancer surgery in Cuba.Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference that the information provided by government officials "continues...

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Venezuelan gov't: Chavez fighting lung infection

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez is being treated for a respiratory deficiency after complications from a severe lung infection.Information Minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on the ailing president's condition Thursday night. He read from a statement saying that Chavez's lung infection had led to "respiratory deficiency" and required strict compliance...

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Most countries offer the Pill over-the-counter

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Unlike women in the U.S., Canada and much of Europe, most women in the world can access the birth control pill without a prescription, according to a new study.As medical organizations and other groups push to ease the prescription requirements for the Pill in the U.S. and elsewhere, "we can start to use this information to... get a sense of the safety of women having...

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Annual Pap tests? For some in U.S., old habits die hard

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An increasing number of younger women in the United States are delaying their first Pap test for cervical cancer until after they reach 21, reflecting new U.S. guidelines, health officials said on Thursday.But 60 percent of U.S. women who have had a total hysterectomy and no longer have a cervix are still getting the tests, a sign that old habits may die hard, experts said.Although...

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Julia Roberts to star in HBO film on early AIDS epidemic

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Julia Roberts will star as a paraplegic physician treating patients early in the AIDS epidemic in the stage-to-screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning drama "The Normal Heart," U.S. cable television network HBO said on Friday."The Normal Heart," set to air on HBO in 2014, tells the story of the dawning of the epidemic in 1980s New York.Oscar-winner Roberts plays Dr. Emma...

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Presidents of Sudan, South Sudan to meet Friday

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan, two countries which were at the brink of all-out war last year, are to meet Friday in Ethiopia's capital.Spokesman Dina Mufti said Thursday that Ethiopia is optimistic the meeting will advance stalled peace deals.Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir signed...

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Ethiopian police says Qaida terror cell arrested

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's spy agency says that security forces have arrested 15 people alleged to be members of a terror cell linked with al-Qaida.The spy agency says military training manuals, videos and weapons were seized from the suspects. The agency announced the arrests late Wednesday.Authorities said the suspects were trained by al-Shabab militants in neighboring Somalia and Kenya....

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AP names Torchia as bureau chief in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Christopher Torchia, The Associated Press bureau chief in Turkey who has reported from five continents, has been appointed chief of bureau for AP for southern Africa.The appointment was announced Thursday by Africa Editor Andrew Selsky."Torchia is one of the best foreign correspondents in the business and has the experience and talent to deliver fascinating stories from this important...

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Nigeria airline in June crash resumes flights

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The Nigerian airline involved in a June crash that killed at least 163 people resumed domestic flights Thursday, even though officials acknowledge they still don't know what brought the aircraft down and that the families of the dead still haven't received insurance settlements.Government authorities cleared Dana Air to again fly the same type of planes involved in the crash,...

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C. African Republic leader fires son from post

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Facing an insurgency by a new rebel coalition, the president of Central African Republic consolidated military power under his control Thursday after dismissing his own son as acting defense minister along with his army chief of staff.President Francois Bozize said in a decree read on state radio late Wednesday that he was taking over the position held by his...

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