6.5-magnitude quake strikes off Solomon Islands

HONIARA: A 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit off the Solomon Islands on Sunday, the latest powerful aftershock following a 8.0-magnitude quake that sparked a tsunami four days ago, US seismologists said.The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 8:02 am, 2102 GMT Saturday, 29 kilometres south-southwest of Lata, the main town on remote Ndende Island in the Santa Cruz Islands, which are...

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The Audiophiliac wants to see your audio system

This is my system from a few years ago. The speakers are Magnepan 3.6s.(Credit:Wes Bender)If you have a state-of-the-art high-end system, or a tricked out iPod speaker, we'd love to see it. Take an interesting picture of your headphones, Bluetooth speaker, turntable, home theater, or whatever you have. If you built your own speakers or amp, that's right up my alley!Send JPEGs (not huge files) to theaudiophiliac...

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Pastor: Slain teen the face of violence epidemic

CHICAGO A prominent Chicago pastor remembered a slain 15-year-old girl Saturday as the face of an "epidemic of violence causing funeral processions around the country." Father Michael Pfleger spoke at Hadiya Pendleton's funeral, telling a packed South Side church that "we must become the interrupters of funeral processions." Pendleton was a band majorette and honor student who was shot and killed...

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After Blizzard, Northeast Begins to Dig Out

The Northeast began the arduous process of cleaning up after a fierce storm swept through the region leaving behind up to three feet of snow in some areas.By early this morning, 650,000 homes and businesses were without power and at least five deaths were being blamed on the storm: three in Canada, one in New York and one in Connecticut, The Associated Press reported.The storm...

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Tunisian Islamists rally to show "power of street"

TUNIS (Reuters) - Thousands of Islamists marched in Tunis on Saturday in a show of strength, a day after the funeral of an assassinated secular politician drew the biggest crowds seen on the streets since Tunisia's uprising two years ago. About 6,000 supporters of the ruling Ennahda movement rallied to back their leader Rachid al-Ghannouchi, who was the target of angry slogans raised...

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Tennis: Nadal advances to semi-finals in comeback event

VINA DEL MAR, Chile: Rafael Nadal, playing his first event after a seven-month injury layoff, advanced to the semi-finals of the $410,200 Vina del Mar ATP claycourt tournament with a straight-sets triumph on Friday.The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain ousted seventh-seeded countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 6-4.Top seed Nadal will face either French third seed Jeremy Chardy or...

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YouTube yanks video of 3D-printed rifle magazine

A still from the Defense Distributed video.(Credit:YouTube)A video showing a gun magazine created by a 3D printer was pulled off YouTube today, only to reappear later in the afternoon. The removal notice for the popular clip, which was posted by a Texas group known as Defense Distributed, said the video was removed "as a violation of YouTube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive...

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Ohio Amish beard-cutting ringleader gets 15 years

Samuel Mullet Sr./WKBN/U.S. Attorney (AP) CLEVELAND - Samuel Mullet Sr., the ringleader in hair- and beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.Pictures:  Amish members convicted in beard-cutting attacks Before his sentencing, Mullet told Judge Dan Aaron Polster in Cleveland that he had been blamed for running a cult and was ready to take the punishment....

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Blizzard of 2013: Monster Storm Bears Down

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions is set to strike the Northeast, starting today and bringing up to 2 feet of snow and strong winds that could shut down densely populated cities such as Boston and New York City.A storm from the west will join forces with one from the south to form a nor'easter that will sit and spin just off the East Coast, affecting more than 43 million...

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Violence mars funeral of Tunisian opposition leader

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Tunisians turned out on Friday to mourn secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has deepened a political crisis and led to violent protests against the Islamist-led government. Teargas and smoke from burning cars at times wafted over the Tunis cemetery where Belaid was buried in the country's biggest funeral since independence...

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North Korea nuclear test could "tie hands" of South: Ban Ki-moon

UNITED NATIONS: UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that a nuclear test by North Korea could blow up hopes of an eventual reconciliation by "tying the hands" of the South's incoming president.Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said incoming South Korean president Park Geun-Hye is "very much committed" to improving relations with North Korea."If they conduct this nuclear...

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Five things the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 needs

With the release of the Windows 8 Surface Pro, Microsoft has reclaimed some of the good will it lost with the Surface RT. Unlike the earlier Surface product, the Pro features the full version of Windows 8, uses a powerful Intel Core i5 CPU, and can install and run just about any software app a standard laptop or desktop PC can. But while it's probably the single best example of a Windows tablet we've...

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Syrian soldiers dance to Usher in online video

BEIRUT A video posted online purportedly shows Syrian soldiers taking a break from the country's civil war by bopping around to American R&B star Usher's hit song "Yeah!" The soldiers dressed in camouflage combat gear — some armed with automatic rifles or rocket-propelled grenades poking out of their flak jackets — form a conga line and shimmy past the camera grinning. Near the end of the video,...

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Suspect Tried to Flee Country Before Cop Shooting

The fired California cop who set off a region-wide manhunt after allegedly shooting three police officers this morning -- one fatally -- had initially gone to a yacht club near San Diego where police say he attempted to steal a boat and flee to Mexico.Police say that former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who officials believe posted an online manifesto outlining...

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Khamenei rebuffs U.S. offer of direct talks

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problem between them. "Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem," Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of...

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Tennis: Nadal triumphs in singles return

VINA DEL MAR, Chile: Rafael Nadal made a triumphant singles return after a seven-month absence, beating Argentinian qualifier Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the ATP claycourt tournament.The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain hadn't played since a shock second-round exit from Wimbledon in June.A torn tendon and inflammation in his left knee had kept him out of the...

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Yelp boasts 100M unique visitors in January

Yelp founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppleman(Credit:Dan Farber/CNET)On the day when Yelp posted a less-than-rosy quarter earnings, missing Wall Street expectations and posting a loss of more than $5 million, Yelp founder and CEO took the company's blog to boast what he says is a major milestone: In January, Yelp saw 100 unique visitors to its site, a first in the company's almost decade-long history.That...

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Fiery pileup kills motorists on Ga. interstate

MONTROSE, Ga. More than two dozen cars, pickup trucks and tractor-trailers collided Wednesday morning in a fiery pileup on a foggy Georgia interstate, killing at least three people and sending nine others to a hospital, officials said. Work crews on Interstate 16 were still clearing charred and twisted wreckage from the crash scene, which covered nearly a quarter-mile of the roadway, nearly six...

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FBI Releases Alaska Serial Killer's Handwritten Notes

Serial killer Israel Keyes' blood smeared suicide letter, obtained by ABCNews.com, is a creepy ode to murder in which he clearly enjoys killing his victims and expresses his disgust with peoples' everyday lives."You may have been free, you loved loving your lie, fate had its own scheme, crushed like a bug you still die," Keyes wrote.At another point he writes about the "nervous...

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Tunisian leader to form new government after activist shot

TUNIS (Reuters) - The killing of an outspoken critic of Tunisia's Islamist-led government on Wednesday sparked street protests by thousands who fear religious radicals are stifling freedoms won two years ago in the first of the Arab Spring uprisings. Chokri Belaid was shot at close range as he left for work by a gunmen who fled on the back of a motorcycle; crowds poured on to the streets...

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"Hundreds" of rebels killed, France to leave Mali from March

GAO, Mali: French-led forces have killed hundreds of Islamists in fighting to reclaim northern Mali and with the rebels' last bastion secured, France said Tuesday it will begin withdrawing its troops from March.Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the 26-day military intervention had killed "several hundred" Islamist militants as its air and ground forces chased them from their northern...

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Why going private is a good thing for Dell

The Dell Inspiron 15z is one of Dell's latest PC offerings.(Credit:Sarah Tew/CNET)In October 2011, I managed to annoy Michael Dell. It was shortly after Steve Jobs died, and I sat with Dell for a 30-minute talk at the company's home in Round Rock, Texas. I was a reporter for Dow Jones at the time. The interview had nearly ended, and Dell was on his way out the door when I asked the question, "Michael,...

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Gay marriage gets OK from British lawmakers

LONDON British lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage championed by Prime Minister David Cameron, despite strong opposition from within his Conservative Party. In a first House of Commons vote, lawmakers voted 400 to 175 in support of the legislation. There was majority support from the left-leaning Labour Party and Liberal Democrats party, but...

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Rescued Ala. Boy Watching Cartoons in Hospital

The 5-year-old held hostage in a nearly week-long standoff in Alabama is cheerfully watching Spongebob and posting sticky notes on everyone around him at the hospital as organizers plan a birthday party for him so big it may take place at a high school football stadium.The boy, identified only as Ethan, is apparently unharmed but is at the hospital for numerous evaluations,...

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Iran's Ahmadinejad kissed and scolded in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The trip was meant to underline a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state, President Mohamed Mursi, last June. But it also highlighted deep theological and geopolitical differences....

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IMF, Afghanistan agree path to fresh aid

WASHINGTON: The IMF said Monday it had reached agreement with Afghanistan on the reform path needed to unlock the next aid instalment for the war-ravaged country.The International Monetary Fund granted Afghanistan a US$133.6 million line of credit in November 2011 to help the country through the withdrawal of foreign military forces in 2014.But to date the IMF has only disbursed two instalments...

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