UN in Syria talks offer, warns against war crimes

DAMASCUS: The UN chief and his Syria envoy said Saturday they are prepared to broker peace talks between the regime and opposition, as Damascus ally Iran said Bashar al-Assad would stand again for president in 2014.A joint statement by Ban Ki-moon and Lakhdar Brahimi said the UN would "be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between a strong and representative delegation from the opposition...

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IBM's Watson: Now for 'Top Chef'?

Watson in his "Jeopardy" days.(Credit:IBM/YouTube; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)Great chefs are crazy.There are many kinds of crazy. Some of these culinarians rant, rave, and spit fire and brimstone. Some pore over their ingredients like scientists: quiet, brooding, and deeply serious.All believe they can create their own particular gastronomic dreams, ones nobody else can copy. Especially...

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Recovery attempt weighed for man's body in sinkhole

SEFFNER, Fla. Engineers worked gingerly Saturday to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground. It could be days before officials decide whether they will attempt to recover Jeff Bush's body, and they were still trying Saturday to determine the extent of the sinkhole network...

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Abandoned Baby's Tooth Used in Search for Parents

Authorities are using the bottom tooth of the week-old infant abandoned in a plastic bag outside an apartment complex in Cypress, Texas, as a clue in the search for her parents.The newborn's early tooth, seen in just one of 2,000 births, is a unique genetic trait that may prove to be a link to her family history, according to investigators.The baby, named Chloe by rescuers, weighed...

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Al-Qaeda's top leader in Mali killed in fighting

PARIS: Al-Qaeda's top commander in Mali has been killed, Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said Friday, in what would be one of the most significant blows to the rebels in the seven-week French-led intervention against Islamist insurgents.Several newspapers in Abou Zeid's native Algeria had reported his death and Washington had described the reports as "very credible".Deby said Abou Zeid,...

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Man feared dead in 100-foot sinkhole near Tampa

Last Updated 1:15 p.m. ET SEFFNER, Fla. A man was missing and feared dead early Friday after a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa. His brother says the man screamed for help before he disappeared. The 36-year-old man's brother, Jeremy Bush, told rescue crews he heard a loud crash around 11 p.m. Thursday, then heard his brother screaming for help. "When he got there,...

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Obama, Congress Fail to Avert Sequester Cuts

President Obama and congressional leaders today failed to reach a breakthrough to avert a sweeping package of automatic spending cuts, setting into motion $85 billion of across-the-board belt-tightening that neither had wanted to see.Obama met for just over an hour at the White House today with Republican leaders House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell...

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Turkish PM's Zionism comments "objectionable": Kerry

ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday criticized a comment by Turkey's prime minister likening Zionism to crimes against humanity, as the disagreement cast a shadow over talks between the NATO allies. Kerry, on his first trip to a Muslim nation since taking office, met Turkish leaders for talks meant to focus on the civil war in neighboring Syria and bilateral...

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Benedict XVI steps down as pope

VATICAN CITY: Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign in over 700 years on Thursday, waving a last goodbye to a tearful crowd of faithful and telling them he would be "a simple pilgrim" on life's last journey.Swiss Guards wielding halberds shut the giant wooden doors of his new temporary residence, the Castel Gandolfo near Rome, and left their posts after completing their mission...

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Kick a Soccket soccer ball, power an LED lamp

You'll get a kick out of energy generation with Soccket.(Credit:Uncharted Play)Portable generators just got a lot more fun with the introduction of the Soccket, an energy-harnessing soccer ball raising funds on Kickstarter. Kick the ball around, play, and have a good time. When you're done, connect an LED lamp into a port built into the ball, and light up your night.Playing with the Soccket for 30...

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Vatican hints at start date for papal conclave

VATICAN CITY Much speculation surrounds the date when leaders of the Roman Catholic Church will begin the process of selecting their new pope. Play VideoPope Benedict XVI: "I am no longer Pope"The date for the conclave of cardinals to begin their deliberations has not yet been set, although one of Pope Benedict XVI's final acts before resigning his office was to amend the rules governing the election...

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Benedict XVI's Tenure as Pope Ends

VATICAN CITY -- Benedict XVI's eight-year tenure as pope ended today, after he bade farewell to the faithful and departed the Vatican as the first pope to resign in six centuries."Thank you for your love and support," the pope tweeted from his Pontifex account. "May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."With church bells ringing...

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Football: Drogba gets Euro clearance, Lazio fined

NYON, Switzerland: Didier Drogba will be allowed to play in Galatasaray's Champions League clash against Schalke after the German club had their objections over his eligibility thrown out by UEFA on Wednesday.Schalke, who came away from Istanbul with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their last 16 clash, believed that the transfer of the former Chelsea striker from Shanghai Shenhua to the...

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Buy your ticket for the new Titanic (no iPads, thanks)

Icebergs be damned.(Credit:Clive Palmer)Tempting fate is a very human pastime. We know it will all end badly sooner or later, so why not see whether we can skirt the edge of disaster and experience how it feels?Such an impulse will surely drive many to book an early ticket on Titanic II. No, this is not another Donald Trump project. It is, instead, the idea of Clive Palmer, an Australian mining tycoon...

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Newtown father's emotional plea to Congress

During emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, the father of a first grader slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School fought back tears as he stressed the need to ban weapons like the assault rifle that a gunman used to kill his son, 19 other children, and 6 educators in Newtown, Conn. Neil Heslin described how his son Jesse "was brutally murdered at Sandy Hook school on December...

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Newtown Dad's Tearful Plea at Senate Gun Hearing

A father who lost his son in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School sobbed as he testified at a Senate hearing today in favor of an assault weapons ban.Across town Vice President Biden alluded to untold horror of the Newtown tragedy in an appeal for help from the nation's attorneys general.Despite their emotional appeals, the push for gun reforms championed by the White...

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Football: Security tight as Lippi's Guangzhou beat Reds

GUANGZHOU, China: Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande swept aside Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in an AFC Champions League opener crackling with political tensions and played under heavy security on Tuesday.As the Asian competition got underway with goals and an outlandish "Panenka" penalty, the Chinese double-holders began their campaign in ominous style as they dispatched the 2007...

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What is the Eicar testfile?

When Apple updates its XProtect anti-malware system in OS X with new definitions, it often means a new or updated threat has been found for OS X. Earlier this morning, Apple issued an update to XProtect, which now includes a new definition for a malware package called "OSX.eicar.com.i," that comes from Eicar.com. This update suggests the new definitions are for a novel malware package, but this is...

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Dozens of prominent Republicans sign brief backing gay marriage

Matthew Wiltse, right, places a wedding ring on the finger of Jonathon Bashford as they took their wedding vows before Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham at the Thurston County Courthouse just after midnight on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Olympia, Wash. / AP Photo/Rachel La Corte More than 80 "conservative voices" have signed onto a legal brief supporting the notion that same-sex couples should...

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Tempers Flare at Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Tempers flared between accused murderer Jodi Arias and prosecutor Juan Martinez today as Martinez tried to detail Arias' history of spying on her boyfriends, but Arias complained that his aggressive style of questioning made her "brain scramble."Arias and Martinez, who have sparred throughout two prior days of cross-examination in Arias' murder case, spent more than 10 minutes...

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Football: Udinese put brakes on Napoli in Serie A

MILAN: Udinese held challengers Napoli to a scoreless draw on Monday to leave leaders Juventus with a six-point cushion at the top of Serie A.Napoli had hoped to capitalise on the extra day's rest after their Europa League exit at the hands of Czech side Viktoria Plzen last Thursday to close the gap to four points.However Walter Mazzarri's title challengers were left lamenting several...

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Countdown begins for Galaxy S4 reveal

Monday's CNET Update does it with stylus: Countdown begins for Galaxy S4 reveal The mother of all mobile trade shows, Mobile World Congress, kicked off in Barcelona. Today's video roundup highlights the buzz over Samsung, WebOS and a new way to talk to your phone: - Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S4 on March 14- Visa's mobile payment program will be built into the Galaxy S4- More on MasterCard's mobile...

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2nd blizzard in less than a week slams Plains

Last Updated 12:35 p.m. ET Blizzard conditions slammed parts of the Midwest on Monday, forcing the closure of highways in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and sending public works crews scrambling for salt and sand anew just days after a massive storm blanketed the region with snow. National Weather Service officials issued blizzard warnings and watches in Kansas and Oklahoma through late Monday...

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Secret Vatican Dossier for 'Pope's Eyes Only'

Feb 25, 2013 9:05am ROME – Pope Benedict XVI decided to keep secret the contents of an investigative report on the “Vatileaks” scandal, ruling that the only person who will get to see it will be the next pope.The top secret dossier details the findings of an internal investigation the pope launched last April into the so-called Vatileaks affair, in which Benedict’s...

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Huge protest vote pushes Italy towards deadlock

ROME (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government. With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the center left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower...

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China's Huawei claims world's fastest smartphone

BARCELONA: China's Huawei, the number three smartphone maker behind giants Samsung and Apple, unveiled Sunday a new mobile, the Ascend P2, which it claims is the fastest in the world.Sharp-cornered and thinner than a pencil at 8.4 mm, the company said it can achieve speeds of 150 Mbps, fast enough to download a two-hour high-definition movie in less than five minutes.The mobile, which...

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Nvidia Tegra 4 supercharges smartphones (hands-on video)

See the Nvidia Tegra 4 (and 4i) in actionBARCELONA, Spain--Nvidia's latest mobile processor, the Tegra 4, and its little brother, the Tegra 4i, will soon be turning up in all manner of smartphones and tablets. I went hands-on with some of Nvidia's reference devices at Mobile World Congress and found the new silicon to deliver some impressive results.Like the Tegra 3 chip before it, the Tegra 4 is...

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