Tennis: Czechs eye Fed Cup semi-finals, US, Japan fight back

PARIS: Defending champions the Czech Republic, bidding to become the first country in 18 years to capture three successive Fed Cup titles, opened a 2-0 lead over Australia in their first round clash on Saturday.Petra Kvitova gave the holders a convincing start in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava when the world number eight beat Australia's 168-ranked Jarmila Gajdosova 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.Lucie...

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Parents appalled that school principal is sexy YouTube rapper

Junior High School 80, where the principal is El Siki.(Credit:Google Street View)We all have an alter ego.For some of us, it comes out when the drinks are flowing and the inhibitions have taken a vacation.For Emmaneul Polanco, principal of Junior High School 80 in the Bronx, it comes out when he makes rap videos and posts them online, hangs out with comely ladies, and parties as a good rapper should...

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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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Israel's Lieberman says Palestinian peace accord impossible

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has no chance of signing a permanent peace accord with the Palestinians and should instead seek a long-term interim deal, the most powerful political partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. The remarks by Avigdor Lieberman, an ultranationalist whose joint party list with Netanyahu narrowly won a January 22 election while centrist challengers...

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Cricket: Pollard century fails to prevent easy Australian win

SYDNEY: Australia maintained their dominance over the West Indies cruising to a five-wicket victory to lead their one-day international series 4-0 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.Only a belligerent unbeaten century from man-of-the-match Kieron Pollard gave the West Indies a respectable score of 220 after they were 55 for six at one stage.But it was easily run down by the Australians,...

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How we test: TVs

Go behind the curtain with David Katzmaier (left) and Ty Pendlebury, your friendly neighborhood TV geeks. Did you know CNET reviews TVs by comparing them directly in a side-by-side lineup, after each has undergone a thorough calibration? Did you know that the main instrument we use to calibrate and measure those televisions costs about $28,000? Did you know that last year we reviewed and rated 54...

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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 Could Bring 2 Feet of Snow

A blizzard of possibly historic proportions is set to strike the Northeast, starting today and could bring more than two 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...

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China, Japan engage in new invective over disputed isles

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Japan engaged on Friday in a fresh round of invective over military movements near a disputed group of uninhabited islands, fuelling tension that for months has bedeviled relations between the Asian powers. An increasingly muscular China has been repeatedly at odds with others in the region over rival claims to small clusters of islands, most recently with...

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Gymnastics: Silver lining for Singapore gymnasts

SINGAPORE: Singapore's gymnasts may have missed out on the opportunity to compete in this year's South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar in December after their sport was axed by the hosts.However, they will still get to compete in two regional championships - of similar standard to the gymnastics competition at the biennial Games - at the tail end of the year.According to Singapore Gymnastics...

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It's OK to shout: Xbox 720 could have 'Siri-like' voice control

Finally, a console that's willing to listen?(Credit:GameSpot)Finally, we'll soon be able to yell at our television screens and have them respond... if the rumors about the Xbox 720 including a voice control feature similar to Apple's Siri are true. Yesterday came word that the next-generation Xbox from Microsoft would update Kinect and require a constant Internet connection to function. Such integrated...

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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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Iran's 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 last 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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Football: Pedro's double sees Spain past Uruguay

DOHA: World and European champions Spain stretched their unbeaten run at senior international level to 17 games with a 3-1 win over Uruguay on Wednesday thanks to two goals from Pedro Rodriguez.A goalkeeping error from Fernando Muslera gifted Spain the lead after just 16 minutes as he allowed Cesc Fabregas' long-range effort to slip through his grasp, but Uruguay were deservedly level...

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Microsoft's Surface Pro has room to grow

Wednesday's CNET Update wants the best of both worlds: Microsoft's Surface Pro has room to grow We're all hunting for the one device to rule them all: the perfect tablet-laptop hybrid. Microsoft's Surface Pro aims to do just that, but it's not quite a laptop-killer yet. Read CNET's full review here, and be sure to compare how the Pro measures up to the competition. Also in today's tech news roundup:...

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Boy Scouts leaders make announcement on gay ban

Updated at 1:08 p.m. ET IRVING, Texas The Boy Scouts of America said Wednesday it needed more time before deciding whether to move away from its divisive policy of excluding gays as scouts or adult leaders. A decision was pushed back to the group's annual meeting in May. The scouting organization last week said it was considering allowing troops to decide whether to allow gay membership. It would...

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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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