Syria rebels seize base as envoy holds talks

BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) - Rebels seized control of one of Syria's largest helicopter bases on Friday, opposition sources said, in their first capture of a military airfield used by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Fighting raged across the country as international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi sought a political solution to Syria's civil war, meeting senior U.S. and Russian officials in...

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Wall Street slightly higher on China data; S&P near resistance level

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks inched higher on Thursday, helped by stronger-than-expected exports in China, the world's second-biggest economy, but gains were capped as the S&P 500 hovered near a 5-year high. Financial and telecommunications stocks were the day's top gainers, while the material sector was the biggest drag. The S&P 500 material sector index <.gspm> was...

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Jaguars fire Mularkey after team's worst season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars fired coach Mike Mularkey on Thursday after just one season, the worst in franchise history.New general manager David Caldwell made the announcement two days after he was hired, giving him a clean slate heading into 2013. Caldwell said he wants to immediately explore every avenue possible to turn the Jaguars around."For that to happen as seamlessly...

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Atmosphere of Venus Has Strange Magnetic ‘Ropes’

Strange, newly discovered structures in Venus’ atmosphere are redrawing scientists’ perceptions of the planet’s magnetic environment.The European Space Agency’s Venus Express spacecraft spotted these enormous magnetic entities — called flux ropes — stretching for hundreds of miles in the planet’s upper atmosphere, above the poles.Flux ropes have been seen before around other planets, including...

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'Lincoln' leads Academy Award contenders with 12 nominations

With a conspicuous diss of Kathryn Bigelow, the un-nominated director of “Zero Dark Thirty,” the Academy Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning.“Zero Dark Thirty” was one of nine films given the best picture nomination nod. The others: “Beasts of the Southern Wild”; “Silver Linings Playbook”; “Lincoln”; “Les Miserables”; “Life of Pi”;...

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Syria denounces peace envoy who hinted Assad must go

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria denounced international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi as "flagrantly biased" on Thursday, casting doubt on how long the U.N.-Arab League mediator can pursue his peace mission. The Syrian Foreign Ministry was responding to remarks by Brahimi a day earlier in which he ruled out a role for President Bashar al-Assad in a transitional government and effectively called for...

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Wall Street modestly higher as Alcoa beats revenue estimates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged up on Wednesday after Alcoa got the earnings season under way with better-than-expected revenue and an encouraging outlook for the year. The market's rise came after two-days of declines, with few catalysts to give direction and investors fretting about the start of earnings season after the prior quarter's lackluster performance. Alcoa Inc...

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AP Source: Surgery reveals damage to RG3's ACL

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says the surgery on Robert Griffin III's knee revealed damage to the ACL.The Washington Redskins quarterback had surgery Wednesday morning to repair a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee. The procedure also examined Griffin's ACL, which he tore while playing for Baylor in 2009. Another torn ACL would complicate Griffin's chances...

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NASA to Announce Launch of New Earth-Observing Satellite

NASA plans to announce tomorrow (Jan. 10) the launch of a new satellite, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), to monitor Earth’s landscape and the changes to it.The new satellite, scheduled to launch Feb. 11, will replace the Landsat 5 satellite, which is to be decommissioned in the coming months, the U.S. Geological Survey reported in December.The announcement will be made at 1 p.m. EST at...

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Karzai's U.S. visit a time for tough talk

The last time Presidents Obama and Karzai met was in May in Kabul, when they signed a pact regarding U.S. troop withdrawal.STORY HIGHLIGHTSAfghan President Karzai meeting with President Obama in Washington this weekFelbab-Brown: Afghan politics are corrupt; army not ready for 2014 troop pulloutShe says Taliban, insurgents, splintered army, corrupt officials are all jockeying for powerU.S. needs to...

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