US Seeks to Confirm Report of Terror Leader's Death

American military and intelligence officials said today they are attempting to confirm a report from the Chadian military of the death of al Qaeda leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the alleged mastermind of the deadly attack on an Algerian natural gas facility in January.If the new report is confirmed, Belmokhtar's death would be a significant victory against a growing al Qaeda threat...

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Obama Signs Order to Begin 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.President Obama officially initiated the cuts with an order to agencies Friday evening.He had met for just over an hour at the White House Friday...

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Arias Recounts Each Moment of Stabbing, Slashing

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was forced to recount today each detail of how she killed her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, including re-enacting how he allegedly tackled her when she shot him, leaving her crying in her hands on the witness stand.During hours of dramatic cross-examination by prosecutor Juan Martinez, Arias bawled as he asked her about stabbing, slashing and shooting...

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Arias Liked Some Kinky Sex, She Admits

Though accused murderer Jodi Arias said she sometimes felt "like a prostitute" at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, she admitted today that she often enjoyed their sex life and even suggested sex acts they could try.Prosecutor Juan Martinez, after a day of aggressive questioning and bickering with Arias, asked her about her own suggestions for her sex life with...

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Arias Claims Innocence on Death Penalty Charge

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was confronted today with a barrage of lies she told after she killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, but she twice defiantly declared that she was innocent of first degree murder."It's the truth. I'm innocent of that charge," Arias said to prosecutor Juan Martinez, referring to the criminal charge that could carry the threat of the death sentence...

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Oscars 2013: Live Blog of the Academy Awards

Feb 24, 2013 1:13pm 9:03: Reese Witherspoon just gave us a briefing on the three of the Best Picture nominees: “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”9:00 p.m. ET: Best Animated Feature Oscar goes to….”Brave.”8: 58 p.m. ET: Paperman wins Best Animated Short.8: 58 p.m. ET: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy lost us in their intro to animated short film.8:...

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Fiery Last-Lap Daytona Crash Injures 28 Fans

A fiery last-lap crash at the Daytona International Speedway injured a number of spectators today, who were seen being carried away from the stands on stretchers.A total of 28 fans were injured, with 14 transported to hospitals and 14 treated at the speedway, Dayton president Joie Chitwood III. All the drivers involved in the crash have been treated and released, Chitwood said.ESPN...

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Jodi Arias' Friends Believe in Her Innocence

Accused murderer Jodi Arias believes she should be punished, but hopes she will not be sentenced to death, two of her closest friends told ABC News in an exclusive interview.Ann Campbell and Donavan Bering have been a constant presence for Arias wth at least one of them sitting in the Phoenix, Ariz., courtroom along with Arias' family for almost every day of her murder trial....

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Arias Challenged On Pedophilia Claim

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was challenged today by phone records, text message records, and her own diary entries that appeared to contradict her claim that she caught her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, looking at pictures of naked boys.Arias had said during her testimony that one afternoon in January 2008, she walked in on Alexander masturbating to pictures of naked boys....

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Arias Says Violent Sex Preceded Killing

Jodi Arias and her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander,, had increasingly violent sex in which he tied her to his bed, twisted her arm, bent her over a desk for anal sex, and made sex videos with her in the hours leading up to the stabbing and shooting frenzy that left Alexander dead.It was a day in which Arias, 32, inched closer to telling the court how the killing of Alexander...

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Nike, Oakley Distance Themselves from Pistorius

Corporate sponsors of Olympic "blade runner" Oscar Pistorius have begun to distance themselves from the sprinter, who is accused of murdering his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius is back to court in South Africa Tuesday morning on murder charges.Oakley, the eyewear manufacturer, and the sporting goods giant Nike announced today that they would no longer run ads featuring...

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Pistorius Case: Agent Cancels All Future Races

Oscar Pistorius won't run in any of the future races that the athlete was contracted to compete in, but the Paraylmpic gold medalist's sponsors are still supportive as he faces a murder charge, his agent said today.The decision to cancel Pistorius' scheduled appearances was made to "allow Oscar to concentrate on the upcoming legal proceedings and to help and support all those...

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Meteor Blast 'Something We Only Saw in Movies'

A day after a massive meteor exploded over this city in central Russia, a monumental cleanup effort is under way.Authorities have deployed around 24,000 troops and emergencies responders to help in the effort.Officials say more than a million square feet of windows -- the size of about 20 football fields -- were shattered by the shockwave from the meteor's blast. Around 4,000...

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Dorner Confirmed Dead in Autopsy on Cabin Remains

Christopher Dorner, the ex-Los Angeles police officer who declared himself on a killing spree against his former law enforcement colleagues, is dead.Authorities this evening confirmed that remains found after a fiery standoff at a California mountain cabin Tuesday were, in fact, Dorner's."The charred human remains located in the burned out cabin in Seven Oaks have been positively...

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Dorner Not IDed, But Manhunt Considered Over

Though they have not yet identified burned remains found at the scene of Tuesday's fiery, armed standoff, San Bernardino, Calif., officials consider the manhunt over for Christopher Dorner, the fugitive ex-cop accused of going on a killing spree."The events that occurred yesterday in the Big Bear area brought to close an extensive manhunt," San Bernardino County Sheriff John...

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Officer Dies After Dorner Shootout; Cabin on Fire

The remote California mountain cabin in which fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner has barricaded himself in tense standoff with police is on fire, following a shootout with police in which one officer was killed and another wounded.Once the fire started, a single shot was heard from inside the cabin and then flames and a large column of black smoke were seen rising above the...

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Who's Next? A Look at Likely Successors to Benedict

With 1 billion Catholics worldwide, the face of the church is changing.It's something the cardinal electors may keep in mind when the conclave to elect a new pontiff begins in late March, said Matthew Bunson, general editor of the Catholic Almanac and author of "We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI."RELATED: Pope Benedict XVI Resigns: The StatementThe 117 cardinals who are eligible to vote for the new...

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