Syrian rebels make slow headway in south

AMMAN (Reuters) - The revolt against President Bashar al-Assad first flared in Deraa, but the southern border city now epitomizes the bloody stalemate gripping Syria after 22 months of violence and 60,000 dead. Jordan next door has little sympathy with Assad, but is wary of spillover from the upheaval in its bigger neighbor. It has tightened control of its 370-km (230-mile) border with...

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RIM to debut new BlackBerry smartphones in a heavily hyped unveiling

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Following several delays and much anticipation, the new BlackBerry smartphones will be unveiled this morning in New York.Research In Motion (TSX:RIM), the company behind the once dominant smartphones, is holding a splashy event in Manhattan to usher in the new devices, which were originally due for release last year.The debut is expected to showcase the device as well as provide key...

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Tim McGraw: Why I Quit Drinking and Changed My Life

By Alicia Dennis 01/30/2013 at 08:00 AM EST Tim McGraw has a new album, a new tour and a whole new rocking body complete with an enviable eight-pack. How does he do it?"I drank a lot from my point of view and I needed to stop," McGraw, 45, tells PEOPLE in its new issue, out this Friday. "I felt quitting was...

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Soldier with new arms determined to be independent

BALTIMORE (AP) — After weeks of round-the-clock medical care, Brendan Marrocco insisted on rolling his own wheelchair into a news conference using his new transplanted arms. Then he brushed his hair to one side.Such simple tasks would go unnoticed in most patients. But for Marrocco, who lost all four limbs while serving in Iraq, these little actions demonstrate how far he's come only six weeks after...

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Stock futures flat ahead of data, Amazon climbs early

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were flat on Wednesday as investors digested recent gains and awaited a new round of key U.S. economic data, though Amazon surged after its earnings results. Equities have soared in recent weeks, with the S&P 500 rising for nine of the past 10 sessions. The Dow Jones industrial average has been flirting with 14,000, a level it hasn't seen since...

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Mursi heads to Germany on trip cut back by Egypt crisis

CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi flew to Germany on Wednesday to try to convince Europe of his democratic credentials, leaving behind a country in crisis after a week of violence that has killed more than 50 people. Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on the seventh day of what has become the deadliest wave of unrest...

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Troubled smartphone pioneer RIM prepares to raise the curtain on BlackBerry 10

NEW YORK, N.Y. – After several technical blunders, two unexpected delays and one major shakeup in its leadership, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is about to raise the curtain for its new smartphone devices in hopes that consumers share the excitement.The unveiling of the phones and operating system on Wednesday marks the start of an advertising blitz that will stretch to social media, the Super...

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Soldier talks about his new arms after transplant

BALTIMORE (AP) — A soldier who lost all four limbs in an Iraq roadside bombing has two new arms following a double transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital.Twenty-six-year-old Brendan Marrocco along with the surgeons who treated him will be at the Baltimore hospital on Tuesday to discuss the new limbs.The transplants are only the seventh double-hand or double-arm transplant ever conducted in the United...

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Stock futures tick lower, but Ford, Pfizer rise early

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures edged lower on Tuesday as investors looked to take profits following an extended rally and as they waited an onslaught of earnings and data. On Monday, the S&P 500 index closed slightly lower, ending an eight-day run of gains. However, the index remained above 1,500, suggesting there was still support for the market. Investors...

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Army says political tussle taking Egypt to brink

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief said political strife was pushing the state to the brink of collapse - a stark warning from the institution that ran the country until last year as Cairo's first freely elected leader struggles to contain bloody street violence. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, appointed by President Mohamed Mursi last year to head the military, added in a statement...

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