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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

U.S. Military Seeks Its Role In Troubled North Africa

Gen. Carter Ham, who heads the U.S. Africa Command, meets with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika last September. Amid upheaval in the region, AFRICOM is still attempting to define its mission.

January 23, 2013 The U.S. Africa Command, designed to strengthen defense relationships in Africa, is still trying to define its mission. African states have been wary, while the State Department and aid groups also express concerns. But growing conflicts in the region may soon put AFRICOM to the test.

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Shots - Health News

Scientists Put An End To Moratorium On Bird Flu Research

Health workers in Nepal culled chickens and destroyed eggs following an outbreak of bird flu in Kathmandu in October 2012.

January 23, 2013 After researchers created versions of the bird flu virus that could spread more easily, critics began to worry that the work could spawn a pandemic if a virus escaped from the lab. After halting their work for more than a year, scientists now say the benefits outweigh the risks, and they are set to restart their experiments.

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Asia

'Friends' Will Be There For You At Beijing's Central Perk

Customers chat at a Beijing cafe modeled after the Central Perk cafe in the hit American sitcom Friends, in 2010. Nearly a decade after the series ended, the popularity of Friends continues among young Chinese, who use the show as a language-learning tool and enjoy its depiction of young Americans.

January 23, 2013 A Chinese man in Beijing has set up a cafe identical to the New York hangout on the hit TV show. For owner Du Xin, Friends is "like a religion" — and he's not the only one. He's opened a second Central Perk in Shanghai, capitalizing on the Chinese fondness for the six friends and their laid-back, freewheeling lives.

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The Salt

How The Sweet Potato Crossed The Pacific Way Before The Europeans Did

A well-traveled root: A vendor sells sweet potatoes at a market near Manila in 2011. The Portuguese brought the root to the Philippines all the way from the Caribbean.

January 23, 2013 The genes of the root vegetable have a juicy story to tell of trans-oceanic adventure. A DNA analysis of sweet potatoes adds evidence to the theory that ancient Polynesians visited South America long before the Europeans arrived.

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U.K.'s Cameron Floats Idea Of Vote On E.U. Membership; Other Leaders Protest

British Prime Minister David Cameron earlier today in London as he spoke about a vote on E.U. membership.

January 23, 2013 If his Conservative Party prevails in 2015 elections, the prime minister said, he will put the question to the British people: stay or go?

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The Two-Way

As Hillary Clinton Testifies, How Will Libya Shape Her Legacy?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stands with Libyan fighters who ousted Moammar Gadhafi during an Oct. 18, 2011, visit to Libya. Clinton was a strong supporter of U.S. intervention in Libya.

January 23, 2013 The partisan feuding in Washington has eased over the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya. But as the secretary of state testifies, Libya and other countries in the region remain unsettled.

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