1. OBAMA DELIVERS ROUSING, PROGRESSIVE INAUGURATION SPEECH
On Monday, President Obama used his inaugural speech to articulate a decidedly liberal vision for his second term. Drawing inspiration from the most important events in American history — from the Revolutionary War to the civil rights movement — Obama proclaimed that the Founding Fathers' dream of equality and liberty would not be fulfilled until the country reduced income inequality, ensured equal rights for gays and women, protected the most vulnerable citizens from the inequities of laissez-faire capitalism, and found a better way to welcome "striving, hopeful immigrants." [The Week]
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2. THREE AMERICANS DEAD IN ALGERIA ATTACK
Three U.S. citizens — Victor Lynn Lovelady, Gordon Lee Rowan, and Frederick Buttaccio — were killed in last week's hostage standoff at a natural gas complex in Algeria, while seven Americans made it out safely, the State Department said Monday. "The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out, and the United States condemns their actions in the strongest possible terms," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The desert siege began last Wednesday when Mali-based, al-Qaeda-linked militants attempted to hijack two buses at the plant, were repelled, and then seized the gas refinery. Algeria says 38 hostages of all nationalities and 29 militants died in the standoff. Five foreign workers remain unaccounted for. [CBS News]
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3. ISRAEL VOTES; NETANYAHU LIKELY TO REMAIN
Israelis went to the polls on Tuesday in an election that will almost certainly assure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another term. Polls in recent weeks have predicted a victory for Netanyahu’s ticket, a combination of his conservative Likud Party and the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu. The polls have also shown the joint ticket declining in strength, from the 42 seats it holds in the current parliament to perhaps 32 or 35, and losing support to the Jewish Home, a party further to the right. [New York Times]
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4. INDONESIA SENTENCES BRITISH WOMAN TO DEATH FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
An Indonesian court sentenced British woman Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, a grandmother, to death for smuggling cocaine worth $2.5 million in her suitcase onto the resort island of Bali. Prosecutors had only sought a 15-year sentence. Sandiford — who had claimed in court that she was forced to take the drugs into the country by a gang that was threatening to hurt her children — wept as the sentence was read and declined to speak to reporters. Sandiford's lawyer said she would appeal, a process that can take several years. Condemned criminals face a firing squad in Indonesia, which has not carried out an execution since 2008, when 10 people were put to death. [Associated Press]
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5. PRINCE HARRY LAMENTS NUDE ROMP IN VEGAS
Speaking for the first time about his nude romp in a Las Vegas hotel room last year, Prince Harry said he had "probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down." Still, he said, "I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect." Photographs of Harry in that hotel room went viral just weeks before he was set to begin his tour of duty in Afghanistan. The 28-year-old noted that his lack of judgment in the situation was "probably a classic example of me... being too much army and not enough prince." [CNN]
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6. GROUPON HALTS GUN-RELATED DEALS
Groupon, the largest daily deals site in the U.S., has suspended gun-related offers in the wake of the Dec. 14 shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six adults dead. "The category is under review following recent consumer and merchant feedback," Julie Mossler, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based Groupon said. The suspension includes deals for shooting ranges and clay shooting. [Bloomberg]
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7. PHILIPPINES TO CHALLENGE CHINA'S CLAIMS TO SOUTH CHINA SEA
The Philippines says it will challenge Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea at a U.N. tribunal. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said that the country had exhausted "almost all political and diplomatic avenues" to resolve the dispute with China. China claims a U-shaped swath of the South China Sea, claims which overlap those of several South East Asian nations. In a statement, China maintained its sovereignty over the disputed waters. [BBC]
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8. ADHD DIAGNOSES IN CHILDREN INCREASING
A new study of health records by the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medical Group suggests that rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have jumped by 24 percent since 2001. "That is a very significant increase," says Darios Getahun, a research scientist with group. The apparent rise in diagnoses is likely caused by growing awareness of the condition among parents and doctors, he and other specialists say. The study looked at health records of more than 840,000 children, ages 5 to 11, who were diagnosed by an expert. It found that 2.5 percent of children were diagnosed with ADHD at the start of the study in 2001, vs. 3.1 percent in 2010. [USA Today]
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9. GOOGLE GROWTH SLOWS AS MICROSOFT GAINS GROUND
New research indicates that Google search fell 3 percent in 2012, and growth in the Android mobile operating system is slowing. Meanwhile Microsoft's Windows Phone is experiencing strong European growth, particularly in Britain and Italy, with shares hitting 5.9 percent and 13.9 percent respectively — up from 2.2 percent and 2.8 percent a year ago. Microsoft Bing search rose by 0.19 percent to 4.99 percent. [Telegraph]
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10. POLICE SENT TO CHRIS BROWN'S HOME IN HOAX
Los Angeles police responded to a call alleging a domestic violence dispute at the home of singer Chris Brown, but the alert turned out to be false. (Brown was arrested in 2009 for attacking then-girlfriend Rihanna.) The call about Brown's home is the latest so-called "swatting" prank that's intended to get multiple officers, including specialized SWAT teams, sent to the home of a celebrity. Last week, Beverly Hills police responded to a fake armed robbery call at Tom Cruise's house. [Associated Press]
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