Wallace Public Library

As the men's basketball tournament began, major underdogs Murray State, Ohio University, Washington and Old Dominion were too much for more highly regarded opponents. St. Mary's, Northern Iowa and Wake Forest also turned the tables on the oddsmakers.

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Thanks to specials like zero percent financing and price cuts, Toyota sales have risen sharply. A recent Edmunds.com dealer survey finds that so far this month, Toyota has regained the same market share of sales it had before the gas pedal recall.

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Western nations have long criticized Afghanistan's failure to curtail opium production, a main source of income for the Taliban. But counterterrorism officials say the problem is far more complex than just drug money, including diverted charity payments and "protection money" from convoys seeking to resupply U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

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During the peak of the housing market, the value of the mortgages that got stuffed into those complicated mortgage bonds known as toxic assets was more than $3 trillion. But now the market has stalled, in part because many sellers are waiting for the economy to improve.

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Simin Behbahani, Iran's most prominent poet, was about to board a flight to Paris when police seized her passport. Behbahani, 82 and nearly blind, has not been charged with any crime. Many fear her treatment may signal a rise in repressive tactics by Iran's government.

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The South by Southwest music festival bills itself as "the premier destination for discovery." It's also the destination for truckloads of cash, as music and art fans flock to Austin, Texas, each March. Last year's event brought nearly $100 million to the city, according to one analyst.

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The problems with Toyota's gas pedals have been front page news for weeks now, but what about the people in front of the pedals? Earlier studies have found that the majority of car-surging incidents were actually the fault of the driver. But the recent problems with cars continuing to accelerate haven't been studied yet.

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House leaders had predicted that the financial analysis of the health care bill released Thursday, coupled with the unveiling of the bill's fix-it language, would "go a long way" to win over undecided Democrats. But so far, that group appears in no rush to commit.

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David Coleman Headley admitted in a signed plea agreement that he made surveillance videos and conducted other intelligence gathering for the 2008 attack, which left 166 dead. He could have been sentenced to death if convicted of the most serious charges, but under the deal he will not be executed as long as he continues to cooperate with prosecutors.

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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Iran's new Russian-built nuclear reactor will begin operating this summer, even as the United States called for Russia to delay the startup. Clinton, in Moscow on an official trip, urged Russia not to start up the plant until Tehran proves that it's not developing atomic weapons.

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A family spokeswoman said Parker, who also television's Daniel Boone and later became a major California winemaker and developer, died at his Santa Ynez Valley, Calif., home of natural causes. His death comes on the 84th birthday of his wife of 50 years, Marcella.

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The Republican governor is accused of breaking 37 laws, including improperly using pricey plane tickets for a trip to Argentina where he saw the mistress he infamously called his soul mate. Under a consent agreement signed Thursday, Sanford doesn't admit guilt but does not contest the charges either.

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The town council in Yuma, Colo., recently passed a unanimous resolution asking Congress and the president to resolve the immigration system. Businesses in Yuma are worried they could lose their workforces if there are immigration raids.

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In Haiti, heavy rains are expected to begin soon, and aid groups and the government are in a race against time to move hundreds of thousands of tent-camp residents who could be at particular risk. Yet the process of relocating the quake victims has been extremely slow.

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U.S.-born radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki released an audio message in which he calls on American Muslims to question their loyalty to the U.S. government "that is leading the war on Islam." Officials say it is the first time Awlaki has combined his propaganda efforts with a call to action.

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In a documentary disguised as a game show, participants gave what they thought were electric shocks to a rival contestant when he got a question wrong. They were urged on by an attractive host and an audience chanting, "Punishment! Punishment!" The show reveals how people will set aside their values and obey sadistic orders in the face of authority.

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Each year, millions of college basketball fans watch March Madness play out. Not only do they watch, they participate by making a friendly wager in the office pool. But there may be legal ramifications.

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Democrats unveiled what they hope will be the final version of their health care overhaul bill after days of closed-door meetings, setting the stage for a showdown vote in the House on Sunday. With his top domestic priority hanging in the balance, President Obama again postponed an overseas trip that has already been pushed back once.

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Officials and homeowners throughout the Red River Valley raced to finish levees and lay sandbags as the Mississippi, Red and St. Croix Rivers began to overflow in some places. In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has called out the National Guard to help vulnerable communities prepare and officials in St. Paul declared an emergency.

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The former Fed chairman says he didn't create the housing bubble and couldn't have prevented the economic calamity that followed the bubble's collapse.

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