Syria peace talks off to rocky start and other top stories.

• Syria peace talks off to rocky start

  

  Astana (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - Syrian rebels began peace talks with the war-torn country's government Monday in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, but refused to negotiate face-to-face in the first session.The talks had been billed as the first time armed rebel groups were due to negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad's regime since the conflict erupted in 2011 and come a month after Syrian forces delivered the rebels a crushing blow by retaking full control of Aleppo.But rebel spokesman Yehya al-Aridi..

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• US committed to Israel embassy move but expected to act cautiously

  

  Photos: Netanyahu's life in picturesIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in Jerusalem during a weekly Cabinet meeting in November 2013. Click through to see more photos from his life and career. Photos: Netanyahu's life in picturesNetanyahu, right, sits with a friend at the entrance to his family home in Jerusalem on July 1, 1967. The Israeli prime minister was born October 21, 1949. Photos: Netanyahu's life in picturesNetanyahu, right, with a friend in the Judean Desert on May 1, 1..

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• EU--Italy-Avalanche

  

  FARINDOLA, Italy (AP) — Rescue crews are considering whether to start using heavy equipment to speed up the search for 23 people still buried under the ruins of a central Italy hotel crushed by an avalanche.Firefighter spokesman Luca Cari said emergency crews were working with an "operational hypothesis" that the tons of snow that plowed into the Hotel Rigopiano on Jan. 18 might not have reached all parts of the structure, and that there might still be survivors underneath.But five days after th..

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• Sean Spicer's War With the Media Goes Back to His College Days

  

  Photo Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, on Saturday in Washington. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times ■ Sean Spicer’s war with the news media goes back to his college days, and it was sad! Really!■ Congressional leaders are to head to the White House on Monday afternoon for a reception with President Trump.■ Senators want a congressional vote if Mr. Trump moves to lift sanctions on Russia.Spicer’s first war with the media: Sad!Before his rise to President ..

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• Opposition seek explanation over Trident test 'fail'

  

  Image copyright AFP Image caption There are four Vanguard-class submarines capable of firing Trident missiles Labour and the Scottish National Party are urging the government to give a full explanation to MPs on how a test firing of a Trident missile went wrong.The unarmed missile reportedly veered off course a few weeks before MPs voted to renew the nuclear weapons system.The Ministry of Defence says submarine HMS Vengeance and its crew were "success..

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• Gambia's defeated president finally gave up power — and took luxury cars and millions of dollars with him

  

  Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh left the country to fly into exile in Equatorial Guinea on Jan. 21, after 22 years in power. (Video: Reuters / Photo: AP) NAIROBI — As the plane carrying Gambia's disgraced former president prepared to depart the small West African country on Saturday, onlookers caught a last glimpse of Yahya Jammeh's face through the window. He had been forced from the country that he ruled for more than two decades. But, bizarrely, Jammeh was smiling. According to ..

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• At Least 18 Die as Tornadoes Sweep Southeast

  

  Video Tornadoes Kill Over a Dozen in Southeast Tornadoes hit Georgia and Mississippi over the weekend, killing least 15 people and injuring scores. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, WDAM and WTOC. Photo by Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video » ATLANTA — At least 18 people were killed and 43 more injured in Georgia and Mississippi after thunderstorms and tornadoes..

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• Foreign Payments to Trump Firms Violate Constitution, Suit Will Claim

  

  “The framers of the Constitution were students of history,” said Deepak Gupta, one of the lawyers behind the suit. “And they understood that one way a republic could fail is if foreign powers could corrupt our elected leaders.” The president’s son Eric Trump, who is an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said the company had taken more steps than required by law to avoid legal exposure, such as agreeing to donate any profits collected at Trump-owned hotels that come from foreign..

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• Theresa May to promise to take action for British industry

  

  Image copyright Reuters Prime Minister Theresa May is to unveil a new, more interventionist, industrial strategy on Monday, designed to boost the post-Brexit UK economy. The government will be "stepping up to a new, active role", Mrs May said.She will launch the new strategy at her first regional cabinet meeting, to be held in the north-west of England. Broadband, transport and energy are highlighted in a bid to "align central government infrastructure investment with local growth prioritie..

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Pinellas, St. Pete launch partnership to create giant business incubator .	Boys basketball: Sickles 54, St. Petersburg 46 .
FDA warns of Illnesses and Deaths in pets exposed to prescription topical (human) cancer treatment .	St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman wants another $14 million from ... .