Bama bashing Notre Dame 35-7 at BCS title game

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — No. 2 Alabama was a quarter away from stamping itself a dynasty.The Crimson Tide scored touchdowns on its first three drives against No. 1 Notre Dame and rolled to a 35-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter of a BCS championship game that wasn't living up to the hype Monday night.In a matchup of programs tied for the most AP national championships with eight, Alabama was...

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Dynasty: No. 2 Alabama bashes No. 1 Notre Dame 42-14 to win second straight BCS championship

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - The coach no longer wears houndstooth. The result is the same. Another Alabama dynasty.Quieting the Irish by the first play of the second quarter, Eddie Lacy, AJ McCarron and the No. 2 Crimson Tide rolled top-ranked Notre Dame 42-14 for the BCS championship Monday night, locking up a second straight national title and third in four years with another laugher of a title game.The...

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French actor Depardieu in Russia to meet Putin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - French film star Gerard Depardieu arrived in Russia on Saturday to meet President Vladimir Putin, who granted him citizenship after a public spat in France over his efforts to avoid a potential 75 percent income tax.Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two would meet in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where Putin was spending part of the 10-day New Year and Russian Orthodox...

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Italy's Monti says change property tax as polls improve

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's outgoing prime minister, Mario Monti, said on Sunday he would alter an unpopular property tax imposed by his own government, as a poll showed his centrist bloc gaining in popularity ahead of next month's election. Monti's new centrist formation was third in a survey published on Sunday ahead of the February 24-25 parliamentary vote, behind a centre-left...

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Republican Sen. McConnell rules out more taxes in U.S. fiscal fight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday ruled out raising tax revenues on top of the tax hike on the wealthy in the "fiscal cliff" deal, and said the full focus must now be on spending cuts to curb U.S. deficits.But Democrats said they would push for a "balanced" approach of more tax revenue from the rich as well as spending reductions as Congress headed toward another...

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Google executive chairman and ex-New Mexico Gov. Richardson heading to North Korea

BEIJING, China - The executive chairman of U.S.-based Google, one of the world's largest Internet companies, was travelling Monday to North Korea, a nation with notoriously restrictive online policies.Eric Schmidt, the most high profile U.S. business executive to visit North Korea since young leader Kim Jong Un took power a year ago, was in Beijing and scheduled to depart for Pyongyang aboard a commercial...

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Analysts see slow adoption for 'ultra-HD' TVs as makers prepare new models

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - "Ultra-HD" TVs are set to be the talk of International CES, the gadget show kicking off this week in Las Vegas. But the televisions aren't likely to account for much of the market even four years down the road.That is the conclusion of analysts of the show's host, a day before TV makers such as Samsung, LG and Sony attempt to wow conference attendees with their latest models.Ultra...

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Clinton scheduled to return to work Monday after hospitalization for blood clot

WASHINGTON - The State Department says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will return to work Monday, a little over a week after she was hospitalized with a blood clot in her head.The department on Sunday released a schedule which has Clinton meeting with assistant secretaries Monday morning. The most significant items on her agenda are meetings in Washington on Thursday and Friday with visiting...

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McIlroy says he may skip 2016 Rio Olympics

LONDON (AP) — Rory McIlroy may skip the 2016 Olympics because of a problem over which country to represent.The No. 1-ranked player from Northern Ireland is eligible to compete for either Britain or Ireland when golf returns to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He said he may miss the games to avoid having to choose between the two."I just think being from where we're from, we're placed in a very difficult...

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INTERVIEW-Golf-Monty would be mad to captain again - Harrington

LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Colin Montgomerie would be mad to entertain the thought of returning as Europe's captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup, according to triple major winner Padraig Harrington.The players committee will meet during the Jan. 17-20 Abu Dhabi Championship to decide on the successor to Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal at the biennial team event, with 2011 British Open champion Darren Clarke...

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