Residents who slipped into a non-descript mud-brick house after Islamist fighters fled Mali’s desert town of Timbuktu uncovered a trove of arms, ammunition and documents – the workings of the local al Qaeda recruitment office. “We found lots of IDs, passports and birth certificates,” said El Hadj Garaba, who searched through the house with neighbors before French intelligence officers arrived. The documents – from Mali, nearby African nations and distant countries like Saudi Arabia and Britain – suggest the Islamist groups used their 10-month occupation of northern Mali to stretch their tentacles across West Africa and beyond. Their recruitment drive suggests the French-led war against al Qaeda and its allies could drag on long after France starts withdrawing from Mali next month, spilling across borders and destabilizing the broader region as Islamist groups fragment. . .

Five U.S. service members were killed when a helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. official said early Tuesday. The chopper went down Monday in the Daman district of southern Kandahar during a rain storm, said Jawid Faisal, a government spokesman for the province. There was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident, according to a statement by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The U.S. official, who did not want to be identified, did not offer additional information about the victims. . .

The Sandy relief fund chaired by New Jersey first lady Mary Pat Christie has raised more than $32 million so far. But four months after the superstorm, none of that aid has reached storm victims yet. In an interview, Mary Pat Christie pointed to the logistical challenge of starting a charity from scratch, the relief fund’s focus on addressing long-term recovery needs, instead of short-term relief, and her own “methodical” approach to putting the proper resources and safeguards in place, as reasons for the delay. . .

[. . .] Q. What places are excluded?

A. Large drink containers will still be available at convenience stores and grocery stores — in other words, places that are not regulated by the city’s health department. Places that receive regular health inspections from the city, including street vendors, bowling alleys and restaurants, will all have to abide by the ban. The convenience store 7-Eleven will not, so the Big Gulp will live on. . .

Police are investigating an overnight shooting on a busy D.C. street corner that left as many as 11 people wounded, one of them seriously, authorities said. Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said gunmen in two dark-colored cars opened fire just after 2 a.m. on a crowd of people outside Tyler House, an eight-story, subsidized residential building on the south side of New York Avenue at North Capitol Street. . .

Bravo Starbucks! That’s the sentiment caffeine lovers at the Starbucks at Penn Station expressed to 1010 WINS’ reporter Gary Baumgarten after being told the chain is not worried about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sugary drinks next week. “I like it. I don’t think it’s right that he could change what they’re selling. It’s not capitalistic, that’s socialist,” one man said. But it’s not that the coffee giant is necessarily taking a stand against anything, there is just some confusion over the impending ban on sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces, which is set to take effect on March 12. . .

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who once served as a spokesman for Al Qaeda, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in federal court in Manhattan on Friday morning, where he was charged with conspiracy to kill Americans. The appearance of Mr. Abu Ghaith before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of United States District Court in the cavernous ceremonial courtroom in Lower Manhattan, only blocks from the site of the 9/11 terror attack, was fraught with symbolism, even as the details of both his role in Al Qaeda and his arrest remained unclear. Mr. Abu Ghaith, a slight, trim man with a manicured gray beard and dressed in a blue prison smock, barely spoke aside from some one-word replies to questions from the judge during the 20-minute arraignment. His lawyer pleaded not guilty on his behalf. Federal prosecutors asked that Mr. Abu Ghaith remain in custody. His lawyer did not challenge the request, but left open the possibility of making a bail application later. Justice Department officials described Mr. Abu Ghaith as a propagandist who they believe has not had an operational role in Al Qaeda for years and did not participate in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, or in any plots against the United States. But one law enforcement official said that Mr. Abu Ghaith, 47, was the most senior Qaeda figure to face criminal trial in New York since America’s war against the terrorist network began. He was married to one of Bin Laden’s daughters, Fatima, and the indictment alleges a working relationship with the terrorist group’s leader, who was killed by United States forces in Pakistan in 2011. . .

More than three decades ago, Soviet soldier Bakhretdin Khakimov went missing in Afghanistan after he was wounded in battle with Afghan mujahedeen forces. His whereabouts remained unknown until two weeks ago, when he was tracked down by a team from the Warriors-Internationalists Affairs Committee, a Moscow-based nonprofit that looks for Soviet MIAs in Afghanistan. Now a widower, he goes by Sheikh Abdullah and works as a traditional healer in Shindand District of Herat province in western Afghanistan. As a soldier in a motorized rifle unit, Khakimov had “received a heavy wound to the head in the course of a battle in Shindand District in September 1980 when he was picked up by local residents,” the organization said in a statement posted on its website. Rather than return to his unit, Khakimov decided to stay, changing his name, converting to Islam and eventually marrying an Afghan woman. . . “He now leads a semi-nomadic life with the people who sheltered him,” the organization says. . .

French President Francois Hollande said on Wednesday a military campaign against Islamist rebels in Mali has killed “terrorist leaders”, without clarifying whether he was referring to two al Qaeda commanders reported dead last week. He added the roughly 4,000 French troops in the West African state as part of the eight-week-old operation would begin withdrawing in April – a month later than planned – as a U.N.-backed African coalition force replaces them. “We have launched an offensive in two directions, the first in the Ifoghas mountain range, and there we have had successes that will be further confirmed in the coming days, including the killing of terrorist leaders,” Hollande told a news conference in Warsaw where he was attending a regional leaders event. . .

 

According to recent reports, bluefin tuna schools are this century’s version of the bison herd: Their luscious red flesh remains extremely popular with sushi diners worldwide — so much so that overfishing has pushed Pacific bluefin stocks to a 96 percent decline since the 1950s. Their extinction as a food source is edging towards reality.

But when the various forms of tuna — toro, otoro, maguro — are so synonymous with Japanese cuisine, is it even possible for sushi to move beyond its cornerstone fish? The science indicates that consuming sushi in a way that’s sustainable has shifted from a nice idea to an absolute necessity in 2013. Bun Lai, chef and owner of Miya’s Sushi restaurant in New Haven, Conn., has carried that ethos from well-meaning notion to practice. He redefines what it means to be a sushi chef by insisting the most popular item should stay off the menu. In tuna’s place, he’s simultaneously turning invasive species into table fare and nudging sushi back to its freshwater origins. . .

Israel is on a locust alert as swarms of the destructive bugs descend on neighboring Egypt ahead of the Passover holiday. Israel’s Agriculture Ministry set up an emergency hotline Monday and is asking Israelis to be vigilant in reporting locust sightings to prevent an outbreak. Locusts have a devastating effect on agriculture by quickly stripping crops. Swarms of locusts have descended on Egypt, raising fears they could spread to Israel. . .

. . .Stephanopoulos challenged Rodman repeatedly on his travel to North Korea and its atrocious human rights record but Rodman wasn’t having it. “I don’t condone that. I hate the fact that he’s doing that. I didn’t talk about that. I saw people respected him, his family. He’s only 28. He’s not his dad. He’s not his grandpa. He is 28 years old. He’s very humble. He’s a very humble man. He don’t want war, that’s one thing he don’t want. He loves power. He loves control, because of his father, you know, stuff like that. But he’s just…he’s a great guy. He’s just a great guy. You sit down and talk to him,” said Rodman. When Stephanopoulos went after Rodman on not talking about North Korean death camps he said, “We do the same things here.” A dumbfounded Stephanopoulos replied, “We have prison camps here in the United States?” “This is all politics right? He don’t want to do that,” said Rodman. “It sounds like you’re apologizing for him?” said Stephanopoulos. “No, I’m not apologizing for him. He was a great guy to me. He was my friend. I don’t condone what he does. But as a person to person, he’s my friend. What I did was history. He’s a friend to me. That’s about it,” said Rodman.

French troops will stay in the West African country of Mali at least until July, amid tougher-than-expected resistance from Islamic fighters, officials have told The Associated Press, despite earlier government promises to begin a quick pullout within weeks.

France’s leadership has painted the intervention against al-Qaeda-backed radicals in Mali, which began in January, as a swift and limited one, and said that France could start withdrawing its 4,000 troops in Mali in March and hand over security duties to an African force.

But the combat in rugged Sahara Desert mountains is growing harder, and there’s a rising threat that the militants will turn to suicide bombings, hostage-taking and other guerrilla tactics. . .

One reason so many American women are overweight may be that we are vacuuming and doing laundry less often, according to a new study that, while scrupulously even-handed, is likely to stir controversy and emotions.

The study, published this month in PLoS One, is a follow-up to an influential 2011 report which used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine that, during the past 50 years, most American workers began sitting down on the job. Physical activity at work, such as walking or lifting, almost vanished, according to the data, with workers now spending most of their time seated before a computer or talking on the phone. Consequently, the authors found, the average American worker was burning almost 150 fewer calories daily at work than his or her employed parents had, a change that had materially contributed to the rise in obesity during the same time frame, especially among men, the authors concluded.

But that study, while fascinating, was narrow, focusing only on people with formal jobs. It overlooked a large segment of the population, namely a lot of women. . .

For years, America’s childhood obesity crisis was viewed as an insurmountable problem, one that was too complicated and too entrenched to ever really solve. According to the conventional wisdom, healthy food simply didn’t sell—the demand wasn’t there and higher profits were found elsewhere—so it just wasn’t worth the investment.

But thanks to businesses across the country, today we are proving the conventional wisdom wrong. Every day, great American companies are achieving greater and greater success by creating and selling healthy products. In doing so, they are showing that what’s good for kids and good for family budgets can also be good for business.

Take the example of Wal-Mart. In just the past two years, the company reports that it has cut the costs to its consumers of fruits and vegetables by $2.3 billion and reduced the amount of sugar in its products by 10%. Wal-Mart has also opened 86 new stores in underserved communities and launched a labeling program that helps customers spot healthy items on the shelf. And today, the company is not only seeing increased sales of fresh produce, but also building better relationships with its customers and stronger connections to the communities it serves. . .

A Shorewood man who authorities said was driving drunk at 142 mph when he crashed his 2008 Dodge Charger was sentenced Monday to court supervision and community service work. Dean Suominen, 37, avoided a possible jail term by pleading guilty to drunken driving and reckless driving charges stemming from the Jan. 10, 2012, crash in Naperville. Suominen was driving on Ogden Avenue in the western suburb about 1 a.m. when he lost control of the car, which struck a curb, flew into the air, then rolled into the support post of a billboard. The car virtually disintegrated around him, shedding the engine and two tires, but Suominen survived with minor injuries, authorities said. . .

Vowing to inspire “all Americans,” the world’s first space tourist, Dennis Tito, is set to announce a plan Wednesday for a “high risk” human mission to Mars. It would launch, by necessity of orbital mechanics, in January 2018. Now all Tito needs is a billion dollars, give or take. And a big rocket. And a spaceship. “It’s not nuts,” said one of Tito’s team of aerospace industry advisers ahead of an afternoon press briefing in Washington. “This is possible.” The “Mission for America” would be a two-person, budget-class fly-by of the red planet. There will be no landing. No footprints and flags in ruddy soil, no rock-grabbing, no search for fossils. This is strictly a blink-and-you-miss-it trip to Earth’s neighbor and back again. The 501-day journey would be about the quickest available with current rockets. Only celestial harmony makes such a plan feasible: A once-every-15-years alignment of Earth and Mars. With the two planets’ orbits pinching as close as they ever do, a so-called low-energy trajectory could shoot a modest craft to Mars and back with minimal fuel. Tito, 72, won’t fly the mission. Instead, he will send a man and woman — preferably married — to fairly represent humanity, said a person familiar with the plan who asked for anonymity because the public announcement has not yet been made. . .

Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to film a television documentary with representatives of the Harlem Globetrotters celebrity team, North Korean state television reported. Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics. Thirty-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has launched two long-range rockets and carried out a nuclear weapons test during just over a year in power, is reported to be an avid NBA fan and had pictures taken with players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his school days in Switzerland. Rodman, who sports trademark tattoos and piercings, played for the Bulls. The trip to Pyongyang was organized by a New York-based television production company, VICE. . .

Even with $26 million in high-resolution cameras finally in full force last year, reported crime at CTA rail stations rose 21 percent, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis shows. And compared with 2010 — well before most of the CTA’s current 3,600 rail station cameras were installed — station crime was up 32 percent. Even with $26 million in high-resolution cameras finally in full force last year, reported crime at CTA rail stations rose 21 percent, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis shows. And compared with 2010 — well before most of the CTA’s current 3,600 rail station cameras were installed — station crime was up 32 percent. . .