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Need to know: The largest earthquake to hit Haiti in more than 200 years rocked the Caribbean nation Tuesday, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help and heavily damaging other buildings. U.S. officials reported bodies lying in the streets and an aid official described "total disaster and chaos."
Google threatened to end its operations in China after it discovered that the e-mail accounts of human rights activists had been breached. The company said it had detected a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China."
Want to know: The Vatican is criticizing "Avatar" for flirting with the idea that worship of nature can replace religion — a notion the pope has warned against. They call the movie a simplistic and sappy tale, despite its awe-inspiring special effects.
Dull but important: Mexico has captured a kingpin accused of terrorizing his way to the top of a gang fighting for control of key U.S. drug routes — even ordering rivals dissolved in caustic soda. Tuesday's arrest, announced by U.S. and Mexican officials, capped a series of victories in Mexico's U.S.-backed war on narcotics.
Just because: Israel is developing an army of robotic fighting machines that offers a window onto the potential future of warfare. Sixty years of near-constant war, a low tolerance for enduring casualties in conflict, and its high-tech industry have long made Israel one of the world's leading innovators of military robotics.
Wacky: Croatia's newly elected president has run into a problem — how to accept thousands of new friends on Facebook. "I have 5,000 friends, which is the maximum allowed on Facebook. I also have another 7,000 waiting so I don't know how we'll work that out," the silver-haired, bespectacled law expert and classical music composer told state radio.
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