Mali rebel fighters better prepared than first thought: French officials

French forces bombed an Islamist-held Malian town overnight in an attempt to regain control of a strategic military base, signaling that Al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali may be a tougher force than military analysts in Europe originally believed.

France launched its military offensive against the militants in Mali last Friday. The Islamists have occupied the country’s north since April and recently started working their way south, reports Agence France-Presse.

“French officials have acknowledged that the rebels are better armed and prepared than they expected,” reports the Associated Press, as airstrike operations last night continued and France said more of its troops based in the region were headed for Mali.

Syria government warplanes pound Damascus suburbs; At least 45, including 7 kids, reportedly killed

Syrian activists say a regime attack on Damascus' rebellious suburbs has killed at least 45 people, including eight children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that 24 of the dead, including all eight children, were killed by government air strikes and artillery in eastern Ghouta district on Sunday.

The rest of the casualties were in a host of other towns and villages outside the capital.

Pakistan’s top court orders premier’s arrest as cleric rallies thousands against government

Pakistan’s top court ordered the arrest of the prime minister in a corruption case Tuesday, the latest clash between the government and a judiciary that has repeatedly pressured the country’s political leaders.

The ruling is sure to inflame the already antagonistic relationship between the court and the government, pushing the country toward yet another political crisis. It also could provide ammunition to Tahir-ul-Qadri, a firebrand Muslim cleric who was leading tens of thousands of people in a second day of rallies in Islamabad to press for the removal of the government, which he criticized as corrupt and indifferent to the common man.

The Supreme Court order against Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was related to a case involving private power stations set up to provide electricity to energy-starved Pakistan. The judges are investigating allegations that the bidding process was marred by corruption.

18 human heads found at O’Hare; no foul play suspected

Investigators are working to determine if a shipment of 18 human heads intercepted by customs officials at O’Hare Airport are, in fact, legitimate medical specimens, authorities said Tuesday morning.

The heads, which was sent to Chicago from outside the U.S., were discovered Monday by U.S. Customs officials and appear to be medical samples at first blush, said Brian Bell, a Chicago-based spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.

Suicides top U.S. combat deaths in 2012

Suicide not combat was the number one cause of death for members of the U.S. military in 2012, figures provided by military officials indicate.

The officials told The Washington Post there were 349 active-duty suicides last year compared to 229 combat deaths in Afghanistan.

The figures might be slightly revised later this year after 2012 deaths have been fully investigated, they said.

How Aaron Swartz helped build the Internet

Aaron Swartz helped create the Internet.

Maybe not the Internet foundations of ARPANET and TCP/IP and Mosaic, the codes and packets and standards on which the whole thing is based. But he was a factor in fashioning some of the Web's upper floors. With his contributions to RSS coding and the Web application framework, Swartz made some of today's more expansive Internet possible.

But what Swartz also helped create was a philosophy of the Internet, one that remains the subject of great controversy almost 20 years into its life: the libertarian idea that information wants to be free.

Chimps Have a Sense of Fair Play; New Study Reveals

No one likes a cheater-not even chimpanzees. New findings from researchers at Emory University suggest that these primates have a sense of fairness, an attribute that was once thought to be uniquely human.

Collaborating with colleagues from the Georgia State University, researchers played the Ultimatum Game with chimps to test their reactions to reward distribution. This game involves two individuals where one proposes a reward division to the other; think of a child who wants to share his cookie with a friend. Humans typically share 50 percent of their reward with their partners (breaking the cookie in half to share it). The same response was seen among chimps.

Can the flu vaccine cause the flu?

There's a belief, popular in the current flu outbreak, that getting vaccinated can actually give you the flu, and many people use it as a reason to avoid the shot. A survey by CVS Pharmacy last year found that about 35% of consumers think it's true.

Doctors say it's impossible.