BBC News - Single-player version of SimCity 'rejected', mAR 18, 2013

"Electronics Arts has said plans to turn SimCity into a single-player game were rejected early in the development of the latest version. The admission comes as players are finding ways to get round the game's need to be constantly connected. Lucy Bradshaw, head of SimCity creator Maxis, said an offline, single-player mode did not fit with its "vision" for the urban-planning game. She said many players preferred the multiplayer version of the game."
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SFGATE - The CEO Of BlackBerry Says The iPhone Is Out-Of-Date (BBRY), Mar 18, 2013

"In an interview with the Financial Review, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins says Apple is behind the times. "The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about is now five years old.”"
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MIRROR - Charlie Saunders: School headmaster's tribute to "talented and popular" boy killed in French Alps death plunge, Mar 18, 2013

"A school headmaster has paid tribute to the 12-year-old boy killed in a 1,000ft death plunge in the French Alps. Charlie Saunders was enjoying a hiking holiday with his father Peter, 48, when tragedy struck at the weekend. The schoolboy was understood to have fallen to his death and his dad was then thought to have lost his footing as he tried to rescue the youngster. The bodies of the pair are to be flown home this week, police said today. Yesterday, following a 17-hour search, their bodies were found 150ft apart in the Mont Blanc range near the French Alpine resort of Chamonix. The bodies of the pair are to be flown home this week, police said today. The father and son's family are expected to travel to Chamonix, police said. David Hudson, the headmaster of Charlie's school, the Royal Latin in Buckingham, said he was "a talented and very motivated boy who made a huge impact on the lives of every one who knew him"."
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BOSTON HERALD - Wildfire burns outside Great Smoky Mountains< Mar 18, 2013

 "PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — A wildfire burning in a resort area outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee has destroyed more than 30 large rental cabins. The 145-acre fire was first reported around 5 p.m. EDT Sunday in Sevier County, said Ben Bryson, a fire resources coordinator with the Tennessee Division of Forestry. Smoke was reported to be visible from 25 miles away. Bryson said early Monday that the fire was contained and not expected to spread."
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FOX NEWS - White House lowers expectations ahead of Obama's Middle East trip, Mar 18, 2013

"As President Obama heads to the Middle East this week, including his first visit to Israel since becoming commander in chief, the White House is downplaying expectations, saying the president hopes only to help leaders come together to bring peace and democracy to the region. The president arrives Wednesday in Jerusalem, where he will try to improve his relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the heels of a newly installed Israeli government. Netanyahu was re-elected in January but didn’t reach a deal until Friday with rival parties to create a coalition government that adds centrist Yesh Atid and pro-settler Jewish Home parties but excludes the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties for the first time in a decade."
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USA TODAY - Cyprus delays vote on tax raid on savings, Mar 18, 2013

"NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A vote on a bailout package for Cyprus that includes an immediate tax on all savings accounts has been postponed until Tuesday evening. Yiannakis Omirou, the speaker of Parliament, said the delay was needed to give the government time to amend the deal reached over the weekend that prompted an outcry from those who thought their money was safe."
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