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    Obama cheers 'mind-boggling' Curiosity mission

    ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Barack Obama says last week's landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars was a "mind-boggling" accomplishment.

    And he's urging NASA scientists to let him know right away if the craft happens to see any Martians.

    Obama telephoned the Curiosity team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday as Air Force One flew him to a campaign stop in Iowa.

    The car-sized rover landed eight days ago after a complex series of maneuvers that involved a huge parachute and cables lowering it to the Mars surface. Its mission includes looking for environmental conditions that might have given rise to life.

    Obama says even if Curiosity just finds microbes, it'll be "pretty exciting."

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    • Cycling-Road-Giro d'Italia points classification after stage 12

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    • Bea Arthur topless painting fetches $1.9M in NYC

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    • Topless protest disrupts opening of Barbie house in Berlin

      BERLIN (Reuters) - Women's rights protesters disrupted the opening of a giant pink doll's house in Berlin on Thursday, saying the Barbie "Dreamhouse Experience" objectified women. Promoting the doll made by Mattel Inc, the house allows paying visitors to try on Barbie's clothes, play in her kitchen and have a go on her pink piano. The exhibition will be open until August 25. A handful of protesters gathered outside the shocking pink house that has been erected in one of central Berlin's greyest areas. ...

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      The company's wildly profitable Disney Princess line sends a dangerous and regressive message to young girls. It's not too late to fix it.

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      The government has announced an emergency toilet paper run for 50 million rolls

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    • Danish teenager makes rare Viking find

      COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins.

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