Environment

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An artist's rendering shows Opportunity exploring the surface of Mars. The rover parachuted to the planet's southern hemisphere Jan. 24, 2004, and is still producing well past its expected life span. The snazzier Curiousity landed elsewhere on the planet five months ago. (NASA via Associated Press)

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This Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, photo provided by the Japan Transport Safety Board shows the distorted main lithium-ion battery, left, and an undamaged auxiliary battery of the All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 which made an emergency landing on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan. Japanese and U.S. investigators are conducting a probe of the maker of the lithium ion batteries used in Boeing’s 787 “Dreamliner.” (AP Photo/Japan Transport Safety Board)

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Rescue vehicles swarm the gas plant where al Qaeda-linked terrorists held hundreds of people hostage. An Algerian military assault Saturday ended with the deaths of at least 23 hostages, including an American, and 32 heavily armed kidnappers. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, delivers a State of the State address in Madison. (Associated Press)

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Tom Poti had a power-play goal during his two-game conditioning stint with the Hershey Bears (Associated Press)

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Arnold Schwarzenegger steps back into the type of role he mastered in the 1980s in "The Last Stand," and the years show on his face. Forest Whitaker plays an FBI agent in the film. (Lionsgate via Associated Press)

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Syrians struggle to get pillows and blankets distributed at a camp for displaced civilians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria. Other Syrians have escaped the conflict by going to neighboring countries, taxing the ability of those nations and international relief agencies to help them. "In terms of the overall numbers, it is very clear the region is facing a humanitarian disaster that is deepening by the day," said Sharon Waxman, of the International Rescue Committee's Commission on Syrian Refugees. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** At a hospital in Xiangyang, parents help their young children inhale atomized liquid medicine to fight the effects of China’s dangerous levels of air pollution that have kept children indoors and sent coughing residents to hospitals. (Xinhua News Agency via Associated Press)

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People wearing masks are common in many Chinese cities now choked by dense smog, including Wuhan in Hubei province. Air pollution is a major problem because of the country’s rapid changes and disregard for environmental laws, but, for the first time, government officials are talking about it. (Associated Press)

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The departure of Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar and other Cabinet members gives oil and gas leaders optimism that President Obama's energy and environmental policies will be friendlier to the industry during his second term. (Associated Press)

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"Zero Dark Thirty" director Kathryn Bigelow, much-heralded for "The Hurt Locker," has fallen from favor among some in the Hollywood community for her new film's nonjudgmental take on what they regard as "torture." (Columbia Pictures)

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Timothy W. Cannon faces a maximum of five years in prison after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to negotiating employment with a company that had a multimillion-dollar contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (Courtesy of Federal Emergency Management Agency)