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Click, Swirl, Sip? Interest in Online Wine Surges

The internet is blossoming into quite the virtual vineyard.

Online wine options are everywhere, from flash sale sites like Lot18 offering daily deals to Facebook prodding you to send a little something for Aunt Suzy's birthday. And now there's a new generation of startups such as Club W, which adds a little algorithm to your albarino, using surveys and ratings to figure out what you might like to drink next.

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Lance Armstrong Drops out of Swimming Event

Lance Armstrong's doping past got him kicked out of the pool.

Armstrong was forced to withdraw Thursday from the Masters South Central Zone Championships this weekend after swimming's international federation raised objections to his participation.

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Boozer Leads Bulls Past Nets 92-90

Carlos Boozer had 29 points and 18 rebounds and Nate Robinson made the go-ahead basket with 22 seconds left as the Chicago Bulls overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the Brooklyn Nets 92-90 on Thursday.

Jimmy Butler had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Luol Deng scored 18 points, and Robinson finished with 12 as the Bulls shook off the absences of five key players to keep the Indiana Pacers from clinching the NBA Central Division title that Chicago has won the last two years.

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Blatter Softens Position on Relegation for Racism

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has softened his stance on calling for clubs to be punished with relegation after serious racist abuse, suggesting that fans would deliberately provoke incidents.

Blatter said relegation sanctions are "not a simple solution, (because) will this lead to people coming to a stadium wanting to stop the game intentionally?"

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Mexico Breaks Up Plot to Kill 2 Congressmen

Mexican prosecutors said Thursday they have broken up a plot by an armed gang to assassinate two federal legislators in Mexico City.

The plan, had it succeeded, would have marked a rare attack on federal officials, who have largely escaped the drug-fueled violence that has claimed the lives of many state and local officials.

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1 Lebanese Football Official in Singapore Hospital, 2 in Court

One of the three football officials facing match-fixing related charges has been sent to the hospital with an undisclosed illness while the other two appeared in a Singapore court and entered no pleas.

Referee Ali Sabbagh and assistant referees Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb, all from Lebanon, were charged with "corruptly receiving gratification in the form of free sexual service" by Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

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Syria Criticizes Jordan for Hosting Rebel Training

Syrian state media have sharply criticized Jordan for hosting U.S.-backed training of Syrian rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad, warning that Amman risks falling into the "volcanic crater" of Syria's conflict.

The stern warning issued Thursday by state radio and in a front-page editorial in the daily al-Thawra, the mouthpiece of the Syrian government, will likely aggravate Jordan's security fears over the civil war in its northern neighbor.

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Anthony Scores 40, Knicks Win 10th Straight

Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points — giving him 90 in two games — as the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-82 on Wednesday night for their 10th straight victory.

Anthony, coming off a 50-point effort in a win over Miami on Tuesday, scored 24 points in the first half. He shot 17 of 27 from the field and was 5 for 6 from the free throw line. Raymond Felton supported with three straight baskets in a key spurt.

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Lance Armstrong to Make Splash in Return

Lance Armstrong is looking to make a splash with a return to competition.

The disgraced cyclist is signed up to swim three events this weekend at the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships at the University of Texas. Armstrong spokesman Mark Higgins said Wednesday that Armstrong, 41, will compete in the 40-44 age group in the 500-, 1,000- and the 1,650-yard freestyle.

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Japan Central Bank Revamps Policy to Boost Economy

Japan is making a sweeping shift in its monetary policy, aiming to spur inflation and get the world's third-largest economy out of a long, debilitating slump.

Bowing to demands from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for more aggressive monetary easing, the Bank of Japan announced Thursday a policy overhaul intended to double the money supply and achieve a 2 percent inflation target at the "earliest possible time, with a time horizon of about two years."

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