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• The biggest single death toll was reported by a local administrative officer in Sintku township -- on the Irrawaddy River near the quake's epicenter -- who told The Associated Press that six people had died there and another 11 were injured.
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• PARIS (AP) -- When the blighted housing projects ringing major French cities exploded in nationwide riots, France pledged quick action to fix them. Seven years on, the suburban projects remain islands of despair, lofty promises of rebirth largely forgotten. So a new plan to spend millions to help residents turn their neighborhoods around seemed cause for celebration.

• Instead, it met a wall of resistance and outright hostility. The reason: the benefactor was the wealthy Arab emirate of Qatar.
• The oil-rich state less than the size of Connecticut has exerted an outsized influence as a global bankroller, putting it at the cutting edge of an accelerating power shift between traditional Western powers and emerging economies. As Europe is engulfed in crisis, Qatar has been on a global spending spree, buying stakes in luxury brands, acquiring soccer club Paris St. Germain and financing London's "Shard" -- the EU's tallest building. Now, to the consternation of the French, the emirate wants to make a major humanitarian investment in the West.
• It all started a year ago when 10 enterprising local officials from the heavily immigrant suburbs bypassed France's sleek diplomatic machine and knocked on the door of Qatar's emir with a request for help to fund the dreams of budding entrepreneurs without means.
• In fairytale fashion, their wish was fulfilled beyond their expectations: The emir pledged a euro 50 million ($65 million) investment fund.
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• NEW YORK (AP) -- Some of society's most vulnerable people -- the elderly, the disabled and the chronically ill -- have been pushed to the brink in the powerless, flood-ravaged neighborhoods struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy.

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