• BAMAKO, Mali (AP) -- French forces led an all-night bombing campaign over a minuscule Malian town, not even big enough to appear on most administrative maps, in an effort to dislodge the Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp.
• Meanwhile, a convoy of 40 to 50 armed trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast, where they were stationed, as France prepares for a possible land assault.
• French President Francois Hollande launched an attack on Mali's rebels, who are linked to al-Qaida, last week after the rebels began advancing south. France's action pre-empted a United Nations-approved plan for a military operation in Mali, which was expected to start about nine months from now. Hollande decided a military response could not wait that long.
• French officials have acknowledged that the rebels are better armed and prepared than they expected. Despite France's five-day-old aerial assault, the Islamist fighters have succeeded in gaining ground, most notably taking Diabaly on Monday, which puts them roughly 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Mali's capital, Bamako. When the air raids began last week, the closest known point they occupied was 680 kilometers (420 miles) away from the capital.
• "They bombed Diabaly. They bombed the town all night long. I am hiding inside a house," said Ibrahim Toure, who irons clothes for a living and happened to be passing through Diabaly on his way to visit relatives, getting caught when the Islamists encircled the town. "It only stopped this morning at around 6 a.m."
• ___

• AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Lance Armstrong has finally come clean.
• After years of bitter and forceful denials, he offered a simple "I'm sorry" to friends and colleagues and then admitted he used performance-enhancing drugs during an extraordinary cycling career that included seven Tour de France victories.

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