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tally shot his girlfriend.
• Police Col. J. G. Vermeulen on Wednesday lifted the bat in court and showed where it hit the wooden, bullet-marked door, another key piece of evidence that was erected in the courtroom.
• Pistorius has said he shot Steenkamp by mistake, fearing she was an intruder in the night, and then bashed the door open with a cricket bat to get to his girlfriend when he realized what had happened. The prosecution says the Feb. 14, 2013 killing was intentional and followed an argument between the couple.
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• WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a diplomatic dig at Russia, President Barack Obama is hosting the new Ukrainian prime minister at the White House, a high-profile gesture aimed at cementing the West's allegiance to Ukraine's fledgling government.
• The meeting Wednesday between Obama and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk comes as a pro-Russian area of Ukraine readies for a referendum Sunday to determine its future. Voters in the Crimean Peninsula will be given two options: becoming part of Russia, or remaining in Ukraine with broader powers.
• The U.S. and Europe have declared the referendum illegitimate, saying Ukraine's central government must be involved in decisions about its territory. The dispute over the future of the former Soviet republic has conjured up echoes of the Cold War tensions between East and West.
• White House spokesman Jay Carney said Yatsenyuk's visit was meant to signal "that we strongly support Ukraine, the Ukrainian people and the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian government."
• Amid the symbolism of Yatsenyuk's visit to the U.S., the Ukrainian leader will also be seeking financial assistance from Washington. Yatsenyuk says his country needs the West's help to defend itself against neighboring Russia, a nation he said is "armed to the teeth."
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• CHICAGO (AP) -- The Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard are bracing for another blast of below-normal temperatures and heavy snowfall after a few days of

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