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ship between the president and the high-tech industry.
• The revelations of National Security Agency data collection made public by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have created an outcry from tech companies whose data have been gathered by the government. Obama has had to reassure Internet and tech executives that he is committed to protecting privacy.
• Still, Obama remains a popular political figure in Silicon Valley, and the wealthy tech entrepreneurs appear willing to part with their money to support the party, especially if the president is making the pitch.
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Syrian rebels claim massive bombing in Aleppo that leveled hotel used by government troops
• BEIRUT (AP) -- A rebel-claimed bombing Thursday in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo leveled a hotel that government troops used as a military base, along with several other buildings in a government-held area, activists and militants said.
• Syrian state television said an explosion struck a government-held area on the edge of a contested neighborhood in old part of Aleppo. The television report identified the hotel as the Carlton hotel, located next to the city's ancient Citadel.
• A local activist group called the Sham News Network also reported the blast, saying that President Bashar Assad's troops were based in the hotel.
• The Islamic Front rebel group claimed responsibility for the blast. A statement posted on its official Twitter account Thursday said that its "fighters this morning leveled the Carlton Hotel barracks in Old Aleppo and a number of buildings near it, killing 50 soldiers." It did not say how it knew how many soldiers died.
• The Islamic Front is an alliance of several Islamic groups fighting to topple Assad. Many of its fighters have joined the Front after breaking away from the Western-backed Syrian Free Army last year.
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Poll: Most Ukrainians want a unified country, even in the troubled Russian-speaking east
• DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) -- A strong majority of Ukrainians want their country to remain a single, unified state and this is true even in the largely Russian-speaking east where a pro-Russia insurgency has been fighting for autonomy, a poll released Thursday shows.
• The survey results were released as the pro-Russia forces were considering (Continued on page 29)
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