Rush Limbaugh apologized to Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke Saturday, who he called a "slut" for testifying in favor of contraception coverage. "My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir," he said in a statement. "I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices." Meanwhile, Limbaugh continues to see fallout as a result of his continued attacks on Fluke, in which he's likened her to a "prostitute" and mocked President Barack Obama for calling to thank her for her testimony. Quicken Loans and five other advertisers have all pulled ads from Limbaugh's show. [Rush Limbaugh, ABC, NYT]

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Three women received the Nobel Peace Prize today at a ceremony in Oslo. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, social worker Leymah Gbowee, and Yemeni journalist and activist Tawakkul Karman were all "chosen for their non-violent struggle against injustice, sexual violence and repression." Sirleaf "became Africa's first democratically-elected female president in 2006," Gbowee "led a women's movement that protested the use of rape and child soldiers in Liberia's civil war," and Karman "founded the rights group Women Journalists without Chains." The three will each receive $1.5 million. [CNN]

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via Wikipedia

In September, NASA's UARS satellite plummeted back to Earth, scattering debris over the Pacific Ocean. In October, Germany's ROSAT orbiting telescope reentered our atmosphere and crashed somewhere in Southeast Asia. Following this pattern of space crap falling back to Earth comes Russia's Phobos-Grunt probe, a craft that was intended to land on Mars' moon Phobos, but instead is looking like it won't even make it out of our orbit.

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Last month, Dmitri Medvedev announced he will not seek reelection and plans to allow Vladimir Putin to run for the Russian presidency in 2012. Any suspicions of bad blood between the two can be put to rest after watching the above video of Putin and Medvedev engaged in what looks like the most tepid game of badminton ever played. According to the Telegraph, Medvedev is a Badminton enthusiast. "It's not just a game," he says about the game half-enjoyed by nine-year-olds everywhere.

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What would you rather watch: A discussion on economic turmoil or a fistfight? Thanks to Russian television, you don't have to choose! Billionaires Alexander Lebedev and Sergei Polonsky appeared on a panel to give their thoughts on the recent financial crisis. Both men made their fortunes with varying investments, and their insight into this economic quagmire is valuable. What is invaluable, however, is Lebedev's one-two combination that sent Polonsky stumbling out of his chair. Until Elizabeth Warren cold-clocks Mitch McConnell on Meet the Press, we're watching Russian television for all our global financial news. Video after the jump.

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A RusAir Tupolev-134

• A passenger jet carrying 52 people crashed in Russia last night, killing 44 perople on board. The plane was a RusAir Tupolev-134; it crashed into a highway near Besovets airport in northern Russian in thick fog. Experts are blaming the spate of recent air disasters in Russia on "aging jets, poor pilot training and lax government oversight." [NYT]

• There was a fatal shooting at 85 Pitt Street, between Rivington and Stanton, on the Lower East Side last night. The NYPD says that Jonathan Alston, a 23-year old man from Brooklyn, was shot in the head and killed around 12:30 a.m. [The Lo-Down]

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Because it's fun to watch people dance, foolishly, and because it's more fun when they are Russian presidents, here is Dmitry Medvedev (in the gray) dancing his ass off to "American Boy," but not the version you're thinking of. While Animal NY thinks that Medvedev's rigid dance is akin to treason, there's a certain jazziness about the arms that we believe could do wonders for international relations. Of course, it's hardly Assange-level, but then, nothing is.

• ​The Daily reports that Kabbalah has been using Madonna's charity donations for real estate deals instead of putting them towards their promised school-building ends. The debacle of Madge's Raising Malawi project -- which lost $3.8 million -- isn't the first time a Kabbalah-backed school has failed. Previous projects that got a little bit (a lot) off track include a "Kabbalist Grammar School For Children" in New York, the building for which was eventually sold and turned into a hotel. A source told The Daily, "They get [Madonna] to give by creating meaningful 'projects' that have specific budgets, and they ask for her support, and concurrently they work on her conscience, meaning they prepare her, and all students, to share and share big." [The Daily]
• At least 35 people in six states have been killed so far by the tornados sweeping the South. [CNN, AP/NYT]

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Mysterious British street artist Banksy just bailed out of jail two members of a Russian art collective called Voina, which means "war." Leonid Nikolayev and Oleg Vorotnikov awaited trial in a bed bug-infested St. Petersburg prison for four months until Banksy swooped in and paid their bail. Voina is known for stunts like painting a huge penis on a bridge facing the headquarters of the KGB's replacement, the Federal Security Service.

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The new mascots for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia are here! They're pretty cute if a little too Pixar. It's a polar bear, a hare, and a leopard with a snowboard. The only one who looks remotely athletic is the leopard. He's actually kind of scary if you look too long into his eyes.

How do they stack up to other Olympics mascots?

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