Born in the Toulouse area, Mr. Merah grew up in a family of Algerian origin, with his divorced mother and four siblings, according to Marie-Christine and Christian Etelin, whose law firm defended him over the years.

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Mother's Day marks the halfway point of Lent, and one theory of its origin is that it was marked by visiting the region's "mother church" or cathedral.

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Combing through the more than 500 answers Mr. Ibn-Ziaten received to his ad, investigators said they traced the origin of one email to a computer belonging to Mr. Merah's mother.

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Ms Baki, of Lebanese origin, speaks English, French and German in addition to her two mother languages, Spanish and Arabic.

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What about mother nature, and the right of kids raised that way to know their true origin?

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