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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Families fear Sandy killed cottages, traditions

Families fear Sandy killed cottages, traditions

Families fear Sandy killed cottages, traditions

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:30 PM PST

A Tuesday Dec. 4, 2012 photo shows the Bratek family cottage, which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, in Brigantine, N.J. Families that inherited small homes on the New Jersey shore over the years are trying to decide whether it is possible to repair or rebuild after Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Katie Zezima)The small yellow cottage has always been more than a house to Bob Bratek and his family. It was their tiny slice of oceanfront heaven, a repository of family memories built in the '60s with the hands of three generations of Brateks and any materials they could find.

Fidelity cutting fees at 8 index mutual funds

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:30 PM PST

Fidelity Investments is trimming fees at its largest index mutual funds and making some of its lowest-cost options accessible to a larger number of fund shareholders, including those with as little as $2,500 to invest.

Weak exports, imports signal tepid economic growth

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:28 PM PST

A general view of the Port of Los Angeles, CaliforniaWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit widened in October as exports suffered the biggest drop in nearly four years, indicating slowing global demand was spilling over into the already struggling U.S. economy. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday the trade gap increased 4.9 percent to $42.2 billion. In a sign of weak domestic demand, imports hit the lowest level in 1-1/2 years. "The report tells a tale of weakening economic growth momentum both domestically and globally," said Millan Mulraine, a senior economist at TD Securities in New York. ...

Top chefs join call for gender-neutral Easy-Bake

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:27 PM PST

FILE - This Sept. 8, 2011 file photo shows Hasbro's newest version of their famous "Easy Bake Oven" in Pawtucket, R.I. An eighth-grade girl from Garfield, N.J., has started an online petition asking Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro to make the toy ovens in gender-neutral colors and feature boys on the package after she went to buy one for her little brother and discovered that it comes only in girly pink and purple, with girls and only girls on the box and in the commercials. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)Some well-known male chefs are getting behind a New Jersey girl's call for Hasbro to make a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven.

Police suspect LA man was lured into NYC ambush

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:25 PM PST

This 2009 photo from the Hermosa Beach, Calif., Police Department shows Brandon Lincoln Woodard. Woodard, 31, was shot in the head Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in what looked like a professional killing. (AP Photo/Hermosa Beach PD)Police say the victim of a brazen ambush on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk may have been lured there before the killing.

Soldier's case dominated by testimony on suicide

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:24 PM PST

FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2012 file photo, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, center, steps out of a security vehicle as he is escorted into a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., for a pretrial hearing. A military judge hears closing arguments on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2012, on whether a private charged with sending classified material to WikiLeaks suffered illegal pretrial punishment during nine months in a Marine Corps brig. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning's lawyers claim his treatment was so egregious that all charges should be dismissed. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, HO)In a military hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning that has unfolded over the past two weeks, the reams of classified documents he is accused of leaking have barely come up. Instead, the proceedings have focused on a bedsheet noose, confiscated clothes and whether Manning seriously contemplated killing himself with flip-flops or the elastic waistband of his underwear.

Questions, answers about Manning's WikiLeaks case

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:23 PM PST

For the past two weeks, a military hearing has focused on Pfc. Bradley Manning's treatment in a Marine Corps brig after he was arrested and accused of leaking a massive amount of classified information to the website WikiLeaks. Here are some questions and answers about Manning's case, and this hearing in particular.

Yahoo revamps email in bid to catch up with Gmail

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:22 PM PST

In this undated image made available by Yahoo the company's recently retooled free email service is shown on a web device and tablet. Aside from the new look aimed at regaining some of the ground Yahoo lost to Google's popular alternative, Yahoo introduced Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, email apps for the iPhone, iPad and mobile devices running on the new Windows 8 operating system. (AP Photo/Yahoo)Yahoo is spiffing up and expanding its email service in an attempt to regain some of the ground lost to a Google alternative that lured away millions of users.

NHL, union to return to bargaining, with mediators

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:22 PM PST

FILE - In this file photo taken Dec. 6, 2012, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly speak to reporters in New York. The NHL eliminated 16 more days from the regular-season schedule Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, and if a deal with the players' association isn't reached soon the whole season could be lost. The league wiped out all games through Dec. 30 in its latest round of cancellations. Negotiations between the league and the players' association broke off last week, but Daly said Sunday the sides are trying to restart talks this week. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)NHL labor negotiations will resume Wednesday, with mediators rejoining the talks at an undisclosed location in an effort to save the hockey season.

Tunisian national strike averted after deal

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:21 PM PST

Tunisia's government has reached an agreement with the country's leading labor union to avoid a nationwide strike over economic woes and power disputes.

Pope's sensitive side revealed in children's book

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:20 PM PST

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing during a ceremony on the occasion of the international congress "Ecclesia in America", at the St. Peter Basilica, Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 9 , 2012. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)A children's picture book about the goldfish pond at the pope's summer residence reveals a side of him few may know.

Ariz. home: 'Ditto' to neighbor's Christmas lights

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:17 PM PST

An Arizona woman who knew she couldn't compete head on with her neighbor's elaborate Christmas light display is attracting attention for her response.

Lawsuit claims A&E's 'Storage Wars' show is rigged

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:15 PM PST

A former cast member of the A&E reality series "Storage Wars" claims the show is rigged and producers have planted valuable items to deceive viewers.

Three British men arrested in Libor probe

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:11 PM PST

The Canary Wharf financial district is seen from the top of the ArcelorMittal Orbit in the London 2012 Olympic Park in east LondonLONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - British police and anti-fraud officers made the first arrests in a global interest rate rigging scandal on Tuesday, detaining a former trader and two other men, sources said. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), one of a posse of international prosecutors and regulators homing in on rate fixers, said three British men aged 33, 41 and 47 had been taken to a London police station in the early morning for questioning. "The men are all British nationals currently living in the United Kingdom," the SFO said. A spokesman said interviews were continuing into the evening. ...

Fla. ex-cop set for execution in 1986 killing of 9

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:10 PM PST

FILE- In this 1988, file photo, Manuel Pardo, found guilty of nine counts of murder, listens as his sentence is read. Pardo, 56, is scheduled to be executed Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, at Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla. U.S. Judge Timothy Corrigan denied Pardo's request for a stay on Monday. (AP Photo/The Miami Herald, Marice Cohn Band, File)A former Florida police officer scheduled to be executed for killing nine people ate his final meal.

Court strikes down Illinois concealed carry ban

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:10 PM PST

FILE - In this March 7, 2012 file photo, gun owners and supporters participate in an Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day rally at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. In a big victory for gun rights advocates, a federal appeals court on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, struck down a ban on carrying concealed weapons in Illinois _ the only remaining state where carrying concealed weapons is entirely illegal. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)In a major victory for gun rights advocates, a federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a ban on carrying concealed weapons in Illinois — the only remaining state where carrying concealed weapons is entirely illegal — and gave lawmakers 180 days to write a law that legalizes it.

Stocks gain on budget talk optimism, Fed stimulus

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:09 PM PST

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Stocks opened higher Tuesday ahead of a meeting of the Federal Reserve and possible additional steps to bolster the U.S. economy. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street for the fifth day in a row as traders hoped for more progress in budget talks being held in Washington.

Small Calif. tribe prepares to bury 5 from rampage

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:09 PM PST

Members of the Tule River Indian Reservation Fire Department help to dig the grave Monday Dec. 10, 2012 of a tribal member who died recently of natural causes. Afterward, they said they would move to the other side of the colorfully decorated cemetery for the somber task of digging a grave for 8-year-old Alyssa Celaya, who was murdered along with her grandmother and two other relatives on Sunday. Her father, 31-year-old Hector Celaya, is suspected in the killings and died in a shootout with Tulare County sheriff's deputies. The men said that they dig graves by hand instead of using backhoes or other machinery "out of respect." But never have they had to dig so many at once. All told, 5 residents of the reservation are dead. (AP Photo/Tracie Cone)A California Indian tribe said Tuesday it will hold candlelight vigils for the rest of the week to honor five family members who were slain over the weekend.

W.Va. gas line explodes, burns homes and roads

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:08 PM PST

At least five homes went up in flames Tuesday afternoon and a badly burned section of Interstate 77 in West Virginia was closed after a natural gas line exploded in an hour-long inferno.

California chefs encourage fresh dining in Cuba

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:53 PM PST

In this Dec. 8, 2012 photo, U.S. chef Kelsie Kerr smells a pineapple while shopping for fruit and vegetables at a farm in Havana, Cuba. Kerr traveled to Cuba with the California based "Planting Seeds" delegation that held give-and-take seminars with chefs and culinary students about slow food. Cuba has a longstanding culture of organic farming by necessity. During the "Special Period" of the 1990s, many private urban plots popped up in Havana amid austerity after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unlike in the United States, pesticide-free is largely the rule here rather than the exception, mostly due to a lack of supply. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)Rice, beans, pork — and lots of it. That's a typical restaurant meal in Cuba, widely regarded by travelers as a culinary wasteland where the variety and quality of raw ingredients leave much to be desired.

3 killed in medical helicopter crash in Illinois

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:52 PM PST

This Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, aerial photo taken from video provided by WLS-TV in Chicago shows the wreckage of a medical helicopter that crashed in a field near Rochelle, Ill., while traveling between two northern Illinois hospitals. The pilot and two nurses were killed in the crash. No patients were aboard when the helicopter went down Monday night about 70 miles west of Chicago. A spokesman for Rockford Memorial Hospital says its helicopter was flying to pick up a patient at a Mendota hospital. (AP Photo/Courtesy WLS-TV in Chicago)A medical helicopter crashed in a northern Illinois field, killing the pilot and two nurses who were traveling between hospitals to pick up a patient, authorities said.

Mali's president names new prime minister

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:52 PM PST

In this still frame made from video provided by ORTM Mali TV, Mali's Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra resigns during a broadcast on state television from Bamako, Mali on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, hours after soldiers who led a recent coup burst into his home and arrested him. (AP Photo/ORTM Mali TV) MALI ACCESS OUTMali's president has named a longtime public servant as the country's new prime minister, hours after the position's former occupant was arrested and forced to resign by the soldiers behind a spring coup.

Spice Girls musical 'Viva Forever' opens in London

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:39 PM PST

Mel B, from left, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Mel C arrive for Viva Forever! Press Night, a musical based on the songs of the Spice Girls, at the Piccadilly Theatre in central London, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)It's time to find out whether Girl Power is still going strong, with Tuesday's premiere of "Viva Forever," a new stage musical based on the songs of the Spice Girls.

Tagliabue overturns Goodell on Saints suspensions

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:34 PM PST

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints football defensive end Will Smith, left, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma arrive at an attorney's office in Washington, for a hearing on their appeals of bounties suspensions. Former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was appointed to handle a second round of player appeals to the league, has informed all parties he planned to rule by Tuesday, Dec. 11, and his decision could affect whether two current Saints — Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith — get to play out the season. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)In a sharp rebuke to his successor's handling of the NFL's bounty investigation, former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned the suspensions of four current and former New Orleans Saints players in a case that has preoccupied the league for almost a year.

Cowboys' Brent attends memorial with team support

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:30 PM PST

CORRECTS BYLINE TO LM OTERO, NOT TONY GUTIERREZ - Dallas Cowboys football player Josh Brent, right, arrives embracing an unidentified person at a memorial service for teammate Jerry Brown at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship education center, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, in Dallas. Brown died in a suspected drunken-driving accident on Saturday. Brent was the driver and is charged with intoxication manslaughter. (AP Photo/LM Otero)The Dallas Cowboys paid tribute to Jerry Brown at a private memorial on Tuesday that included Josh Brent, the player charged with intoxication manslaughter in the one-car accident that killed his teammate.

Vatican: World not ending, despite Maya prediction

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:29 PM PST

The Vatican's top astronomer has some assurances to offer: The world won't be ending in about two weeks, despite predictions to the contrary.

Extremists among Syrian rebels who seized base

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:29 PM PST

Syrian rebels including Islamic extremists took full control of a sprawling military base Tuesday after a bloody two-day battle that killed 35 soldiers, activists said. It was the latest gain by opposition forces bolstered by an al-Qaida-linked group that has provided skilled fighters but raised concerns in the West.

Greece to announce bond buyback results Wednesday

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:25 PM PST

Athenians walk past a central Athens branch of National Bank of Greece, the country's largest lender, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Greece was expected to announce later Tuesday the results of a bond buyback hoped to cut some 20 billion euros off the country's 340 billion euro debt load. Domestic lenders will contribute strongly in the European-funded buyback, which if successful will open the way for disbursement of a delayed international rescue loan payment. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)Greece will reveal the results of a key debt buyback deal Wednesday, after an extended deadline for private investors to decide whether they will sell back their Greek bond holdings at a discount expired without any official announcements.

Vindication for 2013 Rock Hall of Fame inductees

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:22 PM PST

FILE - This Oct. 1, 2012 file photo shows sisters Ann, left, and Nancy Wilson from Heart in New York. The eclectic group of rockers Rush and Heart, rappers Public Enemy, songwriter Randy Newman, "Queen of Disco" Donna Summer and bluesman Albert King will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next April in Los Angeles. The inductees were announced Tuesday by 2012 inductee Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers at a news conference in Los Angeles. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP Images)Randy Newman's glad he didn't have to do anything drastic to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The members of Rush are choosing to let bygones be bygones. And Quincy Jones, well, he's still mad.

Air Force sends mystery mini-shuttle back to space

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:21 PM PST

A top-secret mini-space shuttle has blasted off from Cape Canaveral.

APNewsBreak: DA investigating Texas cancer agency

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:19 PM PST

The Texas prosecutor responsible for investigating public corruption among state officials said Tuesday that he has opened an investigation into the state's troubled $3 billion cancer-fighting agency.

AP Exclusive: ACLU seeks OAS probe of Padilla case

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:16 PM PST

FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2006 file photo, Jose Padilla, center, is escorted to a waiting police vehicle by federal marshals near downtown Miami. The American Civil Liberties Union says it will ask the OAS' human rights commission to investigate the U.S. government for allegedly violating the rights of convicted terrorism plotter Jose Padilla by labeling him an "enemy combatant" a decade ago and subjecting him to interrogation that amounted to torture, including sleep and sensory deprivation in solitary confinement. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter, File)A civil liberties group asked the Organization of American States' human rights commission Tuesday to investigate the U.S. government for what it says are violations of the rights of convicted terrorism plotter Jose Padilla.

Up to 200 hurt in attack on Syrian Alawite village: activists

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:15 PM PST

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An attack on a Syrian village on Tuesday killed or injured as many as 200 members of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority sect, activists said, but it was unclear who was behind the assault. Casualty counts varied, but several activists said they could confirm 10 dead. The opposition-linked Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 125 were hurt or killed in a series of explosions that destroyed several houses in the town of Aqrab. There were no reports on Syria's state media. ...

Egypt army seeks national unity as crisis mounts

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:13 PM PST

An Anti-Mursi protester, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, stands in front of the presidential palace in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief called for talks on national unity to end the country's deepening political crisis after a vital loan from the IMF was delayed and thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators took to the streets. The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, was called in response to a destabilizing series of protests since President Mohamed Mursi awarded himself sweeping powers on November 22 to push through a new constitution shaped by his Islamist allies in a referendum on Saturday. "We will not speak about politics nor about the referendum. ...

NTSB: Use ignition locks for all drunken drivers

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:12 PM PST

This photo taken Aug. 11, 2011, provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), shows damage to wrong-way vehicle from the Dallas. Hundreds of people are killed each a year when drivers turn the wrong-way into the face of oncoming traffic on high-speed highways, and a majority of the crashes involves drivers with blood alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit, a federal accident researcher said Tuesday. (AP Photo/NTSB)Every state should require convicted drunken drivers, including first-time offenders, to use devices that prevent them from starting a car's engine if their breath tests positive for alcohol, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

Oil prices rise as Federal Reserve meeting starts

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:11 PM PST

Oil moved a little higher as a meeting of the Federal Reserve got under way Tuesday.

Egypt judges say most will boycott referendum

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:09 PM PST

Egyptian army soldiers, center, stand guard as protesters gather in front of the presidential palace during a demonstration against President Mohammed Morsi , in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt's Islamist president staged rival rallies in the nation's capital Tuesday, four days ahead a nationwide referendum on a contentious draft constitution. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Egypt's judges Tuesday said that most of them would not oversee a nationwide referendum on a contentious draft constitution, as tens of thousands of opponents and supporters of the country's Islamist president staged rival rallies in Cairo, four days ahead of the vote.

Mali's PM forced to resign, after arrest by junta

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:04 PM PST

In this still frame made from video provided by ORTM Mali TV, Mali's Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra resigns during a broadcast on state television from Bamako, Mali on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, hours after soldiers who led a recent coup burst into his home and arrested him. (AP Photo/ORTM Mali TV) MALI ACCESS OUTSoldiers arrested Mali's prime minister and forced him to resign before dawn on Tuesday, showing that the military remains the real power in this troubled West African nation despite handing back authority to civilians after a coup in March.

'Flight,' 'Django Unchained' among NAACP nominees

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:03 PM PST

"Flight," ''Django Unchained," ''Beasts of the Southern Wild," ''Red Tails" and "Tyler Perry's Good Deeds" are up for the outstanding motion picture trophy at the 44th annual NAACP Image Awards.

Cyprus court orders retrial regarding plane crash

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:03 PM PST

Cyprus' Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for four former airline officials who had been acquitted of manslaughter and other charges for a 2005 plane crash that killed 121 passengers and crew members. The Helios Airways crash drew international attention because of the unusual circumstances surrounding it.
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