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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Obama condemns deadly violence in Kenya

Obama condemns deadly violence in Kenya

Obama condemns deadly violence in Kenya

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 01:19 PM PST

President Barack Obama arrives with first lady Michelle Obama, top, and daughters Malia, top left, and Sasha, bottom right, at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, for the start of their holiday vacation, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama is condemning violence in Kenya that left at least 39 people dead in renewed fighting between farming and herding communities that have a history of violent animosity.

Bombing at political rally kills 9 in Pakistan

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 01:18 PM PST

Pakistani rescue workers and local residents gather at the site of a suicide bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed several people including a provincial government official at a political rally held Saturday by a party that has opposed the Taliban, officials said. (AP Photo/Sohail Iqbal)PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed nine people including a provincial government official at a political rally held Saturday by a party that has opposed the Taliban, officials said.

Urban advocates say new gun control talk overdue

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 01:16 PM PST

FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2009 file photo, pallbearers carry the casket of 4-year-old Roberto Lopez Jr., outside Our Lady of Angels Church in Los Angeles. The boy was shot in the chest a week earlier as he walked with his 5-year-old sister in a gang-plagued Echo Park neighborhood. In the wake of the Dec. 14, 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the small town of Newtown, Conn., there is now much political discussion about gun control. For urban advocates, this new emphasis on gun control is long overdue. (AP Photo/Mark Boster, Pool, File)For years, voices have cried in the urban wilderness: We need to talk about gun control.

La.-Lafayette tops ECU in New Orleans Bowl, 43-34

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 01:13 PM PST

Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Terrance Broadway (8) scores a touchdown as East Carolina defensive back Chip Thompson (1) defends in the first half of the New Orleans Bowl, an NCAA college football game in New Orleans, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Terrance Broadway passed for 316 yards and ran for 108, helping Louisiana-Lafayette repeat as winners of the New Orleans Bowl with a 43-34 victory against East Carolina on Saturday.

Bombing kills 4, wounds 11 in Iraq

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 01:08 PM PST

BAGHDAD (AP) — An explosion at a shop selling CDs killed 4 people in a town northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday.

Russia welcomes any offer to give Assad refuge

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 01:04 PM PST

In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter takes cover during fighting with the Syrian Army in Azaz, Syria. (AP Photo/Virginie Nguyen Huang)BEIRUT (AP) — Russia would welcome any country's offer of safe haven for Syrian President Bashar Assad, but has no plans to make one of its own, Moscow's foreign minister said in the latest comments to suggest a growing distance between the two allies.

Conn. town in mourning inundated with gifts, money

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:49 PM PST

Volunteer Anthony Vessicchio of East Haven, Conn., helps to sort tables full of donated toys at the town hall in Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Peter Leone was busy making deli sandwiches and working the register at his Newtown General Store when he got a phone call from Alaska. It was a woman who wanted to give him her credit card number.

List of 1000s of missing raises doubts in Mexico

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:48 PM PST

FILE - In this May 9, 2012 file photo, people hold photographs of their relatives who went missing during a protest that is part of the campaign "March of National Dignity. Mothers searching their sons and justice" held at the Revolution Monument in Mexico City. A new report by a civic participation group has put a number for the first time on the human toll of all the violence: 20,851 people disappeared over the past six years, although not every case on the list may be related to the drug war. With at least another 70,000 people having died in drug violence, the numbers point to a brutal episode in Mexico that ranks among Latin America's deadliest in decades. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini, File)MEXICO CITY (AP) — Federal police officer Luis Angel Leon Rodriguez disappeared in 2009 along with six fellow police as they headed to the western state of Michoacan to fight drug traffickers.

Low-water rivers offering up glimpse of history

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:47 PM PST

This Nov. 28, 2012 photo provided by The United States Coast Guard shows a WWII minesweeper on the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Mo. The lack of rain has left many rivers at low levels unseen for decades offering a glimpse at things not normally seen. The minesweeper, once moored along the Mississippi River as a museum at St. Louis before it was torn away by floodwaters two decades ago, has become visible _ rusted but intact. (AP Photo/United States Coast Guard, Colby Buchanan)ST. LOUIS (AP) — From sunken steamboats to a millennium-old map engraved in rock, the drought-drained rivers of the nation's midsection are offering a rare and fleeting glimpse into years gone by.

Temple upsets No. 3 Syracuse 83-79

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:43 PM PST

Temple's Khalif Wyatt (1) drives to the basket between Syracuse's James Southerland, left, and Michael Carter-Williams, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason Decrow)NEW YORK (AP) — Khalif Wyatt had never been in Madison Square Garden let alone played there.

Hepatitis C tests continue after NH tech's arrest

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:43 PM PST

FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012 file photo, employees of the New Hampshire state health department set up a temporary clinic at the the middle school in Stratham, N.H., to test hundreds of people for hepatitis C related to an outbreak at nearby Exeter Hospital. Five months after a traveling hospital worker's arrest in New Hampshire, a dozen former patients in other states have tested positive for the same strain of hepatitis C he's accused of spreading. But thousands more have yet to be tested for the liver-destroying disease. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Hospitals across the country recommended hepatitis C testing for about 7,900 patients last summer after a traveling medical worker was accused of stealing drugs and infecting patients with tainted syringes in New Hampshire. But five months later, nearly half of those who were possibly exposed to the liver-destroying disease in other states have yet to be tested.

Egyptians vote on Islamist-inspired constitution

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:27 PM PST

A man leaves a voting centre after casting his ballot in the final stage of a referendum on Egypt's new constitution in GizaCAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on Saturday in the second round of a referendum expected to approve an Islamist-drafted constitution that lays foundations for a transition to democracy but is criticized as divisive by the opposition. Queues formed at some polling stations around the country and voting was extended by four hours to 11 p.m. (2100 GMT). Last week's first round of voting, which an opposition leader said was marred by "serious violations", gave a 57 percent vote in favor of the constitution, according to unofficial figures. ...

In Kerry, Obama picks foreign policy leader, loyal stalwart

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:23 PM PST

Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaks to reporters about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Capitol HillWASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry gave up his presidential dreams after a narrow loss to Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 U.S. election, but forged a new identity as a congressional leader on foreign policy - and dutiful supporter of President Barack Obama. Obama rewarded the five-term Massachusetts senator on Friday by nominating him to succeed Hillary Clinton as U.S. secretary of state. ...

Russia says it won't host Assad but others welcome

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:12 PM PST

FILE- Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks at a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, in this file photo dated Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012. Lavrov said Saturday Dec. 22, 2012, that the Syrian government has consolidated its chemical weapons to safeguard the arsenal at one or two locations, and also revealed that Russia has military advisers in the country and have kept close watch over its chemical weapons. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe, File)MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister says Moscow would welcome any country's offer of a safe haven to Syrian President Bashar Assad, but underlined that Moscow itself has no intention of giving him shelter if he steps down.

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Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:11 PM PST

U.S. President Obama and Senator Kerry shake hands after announcing Kerry's nomination as Secretary of State at the White House in WashingtonIn Kerry, Obama picks foreign policy leader, loyal stalwart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry gave up his presidential dreams after a narrow loss to Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 U.S. election, but forged a new identity as a congressional leader on foreign policy - and dutiful supporter of President Barack Obama. Obama rewarded the five-term Massachusetts senator on Friday by nominating him to succeed Hillary Clinton as U.S. secretary of state. ...

Leagues poised to challenge NJ over sports betting

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 12:11 PM PST

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA are poised to move forward with their legal fight over New Jersey's plans to allow sports gambling.

NFL-bound Aboushi helps storm victims on SI

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 11:58 AM PST

FILE - This Nov. 15, 2012, file photo, shows Virginia offensive tackle Oday Aboushi and his family as they are introduced prior to an NCAA college football game at Scott stadium in Charlottesville, Va. The big offensive lineman, a potential first-round pick in the NFL draft in April, returned to Staten Island on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012 to try to lend a helping hand to those affected by the storm _ some of them his friends and neighbors. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)NEW YORK (AP) — Oday Aboushi watched all the news reports, sitting miles away from home at the University of Virginia and feeling helpless as Superstorm Sandy tore through the neighborhoods he grew up in.

Help at hand when elderly relative's health fails

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 11:51 AM PST

In this Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 photo, Barbara Newman Mannix, founder of A Dignified Life, poses for a photo outside her office in White Plains, N.Y. The company stands in for family members who can't be as close as they'd like when an elderly relative begins to decline. (AP Photo/Jim Fitzgerald)WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Marnie Schwartz was in California, a lawyer raising two toddlers. She was in no position to move across the country to care for her mother, who was living alone in New York and whose health was beginning to decline.

Greenberg gets minor league deal from Orioles

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 11:46 AM PST

FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2012, file photo, Adam Greenberg prepares for batting practice before a baseball game against the New York Mets in Miami. Greenberg said on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, that he has agreed to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles and will have a chance to earn a job at their Triple-A farm team in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)Adam Greenberg is getting a chance to resume his baseball career with the Baltimore Orioles.

Annual bird counts give scientists climate clues

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 11:41 AM PST

In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, an American bittern hides in the grass during an annual 24-hour Christmastime ritual to count birds along the Texas Gulf Coast in Mad Island, Texas. The data collected, with the help of more than 50 other volunteers spread out into six groups across the 7,000-acre Mad Island preserve, will be regionally and nationally analyzed, landing in a broad database that includes results from hundreds of other bird counts going on nationally during a two week period. What began 113 years ago as an Audobon Society protest to annual bird hunts that left piles of carcasses littered in different parts of the country now helps scientists understand how birds react to short-term weather events, such as drought and flooding, and seek clues on how they might behave as temperatures rise and climate changes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)MAD ISLAND, Texas (AP) — Armed with flashlights, recordings of bird calls, a small notebook and a stash of candy bars, scientist Rich Kostecke embarked on an annual 24-hour Christmastime count of birds along the Texas Gulf Coast. Yellow rail. Barn owl. Bittern. Crested Cara-Cara. Kostecke rattled off the names and scribbled them in his notebook.

Egypt's cabinet denies central bank governor resigned

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 11:35 AM PST

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's cabinet on Saturday denied a report that central bank governor Farouk El-Okdah had resigned. After a long period of speculation that the governor wanted to leave his post, state television had said Okdah had quit and his former deputy, Hisham Ramez, had been appointed to the post. "It is not true," cabinet spokesman Alaa Hadidi told Reuters when asked about the reported resignation. "I am officially denying it. ...

Egyptians vote on Islamist-backed constitution

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 11:33 AM PST

Amnah Sayyed Moussa, 85, casts her vote for the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians voted on Saturday in the second and final phase of a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution that has polarized the nation, with little indication that the expected passage of the charter will end the political crisis in which the country is mired.

Iron Butterfly bassist died of natural causes

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 11:22 AM PST

This April 9, 1969 photo shows members of Iron Butterfly, from left, Erik Brann, Ron Bushy, Lee Dorman, and Doug Ingle. Dorman, the bassist for psychedelic rock band, has died at age 70. (Copyright Bettmann/Corbis/AP Images)SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Coroner's officials say Lee Dorman, bass guitarist for the 1960s psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, died of natural causes in Southern California and there won't be an autopsy.

Egypt's central bank governor quits

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 10:47 AM PST

Amnah Sayyed Moussa, 85, casts her vote for the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)CAIRO (AP) — State television says Egypt's central bank governor has resigned.

Reports: Rolling Stones guitarist Wood ties knot

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 10:33 AM PST

LONDON (AP) — Two British newspapers say Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has married his fiancee Sally Humphreys at a ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel.

Will he or won't he? Italy awaits Monti's decision

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 10:27 AM PST

Italian Premier Mario Monti delivers his speech at the Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the Italian Ambassadors conference in Rome, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Monti's speech in Rome was his last official act as premier. He has pledged to step down as soon as Parliament gives final passage to the budget law, which happened just as diplomats were giving Monti a standing ovation. Italian news reports say he is expected to hand in his resignation Friday evening after his last Cabinet meeting. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ROME (AP) — Italy's president dissolved parliament Saturday, setting the stage for general elections in February and leaving only one lingering question from Premier Mario Monti's 13-month term trying to fix Italy's troubled finances: whether he will run.

Judge: Leagues can sue NJ over sports betting

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 09:49 AM PST

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA are poised to move forward with their legal battle over New Jersey's plans to allow sports gambling.

Obama tries to rescue fiscal talks for post-Christmas deal

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 09:45 AM PST

U.S. President Obama speaks about the fiscal cliff at the White House in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday tried to rescue stalled talks on a fiscal crisis after a Republican plan imploded in Congress, but there was little headway as lawmakers and President Barack Obama abandoned Washington for Christmas. In remarks before flying to Hawaii for a break, Obama suggested reaching a short-term deal on taxes and extending unemployment insurance to avoid the worst effects of the "fiscal cliff" on ordinary Americans at the start of the New Year. "We've only got 10 days to do it. So I hope that every member of Congress is thinking about that. ...

Abducted German aid worker seen alive in video

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 09:42 AM PST

BERLIN (AP) — A German aid worker abducted in Pakistan 11 months ago was seen alive in a video broadcast Saturday urging authorities to fully meet his captors' demands, warning that otherwise they could kill him within days.

Burger King's Whopper returns to France

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 09:23 AM PST

Customers buy a meal at a Burger King restaurant in Marseille-Provence airport, in Marignane, France, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. Fifteen years after leaving France, the U.S. hamburger chain Burger King returned with the opening of a restaurant in Marseille-Provence airport. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)PARIS (AP) — For the first time in 15 years, Burger King served its flame-grilled Whoppers in France, a country better known for its gastronomy than fast food.

4 SKoreans freed after being kidnapped in Nigeria

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 09:13 AM PST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Four South Korean construction workers and a Nigerian colleague who were kidnapped in southern Nigeria have been freed.

Egypt's vice president quits amid crisis

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 08:35 AM PST

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's vice president resigned from his post on Saturday, saying he wanted to quit last month but had only stayed on to help President Mohamed Mursi tackle a political crisis. Mahmoud Mekky, a well-known judge before he took the post, played a leading role in hosting "national unity" talks called by Mursi, although the main opposition politicians stayed away. Mekky previously said he would step down once a new constitution being put to a vote was approved, as the post of vice president was not outlined in the charter. ...

2 bombers target mobile phone firms in Nigeria

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 08:34 AM PST

KANO, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities blame a radical Islamist sect for twin suicide car bombings targeting two major mobile phone companies, an official said Saturday, blacking out a top operator's network in most of Nigeria's northern commercial hub.

Italy parliament dissolved; Monti to divulge plans

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 08:24 AM PST

Italian Premier Mario Monti delivers his speech at the Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the Italian Ambassadors conference in Rome, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Monti's speech in Rome was his last official act as premier. He has pledged to step down as soon as Parliament gives final passage to the budget law, which happened just as diplomats were giving Monti a standing ovation. Italian news reports say he is expected to hand in his resignation Friday evening after his last Cabinet meeting. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ROME (AP) — Italy's president has dissolved parliament following Premier Mario Monti's resignation, formally setting the stage for general elections in February in which Monti's participation remains unclear.

Ex-Tunisian dictator's property goes under hammer

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 08:14 AM PST

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian authorities are putting property confiscated from ousted Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali up for auction. That includes a pair of miniature gold sphinxes, a diamond-encrusted pen and a staggering 39 luxury cars.

Crowd-funding draws donations for Sandy relief

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 08:13 AM PST

This Dec. 19, 2012 image shows a frame grab of gofundme.com. This web page solicits donations to rebuild a New York restaurant, The Good Fork. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, some who lost their homes or businesses have turned to crowd-funding websites. (AP Photo/gofundme.com)WASHINGTON (AP) — In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, some who lost their homes or businesses have turned to crowd-funding websites to elicit a faster and more direct response than they could expect from the government or traditional charities.

Italian president dissolves parliament after Monti resigns, setting stage for February vote

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 08:10 AM PST

Italian president dissolves parliament after Monti resigns, setting stage for February vote.

Egypt's vice president quits

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 08:08 AM PST

An Egyptian elderly man shows his inked finger after casting his vote on the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi in Fayoum, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Cairo , Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's state TV says Vice President Mahmoud Mekki has resigned.

Rebels threaten to storm 2 Syrian Christian towns

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 07:59 AM PST

In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter takes cover during fighting with the Syrian Army in Azaz, Syria. (AP Photo/Virginie Nguyen Huang)BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels have threated to storm two predominantly Christian towns in central Syria if residents do not "evict" government troops they say are using the towns as a base to attack nearby areas.

Asian toad stowaway gets new home in South Africa

Posted: 22 Dec 2012 07:59 AM PST

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012 and made available by the Independent Newspapers Limited South Africa, an Asian toad that was found inside a candlestick at a Cape Town South Africa store. They say cats have nine lives. Now a Chinese toad has joined that club of wily survivors. South Africans are marveling at the endurance of a toad that got trapped in a cargo shipment from China to Cape Town after jumping into a porcelain candlestick that was made there. South African officials reportedly planned to put down the creature, fearing it would cause harm as an invasive species if it were let go in the wild. But the toad got a last-minute reprieve. Mango Airlines, a South African airline, transported the toad on Friday to Johannesburg for delivery to an animal sanctuary after officials decided to find a way to let the globe-trotting toad live. The two-hour flight was a breeze compared to the trip from China, an odyssey of many weeks and thousands of kilometers (miles) across the Indian Ocean. (AP Photo/ Independent Newspapers Limited) SOUTH AFRICA OUT CREDIT MANDATORY NO SALES/ARCHIVESJOHANNESBURG (AP) — They say cats have nine lives. Now a Chinese toad has joined that club of wily survivors.
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