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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Police at Patriots tight end's home for 2nd day

Police at Patriots tight end's home for 2nd day

Police at Patriots tight end's home for 2nd day

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:47 PM PDT

Two members of the Massachusetts State Police walk toward the front door of the home of New England Patriot's NFL football player Aaron Hernandez in North Attleborough, Mass., Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Their knock on the door went unanswered. State and local police spent hours at the home Tuesday as another group of officers searched an industrial park about a mile away where a body was discovered the day before. (AP Photo/Erika Niedowski)NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — State police returned to the home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Wednesday, two days after a body was found about a mile away.

Yankees' Jeter takes batting practice in Tampa

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:45 PM PDT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has taken on-field batting practice for the first time since being cleared to increase his rehabilitation program for a broken left ankle.

UN says 45.2 million refugees and displaced people

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:44 PM PDT

This June 18, 2013 photo released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) shows special envoy Angelina Jolie taking notes as she speaks with Syrian refugees in a Jordanian military camp based near the Syria-Jordan border. The Syrian civil war contributed to pushing the numbers of refugees and those displaced by conflict within their own nation to an 18-year high of 45.2 million worldwide by the end of 2012, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday, June 19. Most of the refugees in the world have fled from five war-affected countries: Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Sudan. (AP Photo/United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , O. Laban-Matte)GENEVA (AP) — The Syrian civil war contributed to pushing the numbers of refugees and those displaced by conflict within their own nation to an 18-year high of 45.2 million worldwide by the end of 2012, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday.

Group: Exclude Chad troops from UN force in Mali

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:41 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A network of human rights groups on Wednesday criticized plans to include Chadian troops in a new U.N. peacekeeping force for Mali while Chad's military remains on a U.N. 'list of shame' for child recruitment. But U.N. officials made clear they had no intention of excluding a country whose soldiers are considered among the best African desert fighters.

Banks fall short in helping struggling homeowners

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:41 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure must wait too long for their loan modification applications to be reviewed by some of the nation's top mortgage servicers, according to a report released Wednesday. Such delays can plunge borrowers deeper in debt.

As fires rage, feds cut funding on prevention

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:53 PM PDT

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2009, file photo District Ranger Bill Gamble points out a telltale hole indicating pine beetles have attacked a tree in the Umpqua National Forest in Diamond Lake, Ore. Overwhelmed by a combination of government austerity and the sheer cost of firefighting, key federal agencies are spending less money clearing brush or removing deadwood killed by parasites, that could prevent further wildfires in the future. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard, File)COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — As the West battles one catastrophic wildfire after another, the federal government is spending less and less on its main program for preventing blazes in the first place.

World Bank highlights climate-poverty link

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:37 PM PDT

FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 file photo, children salvage the remains of a failed potato field at a farm in the Laikipia District, of Kenya, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of the capital Nairobi, in the wake of a prolonged drought which wiped out harvests throughout the country. While sea level rise threatens some coastal communities in Africa, the continent faces even bigger climate-related problems inland. Climate scientists have projected shifts in rainfall patterns leading to extended droughts in some areas and increased flooding in other parts. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi, File)STOCKHOLM (AP) — The World Bank says it will increasingly view its efforts to help developing countries fight poverty through a "climate lens."

Bernanke points to reduced Fed bond buying this year

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:35 PM PDT

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke speaks during a news conference in WashingtonBy Alister Bull and Pedro da Costa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank expects to slow the pace of its bond purchases later this year and bring them to a halt around mid-2014, comments that weighed on stocks and pushed bond yields to a 15-month high. The Fed expects moderate growth to lead to continuing healing in the job market as headwinds facing the economy ease, Bernanke said. He also said policymakers expect inflation to move back up toward their long-term 2 percent goal. ...

Secret hearings debated in Guantanamo 9/11 case

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:31 PM PDT

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — Prosecutors in the Sept. 11 war crimes case at Guantanamo are asking a judge to allow secret pretrial hearings that would exclude even the defendants.

Unmanned aircraft struggle to shed 'drone' image

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:29 PM PDT

A Parrot eBee, an ultra light civil professional drone used to shoot video and photos is displayed during the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Unmanned aircraft have helped rescue stranded hikers, worked to contain wildfires and gathered data at nuclear accidents. One helped a Russian tanker find its way through Arctic ice to bring oil to a stranded Alaskan community.

Fed suggests it's closer to slowing bond purchases

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:29 PM PDT

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks during a news conference in Washington, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Bernanke. The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will maintain the pace of its bond-buying program to keep long-term interest rates at record lows. But it offered a more optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy and job market. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve sketched a brighter economic outlook Wednesday and signaled it's moving closer to slowing its bond-buying program, which is intended to keep long-term interest rates low.

FBI hunt for ex-Teamster boss Hoffa's remains ends

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:21 PM PDT

Robert Foley, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit division, addresses the media in Oakland Township, Mich., Wednesday, June 19, 2013 where he announced the FBI was ending the search operations for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The excavation of a field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery.

Netflix to expand to Netherlands later this year

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:18 PM PDT

LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) — Netflix is going Dutch.

Kerry calls Karzai to ease anger on Taliban office

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:17 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry called the Afghan president twice in the past 24 hours to ease Hamid Karzai's anger over the way the Taliban announced the opening of their political office in Qatar.

Greek coalition talks drag on to end TV crisis

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:17 PM PDT

Protestors destroy ATM machines at a local a bank in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Thousands of demonstrators flooded into a square in Brazil's economic hub, Sao Paulo, on Tuesday. Sparked earlier this month by a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares and organized via social media, the nationwide protests are giving voice to growing discontent over the gap between Brazil's high tax burden and the low quality of public infrastructure, echoing similar mobilizations in Turkey, Greece and other parts of the globe where weariness with governments has exploded in the streets. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's governing coalition failed to end a political crisis triggered by the closure of state broadcaster ERT, but said talks would continue Thursday to try and avoid a snap election.

Best-selling author Vince Flynn dies at age 47

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:13 PM PDT

FILE - In a Sept. 2, 2005 file photo, best-selling author Vince Flynn poses with the dust jacket of his new book, "Consent to Kill," and copies of his six other books in his home in Edina, Minn. Flynn died, Wednesday, June 18, 2013, after a two-year battle with prostate cancer, a statement from Flynn's publisher, Simon & Schuster, Inc., said. He was 47. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Best-selling author Vince Flynn, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher. He was 47.

Bill could reduce illegal immigration 25 percent

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:12 PM PDT

People shout out against the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act in the hall outside the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions.

Egypt top cleric: Protests against Morsi permitted

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:11 PM PDT

FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011 file photo, Ahmed el-Tayeb the grand sheik of Cairo's Al-Azhar, the pre-eminent theological institute of Sunni Islam, talks to the media in Cairo, Egypt. El-Tayeb said on Wednesday that peaceful protests against the president are permitted, dismissing declarations by Islamist hard-liners that those behind protests planned for June 30 are heretics. (AP Photo, File)CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's top Muslim cleric declared Wednesday that peaceful protests against the president are permitted, in a snub to hard-line Islamist backers of Mohammed Morsi who declared that those behind opposition protests planned for June 30 are heretics.

Protesters out again in Brazilian cities

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:10 PM PDT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices.

Syria troops fight rebels near major Shiite shrine

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:08 PM PDT

FILE - In this Thursday, June 14, 2012 file photo, Syrian security forces at the site where a car bomb exploded near the shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, background, in a suburb of Damascus, Syria. Hezbollah fighters join Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the golden domed mosque. Protection of the Sayida Zeinab shrine has become a rallying cry for Shiite fighters backing President Bashar Assad, raising the stakes in a conflict that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah fighters joined Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the ornate, golden domed mosque.

Bipartisan proposal on student loans circulating

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:08 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan compromise on student loans started to take shape in the Senate on Wednesday, preserving fixed-rate loans for all students and linking interest rates with the financial markets.

Tropical Storm Barry forms off Mexican coast

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:04 PM PDT

MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters say Tropical Storm Barry has formed off the southeastern Mexican coast.

Top UK court overturns sanctions on Iranian bank

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:03 PM PDT

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Supreme Court quashed sanctions against an Iranian bank penalized over its alleged links to Iran's nuclear weapons program, saying Wednesday that Bank Mellat had been arbitrarily singled out.

Madonna premieres tour film, talks secret project

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 12:02 PM PDT

Madonna attends the world premiere of "Madonna: The MDNA Tour" at the Paris Theatre on Tuesday, June 18, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)NEW YORK (AP) — Madonna said there were days when she was exhausted during her recent "MDNA" world tour, but she decided to press on.

IRS draws new criticism over $70M employee bonuses

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:59 AM PDT

FILE - This March 22, 2013 file photo shows the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Already reeling from a pair of scandals, the Internal Revenue Service is drawing new criticism over plans to hand out millions of dollars in employee bonuses.

Obama relying on untested oversight board on NSA

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:58 AM PDT

FILE - In this June 6, 2013, file photo, a woman talks on the phone outside the U.S. Courthouse in Washington, where the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court resides. The obscure oversight board that President Barack Obama wants to scrutinize the National Security Agency's secret surveillance system is little known for good reason. The U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has operated fitfully during its eight years of its low-profile existence, stymied by Congressional in-fighting and its work at times censored by government lawyers. The privacy board planned to meet privately Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in its first meeting since revelations that the NSA has been secretly collecting the phone records of millions of Americans: It was closed to the public. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The obscure Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that President Barack Obama said will meet with him to discuss the National Security Agency's secret surveillance program was itself meeting Wednesday behind closed doors.

Zimmerman jurors asked about neighborhood watch

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:56 AM PDT

George Zimmerman smiles in response to a juror's answer during questioning in Seminole circuit court on the eighth day of his trial, in Sanford, Fla., Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank/Pool)SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys quizzed a whittled-down group of prospective jurors Wednesday in the Trayvon Martin case, asking if any were neighborhood watch volunteers like the teen's shooter and reminding them the trial would be different from what they've seen on shows like "CSI."

Woods to rest elbow, skip AT&T National

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:53 AM PDT

Tiger Woods reacts to a missed putt on the fourth hole during the fourth round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Sunday, June 16, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)Tiger Woods' sore left elbow will keep him out of competition until the British Open.

Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:53 AM PDT

Afghan President Karzai speaks during joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Rasmussen following security handover ceremony at a military academy outside KabulBy Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday his government would not join U.S. peace talks with the Taliban and halted negotiations with Washington on a troop pact, underscoring the fragile nature of hopes for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan. The United States and the Taliban have said officials from both sides will meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Thursday, in a step forward for a stuttering peace process after 12 years `,of bloody and costly war between U.S.-led forces and the insurgents. ...

Analysis: Putin basks in isolation over Syria as Obama's charm falls flat

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:50 AM PDT

Russia's President Vladimir Putin gestures during a media conference after a G8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in EnniskillenBy Guy Faulconbridge and Timothy Heritage ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland/MOSCOW (Reuters) - At the end of a tense two-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama - slumped over and serious - tried to lighten the mood with a joke about their favorite sports. "And finally, we compared notes on President Putin's expertise in judo and my declining skills in basketball," the U.S. president told reporters at the G8 summit, after the two men gave formal statements emphasizing their common ground rather than their sharp differences on how to end the Syrian crisis. ...

House panel starts rewrite of No Child Left Behind

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:48 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Wednesday finished their rewrite of GOP President George W. Bush's prized No Child Left Behind Act, sending to their colleagues a bill that would strip Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his successors of power and give more authority to the states.

IMF calls for urgent steps on Spain unemployment

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:46 AM PDT

James Daniel, IMF Mission Chief for Spain, left, and Ranjit Teja, Deputy Director of the European Department of the IMF arrive for a press conference at the conclusion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visit to Spain at Bank of Spain in Madrid, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)MADRID (AP) — Spain faces the prospect of high unemployment and sluggish growth lasting years unless the country and Europe take "urgent action" to slash the nation's crippling 27 percent unemployment rate and free frozen credit to businesses so they can expand, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

Study: Wiser medication use could cut health costs

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:43 AM PDT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — If doctors and patients used prescription drugs more wisely, they could save the U.S. health care system at least $213 billion a year, by reducing medication overuse, underuse and other flaws in care that cause complications and longer, more-expensive treatments, researchers conclude.

Former Hungarian prime minister Gyula Horn dies

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:41 AM PDT

FILE - Photo taken on July 14, 1994 on chairman and prime minister candidate of the Hungarian Socialist Party Gyula Horn submits his government programme during a session of the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary. Gyula Horn, a former Hungarian prime minister who played a key role in opening the Iron Curtain, has died at the age of 80. Horn's death on Wednesday was announced by the Hungarian government and confirmed by the Socialist Party, which he led to victory in the 1994 elections. (AP Photo/MTI, Lajos Soos,File)BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Gyula Horn, a former Hungarian prime minister who played a key role in opening the Iron Curtain, has died at the age of 80.

Fed says it will maintain pace of bond purchases

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:41 AM PDT

In this Wednesday, May 22, 2013 photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Federal Reserve ends a policy meeting Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Investors have been nervously speculating that the Fed will soon scale back its economic stimulus and send interest rates up and stock prices down. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve offered a hint Wednesday that it's moving closer to slowing its bond-buying program, which is intended to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.

Stock market falls as traders fear stimulus cuts

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:39 AM PDT

Trader Dudley Devine, foreground, uses his mobile phone and handheld device, as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Stocks edged lower in early trading on Wall Street Wednesday as investors waited for word from the Federal Reserve. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling after the Federal Reserve gave a slightly more optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy, which investors took as a hint that the bank was nearer to a decision to reduce its economic stimulus program.

Family: Country singer Slim Whitman dies at age 90

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:38 AM PDT

CORRECTS DATE OF DEATH TO JUNE 19 - FILE - This undated file photo shows country singer Slim Whitman. Whitman died Wednesday, June 19, 2013 of heart failure in Florida. He was 90. Whitman's career began in the late 1940s, and his tenor falsetto and ebony mustache and sideburns became global trademarks. They were also an inspiration for countless jokes thanks to the ubiquitous 1980s and 1990s TV commercials that pitched his records. (AP Photo, file)MIAMI (AP) — Country singer Slim Whitman, the high-pitched yodeler who sold millions of records through ever-present TV ads in the 1980s and 1990s and whose song saved the world in the film comedy "Mars Attacks!," died Wednesday at a Florida hospital. He was 90.

Critics hail Daniel Radcliffe's latest stage turn

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:36 AM PDT

FILE - This is a Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 file photo of British actor Daniel Radcliffe, star of the supernatural thriller "The Woman in Black," as he is interviewed at the premiere of the film in Los Angeles. Daniel Radcliffe has won magical reviews for his latest stage role as a disabled Irish dreamer in Martin McDonagh's "The Cripple of Inishmaan." The former "Harry Potter" star plays the title role in a Michael Grandage-directed production of McDonagh's scabrous tragicomedy at London's Noel Coward Theatre. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)LONDON (AP) — Daniel Radcliffe has won magical reviews for his latest stage role as a disabled Irish dreamer in Martin McDonagh's "The Cripple of Inishmaan."

US and Cuba to resume migration talks

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:35 AM PDT

HAVANA (AP) — The United States and Cuba have agreed to resume bilateral talks on migration issues next month, a State Department official said Wednesday, the latest evidence of a thaw in chilly relations between the Cold War enemies.

World powers to meet on Syrian rebel demands

Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:33 AM PDT

This Tuesday, June 18, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows homes destroyed by Syrian government airstrikes and shelling, in the neighborhood of Sheik Saad, Aleppo, Syria. A group of U.S. Senators want to see the U.S. do more than provide arms to some of the outgunned rebels in the bloody civil war in Syria. Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez and Carl Levin and Republican John McCain say in a joint letter to Obama that the U.S. should consider targeting regime airfields, runways and aircraft, and help rebels establish safe zones in Syria. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)PARIS (AP) — World powers will meet this weekend in Qatar to decide on how to answer a list of requests for help from Syrian rebels, a French diplomat said Wednesday.
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