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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

NY bus driver saves woman from jumping off bridge

NY bus driver saves woman from jumping off bridge

NY bus driver saves woman from jumping off bridge

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:41 PM PDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A bus driver is being hailed as a hero for preventing a woman from jumping off a bridge over a Buffalo highway.

In Iraq, Sunni attacks spark Shiite calls to arms

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:41 PM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — The wave of attacks by al-Qaida-led Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis this year, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense.

Obama to cite Mass. health care law's slow start

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:40 PM PDT

President Barack Obama is greeted by well-wishers as he arrives at Boston Logan Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before going to Faneuil Hall to speak about the federal health care law. Faneuil Hall is where former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Obama's rival in the 2012 presidential election, signed the state's landmark health care law in 2006, with top Democrats standing by his side. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is citing the Massachusetts health care system's slow start to keep expectations low for early sign-ups for his own overhaul. And he's pointing to the bipartisan effort to get the program launched in Massachusetts to encourage his opponents to stop rooting for his law's failure.

After Boston, police tighten NYC Marathon security

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:39 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Runners in the New York City Marathon who make it to the finish line will celebrate amid tighter security than ever.

Brazilian oil giant OGX files for bankruptcy

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:39 PM PDT

The headquarters of Brazilian oil firm OGX, seen with its windows broken by protestors, in downtown Rio de Janeiro on October 1, 2013Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista's OGX oil firm on Wednesday filed for bankruptcy protection to avert default after debt-restructuring talks with creditors failed, a court spokeswoman said. "The company filed its request for bankruptcy protection this afternoon," said a spokeswoman for the court in Rio, where OGX is based. Credit rating agency Moody's said that with OGX's debts of up to $5.4 billion, it would be the biggest bankruptcy protection process in Latin America since 1990. Four weeks ago, OGX, once the jewel in the crown of Batista's flagging EBX empire, opted to forego a $44.5 million interest payment to its international creditors, precipitating the current crisis.

Neighbors says Nev. school shooter had good family

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:37 PM PDT

Students return to Sparks Middle School on Monday morning, Oct. 28, 2013, for the first time since Oct. 21, when a 12-year-old student gunned down a teacher and wounded two classmates before killing himself. Friends added a rememberence of the shooter, Jose Reyes, at a makeshift memorial also honoring the fallen math teacher and ex-Marine Michael Landsberry. Police don't know why seventh grader Jose Reyes killed 45-year-old Michael Landsberry and shot two 12-year-old boys before turning the handgun on himself. AP Photo/Scott Sonner)SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — A couple who lived next door to the seventh-grader who killed his teacher and shot two classmates outside their Nevada middle school before committing suicide says he was a well-behaved boy from a "wonderful" family.

South Africa game park becoming memorial site

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:37 PM PDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Visitors to South Africa's biggest game park might see more than wild animals these days. Many people are choosing to scatter the ashes of their loved ones in the reserve, and authorities want to curb the custom.

Say goodbye, A.I. Iverson retires from NBA

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:32 PM PDT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Say goodbye, A.I.

Obama in Boston on World Series day, stays neutral

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:31 PM PDT

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, left, gives President Barack Obama a Boston Red Sox cap as he arrives at Boston Logan Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before going to Faneuil Hall to speak about the federal health care law. Massachusetts Mayor Deval Patrick is at right. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama came to town on World Series game day but he's avoiding the crowds at Fenway Park.

Israel plans more than 1,500 new settlement homes

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:30 PM PDT

Released Palestinian prisoner, Omar Masoud, 40, left, who was arrested in May 1993, for killing an Israeli lawyer is greeted by his neighbor at his family's house in Shati Refugee Camp, Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners early Wednesday, the second of four batches to be released as part of a deal that set in motion the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel announced plans Wednesday to build more than 1,500 homes in Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, dealing a setback to newly relaunched peace efforts hours after it had freed a group of long-serving Palestinian prisoners.

Marvin Gaye's children sue over 'Blurred Lines'

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:27 PM PDT

FILE - This Aug. 1, 2013 file photo shows R&B singer-songwriter Robin Thicke in New York. Two of Marvin Gaye's children, Nona and Frankie Gaye, countersued Thicke and his collaborators on the hit song "Blurred Lines" on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Los Angeles claiming the singers improperly copied their father's hit "Got to Give It Up." (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP, File)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two of Marvin Gaye's children have countersued Robin Thicke and his collaborators on the hit "Blurred Lines" for copyright infringement.

Graham to block Fed, Homeland picks over Benghazi

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:26 PM PDT

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2013, file photo, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Graham threatened Monday, Oct. 28, to hold up all nominations for federal government positions until survivors of last year's deadly attack on the diplomatic post in Libya appear before Congress. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator said Wednesday he would block President Barack Obama's nominees for Federal Reserve chairman and Homeland Security chief in a dispute over last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Fed leaves low interest-rate policies unchanged

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:26 PM PDT

The decision of the Federal Reserve appears on a television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. The Fed says in a statement after a two-day policy meeting that it will keep buying $85 billion a month in bonds to keep long-term interest rates low and encourage more borrowing and spending. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says the U.S. economy still needs support from its low interest-rate policies because it is growing only moderately.

GM hints at dividend, stock buyback on 3Q profit

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:23 PM PDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013, file photo, General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson addresses an Inforum-sponsored event as part of the Detroit Regional Chamber's 2013 Michigan Automotive Summit at Cobo Center in Detroit. General Motors reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)DETROIT (AP) — Another solid quarterly performance at General Motors brought the strongest talk yet of the automaker paying a dividend for the first time in five years, or perhaps buying back stock.

Fed maintains strong stimulus as U.S. growth stumbles

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:21 PM PDT

The facade of the U.S. Federal Reserve building is reflected on wet marble during the early morning hours in WashingtonBy Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve extended its support for a slowing U.S. economy on Wednesday, sounding a bit less optimistic about growth and saying it will keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month for the time being. In announcing the widely expected decision, Fed officials nodded to weaker economic prospects due in part to a fiscal fight in Washington that shuttered much of the government for 16 days earlier this month. The central bank noted that the recovery in the housing market had lost some steam and suggested some frustration at how slowly the labor market was healing. "Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth." The Fed's statement differed only slightly from the economic assessment it delivered after it last meeting in September, and the reaction in financial markets was relatively subdued.

Search for dark matter comes up empty so far

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:19 PM PDT

In this Oct. 29, 2013 photo, physicist Dan McKinsey of Yale University explains an experiment being conducted deep in an abandoned gold mine in Lead, S.D., to search for elusive and mysterious dark matter. In an announcement released Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, scientists at the Sanford Underground Research Facility say they found absolutely no evidence of dark matter in what is the most technologically advanced Earth-based search for the material that has mass but cannot be seen. They'll keep looking for another year, but scientists were not optimistic about finding dark matter with the current setup and are already planning to build a more sensitive experiment on the site. (AP Photo/Rapid City Journal, Kristina Barker)LEAD, S.D. (AP) — Nearly a mile underground in an abandoned gold mine, one of the most important quests in physics has come up empty-handed in the search for the elusive substance known as dark matter, scientists announced Wednesday.

UN: US says it doesn't, and won't, spy on UN

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:13 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations said Wednesday it has received assurances from the U.S. government that U.N. communications networks "are not and will not be monitored" by American intelligence agencies.

U.S. private hiring slows, inflation stays muted

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:13 PM PDT

Man holds a pamphlet handed out by a recruiter while attending a job fair in New YorkThe slowdown in private job growth was the latest signal that the labor market has taken a step back in recent months and the clearest indication yet that a 16-day federal government shutdown weighed on economic activity. FED TO STAY THE COURSE FOR A WHILE The weak labor market picture and benign inflation environment should allow the Fed to stay the course on its monthly bond purchases for a while as it tries to stimulate the economy through low interest rates.

Lawmakers meeting in hopes of limited budget deal

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:09 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top negotiators on the budget maintained a conciliatory tone and promised Wednesday to genuinely try to find agreement to spare both the Pentagon and domestic agencies from automatic, indiscriminate spending cuts that are the price for Washington's repeated failures to strike a fiscal accord.

Stocks fall after Fed says US still needs support

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:08 PM PDT

Specialist Frank Masiello works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. Stocks are mixed in early trading on Wall Street Wednesday as investors wait to hear what the Federal Reserve says about the future of its massive economic stimulus program. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market retreated from all-time highs Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy still needed help from its stimulus program.

Singer Daltrey plays Capitol to honor Churchill

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:05 PM PDT

Performer Roger Daltrey poses in front of a bust of Winston Churchill before a ceremony to dedicate the bust in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress honored Winston Churchill with a bust and a performance by another famous Briton, The Who's Roger Daltrey.

Little boy sits in pope's chair, steals the show

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:04 PM PDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis was delivering a homily but a little boy stole the show.

Murdoch editors must have known of phone hacking, court hears

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:03 PM PDT

Murdoch, News Corp. and 21st Century Fox CEO, arrives at annual Allen and Co. conference at Sun ValleyBy Michael Holden and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Rebekah Brooks, a former top editor, and Andy Coulson, Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief, oversaw a system of phone-hacking and illegal payments when they ran Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids, a London court heard at the start of their trial on Wednesday. Setting out the prosecution case, Andrew Edis said Brooks was linked to both phone-hacking that ruined the tabloid News of the World and the practice of paying public officials for stories at its sister newspaper, the Sun. Brooks, 45, later ran Murdoch's British newspaper division from 2009 to 2011.

HIV-like virus suppressed in monkey experiment

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:02 PM PDT

This Feb. 3, 2012 microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) budding out of a human immune cell, which the virus infects and uses to replicate. Doctors may one day be able to control a patient's HIV infection in a new way: injecting swarms of germ-fighting antibodies, two new studies suggest. Reports by Dr. Dan Barouch of Harvard and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the National Institutes of Health were published Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013 in the journal Nature. (AP Photo/NIAID)NEW YORK (AP) — Doctors may one day be able to control a patient's HIV infection in a new way: injecting swarms of germ-fighting antibodies, two new studies suggest.

Banksy alters painting, donates it to NYC charity

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:02 PM PDT

This undated photo provided by Housing Works shows a painting, which includes an addition to the scene by the secretive British graffiti artist Banksy. After buying a painting of a pastoral scene for $50, Banksy donated it back to the Housing Works thrift shop in New York where he bought it— but only after reworking it, adding a Nazi soldier to the scene. The 23rd Street Housing Works store is auctioning the painting. By Wednesday morning, Oct. 30, 2013, bidding reached $211,000. (AP Photo/Housing Works)NEW YORK (AP) — The secretive British graffiti artist Banksy is at it again.

6 people shot dead in SC domestic dispute

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:02 PM PDT

Map locates Greenwood County, S.C.; 1c x 2 inches; 46.5 mm x 50 mm;GREENWOOD, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man in a custody dispute with a onetime girlfriend broke into her parents' home and fatally shot the woman, her parents and two children, the sheriff said. The man then killed himself.

Social Security benefits to go up by 1.5 percent

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:01 PM PDT

This undated handout image provided by the Social Security Administration shows a prepaid MasterCard debit card that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients who do not have bank accounts have the option of getting with their benefits instead of a paper check. The annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is based on a government measure of inflation that will be released Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Social Security Administration)WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security benefits will rise 1.5 percent in January, giving millions of retired and disabled workers an average raise of $19 a month to keep up with the cost of living.

US taps links to Google, Yahoo data centers: report

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:59 AM PDT

The US National Security Agency has tapped into key communications links from Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, the Washington Post reportsThe US National Security Agency has tapped into key communications links from Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The Post, citing documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with officials, said the program can collect data at will from hundreds of millions of user accounts, including from Americans. The report said the program dubbed MUSCULAR, operated jointly with NSA's British counterpart GCHQ, indicated that the agencies can intercept data flows from the fiber-optic cables used by the US Internet giants. A graphic in the document suggested that the interception at Google came at a point between the public Internet and Google "cloud" servers.

EU spying backlash threatens billions in US trade

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:58 AM PDT

FILE - This is a Friday, May 18, 2012 file photo of President Barack Obama, right, greets President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso on Barroso's arrival for the G8 Summit at Camp David, Md. The backlash in Europe over U.S. spying is threatening an agreement that generates tens of billions of dollars in trans-Atlantic business every year _ and negotiations on another pact worth many times more. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)BRUSSELS (AP) — The backlash in Europe over U.S. spying is threatening an agreement that generates tens of billions of dollars in trans-Atlantic business every year — and negotiations on another pact worth many times more.

Fed maintains stimulus, says govt policy hits growth

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:57 AM PDT

A police officer guards the Federal Reserve building on September 10, 2011 in Washington, DCThe US Federal Reserve kept its stimulus program in place as expected Wednesday, but reiterated the government's fiscal policy is a drag on the economy. In their first meeting since the government shutdown at the beginning of October, Fed policy makers made no reference to the potential impact that laying off hundreds of thousands of workers for 16 days might have on the economy. Nor did the Federal Open Market Committee hint at the direction of future policy, amid widespread anticipation over when it might rein in the $85 billion a month stimulus. Instead, after a month of mostly dull and inconsistent data -- much of it delayed and skewed by the shutdown -- the FOMC stressed the need to see more evidence of sustained progress in the economy before tapering the stimulus.

AP PHOTOS: Military ever-present in Israeli life

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:54 AM PDT

In this photo taken Tuesday, April 16, 2013, an Israeli family gathers for barbeque next to an old Nord military transport aircraft to celebrate Israel's 65th independence day, in the Defender's Forest near Kibbutz Nahshon, central Israel. The aircraft is placed as a monument for fallen soldiers from the parachute brigade. During Israel's 65-year history, the military has fought a half-dozen wars and carried out countless operations, and army service remains compulsory for most Jewish Israelis. Even in peacetime, the military's influence seems to be felt everywhere, with uniformed soldiers seen at bus stations and shopping malls, and war memorials peppering the country.(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)JERUSALEM (AP) — In its 65 years, Israel's military has fought a half-dozen wars, assassinated enemies, enforced an occupation of the West Bank and faced waves of suicide bombings and rocket attacks in its major cities.

Celebrity-store partnerships run risks

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:53 AM PDT

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2007, file photo, recording artist Jay-Z performs at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. Rap artist Jay-Z has said he's been unfairly NEW YORK (AP) — When big-name celebrities pair up with big businesses, customers often believe the adage: You are the company you keep.

Instant View: Fed says financial conditions looser than September

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:50 AM PDT

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve extended its support for a slowing U.S. economy on Wednesday, saying it will keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month for the time being. KEY POINTS: * In announcing the widely expected decision, Fed officials nodded to a weaker growth outlook due in part to a fiscal fight in Washington that shuttered much of the government for 16 days earlier this month. * "Available data suggest that household spending and business fixed investment advanced, while the recovery in the housing sector slowed somewhat in recent months," the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said. "Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth." COMMENTS: DAVE RODA, REGIONAL CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER FOR WELLS FARGO PRIVATE BANK IN MIAMI: "It was not outside expectations.

CEO of drug maker Teva out ahead job cuts

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:49 AM PDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 file photo, trucks run past Teva Pharmaceutical Logistic Center in the town of Shoam, Israel. The chief executive of Israeli company Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has resigned following a public uproar over a contentious restructuring plan set to cut thousands of jobs worldwide, Teva said Wednesday, Oct. 30. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli drug manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced Wednesday its CEO had resigned, following a public uproar over a contentious restructuring plan set to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.

More study urged on concussions in young athletes

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:46 AM PDT

FILE - This Aug. 4, 2012 file photo shows new football helmets that were given to a group of youth football players from the Akron Parents Pee Wee Football League, in Akron, Ohio. It's not just football. A new report says too little is known about concussion risks for young athletes, and it's not clear whether better headgear is an answer. The panel stresses wearing proper safety equipment. But it finds little evidence that current helmet designs, face masks and other gear really prevent concussions, as ads often claim. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — No one knows how often the youngest athletes suffer concussions. It's not clear if better headgear is the answer, and it's not just a risk in football.

Concerns raised about security of health website

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:46 AM PDT

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius gestures while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The Obama Administration claims the botched rollout was the result of contractors failing to live up to expectations – not bad management at HHS. As the public face of President Barack Obama's signature health care program, Sec. Sebelius has become the target for attacks over its botched rollout with Republicans, and even some Democrats, calling for her to resign. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON (AP) — Defending President Barack Obama's much-maligned health care overhaul in Congress, his top health official was confronted Wednesday with a government memo raising new security concerns about the trouble-prone website that consumers are using to enroll.

Daughter: Nanny went to father's bedroom at night

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:46 AM PDT

Gypsy Willis arrives at court Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, in Provo, Utah. The mistress of Martin MacNeill was at his murder trial Tuesday as prosecutors try to prove she was MacNeill's motive for leaving his heavily drugged wife to die in a bathtub. Prosecutors say they will press Gypsy Willis on what she knows about Michele MacNeill's 2007 death. Willis traded text messages with the doctor 30 times that day, she acknowledged Friday before the trial broke for a long weekend. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)PROVO, Utah (AP) — Two daughters of a Utah doctor accused of killing his wife says that soon after her death, he hired his mistress as a nanny and she did not cook or take care of the children but went to his bedroom at night.

Earth-size planet found with rocky core like ours

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:43 AM PDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have found a planet way out in the cosmos that's close in size and content to Earth — an astronomical first.

3 UK journalists plead guilty to phone hacking

Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:40 AM PDT

Newspapers and magazines are displayed on sale at a stand in London, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. Britain's press is going to court in a bid to stop the imposition of new rules developed after the country's phone hacking scandal. Officials are working to create a body which would subject Britain's newspapers and magazines to a government-backed watchdog insulated from media owners and publishers. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)LONDON (AP) — A prosecutor said Wednesday that there was "a conspiracy which involved a significant number of people" to hack phones at the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World, revealing that three senior journalists at the now-defunct newspaper have pleaded guilty to illegally eavesdropping on voicemails.
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