Pats TE Gronkowski taken off field on cart

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• Pats TE Gronkowski taken off field on cart
• Paris Hilton's brother assaulted at Miami party
• New protests at Egypt's Al-Azhar university
• Internet giants weigh in on defamation lawsuit
• Nasty weather hits several NFL games
• Owens' 1936 Olympic gold fetches $1.4 million
• Sleet, ice, deep freeze hit large swath of US
• Lara Gut earns 4th win of young World Cup season
• Car bomb attacks across Iraq kill at least 39
• Food-tech startups aim to replace eggs and chicken
• Florida St-Auburn title game to usher out BCS era
• Iran, Saudi strategists spar, swap ideas, over Gulf security
• Gay partner benefits growing at Fortune 500 firms
• Ligety leads after 1st GS run, Miller close behind
• Vikings RB Peterson leaves with ankle injury
• Venezuela local vote tests President Maduro's strength
• Protesters fell Lenin statue, tell Ukraine's president 'you're next'
• Owens' Olympic gold medal sells for record $1.4M
• South Africa unites in prayer and song for Mandela
• Vonn shows more progress in 3rd race of comeback
• Jubilation and souvenir-hunting as Lenin felled in Kiev
• Lenin monument toppled as pro-EU protests rage in Kiev
• Mexican Senate committees debate revamped energy reform
• Friend: Mandela not on life support in final hours
• Hagel to visit Pakistan as NATO shipments restart
• U.N. inspectors visit Iranian site linked to nuclear program
• Netanyahu: World powers must demand Iran change 'genocidal' anti-Israel policy
• Central African leader: I can't control fighters
• In 2nd week, 'Frozen' tops box office with $31.6M
• Hagel offers troops rare glimmer of hope on budget
• Presidents, royalty expected for Mandela memorial
• Ukraine sees largest anti-govt protest since 2004
• Bohl says it's time for someone else to coach NDSU
• Deulofeu late show stops Arsenal pulling away
• Billy Joel, 4 others receive Kennedy Center Honors
• No hugs allowed? Madison targets pro cuddlers
• South Africans of all faiths pray for Mandela
• Jesse Owens Olympic gold medal sells for $1.4M
• Democrats wouldn't reject U.S. budget deal over jobless aid: senator
• Connacht stun four-time champions Toulouse

Pats TE Gronkowski taken off field on cart Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:49 PM PST FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has left Sunday's game against Cleveland after being hit on the right leg on a tackle.

Paris Hilton's brother assaulted at Miami party Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:47 PM PST MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say the brother of socialite Paris Hilton was assaulted at a Miami Beach party.

New protests at Egypt's Al-Azhar university Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:39 PM PST CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian police fired tear gas Sunday in an attempt to disperse supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president protesting at the dormitories of an Islamic university in Cairo.

Internet giants weigh in on defamation lawsuit Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:37 PM PST CINCINNATI (AP) — From Twitter and Facebook to Amazon and Google, the biggest names of the Internet are blasting a federal judge's decision to allow a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader's defamation lawsuit against a gossip website to go to trial.

Nasty weather hits several NFL games Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:35 PM PST The NFL often promotes football as a bad weather sport. It got its share early Sunday in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and Pittsburgh.

Owens' 1936 Olympic gold fetches $1.4 million Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:32 PM PST An Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games has sold at auction for $1,466,574, the highest price ever paid for a piece of Olympic memorabilia. SCP Auctions based in Laguna Niguel, California, said the price for the medal in the auction that concluded on Sunday surpassed that of a silver cup won by the winner of the first modern-day Olympic marathon in 1896 that sold for $865,000 in April 2012 and the highest price paid for a US Olympic item -- the "Miracle on Ice" hockey jersey worn by team captain Mike Eruzione - that sold for $657,250 in February of 2013. The auction, including more than 1,000 sports memorabilia items, brought in a total of nearly $4.5 million. With Germany's Adolph Hitler using the Olympics as a backdrop for notions of an aryan master race, US legend Owens famously showed the power of a black athlete by capturing gold in the 100 and 200 meters, the long jump and the 4x100m relay.

Sleet, ice, deep freeze hit large swath of US Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:27 PM PST RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A winter storm delivered a sloppy smorgasbord of snow, freezing rain and sleet to the southern Mid-Atlantic region and other states Sunday, with parts of Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey seeing more than 3 inches of accumulation, making driving dangerous for millions of residents nationwide.

Lara Gut earns 4th win of young World Cup season Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:26 PM PST LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (AP) — Lara Gut of Switzerland won a super-G on Sunday by three-hundredths of a second for her fourth victory of a World Cup season that is only eight races old.

Car bomb attacks across Iraq kill at least 39 Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:26 PM PST By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs killed at least 39 people across Iraq on Sunday and wounded more than 120, mainly targeting busy commercial streets in and around the capital, police sources said. The deadliest attack took place in the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim district of Bayaa in Baghdad, when a bomb in a parked vehicle exploded near car workshops, killing seven and wounding 14, the sources said. An attack on another car workshop in the Sunni district of Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, killed three and wounded 10 after nightfall. Violence in Iraq is at the highest level in at least five years and the capital has been targeted almost daily.

Food-tech startups aim to replace eggs and chicken Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:25 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The startup is housed in a garage-like space in San Francisco's tech-heavy South of Market neighborhood, but it isn't like most of its neighbors that develop software, websites and mobile-phone apps. Its mission is to find plant replacements for eggs.

Florida St-Auburn title game to usher out BCS era Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:22 PM PST As college football prepares for the final Bowl Championship Series, featuring a Florida State-Auburn championship game, it's easy to see why the coming four-team playoff won't solve all the postseason problems.

Iran, Saudi strategists spar, swap ideas, over Gulf security Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:21 PM PST By William Maclean and Yara Bayoumy MANAMA (Reuters) - Invoking religious faith and desert folklore, Gulf Arab officials proclaim wariness about a possible thaw in relations between their ally the United States and regional rival Iran. The exchange at a security forum in Bahrain at the weekend was hardly a meeting of minds, and few expect years of mistrust between Shi'ite regional power Iran and Sunni Muslim-ruled states led by Saudi Arabia to be dispelled in an instant. Listening to it, Harvard scholar and former White House official Gary Samore said he expected forthcoming nuclear talks between Tehran and international powers, most of them allies of the Gulf Arabs, to be "a very protracted and difficult negotiation with uncertain results". But two days of debate between strategists from Iran and Gulf Arab states at the Manama Dialogue, the Gulf's top security conference, produced an unusually open give-and-take, short on vitriol, albeit laced with thinly veiled criticisms.

Gay partner benefits growing at Fortune 500 firms Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:20 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Corporate support for gay and transgender rights is reaching workers in new corners of the country and economy six months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, according to a new report card from the nation's largest LGBT advocacy group.

Ligety leads after 1st GS run, Miller close behind Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:11 PM PST BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) — Shhhh, don't tell Ted Ligety this, Bode Miller playfully warned, but he believes he can beat his American counterpart.

Vikings RB Peterson leaves with ankle injury Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:10 PM PST BALTIMORE (AP) — Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson left Sunday's game against Baltimore with an ankle injury.

Venezuela local vote tests President Maduro's strength Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:07 PM PST By Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelans voted in municipal elections on Sunday that are the biggest political test yet for President Nicolas Maduro as he tries to halt an economic slide and preserve the socialist legacy of his late mentor, Hugo Chavez. The outcome of ballots to choose 337 mayors and around 2,500 councillors will be seen as a sign of Maduro's strength, nine months after Chavez died from cancer and he narrowly beat opposition leader Henrique Capriles to win the presidency. In Caracas shantytowns and elsewhere, pro-Maduro activists woke up supporters before dawn with bugle calls and trumpets in an election mobilization tactic begun under Chavez. "It's important to vote though I don't think it will bring the changes I want," said graphic designer Antonella Gutierrez, 45, on her way to vote at a primary school in a pro-opposition upscale suburb of Caracas nestled under the Avila mountain.

Protesters fell Lenin statue, tell Ukraine's president 'you're next' Posted: 08 Dec 2013 12:01 PM PST By Gareth Jones and Alissa de Carbonnel KIEV (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters toppled a statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine's capital and attacked it with hammers on Sunday in a symbolic challenge to President Viktor Yanukovich and his plans for closer ties with Russia. The gesture rejecting Moscow's historic influence over Ukraine came after opposition leaders told hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on Kiev's Independence Square to keep up pressure on Yanukovich to sack his government.

Owens' Olympic gold medal sells for record $1.4M Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:59 AM PST LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) — An Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games has sold for a record $1.4 million in an online auction.

South Africa unites in prayer and song for Mandela Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:58 AM PST South Africans of all races and religions united in an outpouring of prayer and song for their beloved Nelson Mandela on Sunday, hearing calls to keep his dream of a Rainbow Nation alive. In a statement Mandela's family implored this still deeply scarred nation, and people beyond its shores, to "keep his dream alive." From a Methodist Church in Johannesburg, President Jacob Zuma echoed that sentiment in an impassioned plea. "He preached and practised reconciliation, to make those who had been fighting forgive one another and become one nation," Zuma told a mixed race congregation of more than 1,000 worshippers.

Vonn shows more progress in 3rd race of comeback Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:54 AM PST LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (AP) — Lindsey Vonn showed more progress Sunday in her comeback from major knee surgery and announced she's "ready for Sochi" after finishing an unofficial fifth through 45 racers in a World Cup super-G.

Jubilation and souvenir-hunting as Lenin felled in Kiev Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:48 AM PST The almost seven-decade life of Russian revolution leader Vladimir Lenin's statue in Kiev ended in spectacular fashion, with a half backwards somersault and dive head-first into the ground. As hundreds of thousands protested against the government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and its rejection of a pact with the European Union, some 30 people in masks surrounded the statue in central Kiev. They brandished the blue flags of the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) group indicating they were likely linked to the party, two of whose deputies were also present. Lenin is a figure of hate for Ukrainian nationalists, who accuse him of blocking the dream of an independent Ukraine and repressing Ukrainian language and culture.

Lenin monument toppled as pro-EU protests rage in Kiev Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:39 AM PST Pro-EU Ukrainian protesters on Sunday toppled a statue of the Soviet Union's founder Vladimir Lenin in Kiev after hundreds of thousands massed for a new protest in an increasingly tense standoff with President Viktor Yanukovych's government. The protesters had filled Independence Square in central Kiev and surrounding streets to bursting point to denounce Yanukovych's rejection of an EU pact under Kremlin pressure, in the biggest protests since the 2004 Orange Revolution. "Hang the Commie!" screamed the protesters.

Mexican Senate committees debate revamped energy reform Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:37 AM PST By Alexandra Alper and David Alire Garcia MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Senate committees on Sunday debated an energy bill that would open up the world's 10th-biggest oil producer to private investment by allowing new types of contracts, marking the industry's most dramatic overhaul in 75 years. The bill, announced by centrist ruling party and opposition conservative lawmakers on Saturday, would let private firms partner with ailing state oil firm Pemex via profit-sharing, risk-sharing and service contracts as well as licenses in a bid to boost sagging production. The reform, which would keep ownership of crude in state hands, is at the center of an economic reform drive that President Enrique Pena Nieto hopes will boost lagging growth in Latin America's No. 2 economy. It is much bolder than a draft proposed by Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in August, which would have offered profit-sharing contracts and was considered too tame for attracting private firms.

Friend: Mandela not on life support in final hours Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:34 AM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela wasn't on life support and had many family members and doctors close by in his final hours, a family friend who was at his bedside said Sunday.

Hagel to visit Pakistan as NATO shipments restart Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:32 AM PST NATO shipments from Afghanistan via Pakistan are due to resume after the end of anti-drone protests, officials said, as US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel headed to Islamabad for talks on Monday. Hagel, who has been in Afghanistan since Saturday, will meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the first visit by a Pentagon chief to Pakistan for nearly four years. Ties between Washington and Islamabad have been deeply troubled over US drone strikes targeting suspected militants in Pakistan's tribal belt, while American officials have long accused Islamabad of allowing Afghan Taliban sanctuaries inside its borders.

U.N. inspectors visit Iranian site linked to nuclear program Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:30 AM PST U.N. inspectors visited an Iranian plant on Sunday linked to a planned heavy-water reactor that could yield nuclear bomb fuel, taking up an initial offer by Tehran to open its disputed nuclear program to greater scrutiny. The increased transparency is the result of a thaw in relations between Iran and the West that culminated in a deal struck last month under which Tehran is to curb its nuclear program in return for some easing of sanctions. Iran's heavy water work is a big concern for the West because it could be used in the process of making a nuclear bomb. Tehran says its program is for peaceful purposes.

Netanyahu: World powers must demand Iran change 'genocidal' anti-Israel policy Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:30 AM PST By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged the United States and other world powers to demand that Iran change what he called its "genocidal" anti-Israel policy as part of negotiations with Tehran on a final nuclear deal. Cautioning the international community to "beware" of Iran's intentions, Netanyahu underscored his deep skepticism over an interim deal reached with Iran last month in Geneva and insisted that any long-term accord must bring about the "termination of Iran's military nuclear capability." Netanyahu, speaking via satellite link from Jerusalem, warned a foreign policy forum in Washington: "The jury is still out. Iran is perilously close to crossing the nuclear threshold." U.S. President Barack Obama, addressed the same forum on Saturday and defended diplomacy with Iran but sought to reassure Israelis with a pledge to step up sanctions or prepare for a potential military strike if Tehran fails to abide by the pact.

Central African leader: I can't control fighters Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:29 AM PST BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The rebel-leader-turned-president of Central African Republic acknowledged Sunday that he doesn't have total control over former allies who are accused of killing scores of civilians. He said even "an angel from the sky" could not solve all his country's problems.

In 2nd week, 'Frozen' tops box office with $31.6M Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:24 AM PST NEW YORK (AP) — In its second weekend at the box office, the Disney animated tale "Frozen" finally cooled off "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," while the week's lone new wide-release "Out of the Furnace" wasn't a match for either blockbuster.

Hagel offers troops rare glimmer of hope on budget Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:12 AM PST CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Sunday offered troops a rare glimmer of hope on the department's financial woes, saying a possible budget agreement back home could ease the automatic spending cuts that have hit the military hard.

Presidents, royalty expected for Mandela memorial Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:12 AM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday is poised to be one of the largest such gatherings in generations with tens of thousands of local mourners and dozens of foreign leaders expected.

Ukraine sees largest anti-govt protest since 2004 Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:12 AM PST KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Angry anti-government protesters toppled a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin in the center of Kiev on Sunday and blockaded key government buildings amid huge street protests, raising the stakes in an escalating standoff with President Viktor Yanukovych.

Bohl says it's time for someone else to coach NDSU Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:10 AM PST FARGO, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota State head football coach Craig Bohl says he's taken the program as far as he can and it's time for someone else to take over the helm of the two-time Football Championship Subdivision winners.

Deulofeu late show stops Arsenal pulling away Posted: 08 Dec 2013 11:07 AM PST A fine 84th-minute goal by substitute Gerard Deulofeu earned Everton a 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Sunday that prevented the Premier League leaders from moving seven points clear. Arsenal had taken the lead only four minutes earlier, through Mesut Ozil, but with a handsome advantage beckoning, on-loan Barcelona forward Deulofeu smashed home to earn his side the point that their endeavour deserved. Having seen Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United drop points on Saturday, Arsenal are nonetheless five points clear of Liverpool and Chelsea ahead of their trip to City next weekend.

Billy Joel, 4 others receive Kennedy Center Honors Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:59 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The "Piano Man" who became one of the world's best-selling artists of all time with such hits as "Just the Way You Are," ''Uptown Girl" and "Allentown" is being awarded the nation's highest honor Sunday for influencing American culture through the arts.

No hugs allowed? Madison targets pro cuddlers Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:54 AM PST MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's ultra-liberal capital city is a place where just about anything goes, from street parties to naked bike rides. But city officials say a business is pushing even Madison's boundaries by offering, of all things, hugs.

South Africans of all faiths pray for Mandela Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:45 AM PST CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — In death, Nelson Mandela unified South Africans of all races and backgrounds Sunday on a day of prayer for the global statesman — from a vaulted cathedral with hymns and incense to a rural, hilltop church with goat-skin drums and barefoot dancing.

Jesse Owens Olympic gold medal sells for $1.4M Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:30 AM PST LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) — An Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games has sold for a record $1.4 million in an online auction.

Democrats wouldn't reject U.S. budget deal over jobless aid: senator Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:28 AM PST By Caren Bohan and Aruna Viswanatha WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democrat said on Sunday he hoped an emerging deal on the U.S. budget would include an extension of unemployment benefits but added that his party would not necessarily walk away from an agreement that left it out. "I don't think we've reached that point where we've said, 'This is it, take it or leave it,'" Senator Richard Durbin told the ABC program "This Week," when pressed on whether his party would insist on including jobless aid in a final deal. Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said that based on what he has heard from Senator Patty Murray, the lead Democratic negotiator on the budget, the fiscal talks are making progress and moving in the right direction. The House of Representatives and Senate budget panel, created after the government shutdown in October, is discussing a two-year accord that would ease the impact of across-the-board spending cuts known as the "sequester" and lower the near-term risk of another damaging fiscal showdown.

Connacht stun four-time champions Toulouse Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:25 AM PST Irish province Connacht produced perhaps the greatest upset in the history of the European Cup on Sunday in beating four-time champions Toulouse 16-14 in France to round off a weekend which saw all four Irish sides win. Connacht, who had lost 10 successive matches since recording their only win of the season over Italian side Zebre in the European Cup opening pool game, had former Scotland fly-half Dan Parks to thank largely for their success as he scored 11 points. Sterling defence also played a role after a try by their scrum-half Kieran Marmion in the 47th minute, set up by a brilliant offload by Robbie Henshaw, restored the lead they had held for most of the first-half. Toulouse, who got back into the game with a try by France captain Thierry Dusautoir 15 minutes from time, did manage to come away with a bonus point to put them level on points with table-topping Saracens.

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