| Report: Marine shooter had suffered brain injury Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:27 PM PST  McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A military investigation has found that a Marine who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and a colleague before killing himself at the Quantico Marine Corps base should have received better psychological care.
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| 5 things to know about ruling on Utah bigamy law Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:26 PM PST  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A landmark ruling from a federal judge in Utah striking down key parts of the state's polygamy laws handed a legal victory to polygamist families across the state — but the battle might not be over.
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| Russia: Aug. 21 Syria chemical attack was 'staged' Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:22 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia on Monday lashed out at the U.S. and its allies on the U.N. Security Council over who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria this year. |
| US stocks up sharply at close Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:20 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Corporate deals and fresh evidence of a stronger economy are giving the stock market a jolt.
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| Wave of attacks kill 65 people in Iraq Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:19 PM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — A double car bombing and a shooting killed 34 Shiite Muslims on pilgrimage in Iraq on Monday, the deadliest in a wave of attacks across the country that left at least 65 dead. It was the bloodiest day of violence in nearly two months.
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| 28-year sentence in Ohio in $100M charity scam Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:18 PM PST CLEVELAND (AP) — A man convicted of masterminding a $100 million, cross-country Navy veterans charity fraud was sentenced to 28 years in prison Monday. |
| Ryan O'Neal, university make final pitch to jury Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:17 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury should honor Farrah Fawcett's wishes and force Ryan O'Neal to hand over a portrait of the late actress done by Andy Warhol to the University of Texas at Austin, a lawyer for the school argued Monday.
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| Outgoing GM CEO: Taxpayers gained on bailout Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:17 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Retiring General Motors CEO Dan Akerson says the government bailout of his company was a net gain for taxpayers — even though they lost $10.5 billion in the deal.
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| Bernanke: Bold actions critical in Fed's 100 years Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:16 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Joined by his two predecessors, Ben Bernanke marked the 100th anniversary of the Federal Reserve by reflecting on the bold actions past chairmen have had to take in the best interest of the U.S. economy.
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| Israel, Lebanon move to ease tensions Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:16 PM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Lebanon on Monday rushed to ease tensions following a deadly border skirmish that left one Israeli soldier dead, with the enemy countries holding a face-to-face meeting with U.N. peacekeepers and pledging their commitment to a seven-year-old cease-fire.
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| National Finals Rodeo may move to Florida in 2015 Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:16 PM PST LAS VEGAS (AP) — The National Finals Rodeo is planning to leave Las Vegas for Florida after 29 years, depriving Sin City of an event that brings nearly $100 million in economic impact annually as thousands of cowboys and rodeo fans descend on the city each December. |
| Google deal adds to company's robotics toolbox Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:10 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google may build robots that resemble props in science-fiction movies as the ambitious Internet company expands into yet another technological frontier. |
| U.S. judge rules phone surveillance program is likely unlawful Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:09 PM PST  By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's gathering of Americans' phone records is likely unlawful, a judge ruled on Monday and ordered the suspension of the collection of data on two phone company customers who sued the Obama administration. In a significant challenge to U.S. spying authority, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington D.C. wrote that the government's program likely violated Americans' right to be free of unreasonable searches. The U.S. Department of Justice was reviewing the ruling. The judge ordered the government to stop collecting data about two Verizon Communications Inc customers who had sued.
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| Moscow: missiles in western Russia legitimate Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:08 PM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — Lithuania expressed concern on Monday about signals that Russia has deployed state-of-the-art missiles in a territory that borders the NATO countries of Lithuania and Poland.
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| Egypt students clash with police at university Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:08 PM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security forces fought pitched street battles with dozens of university students outside their Cairo campus Monday, firing tear gas to disperse rock-throwing protesters and prevent their rally from reaching the nearby defense ministry.
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| Chile's Bachelet promises reforms after landslide election win Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:06 PM PST  By Anthony Esposito SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Center-leftist Michelle Bachelet set the stage for the formation of her Cabinet on Monday, a day after sweeping back to power with a huge majority in presidential elections on promises of major tax and education reforms to redress Chile's social divisions. Bachelet won with about 62 percent support, the highest share of votes for any presidential candidate since the country returned to holding democratic elections in 1989. Sunday's landslide victory against Evelyn Matthei, the sharp-tongued conservative candidate of the governing coalition, puts Bachelet back in the Moneda presidential palace after a four-year gap and gives her a mandate to push for an education overhaul and the fiscal reforms to help pay for it. Attention now turns to the details of her program, the bargaining she will need to push reforms through a possibly thorny Congress and which of her colleagues will be appointed as the ministers who can help deliver.
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| Tenn. Sen.'s fired chief of staff ordered freed Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:06 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The fired chief of staff for Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander will live with his parents in Maryland and be electronically monitored while he awaits prosecution on charges of possession and attempted distribution of child pornography.
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| Oil above $97 on Europe hopes, Libyan disruption Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:05 PM PST The price of oil rose above $97 a barrel Monday after new signals that Europe's economy is on the mend and the ongoing closure of export terminals in Libya. |
| Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $586 million Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:03 PM PST  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot has been boosted to $586 million.
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| Car bombs hit Shiite pilgrims as Iraq unrest kills 68 Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:03 PM PST  Car bombs ripped through Shiite pilgrims near Baghdad while militants attacked a city council headquarters and a police station, as Iraq-wide violence killed at least 68 people Monday, officials said. The killing of the pilgrims underscored the danger of sectarian violence in Iraq, while the attacks on the city council and police station in Salaheddin province showed the impunity with which militants can strike even targets that should be highly secure.
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| Season finale sets viewing records for 'Homeland' Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:02 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — The climactic season finale of Showtime's "Homeland" has recorded some of the drama's best viewership numbers.
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| Yearwood, McBride cancel SeaWorld concerts Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:01 PM PST ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — More entertainers have canceled their appearances at SeaWorld Orlando following the recent release of a documentary that raises questions about the effects of captivity on whales. |
| Bomb scare forces Harvard to evacuate, cancel exams Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:01 PM PST  A bomb scare forced Harvard University to evacuate four buildings, call in police and disrupt final exams at the elite US university in the northeastern town of Cambridge on Monday. Harvard tweeted that there had been "NO reports of explosions" but police were immediately scrambled to the sprawling, snowy campus where witnesses tweeted of helicopters circling overhead. "I am relieved to report that no suspicious devices were found," said Harvard executive vice president Katie Lapp. Lapp said that police, local, state and federal agencies were investigating who may have been responsible for the apparent hoax.
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| Family: Make Iran talks contingent on Levinson aid Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration should make any diplomatic agreement with Iran contingent on Tehran's help finding missing CIA contractor Robert Levinson, a lawyer for his family said Monday. |
| Herbalife shares soar on re-audit results Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:59 PM PST Herbalife says a re-audit of more than three years of its financial results found no material changes to its prior financial statements. |
| UN makes record funding appeal for Syria Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:58 PM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — The exodus of millions of people from Syria in one of the largest refugee flights in decades is pushing neighboring countries to a breaking point, and thousands of lives are threatened with the onset of a bitter winter.
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| A look at recent major humanitarian crises Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:58 PM PST  GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s top official for refugees says nearly nine million Syrians have been uprooted from their homes by the civil war there, making Syria's humanitarian crisis among the worst in decades and "probably the most dangerous for global peace and security" since World War II.
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| Police: Republic of Congo officer in custody Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:57 PM PST BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — The center of Republic of Congo's capital was on lockdown Monday after security forces surrounded the home of a high-ranking officer who had been accused of plotting a coup. Armored personnel carriers blocked the road to his house and a military helicopter circled overhead as a blaze of heavy gunfire was heard. |
| Work resumes at Brazil World Cup venue after fatality Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:45 PM PST  Manaus (Brazil) (AFP) - Work on the World Cup stadium in Manaus partially resumed Monday following a two-day shutdown after the death of a construction worker, prosecutors said. The local prosecutor's office ordered an immediate halt to work on the venue on Saturday after the 22-year-old worker became the second fatality at the venue this year. The latest tragedy followed hot on the heels of a double fatality at another new stadium, in Sao Paulo, which will host the June 12 World Cup opening game between hosts Brazil and Croatia. On Saturday, the Manaus prosecutor's office warned main site contractor Andrade Gutierrez it faced a daily fine of 100,000 reais ($45,000) if it did not fully comply with judicial worker safety regulations.
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| Feds grant Navy permit for sonar training Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:44 PM PST  SAN DIEGO (AP) — Environmental organizations filed a lawsuit Monday against the National Marine Fisheries Service to demand it force the Navy to consider alternatives to its five-year plan that will intensify its sonar use off Southern California and Hawaii.
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| AIG sells aircraft leasing wing to focus on insurance Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:43 PM PST  Insurer American International Group Inc said on Monday it will sell its aircraft-leasing business to AerCap Holdings NV for $5.4 billion, after four years of trying to divest its biggest non-insurance business in fits and starts. The insurer, which was nearly wiped out by derivative bets during the financial crisis, put International Lease Finance Corp on the block after receiving a $182 billion government bailout package in 2008. AIG repaid the rest of the money owed to the U.S. Treasury in March, but still wanted sell ILFC as part of its efforts to focus on insurance. As part of the cash and stock deal, AIG will end up holding a nearly 46 percent stake in AerCap for at least nine months after the deal closes.
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| US stocks rise on signs of stronger economy Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:43 PM PST  Stocks broke through a slump and posted strong gains on Monday, powered by two big corporate deals and a report that suggests the economy is getting stronger.
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| N. Korea troops pledge loyalty en masse as Seoul on alert Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:38 PM PST  North Korean troops pledged Monday to defend leader Kim Jong-Un with their lives after his uncle was executed for an alleged plot, as South Korea put its forces on alert for any "reckless provocations". The mass rally in Pyongyang came ahead of Tuesday's second anniversary of the death of longtime leader Kim Jong-Il, whose sudden demise thrust his young son Jong-Un to the helm of the secretive state. Kim has apparently been trying to demonstrate his firm grip on power following the shock execution Thursday of his uncle Jang Song-Thaek. The deadly purge prompted both Seoul and Washington to warn that vigilance is needed against any surprises by the nuclear-armed regime.
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| US scholars endorse academic boycott of Israel Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:31 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — The American Studies Association has become the largest U.S. group of scholars to approve a boycott of Israeli universities. |
| US oil ouput to surge to 9.6 mn bd by 2016 Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:29 PM PST  US oil production will continue its surge to hit a record 9.6 million barrels a day in 2016, the US Energy Department said Monday in its annual forecast. Riding the gains in production from "tight" oil -- such as shale reserves tapped by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, US crude output will add another 800,000 barrels a day over the next two years, the department's Energy Information Administration said. Natural gas production is expected to continue to surge mainly from fracking-based exploration, with the EIA predicting a rise of 56 percent between 2012 and 2040. The forecast "shows that advanced technologies for crude oil and natural gas production are continuing to increase domestic supply and reshape the US energy economy as well as expand the potential for US natural gas exports," EIA administrator Adam Sieminski said in a statement.
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| Saudi passes anti-terror law, banning defamation Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:25 PM PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia's Cabinet approved on Monday a new anti-terrorism draft law that criminalizes acts that disturb public order, defame the reputation of the state or threaten the kingdom's unity, raising concerns by activists it could be used to quash political dissent. |
| Correction: A Doctor's Legacy story Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:24 PM PST NORTH MIAMI, Fla. (AP) — In a Dec. 15 story about a doctor who has spent his life working to provide better health care to the Haitian community, The Associated Press erroneously referred to AIDS as an autoimmune disease. AIDS is a disease that weakens the immune system, gradually destroying the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers. It is caused by human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. |
| In echo of Bush, Cameron says mission accomplished in Afghanistan Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:23 PM PST  By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday that British troops could leave Afghanistan next year with a sense of having accomplished their mission, despite worries about the ongoing Taliban insurgency, drug cultivation and human rights abuses. British media compared his comments to a banner bearing the words "Mission Accomplished" that was strung across the bridge of an American aircraft carrier in 2003 for a speech about the Iraq war by former U.S. president George W. Bush. During a pre-Christmas visit to British soldiers in southern Afghanistan, Cameron was asked if they would be able to return home with the message "mission accomplished" after 12 years of fighting. "That is the mission, that was the mission and I think we will have accomplished that mission." Cameron's critics said the words were misguided, given the widespread concerns over Afghan security, the drugs trade, human rights and allegations of corruption under the governance of President Hamid Karzai.
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| EU offers 'unprecedented' aid to help Israeli-Palestinian talks Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:18 PM PST  The European Union promised Israel and the Palestinians better access to European markets and "unprecedented" political and economic aid as an incentive to push them into resolving their decades-old conflict. Shrugging off gloomy predictions of failure, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week the Israelis and the Palestinians remained committed to peace talks and were on course to wrap up a deal by the end of April. To support a deal, the EU would offer closer cultural and scientific links and trade and investment support, EU foreign ministers said in a statement on Monday. "Current talks represent a unique opportunity which must be seized by both parties." The EU is already the biggest aid donor to the Palestinian authority and Israel's biggest economic partner, accounting for almost a third of its exports and imports.
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| Memorial for wounded Colorado student growing Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:15 PM PST  CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Support and concern for a 17-year-old girl critically wounded by a fellow student at a suburban Denver high school poured in Monday, both online and at a makeshift memorial at the school.
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