| U.S. expedites delivery of missiles, drones to Iraq amid violence Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:12 PM PST  The United States has delivered dozens of Hellfire air-to-ground missiles to Iraq in recent weeks and plans shipments of Scan Eagle drones next year amid a surge in violence, U.S. officials said on Thursday, a day after at least 34 people died in Christmas day bomb attacks in Baghdad. Al Qaeda-linked militants have stepped up attacks on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government and anyone seen to be supporting it. The United Nations estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed in attacks in Iraq this year. A U.S. official said that about 75 Hellfire missiles were delivered to Iraq last week, earlier than originally envisioned, and a shipment of 10 unmanned Scan Eagles surveillance drones is due next year.
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| Murray shrugs off defeat in UAE return Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:11 PM PST  Andy Murray's return to action after a three-month injury lay-off ended in a straight sets defeat to France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Mudabala World Tennis Championship on Thursday. The Wimbledon champion and world number four went down 7-5, 6-3 to 10th-ranked Tsonga on the opening day of the three-day exhibition tournament.
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| Small jet makers see big chance as China prepares to open skies Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:07 PM PST  By Fang Yan and Matthew Miller BEIJING (Reuters) - Ferraris and Rolls-Royces have become common sights in China's cities as a new class of super-rich indulge a growing appetite for luxury, but tight regulation has meant the private jet, the ultimate status symbol of the global elite, remains rare. Recent rules changes, however, indicate that China is preparing to open its skies to private aircraft, in a move that may herald the greatest expansion of business and private aviation in the last 30 years. Last month, China's aviation regulator simplified flight approval procedures for private aircraft and lowered the threshold for obtaining a private pilot license. More importantly, the implementation of little-noticed guidelines issued by China's State Council and the Central Military Commission in 2010 will gradually lift the ceiling for low-flying aircraft by 2020.
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| Snow slows Maine power work; Mich. effort ongoing Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:07 PM PST  GARDINER, Maine (AP) — Snow fell Thursday in places still hustling to get power back on after a weekend ice storm that turned out the lights from Michigan to Maine and into Canada.
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| Obama signs bipartisan budget deal easing cuts Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:05 PM PST HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed a bipartisan budget bill easing automatic spending cuts over two years, marking a modest end to a challenging year for the White House and Congress. |
| Better news on US job market sends stocks higher Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:05 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are higher in quiet trading on Wall Street as traders return from the Christmas holiday.
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| Turkey graft probe blocked as defiant PM digs in Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:05 PM PST  Ankara (AFP) - A graft probe that has shaken Turkey's government to its core and threatened Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule has been blocked, a prosecutor alleged Thursday.
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| Amazon to compensate customers for late gifts Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:03 PM PST  Amazon Thursday said it would give $20 gift cards and pay shipping costs for customers affected by problems at UPS and FedEx that delayed some Christmas package deliveries. The Amazon pledge came after UPS in particular came under fire for late packages despite vows from retailers to meet a December 25 deadline. Some customers took to Twitter to voice their displeasure, likening one or both delivery giants to the "Grinch who stole Christmas." Amazon pointed the finger squarely at the delivery companies.
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| France jobless rise despite Hollande vow to buck trend Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:55 PM PST  Labour Minister Michel Sapin claimed President Francois Hollande's pledge to curb growing joblessness by the year's end was still on track, if part-time and short-term workers were not counted in the total number of jobseekers. But Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front party, accused Hollande's government of trying to claim a reduced unemployment figure through "artificial" means. "It is distressing to see that, despite that, the real increase in unemployment is too strong to be statistically covered up as a reduction," she said in a statement. Hollande, a Socialist who is under fierce pressure to tackle unemployment and with polls showing his approval ratings the lowest of any president in modern French history, claimed last month he had met his electoral pledge to halt the rise in joblessness by the end of this year.
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| UNOS to oversee hand, face transplants like organs Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:53 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Sure your liver or kidney could save someone's life. But would you donate your hands, or your face? Signing up to become an organ donor may get more complicated than just checking a box on your driver's license.
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| Discounts, promotions spur sales in U.S. holiday season Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:53 PM PST  Sales during the 2013 U.S. holiday season grew from a year earlier as deep discounting and increased promotions encouraged bargain-hungry shoppers to buy more. Holiday sales between November 1 and December 24 rose 2.3 percent, compared with 0.7 percent a year earlier, according to data published in the MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse report. "It was actually a Merry Christmas for retailers," Sarah Quinlan, senior vice-president at MasterCard Advisors, told Reuters, adding that jewelry was the best-performing category. SpendingPulse tracks customer spending on apparel, electronics, jewelry, luxury and home furniture & furnishings categories during the holiday season.
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| South Sudan rebels seize oil wells, mediators urge talks Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:52 PM PST  By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA (Reuters) - Rebels in South Sudan have seized some oil wells and captured half of the capital of the main oil-producing region, the government and army said on Thursday as African leaders held talks to avert civil war. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn met South Sudan's President Salva Kiir in the capital Juba in an attempt to end nearly two weeks of fighting in the world's newest state. "South Sudan is a young nation that should be spared unnecessary distractions in its development agenda. It was not clear whether the delegation also met the rebel leader, former vice president Riek Machar, who was sacked by Kiir in July.
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| Pileup blocks turnpike, interstate in eastern Pa. Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:51 PM PST  READING, Pa. (AP) — Portions of highways were shut down in snowy eastern Pennsylvania after chain-reaction pileups ensnared dozens of vehicles on slippery roads.
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| LeBron, Durant pace All-Star ballot leaders Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:51 PM PST  Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James and NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant are the top ballot choices in fan voting for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game announced Thursday. James, who turns 29 on Monday, has the top vote total at 854,105 after guiding the Miami Heat to the NBA title the past two seasons. Durant is second overall and leading the Western Conference at 850,728 votes. He is averaging 28.1 points a game for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are level with Portland and Indiana for the NBA's best record at 23-5.
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| Delta to honor extremely cheap mistake fares Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:48 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Some lucky fliers capitalized on a computer glitch Thursday and scored some really cheap flights on Delta Air Lines.
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| Crude oil prices edge further above $99 Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:45 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices edged further up above $99 Thursday, the first trading day after Christmas, as violence in South Sudan stoked concerns about the country's oil production. |
| African leaders seek peace talks in South Sudan Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:44 PM PST  JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — African leaders tried Thursday to advance peace talks between South Sudan's president and political rivals he accuses of attempting a coup to topple the government of the world's newest country.
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| At least 40 civilians killed in attack in east DR Congo: NGO Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:33 PM PST  At least 40 civilians have been killed in an attack on a village in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a non-governmental organisation said on Thursday. "Up to this morning we have found more than 40 bodies, all of them civilians, in the latrines," Teddy Kataliko, the head of civil society in the Beni region where the attack took place on Wednesday, told AFP. The attack took place in the town of Kamango before dawn, with the civil society blaming it on the Islamist Ugandan rebel group ADF-Nalu, one of the oldest but least-known armed groups operating in the mineral-rich DR Congo. The UN's special force in DR Congo used helicopters on Wednesday to fire on the rebels and help government troops retake Kamango after the attack.
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| US sends Hellfire missiles to Iraq Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:19 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. has sent Hellfire air-to-ground missiles to the Iraq's air forces, which is using them in an ongoing campaign against the country's branch of al-Qaida, officials in Washington and Baghdad said Thursday. |
| Video shows off White's new halfpipe trick Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:17 PM PST  Shaun White's adding a new twist for Sochi.
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| Packers' Rodgers back, to start Bears game Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:16 PM PST  GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will return to start Sunday's game for the NFC North title against the Chicago Bears.
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| 'Booty Call,' 'Above the Rim' director dies at 54 Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:15 PM PST HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A producer of TV's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and writer-director of "Above the Rim" has died. |
| Dozens of bodies recovered after violence in Central African Republic Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:13 PM PST  By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Red Cross workers have recovered 44 bodies from the streets of Central African Republic's capital Bangui, they said on Thursday after inter-religious fighting in the last two days. Six Chadian peacekeepers have also been killed in the former French colony, while judicial authorities said they had uncovered a mass grave with 30 bodies, many of them showing signs of torture, near a military base used by Seleka rebels. Georgios Georgantas, head of an International Committee of the Red Cross delegation, said the 44 bodies were probably only a fraction of those killed in Bangui in the last two days given that his team had been unable to go into parts of the city. "We have information about more bodies in certain parts of town which we have been unable to access because the fighting was so intense." A representative of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres at Bangui's main hospital said it had seen more than 50 people since Wednesday night with gunshot or machete wounds from the fighting which raged for hours across Bangui.
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| Bye bye, bile? Websites try to nix nasty comments Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:12 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Mix blatant bigotry with poor spelling. Add a dash of ALL CAPS. Top it off with a violent threat. And there you have it: A recipe for the worst of online comments, scourge of the Internet.
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| Perpetual Loyal takes big lead in Sydney to Hobart Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:11 PM PST  SYDNEY (AP) — Perpetual Loyal opened up a lead of 10 nautical miles over fellow super maxi and defending champion Wild Oats XI early on the second day of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
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| Pa. court reverses church official's conviction Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:10 PM PST  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Roman Catholic church official who has been jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his conviction reversed and was ordered released Thursday.
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| Arsenal profit as Man City dethrone Liverpool Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:01 PM PST  Liverpool slipped from first to fourth in the Premier League after losing 2-1 at Manchester City on Thursday, leaving Arsenal in first place following a frantic Boxing Day programme. Brendan Rodgers's Liverpool started the day in first place and they made an impressive start at the Etihad Stadium, with Philippe Coutinho giving the visitors a 24th-minute lead after a neat team move. However, City captain Vincent Kompany headed home an equaliser seven minutes later and Alvaro Negredo put the hosts in front on the stroke of half-time with a tame shot that Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet could only palm into the net.
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| 6 peacekeepers killed in C. African Republic Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:00 PM PST  BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Elodiane Baalbe hid underneath her bed as gunfire echoed around her on Christmas Day in the capital of Central African Republic. When it finally died down on Thursday, she made a dash for safety, hiding behind houses as she fled her neighborhood.
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| Protesting Turkish prosecutor piles pressure on PM Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:56 AM PST  By Ece Toksabay and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish prosecutor accused police on Thursday of obstructing his pursuit of a high-level graft case, adding to public scrutiny of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government as it hunkered down defiantly. Three ministers had resigned after their sons were among dozens of people detained on December 17 as part of the probe into corrupt procurement practices, which has exposed Turkey's deep institutional divisions and left the pugnacious premier facing arguably the biggest crisis of his 11 years in power. The new interior minister, Efkan Ala, will be in charge of Turkey's domestic security and is considered especially close to Erdogan, who called the secretive investigation a foreign-orchestrated plot without legal merit and responded by sacking or reassigning some 70 of the police officers involved. In allegations disseminated to Turkish media in writing, prosecutor Muammer Akkas said he had also been removed from the case, which he described as compromised by police who had refused to comply with his orders to arrest more suspects.
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| Man climbs fence at Phoenix airport, runs to plane Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:53 AM PST PHOENIX (AP) — A man has been arrested after climbing a fence at the Phoenix airport on Christmas Day and running out to a plane that had just landed, police said Thursday. |
| Poll: Americans hopeful for a better year in 2014 Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:49 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Large number of Americans see 2013 as anything but a banner year and aren't reluctant to wave goodbye on New Year's Eve, a new AP-Times Square poll says, reflecting anxiety stretching from the corridors of power in Washington to corporate boardrooms, statehouses, and city and town halls.
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| Suspect in LA airport shooting pleads not guilty Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:44 AM PST RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) — The man authorities say killed a Transportation Security Administration screener and wounded three other people during a rampage at Los Angeles International Airport last month pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and other felony charges in a case that could bring the death penalty. |
| Gardner out, Morris to start for Michigan in bowl Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:36 AM PST  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Shane Morris sat out most of his senior season in high school and spent a good portion of his first in college watching games from the sideline.
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| McDonald's closes employee website amid criticism Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:30 AM PST  McDonald's Corp. has shut down a website intended to provide employees with work and life guidance after it generated negative publicity for the fast-food company.
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| Mass grave found in Central African Republic Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:26 AM PST BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The spokesman for the African Union peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic says a mass grave has been unearthed in the country's troubled capital. |
| American abducted in Pakistan calls for US help Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:24 AM PST  ISLAMABAD (AP) — A 72-year-old American development worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaida more than two years ago appealed to President Obama in a video released Thursday to negotiate his release, saying he feels "totally abandoned and forgotten."
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| Reversal on ACA cancellations gets mixed response Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:15 AM PST RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A month after President Barack Obama announced people could keep insurance policies slated for cancellation under the federal health overhaul, the reversal has gotten a mixed response from insurers, state regulators and consumers. |
| Suit: IPO bad for Empire State Building investors Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:14 AM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of stakeholders in the Empire State Building lost more than $400 million in potential profits when the managing owners rebuffed potential buyers in order to sell public shares in the iconic skyscraper, a new lawsuit says. |
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