Iran, U.S. say some headway made in 'difficult' nuclear talks

Iran, U.S. say some headway made in 'difficult' nuclear talks
Last Iowa Senate debate set for Braley and Ernst
At 37 Jason Reitman feels generational disconnect
Quake-drill participants prepare on solid ground
Woman in shoe-throwing case ordered to Arizona
Exclusive: Commerzbank settlement with U.S. postponed amid probe
U.S. says held first direct talks with Syrian Kurdish party
German foreign minister denies arming PKK is an option
Medical examiner: Rivers died of low blood oxygen
Turkey fails in bid to join UN Security Council
Los Angeles schools superintendent resigns
US meets with Syrian Kurds linked to terror group
Foundry owner get 2½ years for art scam
European stocks shaken by fears of return to crisis
APPLE LIVE: iPad Air 2, Apple Pay, new Macs debut
US officials defend Ebola response; nurse moved
Michael Dukakis testifies in Tsarnaev friend trial
Sinn Fein chief Adams accused of IRA rape cover-up
Billionaire donates cubism collection to NY museum
Spain tests 4 with fever for Ebola, isolates jet
Nepal blizzard, avalanche death toll rises to 27
Pastor accused of affairs, not revealing he had AIDS temporarily banned from church
Ohio gambler faces charges over Ebola comment
Soldiers end protest by Algerian police
Chronology: Worst Ebola outbreak on record tests global response
Hot dog! Fired Dublin worker wins $25K over snack
'Kerry Air' grounded again, this time in Vienna
US senator's son among 4 indicted in dogs' deaths
Lawsuit: College student shunned for anti-gay view
U.S. seeks to use Spanish military bases in anti-Ebola operation
Ex-clinic owner pleads guilty in MLB drug case
Africa stems Ebola via border closings, luck
Rare independent group aims to open debate in Cuba
Ebola comes to last safe district in Sierra Leone
Al Pacino to return to Broadway in a Mamet play
Apple's new iPads sport modest upgrades; minis start at $399
Morocco denies withdrawing as African Cup host
White House condemns wave of attacks in Iraq
Syrian Kurdish official calls for arms for Kobani
1st Dallas nurse with Ebola to be sent to Maryland

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:28 PM PDT

By Parisa Hafezi and Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and the United States said they made some progress in high-level nuclear talks but much work remained to clinch a breakthrough deal by a late-November deadline. Both sides said they still aimed to meet the self-imposed Nov. 24 date, despite doubts among many experts that they can reach a full agreement to end a decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program with just a few weeks remaining. U.S. ...

Last Iowa Senate debate set for Braley and Ernst

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:25 PM PDT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Democrat Bruce Braley planned to be back from an Ebola hearing in Washington Thursday for his final Iowa debate with Republican Joni Ernst in a neck-and-neck race for U.S. Senate.

At 37 Jason Reitman feels generational disconnect

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:21 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — While he's not exactly yelling at kids to get off his lawn quite yet, Jason Reitman says he has a hard time relating to teenagers and it's all because of the Internet.

Quake-drill participants prepare on solid ground

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:12 PM PDT

LA MIRADA, Calif. (AP) — They dropped, they covered and they held on for the state's annual earthquake drill.

Woman in shoe-throwing case ordered to Arizona

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:10 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered a Phoenix woman accused of throwing a shoe at Hillary Rodham Clinton in Las Vegas to live with her mother in Arizona while she awaits sentencing for trespassing.

Exclusive: Commerzbank settlement with U.S. postponed amid probe

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:09 PM PDT

By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - Commerzbank AG's settlement with U.S. authorities over alleged sanctions violations has been postponed, possibly until the end of the year, as prosecutors seek to coordinate the resolution of a separate probe stemming from transactions at the German bank connected to the massive Olympus Corp accounting fraud, according to people familiar with the matter. Commerzbank had been primed to settle with U.S. regulators and prosecutors by the end of September over its dealings with Iran and other countries under U.S. sanctions, Reuters has reported. ...

U.S. says held first direct talks with Syrian Kurdish party

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:07 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department official held direct talks for the first time over the weekend with the main Syrian Kurdish political party as the United States builds a coalition against Islamic State militants, a State Department official said on Thursday. "We have for some time had conversations through intermediaries with the PYD (Kurdish Democratic Union Party). We have engaged over the course of just last weekend with the PYD," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a daily briefing. ...

German foreign minister denies arming PKK is an option

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:07 PM PDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's foreign minister ruled out the possibility of arming the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Thursday, after a senior ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested this could help efforts to defeat Islamic State (IS) militants. "There is no question of that as long as the PKK threatens Turkey with fresh violence," said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an interview broadcast on Twitter. ...

Medical examiner: Rivers died of low blood oxygen

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:01 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Joan Rivers died of brain damage from low blood oxygen during a medical procedure to check out voice changes and reflux, the medical examiner's office ruled Thursday.

Turkey fails in bid to join UN Security Council

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:57 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Turkey failed in its effort to join the U.N.'s most powerful body on Thursday, while Venezuela, New Zealand, Spain, Angola and Malaysia were elected to coveted Security Council seats.

Los Angeles schools superintendent resigns

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:49 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles schools Superintendent John Deasy resigned as head of the nation's second-largest school system after failing to overcome technological problems, clashing with the teachers union and losing allies on the school board.

US meets with Syrian Kurds linked to terror group

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:26 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Thursday that it has met directly with a Kurdish political party in Syria that is linked to a guerrilla group considered by the U.S. and Turkey as a terrorist organization.

Foundry owner get 2½ years for art scam

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:26 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A former New York foundry owner was sentenced to 2½ years in prison Thursday for trying to sell knockoff sculptures that he passed off as the multimillion-dollar work of Jasper Johns and other artists.

European stocks shaken by fears of return to crisis

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:25 PM PDT

London (AFP) - European stocks closed mixed on Thursday, with German shares staging a late comeback after fears the eurozone could be heading toward a fresh crisis spread turmoil through markets for much of the day.

APPLE LIVE: iPad Air 2, Apple Pay, new Macs debut

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:30 PM PDT

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple unveiled a thinner iPad Thursday with a faster processor and a better camera as it tries to drive excitement for tablets amid slowing demand.

US officials defend Ebola response; nurse moved

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:17 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the face of skepticism in Congress, health officials tried to assure the nation Thursday that they can head off an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. despite mistakes that let the deadly virus spread to two nurses and cleared one of them to fly.

Michael Dukakis testifies in Tsarnaev friend trial

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:13 PM PDT

BOSTON (AP) — It was an odd moment in the trial of a friend of the man accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing: Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, testifying for the defense.

Sinn Fein chief Adams accused of IRA rape cover-up

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 12:07 PM PDT

DUBLIN (AP) — Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams has denied new accusations that he concealed child-abuse crimes within his own secretive movement, this time allegedly committed by a Belfast officer of the outlawed Irish Republican Army.

Billionaire donates cubism collection to NY museum

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:58 AM PDT

New York (AFP) - One of the finest cubist collections in the world, painstakingly pieced together by a US billionaire and pledged to the Metropolitan Museum in New York opens to the public on October 20.

Spain tests 4 with fever for Ebola, isolates jet

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 01:29 PM PDT

MADRID (AP) — Four people with fever considered at risk for Ebola were being tested Thursday in Spain for the virus, including one who arrived on an Air France jet that was isolated at Madrid's airport as a precaution, officials said.

Nepal blizzard, avalanche death toll rises to 27

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:54 AM PDT

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Search teams rescued dozens of stranded foreign trekkers and recovered 10 more bodies Thursday in the wake of a series of blizzards and avalanches that battered the Himalayas in central Nepal, leaving at least 27 people dead.

Pastor accused of affairs, not revealing he had AIDS temporarily banned from church

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:54 AM PDT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Pastor accused of affairs, not revealing he had AIDS temporarily banned from church.

Ohio gambler faces charges over Ebola comment

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:53 AM PDT

(Reuters) - An Ohio gambler who told a card dealer that his wife had Ebola was in custody on Thursday and faces criminal charges of inducing panic, the Ohio Casino Control Commission said. Emmanuel Smith, 60, was arrested on Wednesday after he told a dealer at the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland that he was out gambling because he did not want to catch Ebola from his sick wife, who had traveled from West Africa, the commission said in a statement. After identifying the gambler, who had left the casino, authorities went to his home and arrested him. ...

Soldiers end protest by Algerian police

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:53 AM PDT

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Soldiers ended a demonstration by Algerian police on Thursday that was held for three days near the presidential palace to protest violence against security forces in the south.

Chronology: Worst Ebola outbreak on record tests global response

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:53 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Global health authorities are struggling to contain the world's worst Ebola epidemic since the disease was identified in 1976. The virus has killed nearly 4,500 people. Here is a timeline of the outbreak: March 22: Guinea confirms a previously unidentified hemorrhagic fever, which killed more than 50 people, is Ebola. March 30: Liberia reports two Ebola cases; suspected cases reported in Sierra Leone. April 1: Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warns the epidemic's spread is "unprecedented." A World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman calls it "relatively small still. ...

Hot dog! Fired Dublin worker wins $25K over snack

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:50 AM PDT

DUBLIN (AP) — An Irish cinema may have just bought the world's most expensive hot dog for an unfairly fired worker.

'Kerry Air' grounded again, this time in Vienna

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:50 AM PDT

VIENNA (AP) — The United States may be the mightiest military and economic power in the world but when it comes to shuttling its top diplomat around the globe, it's beginning to look like a poor orphan.

US senator's son among 4 indicted in dogs' deaths

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:47 AM PDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Four people — including a son of U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake — have been indicted on cruelty to animal charges after 21 dogs died at a Gilbert kennel in June, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Lawsuit: College student shunned for anti-gay view

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:45 AM PDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A former University of New Mexico student can proceed with a free speech lawsuit against the school alleging she was ostracized by her professors for making anti-gay remarks in paper, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. seeks to use Spanish military bases in anti-Ebola operation

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:41 AM PDT

MADRID (Reuters) - The United States has asked the Madrid government for permission to use the U.S. military bases in Spain in its operation to combat the Ebola crisis in Africa, a Defence Ministry source said on Thursday. "The U.S. authorities have indeed asked Spain to use their bases in the country as a transit point for logistics and engineers building up field hospitals in Liberia and Sierra Leone," the source told Reuters. Madrid was set to agree to the request to use the bases at Rota near Cadiz and at Moron de la Frontera near Seville in southern Spain. ...

Ex-clinic owner pleads guilty in MLB drug case

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 AM PDT

MIAMI (AP) — The former owner of a South Florida anti-aging clinic pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of illegally providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes including high-profile Major League Baseball players, most notably New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.

Africa stems Ebola via border closings, luck

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:37 AM PDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Health officials battling the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa have managed to limit its spread on the continent to five countries — and two of them appear to have snuffed out the disease.

Rare independent group aims to open debate in Cuba

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:31 AM PDT

CARDENAS, Cuba (AP) — The former editors of one of Cuba's few non-government controlled media outlets have quietly restarted efforts to spur debate about the nation's future, launching a series of public forums and plans for a new journal addressing the island's most urgent problems.

Ebola comes to last safe district in Sierra Leone

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:30 AM PDT

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — The deadly Ebola virus has infected two people in what was the last untouched district in Sierra Leone, the government said Thursday, a setback in efforts to stop the spread of the disease in one of the hardest-hit countries.

Al Pacino to return to Broadway in a Mamet play

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:25 AM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Al Pacino will return to Broadway next year in a new play by David Mamet written with the Oscar-winner expressly in mind.

Apple's new iPads sport modest upgrades; minis start at $399

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT

By Christina Farr CUPERTINO Calif. (Reuters) - Apple Inc introduced a faster, slimmer iPad Air 2 on Thursday, tacking on modest improvements such as a fingerprint sensor to its mainstay tablet in time for what is expected to be a hotly contested holiday season for mobile devices. Pre-orders start Friday for the larger iPad Air 2, priced at $499 and up, with shipping beginning next week. The smaller iPad mini 3 will be about $100 cheaper. ...

Morocco denies withdrawing as African Cup host

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:22 AM PDT

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco has denied reports it has withdrawn as host of next year's African Cup of Nations, although it wants the tournament postponed.

White House condemns wave of attacks in Iraq

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:19 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is strongly condemning a wave of attacks in Iraq, including some in and around the capital of Baghdad.

Syrian Kurdish official calls for arms for Kobani

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:17 AM PDT

MURSITPINAR, Turkey (AP) — In its battle for the Syrian town of Kobani, the Islamic State group enjoys a key advantage: a supply of weapons, ammunition and fighters shuttling between Syria and Iraq.

1st Dallas nurse with Ebola to be sent to Maryland

Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:17 AM PDT

DALLAS (AP) — The first Dallas nurse to have contracted Ebola after treating an infected Liberian man is scheduled to be moved Thursday to a specialized medical facility in Maryland.