| White House strikes down Death Star plea Posted: 12 Jan 2013 09:17 AM PST  Build this Death Star, we will not. That's the message from the White House in an official response to a petition urging President Barack Obama to build the moon-sized planet-killing space station from Star Wars. "The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense," writes Paul Shawcross, chief of the science [...]
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| Tech world saddened by death of Internet activist Aaron Swartz Posted: 12 Jan 2013 09:26 AM PST  Aaron Swartz was one of the earliest members of the Reddit team, helped build the first RSS program, and was by all accounts a genius at a very young age. Swartz committed suicide on January 11. He was 26 years old.
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| New York governor declares public health emergency to combat flu Posted: 12 Jan 2013 12:36 PM PST  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a public health emergency on Saturday, giving pharmacists permission to administer flu vaccinations to more people as officials seek to stem the worst flu outbreak in that state in several years. Cuomo's order came a day after federal health officials said that fast-spreading influenza had officially reached epidemic proportions in the United States, following an early start. Nine of the 10 U.S. ...
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| France bombs Mali rebels, African states ready troops Posted: 12 Jan 2013 03:01 PM PST  French aircraft pounded Islamist rebels in Mali for a second day on Saturday and neighboring West African states sped up their plans to deploy troops in an international campaign to prevent groups linked to al Qaeda expanding their power base. France, warning that the control of northern Mali by the militants posed a security threat to Europe, intervened dramatically on Friday as heavily armed Islamist fighters swept southwards towards Mali's capital Bamako. ...
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| Armstrong will answer 'honestly' during Oprah talk Posted: 12 Jan 2013 04:23 PM PST  Lance Armstrong said he will apologize and make a limited confession to using performance-enhancing drugs, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
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| Treasury, Fed kill $1 trillion platinum coins to avert debt crisis Posted: 12 Jan 2013 03:09 PM PST  The U.S. Treasury Department said on Saturday it will not produce platinum coins as a way of generating $1 trillion in revenue and avoiding a battle in Congress over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
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| Hostess makes deal to save Wonderbread Posted: 12 Jan 2013 09:58 AM PST  The iconic Wonderbread, once in jeopardy after Hostess declared bankruptcy, seems likely to return to store shelves under a new brand. A $390 million bid from Flower Foods Inc., for six of the Twinkie maker's bread brands, was the leading bid on Friday. Flower Foods, which...
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| Venezuela's Hugo Chavez not in coma, brother says Posted: 12 Jan 2013 02:30 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's cancer-stricken president, Hugo Chavez, is recovering in Cuba and is not in a coma as some have rumored a month after surgery, his brother, Adan Chavez, said after a visit to Havana. The 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen or heard from since his December 11 cancer surgery - his fourth such operation after the disease was detected in his pelvic area in mid-2011 - leaving Venezuela in a state of suspense. ...
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| More money, time needed to remove Concordia wreck Posted: 12 Jan 2013 12:59 PM PST  More time and money will be needed to remove the Costa Concordia cruise ship from the rocks off Tuscany where it capsized last year, in part to ensure the toxic materials still trapped inside don't leak into the marine sanctuary when it is righted, officials said Saturday.
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| Where does Haiti stand three years after 7.0 earthquake? Posted: 12 Jan 2013 06:00 AM PST  On Jan. 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit already deeply impoverished Haiti, killing more than 200,000 and leaving another 1.5 million in makeshift camps. It was one of the worst humanitarian disasters in years, and though the response was rapid and generous, three years and billions of dollars in aid later, hundreds of thousands are still without homes. How has aid money been spent and can Haiti 'build back better?'
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| Poisoned lottery winner's nephew says something wasn't right Posted: 12 Jan 2013 12:59 PM PST  Urooj Khan had just brought home his $425,000 lottery check when he unexpectedly died the following day. Now, certain members of Khan's family are speaking publicly about the mystery -- and his nephew told ABC News they knew something was not right.
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| Key witness in Berlusconi sex trial to testify on Monday Posted: 12 Jan 2013 01:40 PM PST  The nightclub dancer who is the main witness in the sex trial of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is to testify on Monday, her lawyer said on Saturday. Karima El Mahroug, better known by her stage name "Ruby the Heartstealer", was due to testify in the Milan court in December but failed to show up, telling her lawyer she was on holiday in Mexico. "Karima will be present in the courtroom on Monday," her lawyer Paola Boccardi told Reuters, adding that Mahroug had returned to Italy on Friday. ...
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| Shifting landscape as Brown mulls Mass. Senate run Posted: 12 Jan 2013 01:04 PM PST  Scott Brown was a little-known Republican state senator who shocked Massachusetts Democrats three years ago by winning a U.S. Senate seat in a special election that became a national rallying cry for the nascent tea party movement.
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| Want a flu shot? Better call ahead before heading to the clinic Posted: 12 Jan 2013 01:33 PM PST The heightened demand for the flu vaccine has caused some providers to run out of doses, however officials said there are still plenty to go around and are encouraging people to call ahead before driving to a local clinic to get immunized. |
| French commando killed in Somalia hostage raid Posted: 12 Jan 2013 02:13 PM PST  A raid to free a French intelligence agent held captive in Somalia for three years went horribly wrong, leaving 17 Islamists and at least one French commando dead in a mud-caked farming town deep in militant territory.
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| Lawyer: Mom of abducted Ind. boy wasn't homeless Posted: 12 Jan 2013 01:25 PM PST  The lawyer for an Indiana mother whose in-laws reportedly abducted her son nearly 20 years ago is refuting claims that she was homeless and living in her car at the time.
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| Americans feel austerity's bite as payroll taxes rise Posted: 12 Jan 2013 06:29 AM PST  Americans are beginning to feel the pinch from Washington's decision to embrace austerity measures aimed at bringing down the nation's budget deficit. Paychecks across the country have shrunk over the last week due to higher federal tax rates, and workers are already cutting back on spending, which will drag on the economy this year. In Warren, Rhode Island, Ben DeCastro got his first paycheck on Friday in which taxes on his wages rose by 2 percentage points. That works out to about $30 a week. ...
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| Czechs elect president by direct vote for first time Posted: 12 Jan 2013 09:51 AM PST  A former leftist prime minister and the Czech Republic's conservative foreign minister will face each other in a presidential runoff later this month after finishing Saturday as the top two candidates in the ballot's first round.
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| Mexico dog mutilated by drug traffickers recovers Posted: 12 Jan 2013 09:11 AM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A dog reportedly mutilated by Mexican drug traffickers is recovering at a sanctuary for abused and abandoned dogs.
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| Egypt's Mubarak questioned over alleged gifts Posted: 12 Jan 2013 01:55 PM PST  Egyptian prosecutors questioned ousted president Hosni Mubarak on Saturday over gifts worth millions of Egyptian pounds (hundreds of thousands of US dollars) he allegedly received from the country's top newspaper as a show of loyalty while he was in power, a security official said.
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| Kurd protest in Paris demands justice in killings Posted: 12 Jan 2013 09:37 AM PST  PARIS (AP) — Thousands of Kurds from across Europe descended upon Paris on Saturday, demanding justice for three activists shot dead in the French capital.
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| Russia rejects Assad exit as precondition for Syria deal Posted: 12 Jan 2013 03:16 AM PST  Russia voiced support on Saturday for international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi but insisted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's exit cannot be a precondition for a deal to end the country's conflict. A Foreign Ministry statement following talks on Friday with the United States and Brahimi, whom the Syrian government has labeled "flagrantly biased", reiterated calls for an end to violence in Syria, where more than 60,000 people have been killed since March 2011. At the meeting in Geneva with Brahimi and U.S. ...
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| Californians brace for nights of freezing temps Posted: 12 Jan 2013 02:50 AM PST  Californians are bundling up with sweaters and gloves and stocking up on firewood as they brace for several nights of very unseasonable freezing temperatures.
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| Beauty queens vie for Miss America title in Vegas Posted: 12 Jan 2013 01:23 AM PST  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Beauties from every state are competing for the Miss America crown Saturday night, an honor that carries with it a $50,000 scholarship and a yearlong run as an advocate and role model.
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