| The images of 2013 Posted:  Our photos of the year picks: Conflict, politics, jubilation, disaster. Pandas too.
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| Man survives 3 days at bottom of Atlantic Posted: 03 Dec 2013 04:20 PM PST  LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Entombed at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in an upended tugboat for three days, Harrison Odjegba Okene begged God for a miracle.
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| Ill. Legislature OKs fix for $100B pension crisis Posted: 03 Dec 2013 04:53 PM PST  SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Legislature approved a historic plan Tuesday to eliminate the state's $100 billion pension shortfall, a long-delayed decision proponents described as critical to repairing the state's deeply troubled finances but that faces the immediate threat of a legal challenge from labor unions.
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| US vet detained in NKorea oversaw guerrilla group Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:37 PM PST SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An 85-year-old U.S. veteran being held in North Korea spent his war years there in one of the Army's first special forces unit, helping a clandestine group of Korean partisans who were fighting and spying well behind enemy lines. |
| Ukraine mass protests resume after gov't wins vote Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:27 PM PST KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine appeared mired in a political standoff Tuesday, as massive protest rallies showed no sign of letting up and the government warned of its capability for force after a failed attempt to take it down. |
| Asian nations dominate international test Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:01 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — American students once again lag behind many of their Asian and European peers on a global exam, a continuing trend that often is blamed on child poverty and a diverse population in U.S. schools.
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| Billy Joel plans Madison Square Garden residency Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:19 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Joel will perform once a month at Madison Square Garden — as long as the fans will have him.
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| Syrian refugees face another harsh winter in camp Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:24 PM PST ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan (AP) — Cranes are lifting trailers into place and tents are being packed away as international aid workers rush to winterize a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan — trying to avoid a repeat of last year when three days of torrential rain turned the massive site into a muddy swamp. |
| Nigerian man survives 3 days at bottom of Atlantic Posted: 03 Dec 2013 03:26 PM PST LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — About 100 feet down, on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, divers had already pulled four bodies out of the sunken tugboat. Then a hand appeared on a TV screen monitoring the recovery. |
| Audit: Health care subsidies vulnerable to fraud Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:28 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Government subsidies to help Americans buy insurance under the health care overhaul may be vulnerable to fraud, a Treasury Department watchdog warned on Tuesday in the latest indication that troubles are far from over for President Barack Obama's signature legislation.
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| NATO seeks clarity on troops in Afghanistan Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:42 PM PST  BRUSSELS (AP) — World diplomats issued a stern warning Tuesday to Afghan leaders in a new effort to help secure the war-torn nation's future with thousands of foreign forces after 2014. But officials backed off earlier U.S. threats to withdraw all troops if Afghan President Hamid Karzai doesn't agree to the offer before the end of the year.
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| NYC train derailment airs queries about technology Posted: 03 Dec 2013 11:14 AM PST  YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — The revelation that a New York City commuter train derailed while barreling around a sharp curve at nearly three times the speed limit is fueling questions about whether automated crash-avoidance technology could have prevented the carnage.
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| Sharp rise in Europeans fighting in Syria Posted: 03 Dec 2013 08:29 AM PST  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A new wave of Europeans is heading to Syria, their ranks soaring in the past six months as tales of easy living and glorious martyrdom draw them to the rebellion against Bashar Assad.
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| Man survives 60 hours at bottom of Atlantic Posted: 03 Dec 2013 11:38 AM PST LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Entombed at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in an upended tugboat and dressed only in boxer shorts, Harrison Odjegba Okene begged God for a miracle. |
| How the TSA is nickel-and-diming travelers Posted: 03 Dec 2013 11:04 AM PST  Congress votes to redirect all that money left behind at security checkpoints.
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| Next Obamacare headache: Surge in signups, insurers say Posted: 03 Dec 2013 03:56 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. insurers fear that a surge in enrollments on the revamped government-run healthcare website could create more problems for insurance companies already struggling with error-filled applications for coverage three weeks before a sign-up deadline. In what could become the next major headache for President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy, a group representing leading U.S. insurers said on Tuesday that technology fixes that will enable millions of people to sign on to HealthCare.gov have not fully addressed faulty data that the site has been sending these companies about their new enrollees. The problems include enrollment forms with erroneous personal information and duplicate or missing applications. The warning coincided with an effort by Obama to win back support for the healthcare overhaul after the website's disastrous October 1 debut sent his job approval ratings plummeting and threatened to damage fellow Democrats in next year's congressional elections.
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| Lawsuit seeks 'legal personhood' for chimpanzees Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:38 PM PST  By Bernard Vaughan and Daniel Wiessner NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. animal rights group on Monday filed what it said is the first lawsuit seeking to establish the "legal personhood" of chimpanzees. The non-profit Nonhuman Rights Project asked a New York state court to declare a 26-year-old chimp named Tommy "a cognitively complex autonomous legal person with the fundamental legal right not to be imprisoned. ...
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| Judge OKs Detroit's bankruptcy defense Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:53 PM PST  That's a defeat for unions and retirees, who can now expect pension cuts.
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| 12 dead in CAR; UN considers move Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:48 PM PST  More Central African Republic killings; UN Security Council to vote on more troops.
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| Supreme Court takes up frequent flier rights Posted: 03 Dec 2013 10:00 AM PST  Who has the final say when it comes to frequent flier membership and privileges? Are airlines the judge, jury and executioner? Or do travelers have some rights? The Supreme Court is addressing those questions in a case that may have far-reaching implications for commercial air travelers.
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| A Thanksgiving to remember? Auto sales jump over holiday weekend Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:22 PM PST  DETROIT (AP) — Americans proved last month that they're head over heels about small sport utility vehicles. They also wanted to buy more than just video game consoles and big-screen TVs on Black Friday.
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| WWII-era Japanese sub discovered off Hawaii coast Posted: 03 Dec 2013 09:35 AM PST  By Suzanne Roig HONOLULU (Reuters) - Scientists plumbing the Pacific Ocean off the Hawaii coast have discovered a World War Two era Japanese submarine, a technological marvel that had been preparing to attack the Panama Canal before being scuttled by U.S. forces. The 400-foot (122-meter) "Sen-Toku" class vessel — among the largest pre-nuclear submarines ever built - was found in August off the southwest coast of Oahu and had been missing since 1946, scientists at the University of Hawaii at Manoa said. The I-400 and its sister ship, the I-401, which was found off Oahu in 2005, were able to travel one and a half times around the world without refueling and could hold up to three folding-wing bombers that could be launched minutes after resurfacing, the scientists said. "We came upon this as we were looking for other targets ... It is like watching a shark at rest," said Jim Delgado, a researcher aboard the Pisces V deep-diving submersible which traveled to the wreckage.
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| Seahawks fans cause quite the ruckus—and a minor earthquake Posted: 03 Dec 2013 11:46 AM PST  Celebrations by Seattle football fans in a Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints were so thunderous that they registered as minor earthquakes on a nearby seismometer, a state university professor said. The most intense rumble came after Seahawks' defensive end Michael Bennett recovered a fumble by New Orleans' quarterback Drew Brees in the first quarter and ran it back for a touchdown, said John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington. The cheering and foot-stamping at CenturyLink Field was picked up by a seismometer used by the network, which monitors ground motion in Washington and Oregon.
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| Can a TV really be worth $40,000? Read the reviews Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:25 AM PST  Who would pay $40,000 for an HD television? That's what some Amazon users are wondering about Samsung's 85-inch, "4K Ultra HD 120Hz 3D Smart LED TV," which the website is offering at the discounted price of $39,997.99.
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| Obama targets young voters Posted: 03 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST  He wants to talk to college and business leaders about making college more accessible.
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| Source: Driver in fatal New York train crash 'lost focus' Posted: 03 Dec 2013 03:38 PM PST  By Chris Francescani , Mark Hosenball and Curtis Skinner (Reuters) - The driver of a New York commuter train that derailed on Sunday, killing four people, told investigators he was "in a daze" shortly before the crash, sources said, and officials lamented his train lacked technology that could have prevented the accident. The seven-car Metro-North train was traveling at 82 miles per hour, nearly three times the 30-mph (48-kph) speed limit for the curved section of track where it crashed, investigators have said. The driver, William Rockefeller, 46, applied the brakes five seconds before it derailed. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has cautioned that its investigation would continue for weeks, if not months, and it was far from reaching a conclusion on the cause.
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| Federal gun charges decline despite Obama executive action Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:23 AM PST  Figures show how ineffectual the president's executive action was, at least in the short term.
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| Judge clears Detroit for bankruptcy proceedings Posted: 03 Dec 2013 11:14 AM PST  DETROIT (AP) — A judge ruled Tuesday that Detroit is eligible to shed billions of dollars of its long-running debt, including the pensions of thousands of workers and retirees, in a much-anticipated decision that shifts the city's epic bankruptcy case into a new and delicate phase.
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| 2013's most-searched news stories Posted:  The Boston bombing and Obamacare were big, but they weren't number 1.
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| Aggressive new HIV strain moves faster than previous viruses Posted: |
| Democratic strategist: On Obamacare, good intentions aren’t enough Posted: 03 Dec 2013 04:05 AM PST  Former Clinton adviser says the problem-ridden program could damage the Democratic Party.
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| Biden: U.S. 'deeply concerned' with China's moves in East China Sea Posted: 03 Dec 2013 03:08 AM PST  The vice president said that the Chinese air zone raises risk of accidents.
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| North Korean leader's uncle ousted in major shakeup: Report Posted: 03 Dec 2013 06:15 AM PST  By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is believed to have dismissed a powerful uncle, a man key to his rise to power, from his posts, South Korean lawmakers said on Tuesday, a move that could help consolidate his power base with a younger guard of aides. Jang Song Thaek was likely sacked as vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and as a department head of the ruling Workers' Party, lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae said, citing a senior South Korean official with the National Intelligence Service (NIS). Analysts who watch the North's power structure say Jang's removal would not have been possible without the approval of the third Kim to rule in the family dynasty. Choe Ryong Hae, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, has been the most prominent figure to accompany Kim at public events and is a reminder of the state's political roots in military power.
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| How to Preserve Historic Moon Landing Sites for Posterity Posted: 03 Dec 2013 04:11 AM PST  On Sunday (Dec. 1), China launched a spacecraft designed to land safely on the lunar surface, and some private companies hope to stage launches to the moon as well. If industry and other nations aren't careful, the uptick in lunar traffic might disturb the landing sites from the Apollo era, as well as Russia's landing sites on the lunar surface. In order to protect the United States' lunar heritage, U.S. legislators have recently proposed a "moon bill" that would qualify the Apollo landing sites as a national park. the United States, Russia and 126 other nations have ratified the treaty.
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| Shaken, stirred or straight up? U.S. toasts repeal of Prohibition Posted: 03 Dec 2013 03:06 AM PST By Leslie Gevirtz NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many Americans this week will toast the 80th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, a 14-year ban on the sale and production of alcoholic beverages that turned booze-smuggling thugs into celebrities and otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals. While the cocktail has been around since early 19th century, the combinations of spirits, sugars, water and bitters really started pouring into shakers during Prohibition. In the 1920s, there were 15,000 speakeasies in Detroit, "Great Gatsby" author F. Scott Fitzgerald favored Gin Rickeys and politicians and the famous hid out at New York's "21 Club" with its secret wine cellar and disappearing bar. "The whole Prohibition cocktail thing was to cover up the poor quality of the alcohol," said John McCarthy, a bartender at New York's Bathtub Gin lounge. |
| Is Obama already a lame-duck president? Posted: 02 Dec 2013 04:59 PM PST  The "L word" – as in "lame," followed by "duck" – is already creeping into the conversation on President Obama's second-term woes. The disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov, followed by the flap over canceled policies and other effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), means Mr. Obama will spend the rest of his presidency trying to prove the law can or will work. That distracts from efforts toward new accomplishments, be it immigration reform or a long-term budget deal or climate change. And in perhaps the final sign that Obama may be sliding toward lame-duckery, political media have been obsessed by the 2016 presidential race almost since the moment Obama was reelected.
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| Officials: Walker crash not part of street race Posted: 03 Dec 2013 04:20 AM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — While the neighborhood where "Fast & Furious" star Paul Walker died in a fiery crash is known to attract street racers, law enforcement officials do not believe the Porsche he and a friend were riding in had been racing another car.
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| Obama tries to move past website woes Posted: 03 Dec 2013 11:14 AM PST The administration wants to refocus attention on broader benefits of its health care law. |
