| 130 more U.S. troops enter Iraq Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:43 PM PDT  Pentagon: Troops part of temporary mission to assess scope of humanitarian crisis facing Iraqis.
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| 2 killed, 8 injured in Ecuador quake Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:59 PM PDT  Three others became trapped after magnitude 5.1 earthquake shook Quito, Ecuador: officials.
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| U.S. to send at least 100 more military advisers to Iraq Posted: 12 Aug 2014 02:51 PM PDT  The United States will send more than 100 military advisers to help the Yezidis in Iraq, according to CNN. The military advisers would look at humanitarian relief options for the group, according to the report. More than 100 additional U.S. military advisers are being sent to Iraq to look at relief options for displaced Yezidis, officials say. — CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) August 12, 2014. The United Nations estimates that as many as 30,000 Yezidis may still be trapped in northern Iraq, fleeing the advance of the aggressive and violent Islamic State.
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| Gaza crisis: Egypt presents new cease-fire proposal to Israel, Hamas Posted: 12 Aug 2014 03:24 PM PDT  Egypt presented a proposed cease-fire to Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the monthlong war, Palestinian officials said early Wednesday after negotiators huddled for a second day of Egyptian-mediated talks meant to resolve the crisis and bring relief to the embattled Gaza Strip.
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| UN: 35,000 refugees escape Mount Sinjar Posted:  The refugees, mostly Yezidis, managed to reach the Kurdistan region over the past 3 days.
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| Clinton to Obama: Let’s hug it out Posted: 12 Aug 2014 02:11 PM PDT  After distancing herself from some of President Barack Obama's foreign policy, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called her ex-boss Tuesday to try to smooth things over and planned on "hugging it out" in person at an upcoming get-together.
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| Trial begins in N.C. police racial-profiling case Posted: 12 Aug 2014 03:22 PM PDT  WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — In the opening day of a case accusing a North Carolina sheriff of racial profiling, two retired supervising deputies testified Tuesday that their former boss told officers to take Hispanic motorists to jail over traffic violations, rather than issuing citations.
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| Obama: Remember Mo. teen through 'reflection and understanding’ Posted: 12 Aug 2014 01:47 PM PDT  President Barack Obama says that while the shooting death of a Missouri teenager has prompted "strong passions," people should remember Michael Brown through "reflection and understanding."
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| Robin Williams's hidden pain revealed by longtime friend Posted: 12 Aug 2014 12:39 PM PDT  Williams' friend of 35 years talks about his career, demons and why therapy is important for comedians.
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| Dems: McConnell’s wife must cut anti-coal ties Posted: 12 Aug 2014 11:31 AM PDT  Lawmakers urge Elaine Chao's resignation from group funding 'war on coal' following Yahoo News report.
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| Official: Williams hanged himself with belt Posted: 12 Aug 2014 11:25 AM PDT  The famed actor hanged himself at his Calif. home in an apparent suicide: police.
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| WHO approves new Ebola drugs as death toll tops 1,000 Posted: 12 Aug 2014 02:48 PM PDT  The World Health Organization authorised Tuesday the use of experimental drugs to fight Ebola as the death toll topped 1,000 and a Spanish priest became the first European to succumb to the latest outbreak. The declaration by the UN's health agency came after a US company that makes an experimental serum called ZMapp said it had sent all its available supplies to hard-hit west Africa. "In the special circumstances of this Ebola outbreak it is ethical to offer unregistered interventions as potential treatments or prevention," WHO assistant director general Marie-Paule Kieny told reporters in Geneva, following a meeting of medical experts on the issue. UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced plans to step up the global response to the outbreak, while urging governments to "avoid panic and fear" over an easily-preventable disease.
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| 3 bodies spotted on Mt. Rainier where climbers went missing Posted: 12 Aug 2014 11:23 AM PDT  OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — What appear to be three bodies have been spotted on Mount Rainier in an area where six climbers went missing earlier this summer, National Park officials said Tuesday.
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| Yellen resolved to avoid raising rates too soon, fearing downturn Posted: 12 Aug 2014 12:17 PM PDT  By Howard Schneider and Jonathan Spicer WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Approaching a historic turn in U.S. monetary policy, Janet Yellen has staked her tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve on a simple principle: she'd rather fight inflation than another economic downturn. Interviews with current and former Fed officials indicate that Yellen and core decision-makers at the U.S. central bank are determined not to raise interest rates too early and risk hurting the fragile U.S. economy. It's a commitment that will be vigorously tested in coming months as pressure builds inside the Fed, among Republicans on Capitol Hill, and perhaps even in financial markets, for the Fed to acknowledge a strengthening U.S. economy with its first interest-rate increase in more than eight years. After taking over from Ben Bernanke in February, she has developed a distinct style: off-the-cuff and personable in public appearances, unusually direct in calling attention to the plight of the unemployed, meticulous in her preparation for Fed meetings and highly attuned to the opinions of her colleagues, the Fed sources say.
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| Clippers sale to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer finalized Posted:  Steve Ballmer is officially the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.
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| Iraqi helicopter on aid mission crashes Posted: 12 Aug 2014 09:33 AM PDT  Pilot killed as too many tried to board Mi-17 providing aid to those stranded on mountain.
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| Missouri police cite threats, won't name cop who shot teen Posted: 12 Aug 2014 02:54 PM PDT  The police chief in a St. Louis suburb where a police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager said he's holding off on publicly identifying the officer because of death threats.
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| Colorado 'lab rat' campaign warns kids about pot use Posted: 12 Aug 2014 09:31 AM PDT  Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper's $2 million public service campaign to warn those under 21 about the unknown risks associated with marijuana use launched on Monday in Denver, with city workers installing human-size rat cages at bus stops.
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| Son's Facebook video leads to mother's arrest Posted: 12 Aug 2014 06:42 AM PDT  WINSTON-SALEM N.C. (Reuters) - A North Carolina woman is accused of helping record her teenage son set himself on fire after he doused his body with fingernail polish as part of a social media stunt, police said. Janie Lachelle Talley, 41, watched as her 16-year-old son attempted to complete a "fire challenge" video for Facebook on July 29, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said on Monday. The video showed others put out the fire. The "fire challenge" has been spreading on social media with people pouring flammable liquid on themselves, lighting it, trying to quickly extinguish the fire and then posting a video online.
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| Anesthesiologist says executed prisoner in Ohio suffered Posted: 12 Aug 2014 01:24 PM PDT  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A condemned Ohio inmate put to death during a prolonged execution experienced pain and suffering before he lost consciousness, an anesthesiologist working for the family of the inmate determined in a report released Tuesday.
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| Haiti recaptures kidnapper who escaped prison Posted: 12 Aug 2014 05:01 PM PDT  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Police recaptured an alleged kidnapper who escaped custody during a mass breakout that authorities believe was staged for him at a prison outside the Haitian capital, officials said Tuesday.
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| Fear of losing helps drive Federer's title pursuit Posted: 12 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT  Roger Federer is set to battle the fear factor as last weekend's Toronto finalist prepares to make his start at the ATP Tour's Cincinnati Masters tournament. "The fear is always there from the first rounds regardless of how you approach a tournament," said Federer, the winner of 17 grand slam titles and 79 trophies overall from 120 finals. Five Cincinnati titles counts for little, with Federer admitting he was not pleased with his level at the weekend when he lost in the Toronto final to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
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| Clinton denies attack on Obama foreign policy Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:59 PM PDT  Martha's Vineyard (United States) (AFP) - Hillary Clinton on Tuesday denied attacking President Barack Obama over his foreign policy in Syria and Iraq, insisting she was looking forward to "hugging it out" with the US leader when they meet at a party later this week. The former secretary of state was widely interpreted to be distancing herself from Obama ahead of a possible 2016 election run on Sunday, when she blamed the rise of Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria on failures of his administration.
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| Water deal could force another delay in Detroit bankruptcy trial Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:57 PM PDT  A federal judge could once again push back the start date for the trial on Detroit's exit from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history after some creditors said on Tuesday a possible settlement is snarling key components of the restructuring plan. The complicated settlement rests on a tender offer for $5.2 billion of the city's water and sewer revenue bonds. Because the settlement could significantly alter the proposed restructuring plan that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes will weigh at the trial, some city creditors are asking for a two-week delay to the start date. Detroit wants to maintain the current schedule and has suggested moving testimony on the revenue bond settlement toward the end of the trial.
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| California man pleads not guilty to 2013 wildfire Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:53 PM PDT  FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California man accused of starting one of the state's largest wildfires when he lost control of his campfire last year can leave jail while the criminal case plays out in court, a federal judge said Tuesday.
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| Real 'Patch Adams' pays tribute to Robin Williams Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:51 PM PDT  The doctor and clown whose life story formed the basis of the movie "Patch Adams" paid tribute Tuesday to its star Robin Williams after he was found dead of an apparent suicide. "The terrible news of the passing of Robin Williams reached me here in the Peruvian Amazon late last night with tremendous sadness," Hunter Doherty Adams, the founder of the Gesundheit Institute, wrote on Facebook.
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| Celebrity artists may be more prone to depression Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:49 PM PDT  Despite fame and fortune, celebrity artists may be more vulnerable to depression than the rest of us, brought low by the same creative qualities that gave them success in the first place, analysts say. As tributes flowed in for comedian Robin Williams on Tuesday after his apparent suicide, there were many questions about the state of mind of the Oscar-winner once called the funniest man alive. "Artists are often people who are more sensitive, who feel emotions more strongly," said Michel Reynaud, of the Paul Brousse Hospital's psychiatry department in Paris. "This can yield great writers, poets and musicians, but also anxiety, depression, anguish and mood disorders," he told AFP.
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| Group has betting pool on Sturgis rally deaths Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:48 PM PDT  RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Members of a Black Hills family and their friends acknowledge that a betting pool they run on how many bikers will die during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota is a bit macabre, but they say they mean no harm.
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| Mixed martial arts fighter accused of attacking ex Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:45 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge has issued an arrest warrant for a mixed martial arts fighter and porn actor accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend after showing up in the middle of the night at her Las Vegas home.
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| UN: OK to use untested Ebola drugs in outbreak Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:43 PM PDT MADRID (AP) — The World Health Organization declared it's ethical to use untested drugs and vaccines in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa, although the tiny supply of one experimental treatment has been depleted and it could be many months until more is available. |
| Police won't release name of officer who shot teen Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:43 PM PDT  FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton pressed police Tuesday to release the name of the officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager in suburban St. Louis, and he pleaded for calm after two nights of violent protests over the young man's death.
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| Amid drought, California Democrats seek Republican votes on water plan Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:41 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO Calif. (Reuters) - California Democrats scrambled on Tuesday to win Republican support for a plan to improve water supplies that has been mired in regional and party politics for a year, even as the state suffers from a three-year drought that shows no sign of ending. A day after voting for a two-day extension to put a proposal on November's ballot to pay for reservoirs and other projects by selling bonds, Democratic lawmakers enlisted the support and negotiating clout of Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, a fiscal moderate who said previous plans were too expensive. "We're very close," said Brown after meeting with Republican leaders who want more reservoirs and Democratic holdouts who say damming rivers and flooding canyons to build them is damaging to the environment. "There's been a lot of compromise." California is in the throes of a devastating drought that is expected to cost its economy $2.2 billion in lost crops, jobs and other damage.
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| US urges speedy formation of new Iraq government Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:40 PM PDT  SYDNEY (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iraq's new leaders on Tuesday to work quickly to form an inclusive government and said the U.S. is prepared to offer significant additional aid in the fight against Islamic State militants.
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| U.S. can keep court orders, phone companies secret in NSA spy case Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:39 PM PDT  The U.S. government need not turn over a secret surveillance court's orders or the names of phone companies helping it collect call records, because it might reveal methods needed to protect national security, a federal judge decided on Monday. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, rejected the Electronic Frontier Foundation's argument that the U.S. Department of Justice should turn over the materials, in the wake of unauthorized disclosures last year by a former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden. The EFF noted that the government had already declassified hundreds of pages of other documents discussing data collection under the U.S. Patriot Act, including some that the data privacy advocacy group had requested. Rogers, though, said disclosing orders of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which handles federal requests for surveillance warrants, could "provide a roadmap" for targets of national security investigations to evade surveillance.
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| US sends 130 more military advisors to Iraq: Hagel Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:35 PM PDT  The United States has sent 130 more military advisors to northern Iraq to assess the scope of the humanitarian crisis there, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday. "I recommended to the president and the president has authorized me to go ahead and send about 130 new assessment team members up to northern Iraq in the Arbil area to take a closer look and give more in-depth assessment of where we can continue to help," said Hagel. Hagel added: "I would also say that this follows the criteria that President Obama has made very clearly that this is not any extension of any role other for the United States than to find ways to assist and help advise the Iraqi security forces. "As the president has made very clear, we're not going back to Iraq in any of the same combat mission dimensions that we once were in."
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| Clippers sale to Steve Ballmer goes through Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:32 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Steve Ballmer officially became the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
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| Airport tests new way to avoid deadly bird strikes Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:30 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — When birds and planes collide, the results can be deadly. That's why airports around the world work hard to keep birds away, even resorting to shooting or poisoning large flocks.
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| Delco firefighter charged with arson after 3 fires Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:29 PM PDT  A volunteer firefighter from Glenolden, Delaware County is accused of setting fire to homes he was supposed to help save.
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| Beef Products Inc reopens plant as 'pink slime' lawsuit proceeds Posted: 12 Aug 2014 04:26 PM PDT  By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - Beef Products Inc will reopen a Kansas processing plant on Monday to boost production of "lean finely textured beef," which critics call "pink slime," as wholesale beef prices soar with a shrinking U.S. cattle herd.The reopening of the Garden City, Kansas, plant comes more than two years after it was shuttered following a national media controversy about the BPI product. The plant will collect raw chunks of meat and fat beef trimmings from a neighboring Tyson Foods slaughterhouse, package them into large bins, and then ship the refrigerated containers to BPI's processing facility in Dakota City, Nebraska, BPI said on Tuesday.
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