Wednesday, May 2, 2012

APNewsBreak: Protection sought for rare woodpecker

APNewsBreak: Protection sought for rare woodpecker

APNewsBreak: Protection sought for rare woodpecker

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FILE - In this July 6, 2010 file photo, a rare black-backed woodpecker is seen in the burned remains of the Angora Fire near South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Conservationists are seeking Endangered Species Act protection for the rare woodpecker that feeds on beetles in burned forests. Four groups filed the listing petition Wednesday, May 2, 2012, for the black-backed woodpecker in the Black Hills, the Sierra Nevada and Eastern Cascades of Oregon. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)Smokey Bear has done such a good job stomping out forest fires the past half-century that a woodpecker that's survived for millions of years by eating beetle larvae in burned trees is in danger of going extinct in parts of the West, according to conservationists seeking U.S. protection for the bird.

Oil price falls on concerns about global economy

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Oil prices fell Wednesday on concerns about a weakening European economy and disappointing job growth in the U.S.

Canadiens hire Marc Bergevin as general manager

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Marc Bergevin smiles as he is introduced as the Montreal Canadiens' new general manager Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in Brossard, Quebec. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)The Montreal Canadiens believe Marc Bergevin can lead them back to the top of the standings.

John Edwards' daughter leaves courtroom crying

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Former Sen. John Edwards, right, leads his mother Bobbie Edwards, center, and father Wallace Edwards, into the Federal Courthouse in Greensboro, N.C. Wednesday, May 2, 2012. Edwards is accused of conspiring to secretly obtain more than $900,000 from two wealthy supporters to hide his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter and her pregnancy from the media. He has pleaded not guilty to six charges related to violations of campaign-finance laws. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Chuck Liddy)John Edwards' daughter left the courtroom crying during testimony on Wednesday about a confrontation between her father and deceased mother over the onetime presidential candidate's extramarital affair.

Salon owner: Young NJ girl wasn't in tanning booth

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Patricia Krentcil, 44, waits to be arraigned at the Essex County Superior Court, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in Newark, N.J., where she appeared on charges of endangering her 5-year-old child by taking her into a tanning salon. Krentcil tells The Associated Press her daughter got her sunburn from being outside on a recent warm day. New Jersey state law prohibits anyone under 14 from using tanning salons.(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)The owner of a northern New Jersey tanning salon denies that a mother caused skin burns to her young child by putting her in a tanning booth.

Pro-Romney group readies 9-state ad buy

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An independent group backing Republican Mitt Romney has placed a $4.3 million advertising buy in nine presidential battleground states.

Texas to kill man convicted in chopper-theft death

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This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Anthony Bartee. Bartee, 55, faces execution Wednesday evening for the slaying of 37-year-old David Cook more than 15 years ago in San Antonio, Texas then stealing Cook's Harley Davidson. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice)A rapist who was on parole when prosecutors say he murdered a neighbor because he wanted the man's Harley Davidson motorcycle was hoping for a last-minute reprieve Wednesday, hours before his scheduled execution.

China dissident afraid, now wants to leave country-reports

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A handout photo from US Embassy Beijing Press office shows blind activist Chen shaking hands with U.S. Ambassador to China Locke, in BeijingBEIJING (Reuters) - Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng left the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday after securing guarantees that he could live in safety with his family in China, but he quickly appeared to have second thoughts. Under a deal described by U.S. officials, China committed to allow Chen to be relocated within the country along with his family and to study at a university, an outcome that would have kept him a pivotal figure in China-U.S. relations. ...

Natgas futures end down 5 percent after Centaurus news

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures, off early on moderate weather forecasts and profit-taking after a three-day rally, ended down sharply on Wednesday amid pressure from news that a huge natural gas hedge fund would close. Gas prices were down most of the day, but sold off sharply late in the session after news that John Arnold was closing his Centaurus Energy Master Fund. ...

Exclusive: Natural gas trade whiz Arnold shutting fund

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Legendary natural gas trader John Arnold is closing down his flagship Centaurus fund, a source said on Wednesday, as the former Enron wunderkind struggled to maintain outsized returns with prices near 10-year lows and regulations tightening. Centaurus, famed for gaining more than 300 percent in 2006 by taking bets opposite to those held by failed rival Amaranth Advisors, will return capital to investors, according to an investor in the fund who said he had received a letter from Arnold earlier on Wednesday. ...

Gingrich ends campaign, no endorsement for Romney

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FILE - In this April 25, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speak in Cramerton, N.C. Gingrich is thanking his supporters a day before he officially suspends his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich released a video message on his website Tuesday saying he would bring the campaign to a close on Wednesday. The former House speaker said he would continue working to defeat President Barack Obama, whose re-election Gingrich said would be a Newt Gingrich can now call himself a former presidential candidate.

Helicopter crashes in Phoenix neighborhood; 2 hurt

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A small helicopter crashed Wednesday between two homes, landing in a tree and knocking off part of a home's roof.

Eli Manning prepares to host 'Saturday Night Live'

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Eli Manning says he didn't want to host "Saturday Night Live" after his first Super Bowl victory because it came so soon after big brother Peyton's appearance a year earlier.

Knicks' Chandler is NBA Defensive Player of Year

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File-This Jan. 21, 2012 file photo shows New York Knicks' Tyson Chandler (6) blocking a shot by Denver Nuggets' Andre Miller (24) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in New York. A person with knowledge of the award says Chandler has been voted the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year. Yahoo Sports first reported Chandler's victory. The person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday May 1, 2012, because the official announcement was to come from the NBA. The award will be announced on Wednesday May 2. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)Tyson Chandler, the catalyst for the New York Knicks' defensive improvement, has been voted the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year.

13 charged in hazing death of FAMU band member

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Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar, right, announces charges against 13 people in the hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion during a news conference in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, May 2, 2012. The charges were announced more than five months after Champion, 26, died aboard a chartered bus parked outside an Orlando hotel following a performance against a rival school. Standing next to Lamar are Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Joyce Dawley, left, and Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)Thirteen people were charged Wednesday for their roles in the hazing death of a Florida A&M University drum major who was severely beaten in what appears to be one of the biggest college hazing cases ever.

Teen charged in celeb car theft had weapons cache

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Authorities say a California teen charged in a drive-by shooting and the theft of a celebrity chef's Lamborghini kept an arsenal that included assault rifles, phone-jamming equipment and a police uniform.

Police: Junior Seau found dead at California home

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FILE -In this July 28, 2007 file photo, New England Patriots linebacker Junior Seau smiles during NFL football training camp in Foxborough, Mass. Police say Seau, a former NFL star, was found dead at his home in Oceanside, Calif., Wednesday, May 2, 2012, after responding to a shooting there. He was 43. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)Police say former NFL star Junior Seau has been found dead in an apparent suicide at his home in Southern California.

Stocks, euro lower ahead of jobs data, ECB

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Japanese Yen's exchange rate against U.S. Dollar, which is displayed on an electronic board, is reflected on rain drops on the window of the board outside a brokerage in TokyoNEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks and the euro fell on Wednesday after data showed U.S. companies hired the fewest people in seven months in April and the euro zone's factory sector slipped further. The reports came a day after an index of U.S. factory activity posted its strongest growth rate in 10 months and sent the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest close in four years. The S&P 500 and the Dow declined as investors turned cautious ahead of Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for April, while Treasuries prices advanced on safe-haven demand. U.S. ...

Target phasing out Amazon's Kindle

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Target Corp. is phasing out Amazon.com Inc.'s e-reader Kindle at its more than 1,700 stores and its website.

Gingrich formally ends tumultuous White House bid

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U.S. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich gestures during a rally in Concord, North CarolinaARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich ended his tumultuous run for U.S. president on Wednesday after dazzling in televised debates but winning only two of the dozens of nominating contests in the Republican primary race. The former U.S. House of Representatives speaker, the face of the Republican party in the mid-1990s, badly trailed front-runner Mitt Romney in polls and his campaign fell into debt of $4.3 million. ...

Court: Ex-Bush aide protected from torture lawsuit

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FILE - In this Thursday, June 26, 2008 file photo, John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. An appeals court said Wednesday, May 2, 2012, that a former senior Department of Justice lawyer who wrote the so-called An appeals court on Wednesday tossed out a convicted terrorist's lawsuit accusing a high-ranking Bush administration lawyer who wrote the so-called "torture memos" of authorizing illegally harsh treatment of "enemy combatants."

Gingrich ends White House bid, will remain engaged

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FILE - In this April 25, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speak in Cramerton, N.C. Gingrich is thanking his supporters a day before he officially suspends his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich released a video message on his website Tuesday saying he would bring the campaign to a close on Wednesday. The former House speaker said he would continue working to defeat President Barack Obama, whose re-election Gingrich said would be a Newt Gingrich can now call himself a former presidential candidate.

Islamists strengthen grip over north Mali

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In this Tuesday, May 1, 2012 photo, a woman stands in front of a traditionally decorated door in Timbuktu, Mali. While government soldiers were fighting each other this week for control of the capital Bamako, in Mali's southwest corner, Islamist fighters were asserting control over the Texas-sized northern half of the country. The Islamists are imposing strict religious law and some of them are foreign jihadists, setting up a possible showdown with Tuareg nationalist rebels, who are secular and who seized northern Mali in March alongside the Islamists. (AP Photo)In one town in northern Mali a man has been whipped for drinking alcohol. In another, pictures of unveiled women have been torn down. In a third, traditional music is no longer heard in the streets.

Messi breaks Mueller's goals record

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Lionel MessiBarcelona's triple Ballon d'Or-winner Lionel Messi broke Gerd Mueller's record for goals in a European season here on Wednesday as he scored a hat-trick in the game with Malaga to take his tally to 68.

French presidential candidates face off in debate

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French Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 presidential elections Francois Hollande waves after delivering his speech during a meeting in Nevers, Tuesday, May 1, 2012, as part of his campaign for the second round of the French presidential elections on May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)French President Nicolas Sarkozy is lashing out at his critics and his leftist challenger Francois Hollande is calling for national unity as the two face off in a highly anticipated presidential debate.

Chinese activist told CNN he wants to leave China

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(Reuters) - Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng told a CNN reporter he felt "let down" by the United States after he left the U.S. Embassy for a Beijing hospital on Wednesday, and CNN quoted him as saying he now feared for his life and wanted to leave China. "He wants to leave and he wants to leave as soon as possible. He's made this appeal directly to President Barack Obama himself," a CNN reporter said on air. He said he had spoken to Chen for about 15 to 20 minutes by telephone after Chen was reunited with his wife. Earlier U.S. ...

Airstrike kills 15 al-Qaida militants in Yemen

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An airstrike Wednesday killed 15 al-Qaida-linked militants in their training camp in the country's south, Yemeni military officials said. The airstrike resembled earlier U.S. drone attacks, but the U.S. did not comment.

US-Afghan pact achieved despite Karzai's rhetoric

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A French soldier part of the NATO forces walks on debris after the compound was attacked by militants in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 2, 2012. A suicide car bomber and Taliban militants disguised in burqas attacked a compound housing hundreds of foreigners in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, officials and witnesses said. The Taliban said the attack was a response to President Barack Obama's surprise visit just hours earlier. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)Afghanistan's president has branded his U.S. allies as corrupt, wasteful and contemptuous of Afghan lives. Once he even threatened to join the Taliban. Nonetheless, Hamid Karzai signed a deal that could keep thousands of U.S. troops in his country for years.

Cleveland won't renew Occupy group's permit

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Photos provided by the FBI show five men arrested Monday, April 30, 2012, and accused of plotting to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, Ohio, the FBI announced Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Top row, from left, are Douglas Wright, Brandon Baxter and Anthony Hayne. Bottom row, from left, are Joshua Stafford and Connor Stevens. There was no danger to the public because the explosives were inoperable and were controlled by an undercover FBI employee, the agency said Tuesday in announcing the men's arrests. The target of the plot was a bridge that carries a four-lane state highway over part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in the Brecksville area, about 15 miles south of downtown Cleveland, the FBI said. (AP Photo/FBI)The city of Cleveland is not renewing Occupy protesters' permit allowing a permanent encampment. The decision comes two days after allegations that some members plotted to bomb a nearby bridge.

Family: stiffer charges warranted in hazing death

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The mother of a Florida A&M University drum major who died says she is disappointed prosecutors didn't file more severe charges.

Helicopter crashes into Phoenix neighborhood

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A small helicopter crashed in between two homes in east Phoenix, landing in a tree and knocking off part of a home's roof.

NJ gov writes school excuse note for boy at event

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Peter Schwartz, 11, can't think of a question to ask after being called on by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at a town hall meeting in Garfield, N.J., Wednesday, May 2, 2012. At the end of the town hall meeting, Christie asked Schwartz if he had thought of a question, Schwartz asked the governor for a note excusing him from school. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received an unusual request at a town hall meeting Wednesday.

Presidential debate crucial for France's Sarkozy kicks off

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Francois Hollande (L) and Nicolas Sarkozy (R) pose with journalists David Pujadas (C-R) and Laurence FerrariA live television debate seen as crucial to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's hopes of turning the tide against Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande before polling day began Wednesday.

RIM to continue to make keypads for BlackBerrys

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Research in Motion Ltd. says it will continue to offer physical keyboards on future BlackBerry models.

Hamas says it's holding talks with 5 EU countries

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Osama Hamdan, who handles foreign relations for Hamas, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Wednesday May 2, 2012. Hamdan said the Islamic militant group has been holding secret political talks with five European Union member states in recent months. He also said that the talks with European government officials focus on the Hamas positions toward Israel and paralyzed Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)The Palestinian Islamist Hamas has been holding secret political talks with five European Union member states in recent months, a senior official in the militant group told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

China activist leaves US embassy after deal with Beijing

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Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng (C) shakes hands with Gary Locke (R), US ambassador to ChinaChinese activist Chen Guangcheng on Wednesday "reluctantly" left the US embassy where he had sought protection after fleeing house arrest, following a deal with Beijing, a US-based rights group said.

1st private cargo run to space station delayed

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In this April 29, 2012 photo provided by SpaceX, a SpaceX Dragon capsule on the company's Falcon 9 rocket is transported to a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, announced the latest delay Wednesday, May 2, 2012. The company did not set a new launch date. A Falcon rocket carrying a Dragon capsule was supposed to blast off from Cape Canaveral on Monday, May 7, 2012, but additional software testing was ordered. The test flight is already three months late. (AP Photo/SpaceX)The first commercial cargo run to the International Space Station has been delayed again for more software testing.

Attorneys try to settle Zsa Zsa Gabor care dispute

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FILE - In this 1978 file photo, Hungarian-born American actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is shown. Attorneys for Zsa Zsa Gabor's daughter and husband are due in a Los Angeles court Wednesday to argue whether the ailing actress needs a conservatorship. Constance Francesca Hilton is asking a judge to oversee her mother's care and has raised concerns about her finances and medical treatment. Gabor's husband of 25 years, Frederic von Anhalt, is asking a judge to reject Hilton's petition and says he has provided his wife the best possible care. (AP Photo/file)Zsa Zsa Gabor's daughter and husband are attempting to settle a dispute over the ailing actress' care and finances outside of court, attorneys told a probate judge Wednesday.

107 charged in Medicare fraud busts in 7 cities

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Federal authorities charged 107 doctors, nurses and social workers in seven cities with Medicare fraud Tuesday in a nationwide crackdown on unrelated scams that allegedly billed the taxpayer-funded program of $452 million — the highest dollar amount in a single Medicare bust in U.S. history.
Posted by Harshad at 1:07 PM

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