Friday, August 17, 2012

Romney and Obama now fight for edge on Medicare

Romney and Obama now fight for edge on Medicare

Romney and Obama now fight for edge on Medicare

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:51 PM PDT

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leaves his headquarters in Boston, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)The jobs-and-economy election suddenly seems all about Medicare — for now, at least.

Moody's: More Calif. cities at risk of bankruptcy

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:49 PM PDT

One of the nation's top credit rating agencies said Friday it will begin a wide-ranging review of municipal finances in California because of what it sees is a growing threat of increased city bankruptcies and bond defaults.

Jenny McCarthy announces split with Brian Urlacher

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:49 PM PDT

FILE - This May 14, 2012 file photo shows "Love In The Wild" host Jenny McCarthy arrives for the NBC network upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall in New York. McCarthy, who is from suburban Chicago, released a statement Friday, Aug. 17, 2012, saying that she is no longer romantically involved with Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)Former Playboy Playmate and actress Jenny McCarthy says she is no longer romantically involved with Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher.

For Miss., an angst-filled Civil War anniversary

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:44 PM PDT

This nine-foot tall sculpture photographed at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, honors black soldiers and civilians that fought for their freedom and in support of the Union. The statue depicts three figures - two Union soldiers representing the 1st and 3d Mississippi Infantry, African Descent, and participated in the Vicksburg campaign, and the third figure, right, is a civilian laborer. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War can be an angst-filled task in Mississippi, with its long history of racial strife and a state flag that still bears the Confederate battle emblem.

Russia jails Pussy Riot protest punks for two years

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:43 PM PDT

Members of "Pussy Riot" Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (R), Maria Alyokhina (L) and Yekaterina SamutsevichA Moscow court Friday handed a two-year jail sentence to three feminist punk rockers who infuriated the Kremlin and captured world attention by ridiculing President Vladimir Putin in Russia's main church.

'West Memphis Three' out of prison for a year

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:42 PM PDT

In this photo taken Aug. 13, 2012, a gazebo built in honor of three Cub Scouts murdered in 1993, sits on a playground behind the school the boys attended in West Memphis, Ark. Three men known as the West Memphis Three were released from prison last year after years of questions about the evidence in the case. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)For nearly two decades, prison was the only home Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley Jr. knew.

Some SAfrican miners vow to fight to the death

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:41 PM PDT

An unidentified woman protests against the police near a shooting scene at the Lonmin mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Police chief Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega says 34 miners died and another 78 were wounded when police opened fire on strikers in one of the worst police shootings in South Africa since apartheid. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)Frantic wives searched for missing loved ones, President Jacob Zuma rushed home from a regional summit and some miners vowed a fight to the death Friday as police announced a shocking casualty toll from the previous day's shooting by officers of striking miners: 34 dead and 78 wounded.

Del Potro, Djokovic reach Cincinnati semis

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:41 PM PDT

Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, returns a volley to Jeremy Chardy, of France, during a match at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Friday Aug. 17, 2012, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)The semifinals of the Western & Southern Open feature a reprise of the Olympic bronze medal match.

US cycling body sides with Armstrong against USADA

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:39 PM PDT

The American governing body for cycling says it must accept the jurisdiction of the sport's international federation and side against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in the court fight to determine which has group has jurisdiction over the Lance Armstrong doping case.

Oil rises; US considers release from reserves

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT

The price of oil rose to its highest point in three months Friday, topping off four straight days of gains, on signs U.S. consumers are gaining confidence in the economy.

NABC files brief backing affirmative action case

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:32 PM PDT

The National Association of Basketball Coaches has told the U.S. Supreme Court it believes university officials should be able to continue taking race into consideration when deciding who gets to enroll in their schools.

CBS drops suit against ABC over 'Glass House' show

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:31 PM PDT

FILE - This June 18, 2012 file photo released by ABC shows contestants Apollo, left, and Jeffrey, during the premiere episode of "The Glass House." CBS announced Friday, August 17, 2012 that it was dropping its lawsuit against ABC over the series CBS dropped its lawsuit Friday against ABC over its reality series "The Glass House," citing the show's low viewership numbers as a reason it is no longer interested in the case.

Obamas get personal as a way to get election votes

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:29 PM PDT

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2012, file photo President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama campaign together in Dubuque, Iowa. The first couple have have been frequently sharing personal tidbits on the campaign trail, seeking to remind people of one big reason they voted for Obama in the first place: most people like him personally. Obama talks about his single mother's struggles, tells voters he misses his wife when they're apart, and she tells voters he's still cute, even with gray hair. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)He talks about his single mother and the grandmother who helped raise him. He tells voters he misses his wife when they're apart. She tells voters he's still cute, even with gray hair.

Call for Spanish language political spending

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:27 PM PDT

FILE - In this April 17, 2007 file photo, Randy Falco is seen in New York. Just a month after Forbes Magazine recognized the Hispanic television market as "the next media jackpot," some are complaining that Hispanic media aren't getting a fair share of attention from the political realm. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)Just a month after Forbes Magazine recognized the Hispanic television market as "the next media jackpot," some are complaining that Hispanic media aren't getting a fair share of attention from the political realm.

Factbox: Fed officials' comments on U.S. economy, policy

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:27 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve earlier this month stopped short of unleashing new monetary stimulus to try to bring down high unemployment, but signaled that continued economic weakness could eventually trigger a new round of buying. The Fed has kept interest rates near zero since December 2008 and expects economic conditions will warrant keeping them there through at least late 2014. A majority of economists responding to a Reuters poll this week believe the Fed will embark on a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, at the central bank's mid-September policy-setting meeting. ...

World's oldest commissioned warship to sail again

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:21 PM PDT

FILE - In this July 21, 1997 file photo, the Blue Angels fly in formation over the USS Constitution as she free sails off the coast of Marblehead, Mass., in celebration of her 200th birthday. The frigate, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," had not sailed on her own for more than 116 years. On Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012, the ship is scheduled to again raise sails on a cruise to mark the day two centuries ago when the Constitution bested the British frigate HMS Guerriere in a fierce battle during War of 1812. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)The world's oldest commissioned warship will sail under its own power for just the second time in more than a century to commemorate the battle that won it the nickname "Old Ironsides."

Forest Service now tries to tamp out every flame

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:18 PM PDT

FILE - In this May 29, 2012 file photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service, a firefighter walks along a burn out line along a large wildfire in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. If lightning strikes in the New Mexico wilderness and starts a fire, the blaze would normally be little more than a blip on the radar of land managers who have earned a reputation for letting flames burn to keep forested lands from growing into a tangled mess. This season is different. Now firefighters are trekking deep into the Gila National Forest with trains of equipment-carrying horses and one overriding goal: snuffing out all fires, no matter how small or remote. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Mark Pater, file)If lightning strikes in the New Mexico wilderness and starts a fire, the blaze would normally be little more than a blip on the radar of land managers who have earned a reputation for letting flames burn to keep forested lands from growing into a tangled mess.

Harrell shaky, out to prove he can back up Rodgers

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:16 PM PDT

Green Bay Packers quarterback Graham Harrell throws during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)If everything goes as planned for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, it's an issue that won't come up all season.

Romney nixes Obama bid for 5-year tax disclosure

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:16 PM PDT

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leaves his headquarters in Boston, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)President Barack Obama's re-election campaign kept up pressure against Republican rival Mitt Romney on two fronts Friday, launching a new ad defending Obama's record on Medicare while challenging Romney to release at least five years of tax returns.

Clown had iPad stolen from Steve Jobs' home

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:15 PM PDT

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2010 file photo, Apple CEO Steve Jobs shows off the new iPad during an event in San Francisco. Imagine the potential treasures inside the stolen iPad of the late Steve Jobs, secret corporate documents, personal correspondence and maybe even game prototypes. Professional entertainer Kenny the Clown, who unwittingly received the stolen tablet after the Apple co-founder's Palo Alto home was burglarized last month, says he never examined the touch-screen device's contents. The San Jose Mercury News says Kenny the Clown, whose real name is Kenneth Kahn, had no idea the iPad came from the Jobs residence until a friend who gave it to him was charged with burglary and police had confiscated the device. Authorities say 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin stole iPods, Macs, jewelry and Jobs' wallet. He is due in court Monday and recently hired a lawyer. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)A professional clown who used an iPad pilfered from the home of the late Steve Jobs to play pop songs at a street fair while he made balloon animals said Friday he had no idea his friend had snatched the tablet.

Syria fighting rages as refugee numbers soar

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT

SYRIA-CONFLICTSyrian forces pounded rebel hubs in the northern city of Aleppo and battled opposition fighters around Damascus on Friday, activists said, as the UN reported a surge in the number of people fleeing.

Syria: clashes near airport in contested Aleppo

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT

A Syrian man grieves over the bodies of four members of his family, who were killed when an airstrike hit their house, as they lie on the side of the street outside a field hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Rebel footholds in Aleppo have been the target of weeks of Syrian shelling and air attacks as part of wider offensives by President Bashar Assad's regime. Rebels have been driven from some areas, but the report of clashes near the airport suggests the battles could be shifting to new fronts.(AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)Government troops fought back rebels near the airport of battle-scarred Aleppo, Syria's state media said Friday, in the first official acknowledgement combat had neared a strategic gateway to the country's largest city.

Police: Michigan mother, 2 kids stabbed with knife

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:09 PM PDT

A home in Van Buren Township, Mich., where police say they found a woman and her two young sons dead when they went there Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 to notify the family of a fiery, fatal crash in Indiana. Police identified one of the people killed in the crash as Michael VanDerLinden. Public records showed the 39-year-old VanDerLinden co-owned the Michigan home where the bodies were found with his wife, 34-year-old Linda VanDerLinden. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)A woman and two children found dead in a suburban Detroit home when officers went to notify her of her husband's death in a fatal crash were stabbed with a butcher knife, police said Friday.

Butler sentenced to 20 years in Conn. extortion

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:08 PM PDT

FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2009 file photo, Anne H. Bass attends the 2009 Whitney Museum of American Art gala and studio party in New York. Her former butler, Emanuel Nicolescu, was convicted of attempted extortion in March 2012 in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn., after breaking into her estate and injecting her with what he and other the intruders claimed was a deadly virus. Nicolescu is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, Aug. 17, 2012, in New Haven. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)A former butler insisted on his innocence and said he's scared to go to jail as he was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for trying to extort millions of dollars from philanthropist Anne H. Bass, who was injected with what masked intruders claimed was a deadly virus during a night of terror in 2007.

For Ryan, physical fitness a lifelong endeavor

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:07 PM PDT

FILE In this June 1, 2012 file photo, Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Paul Ryan's fastidious commitment to fitness and healthy living can be traced to 1986. That's when he found his father dead of a heart attack in the family's Wisconsin home, becoming the latest in a long line of men in the family to die prematurely. Today, Ryan is 42. He boasts of body fat between just 6 and 8 percent. He doesn't eat sweets _ even on his birthday. He holds early morning work outs in the House gym for colleagues. And he favors a high-intensity workout called P90X. The youthful Ryan's intensity _ and the story behind it _ has been in the spotlight since Romney announced his running-mate selection last weekend. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)Paul Ryan's fastidious commitment to fitness and healthy living can be traced to 1986 when, at age 16, he found his father dead of a heart attack in the family's Janesville, Wis., home.

Report details general's lavish travel, spending

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 12:06 PM PDT

FILE - In this May 26, 2006 file photo, Army Lt. Gen. William E. Kip Ward is adminstered the oath of four-star General, the Army's highest rank of general, by Command Sgt. Major Mark Ripka, right, at Fort Myer, Va. The Associated Press has learned that Ward, who was the first head of the new U.S. Africa Command is under investigation and facing demotion for possibly spending hundreds of thousands of dollars improperly on lavish travel, hotels and other items. Several defense officials said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected soon to decide the fate of Ward. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)The four-star general who headed U.S. Africa Command used military vehicles to shuttle his wife shopping and to spas, and billed the government for a refueling stop overnight in Bermuda, where the couple stayed in a $750 suite, a Defense Department investigation has found.

Firebomb thrown into taxi wounds 6 Palestinians

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:58 AM PDT

Palestinian men walk towards an Israeli checkpoint on their way to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012.(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)Six Palestinians have been wounded in a suspected firebomb attack by Jewish extremists in the West Bank, The Israeli military said.

Qatar buys fifth of UK airport operator BAA

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:56 AM PDT

A Qatari government investment fund on Friday said it had reached a deal with Spanish company Ferrovial to buy 20 percent of the company that operates London's Heathrow, Stansted and other British airports.

The least loved day is also the market's worst

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:54 AM PDT

It's not just in your head. Mondays really are the worst.

AdWatch: Obama defends Medicare policies in ad

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:53 AM PDT

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event in Davenport, Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)TITLE: "Facts"

Pussy Riot members sentenced to 2 years in prison

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:46 AM PDT

Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, right, Maria Alekhina, center, and Yekaterina Samutsevich sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Security is tight around a Moscow courthouse where three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot are to hear the verdict Friday in a trial that could send them to prison for seven years.(AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)A Moscow judge sentenced three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot to two years in prison on hooliganism charges on Friday following a trial seen around the world as an emblem of Russia's intolerance of dissent.

National Guard to keep sponsoring Earnhardt Jr.

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:43 AM PDT

The Army National Guard is staying on as a sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 NASCAR Sprint Cup team.

Air France: Out of gas? Ask passengers to pitch in

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:42 AM PDT

An emergency layover in Syria's capital was bad enough. Then passengers on Air France Flight 562 were asked to open their wallets to check if they had enough cash to pay for more fuel.

Groupon stock caps off a week of lows

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:38 AM PDT

Another day, another low for Groupon's stock.

Sooners suspend DT Stacy McGee indefinitely

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:36 AM PDT

Oklahoma defensive tackle Stacy McGee was suspended indefinitely Friday for what coach Bob Stoops called a violation of university policy.

Olympian Demps set to join NFL Patriots

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:28 AM PDT

Jeff Demps, who ran for US men's silver medal 4x100-meter relay team at the London Olympics, plans to sign an NFL deal with the New England Patriots, according to a posting on the NFL's website.

Black journalists protest debate exclusion

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:19 AM PDT

A group of black journalists says it is disappointed in the lack of ethnic diversity among the people chosen to moderate presidential debates.

Israeli opposition: Solo Iran strike ineffective

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:15 AM PDT

Israel's opposition leader Shaul Mofaz says an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites would be ineffective without U.S. support.

UN: Algeria's Brahimi will replace Annan in Syria

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:14 AM PDT

FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2009 file photo, former Algerian foreign affairs minister Lakhdar Brahimi attends the Ambrosetti economic forum in Cernobbio, Lake Como, Italy. The United Nations has announced that Brahimi will replace Kofi Annan as peace envoy to Syria. U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey announced Friday, Aug. 17, 2012, that the former Algerian foreign minister and longtime U.N. official would succeed Annan as joint U.N.-Arab League envoy. The 78-year-old Brahimi has worked in several high-profile positions at the U.N., gaining a reputation as a tough, independent negotiator as envoy to Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti. He helped negotiate the end of Lebanon's civil war. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister and longtime U.N. diplomat known as a strong-willed, independent broker, has agreed to replace former Secretary-General Kofi Annan as peace envoy to Syria, the United Nations announced Friday.

Mine "bloodbath" shocks post-apartheid South Africa

Posted: 17 Aug 2012 11:11 AM PDT

A policeman fires at protesting miners outside a South African mine in RustenburgMARIKANA, South Africa (Reuters) - The police killing of 34 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa's psyche on Friday, with searching questions asked of its post-apartheid soul. Newspaper headlines screamed "Bloodbath", "Killing Field" and "Mine Slaughter", with graphic photographs of heavily armed white and black police officers walking casually past the bloodied corpses of black men lying crumpled in the dust. ...
Posted by Harshad at 1:03 PM

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