More than 1,000 injured when meteor explodes over Russia

CHELYABINSK, Russia— ...

Read More..

Facebook says it was a target of sophisticated hacking

SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Facebook Inc said on Friday hackers had infiltrated some of its employees' laptops in recent weeks, making the world's No.1 social network the latest victim of a wave of cyber attacks, many of which have been traced to China. It said none of its users' data was compromised in the attack, which occurred after a handful of employees visited a website...

Read More..

Pistorius' uncle says athlete 'numb with shock'

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is "numb with shock, as well as grief" after the shooting death of his model girlfriend at his home in South Africa, the runner's uncle said Saturday, as his family "strongly refutes" that he planned to kill her.Arnold Pistorius spoke with The Associated Press and two other South African journalists about his nephew's arrest for the killing...

Read More..

UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.Edwards...

Read More..

Judge sets May trial date for Kardashian divorce

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian has a due date for her baby and now a trial date for her divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries.A judge on Friday set a May 6 trial for the reality TV star who wants to end her marriage before July, when her child with Kanye West is due.Kardashian filed for divorce on Oct. 31, 2011, after she and Humphries had been married just 72 days. Their lavish, star-studded...

Read More..

Illinois corporate tax credits swelled to $161 million 2011

When lawmakers raised taxes on Illinois residents and businesses, they also increased corporate income tax breaks for a select...

Read More..

Exhausted passengers describe woes on disabled cruise ship

MOBILE, Alabama— ...

Read More..

Big hedge funds fueled fourth-quarter dive in Apple shares

BOSTON (Reuters) - Some of the biggest hedge funds that helped make Apple Inc a stock market darling lost faith and dumped their stakes in the fourth quarter, fueling the massive drop in the iPhone maker's share price. Noted stock pickers including Leon Cooperman, Eric Mindich and Thomas Steyer unloaded billions of dollars of Apple shares between September 30 and December 31, according...

Read More..

Pistorius statement disputes he committed murder

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius held his head in his hands and wept openly in court Friday as prosecutors said they would pursue a charge of premeditated murder against the Paralympic superstar.Pistorius was formally charged at Pretoria Magistrate's Court with one count of murder after his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV show contestant. The 30-year-old was...

Read More..

Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction

BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.The findings, published online Thursday in...

Read More..

Man who helped created 'Underdog' cartoon dies

BOSTON (AP) — The co-creator of the cartoon "Underdog," the mild-mannered shoeshine boy who turned into a caped superhero to rescue his girlfriend, Sweet Polly Purebred, has died. William Watts Biggers was 85.Family friend Derek Tague says Biggers, who went by "Buck," died unexpectedly at his Plymouth home on Sunday.The native of Avondale Estates, Ga., worked for the New York City advertising firm...

Read More..

Push for online sales taxes pick up steam in Congress

U.S. states could collect millions of dollars in online sales taxes, with members of both parties in Congress sponsoring legislation...

Read More..

Anxiety grows as officials consider closing 129 Chicago schools

After trimming the number of schools that could be closed to 129, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's school administration has entered the...

Read More..

Apple challenges loss of iPhone trademark in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Apple Inc, which lost the rights to its iPhone trademark in Brazil on Wednesday, is challenging the ruling by Brazil's copyright regulator to prevent local firm Gradiente Eletronica SA from using the "iphone" brand name. The regulator, Inpi, ruled on Wednesday that the rights to the trademark belong to Gradiente, prompting California-based Apple to request that...

Read More..

Olympian Pistorius charged with murder

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday with the murder of his girlfriend who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs.Reeva Steenkamp, a model who spoke out on Twitter against rape and abuse of women, was shot four times in the predawn...

Read More..

Morning-after pill use up to 1 in 9 younger women

NEW YORK (AP) — About 1 in 9 younger women have used the morning-after pill after sex, according to the first government report to focus on emergency contraception since its approval 15 years ago.The results come from a survey of females ages 15 to 44. Eleven percent of those who'd had sex reported using a morning-after pill. That's up from 4 percent in 2002, only a few years after the pills went...

Read More..

Epic to pull song with offending Lil Wayne lyric

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Epic Records is going to "great efforts" to take down a new Future remix leaked over the weekend with a vulgar Lil Wayne lyric that has offended the family of Emmett Till.The New Orleans rapper made a sexual reference to the beating death of Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy tortured and shot in Mississippi in 1955 for whistling at a white woman. Till's family objected and the...

Read More..

American, US Airways to merge

AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, and US Airways Group will merge, the companies said Thursday. If the $11 billion merger...

Read More..

Obama to Republicans: Can we just move on?

President Obama highlighted numerous parts of his agenda during his State of the Union Address. AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace reports, the tough part will be turning words into action. (Feb. 13) ...

Read More..

High stakes if Apple e-books antitrust case goes to trial

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the only remaining defendant in the U.S. government's e-books antitrust case, Apple Inc appears headed for a high-stakes trial that could significantly increase the personal computer company's liability in related litigation. Apple faces a June 3 trial date over civil allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice that it conspired with five publishers to raise...

Read More..

Player regrets getting entangled with match-fixing

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Soccer player Mario Cizmek thought it would just be one match. Ease up and let the other team win, he told himself, then collect the payoff and start paying off your debts.But the broke and desperate athlete soon learned that one match wouldn't do it. He would have to throw another game, then another, then another.And so it went until, in what he described as his "worst moment,"...

Read More..