News you can use
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama called Tuesday night for a flurry of help for a hurting middle class and higher taxes on millionaires, delivering a State of the Union address filled with re-election themes. Restoring a fair shot for all, Obama said, is "the defining issue of our time." Obama outlined a vastly different vision for fixing the country than the one pressed by the Republicans challenging him in Congress and fighting to take his job. He pleaded for an active govern...
WASHINGTON — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona announced Sunday she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt a little more than a year ago that shook the country. "I don't remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice," the Democratic lawmaker said on a video posted without prior notice on her Facebook page. AP Photo/Office of Gabrielle Giffords This video image provided by the Office o...
The house at the end of the block was fast taking on the feel of a shrine when Joe Paterno stepped into the crisp November night with his wife, Sue, by his side. Students had gathered on the lawn, some carrying hand-lettered signs, many near tears and all of them confused, sad and angry. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar Penn State fans gather around a statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State University campus to pay their respects after learning of his death Sunday in State College, Pa. For the first time in...
NEW YORK (AP) — Can the world live without Wikipedia for a day? The shutdown of one of the Internet's most-visited sites is not sitting well with some of its volunteer editors, who say the protest of anti-piracy legislation could threaten the credibility of their work. "My main concern is that it puts the organization in the role of advocacy, and that's a slippery slope," said editor Robert Lawton, a Michigan computer consultant who would prefer that the encyclopedia stick to being a neutral repository of knowledge. "...
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs in February to complete three of the best months of hiring since the recession began. The unemployment rate was unchanged, largely because more people streamed into the work force. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate stayed at 8.3 percent last month, the lowest in three years. AP photo Job seekers lineup to attend a job fair held by JobEXPO, a company hosting hiring events, in New York. on Jan. 25. And hiring in January and December was better than f...
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple's new iPad model, with a sharper screen and a faster processor, will go on sale in the U.S. and six other countries next Friday, the company confirmed Wednesday. The new features mean the iPad will be slightly thicker and heavier than the iPad 2. Prices aren't changing from the previous models. They will start at $499. Versions capable of accessing cellular networks will cost $629 to $829. AP Photo/Paul Sakuma Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the new iPad during an event in San Francisco, Wednesday. The n...
WASHINGTON — A burst of hiring in December pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level in nearly three years, giving the economy a boost at the end of 2011. The Labor Department said Friday that employers added a net 200,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, the lowest since February 2009. The rate has dropped for four straight months. AP Photo/J Pat Carter A construction worker directs a steel hoist at the foundation of a new condo complex in Sunrise, Fla., Thursday. A burst of hiring in D...
NEW YORK — For leaders of the nation's pre-eminent breast-cancer charity, it was a firestorm they didn't see coming — and couldn't withstand. Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Friday abandoned plans to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. The dramatic retreat followed a three-day furor that resounded across the Internet, in Congress and — perhaps most tellingly — among Komen affiliates who openly rebelled, suggesting the leadership had bowed to anti-abortion pressure. AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, David Kent Pa...
Taco Bell says a legal beef over the meat in its tacos is bull. The fast-food chain took out full-page ads in at least nine major newspapers and launched a YouTube campaign featuring its president Friday to proclaim its taco filling is 88 percent beef. A false-advertising lawsuit filed last week that caused an online stir alleges the company's filling doesn't have enough beef to be called that. The lawsuit seeks to make the company stop calling it "beef," and pay the suing law firm's bill. Taco Bell trumpeted "Thank you for s...
WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts does not intend to seek re-election in 2012, his office said Monday, closing out a career of more than three decades in Congress capped by last year's passage of legislation imposing new regulations on Wall Street. Frank, 71 and a lifelong liberal, won a House seat in 1980 was one of the first lawmakers to announce that he is gay. AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. applauds at the Interior Department in Washington, on Dec. 22. Frank's office says h...
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The British monarchy saga "The King's Speech" leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. "This story has struck such a rich resonant chord with audiences of all ages, which is very exciting — to have your work honored by your industry peers is even better," Rush said in a statement. Also nominated for best picture Tuesday were the psychosexual thriller "Black Swan"; the boxing drama "The Fighter"; the...
Big crowds on Black Friday can be both a blessing and a curse. Early signs point to bigger crowds at the nation's malls and stores as retailers like Target and Macy's opened their doors at midnight on the most anticipated shopping day of the year and a few others opened on Thanksgiving Day. Shoppers were mostly peaceful across the country, but a few violent incidents broke out as millions of shoppers rushed into stores and tensions flared. AP Photo/Matt Stamey, The Gainesville Sun A shopper walks to his car after purchasing...
NEW YORK (AP) — Keith Olbermann's exit from MSNBC appeared abrupt to viewers of his show, but the talk-show host and his network were involved "in a relationship that's been failing for a long time," an NBC Universal executive said Saturday. Olbermann's announcement at the end of Friday's "Countdown" that it would be his last show quiets, at least for the moment, the most dominant liberal voice in a cable-television world where opinionated talk has been the most bankable trend over the past several years. As Olbermann read f...
LONDON — CNN celebrity interviewer Piers Morgan was an extremely hands-on tabloid editor who must have known that phone hacking was rife at his paper, a former employee claimed Wednesday. Business journalist James Hipwell said voicemail interceptions were an everyday activity at Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid, where Hipwell worked in the late 1990s as a columnist providing stock tips. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Piers Morgan, host of CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight," leaves the CNN building in Los Angeles, Tuesday. A tense and s...
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Supercommittee member, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., fends off reporters as he arrives to meet in the Capitol Hill office of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., with other Supercommittee members. WASHINGTON — Congress' supercommittee conceded ignominious defeat Monday in its quest to conquer a government debt that stands at a staggering $15 trillion, unable to overcome deep and enduring political divisions over taxes and spending. Stock prices plummeted at home and across d...
Regis Philbin's surprise decision to leave 'Live!' NEW YORK (AP) — Within moments after Regis Philbin caught viewers off-guard with the news that he'll be leaving his talk show, the guessing game had begun: Who will replace him? Maybe "Survivor" host Jeff Probst? Mark Consuelos, hubby of Regis' co-host, Kelly Ripa? Golden Globes bad boy Ricky Gervais? Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino from "Jersey Shore"? You kidding? Who can ever replace Reege? "I don't want to alarm anybody," he began on Tuesday before dropping the bomb: "...
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son. Penn State coach Joe Paterno stands on the field before his team's NCAA college football game against Northwestern, in Evanston, Ill. on Oct. 22. Former Penn State coach Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son. Scott Paterno says in a statement provided to The Associated Press by a family representative that the 84-year-old Joe Paterno is undergoing treatment and that "his doctors a...
Ten years ago I sponsored Senate Bill 510 in the Montana Senate, a bill which encouraged the vast amount of money from Otter Creek coal development in southeastern Montana to help pay for our K-12 and higher education schools. Yet not a piece of state-owned Otter Creek coal has been mined, and billions of dollars that will benefit Montana schools sit in the ground. Montana union leaders have supported lawsuits for more education funding and pension bailouts, but they turn silent when environmentalists obstruct school revenue...
A man with a Santa cap looks up at a marquee with high gas prices at a Shell gas station in San Francisco. Consumer prices rose last month as the cost of gas increased by the largest amount since June 2009. But outside of energy costs, there was little sign of widespread inflation. AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File WASHINGTON — Consumer prices rose last month as the cost of gas increased by the largest amount since June 2009. But outside of energy costs, there was little sign of widespread inflation. The Labor Department said F...
OXON HILL, Md. — Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus is leaping ahead in balloting to become the next head of the Republican National Committee. He leads the shrunken field with 67 votes after five rounds of balloting. GOP operative Maria Cino won the endorsement of current Chairman Michael Steele after he dropped out of the race. But she got only 40 votes the next time around. Saul Anuzis got 32. And Ann Wagner trailed with 28. The winner will serve for the next two years....
OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The national Republican Party, coming off huge election victories but facing a $22 million debt and an internal war over identity, ousted chairman Michael Steele Friday and chose Wisconsin party chief Reince Priebus to lead in the run-up to the 2012 presidential race. The embattled Steele dropped his re-election bid halfway through the balloting when it became clear he could not win another two-year term after a first marked by verbal missteps and financial woes. "We have to get on track. And together w...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sidestepping controversy, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., declined to take sides Monday on a proposal for higher tax revenues backed by fellow Republicans on Congress' supercommittee, yet expressed confidence the panel would agree on a deficit-reduction plan of at least $1.2 trillion by a Nov. 23 deadline. A proposal for $300 billion in higher taxes has stirred grumbling within the ranks of congressional Republicans, for whom opposition to such measures has been political bedrock for more than two...
NEW YORK — Verizon Wireless made the long-awaited announcement Tuesday that it will start selling a version of the iPhone 4 on Feb. 10, giving U.S. iPhone buyers a choice of carriers for the first time. New Yorker Wes Moe can't wait. He has wanted one to accompany his iPad and Mac, but held back because he shares a Verizon plan with his wife, a BlackBerry user. "I'm super happy with all those other Apple devices, and I want that phone in my hands," said Moe, 32. In the U.S., the iPhone has been exclusive to AT&T Inc. since i...
WASHINGTON — The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent last month, its lowest level in 19 months. That was because more people found jobs, but also because some people gave up on their job searches. The Labor Department says employers added 103,000 jobs in December, an improvement from November but far below most analysts' expectations. Private employers added a net total of 113,000 jobs last month. Government shed 10,000. More people were hired in previous months than the government first estimated. The g...
LEWISTOWN (AP) — After spending nearly 29 years behind bars, convicted murderer Barry Beach was released on his own recognizance Wednesday to await a new trial in the 1979 death of a 17-year-old girl on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. District Judge E. Wayne Phillips ordered Beach's release at a hearing in Lewistown just weeks after ordering a new trial for the 49-year-old man. AP Photo/Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer Attorneys for Barry Beach, center left, smile and shake hands after Judge Wayne Phillips' ruling to deny a d...
