Afghanistan says Pakistan will help in peace talks

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A top Afghan peace mediator hailed Pakistan's recent decision to free nine members of the Taliban who favor negotiations, saying Saturday it was a sign Islamabad is willing to help bring the militant group to the table and end Afghanistan's 11-year-old war.The cooperation of Pakistan, which has longstanding ties to the Taliban, is seen as key to jumpstarting the stalled Afghan...

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Lady Gaga tweets some racy images before concert

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lady Gaga's tweets were getting a lot of attention ahead of her Buenos Aires concert Friday night.The Grammy-winning entertainer has more than 30 million followers on Twitter and that's where she shared a link this week to a short video showing her doing a striptease and fooling around in a bathtub with two other women.She told her followers that it's a "surprise for...

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.Meningitis mainly affects infants...

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Israel launches scores of airstrikes into Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.The new attacks, which Gaza officials say left 10 dead, followed an unprecedented rocket strike aimed at...

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Despite Myanmar reforms, much remains to be done

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — In the west, terrified villagers flee burning homes after an explosion of ethnic and religious violence. In the north, refugees from a civil war cower in chilly camps, desperately short on life's basic necessities. And in dank jails, hundreds of political prisoners languish behind bars, wondering when they'll ever be freed.This is not the Myanmar that President Barack Obama...

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Jason Mraz to make historic appearance in Myanmar

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jason Mraz will make history next month when he performs in Myanmar to raise awareness about human trafficking.Mraz will headline a free outdoor concert on Dec. 16 at People's Square in Yangon, at the base of Shwedagon Pagoda.The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter is believed to be the first international artist to perform an open-air concert in the country. The show includes...

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.Meningitis mainly affects infants...

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Petraeus testifies on Benghazi attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus (peh-TRAY'-uhs) has told Congress that references to militant groups Ansar al-Shariah and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb were removed from the agency's draft talking points of what sparked the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya.A congressional staffer says Petraeus testified in a closed-door hearing Friday that the CIA's talking points...

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Xi takes China's helm with many tough challenges

BEIJING (AP) — Long-anointed successor Xi Jinping assumed the leadership of China on Thursday as the ruling Communist Party confronts slower economic growth, a public clamor to end corruption and demands for change that threaten its hold on power.The country's political elite named Xi to the top party post and unexpectedly put him in charge of the military too, after a weeklong party congress and...

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In UK, Twitter, Facebook rants land some in jail

LONDON (AP) — One teenager made offensive comments about a murdered child on Twitter. Another young man wrote on Facebook that British soldiers should “go to hell.” A third posted a picture of a burning paper poppy, symbol of remembrance of war dead.All were arrested, two convicted, and one jailed — and they’re not the only ones. In Britain, hundreds of...

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Erdrich wins her first National Book Award

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Awards honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for "The Round House" to Katherine Boo for her debut work, "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers."Erdrich, 58, has been a published and highly regarded author for nearly 30 years but had never won a National Book Award until being cited Wednesday for her story, the second of a planned trilogy, about...

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Booze calories nearly equal soda's for US adults

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol? It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from soft drinks, a government study found.Soda and other sweetened drinks — the focus of obesity-fighting public health campaigns — are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults consume, on average. Alcoholic beverages account for about...

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More to Petraeus story than meets the eye

It's the soap opera that shocked official Washington and ensnared a previously squeaky clean CIA director at a time when he was supposed to play a role in the accounting for a possible security misstep in Libya.We don't know all the facts of why the FBI started investigating David Petraeus' biographer and how it ultimately led to his resignation.But a growing number of conservative commentators contend...

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China's new leadership faces obstacles to rule

BEIJING (AP) — Months of sharp behind-the-scenes jostling reach a climax Thursday with the announcement of a new Chinese leadership that almost regardless of its makeup is likely to be much like the one it replaces: divided, deliberative and weak.All but officially announced, Xi Jinping is expected to head the new leadership as Communist Party chief, joined by Li Keqiang, the presumptive prime minster,...

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Facebook stock up as lock-up expires on largest block of shares

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Shares of Facebook Inc jumped 10 percent in early trading on Wednesday, even as the biggest block of shares held by insiders became eligible for sale for the first time since the social media company’s disappointing debut in May.In heavy morning trading, Facebook gained $ 2.02 to $ 21.89. “While...

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Petraeus affair and the role of biographers

NEW YORK (AP) — The affair between retired Army Gen. David Petraeus and author Paula Broadwell is but an extreme example of the love/hate history between biographers and their subjects.Even before their outing led to Petraeus' resignation as CIA director, Broadwell had been criticized for the rosy tone of "All In," which The Associated Press described in 2011 as "part hagiography and part defense"...

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Ireland probes death of ill abortion-seeker

DUBLIN (AP) — The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesday after the government confirmed that a miscarrying woman suffering from blood poisoning was refused a quick termination of her pregnancy and died in an Irish hospital.Prime Minister Enda Kenny said he was awaiting findings from three investigations into the death of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian who was 17 weeks...

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FBI finds classified docs in Petraeus' lover's house

Paula Broadwell, the author who allegedly had an affair with former CIA Director David Petraeus, is suspected of storing significant amounts of military documents, including classified material, at her home, potentially in violation of federal law.A source familiar with case told ABC News that Broadwell admitted to the FBI she took the documents from secure government buildings. The government demanded...

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General investigated for emails to Petraeus friend

PERTH, Australia (AP) — The career of Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is now in jeopardy due to the investigation of the David Petraeus sex scandal.The Pentagon said Tuesday that Allen is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with Jill Kelley, the woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Petraeus' paramour.Defense Secretary Leon Panetta...

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