Thai anti-government protesters clash with police

BANGKOK (AP) — Protesters calling for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down rallied in the heart of Bangkok on Saturday, clashing with police in the first major demonstration against the government since it came to power last year.Organizers had spoken of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of supporters. But only around 10,000 turned up, and by dusk the leaders called the rally off.Nevertheless,...

Read More..

'Dallas' star Larry Hagman dies in Texas

J.R. Ewing was a business cheat, faithless husband and bottomless well of corruption. Yet with his sparkling grin, Larry Hagman masterfully created the charmingly loathsome oil baron — and coaxed forth a Texas-size gusher of ratings — on television's long-running and hugely successful nighttime soap, "Dallas."Although he first gained fame as nice guy Capt. Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy...

Read More..

AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

Read More..

Crisis over president's powers exposes Egypt divisions

CAIRO (Reuters) - Youths clashed with police in Cairo on Saturday as protests at new powers assumed by President Mohamed Mursi stretched into a second day, confronting Egypt with a crisis that has exposed the split between newly empowered Islamists and their opponents. A handful of hardcore activists hurling rocks battled riot police in the streets near Tahrir Square, where several thousand...

Read More..

Afghan suicide attack kills 3, wounds more than 90

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives Friday in eastern Afghanistan, killing three Afghan civilians and wounding more than 90 people, including several Afghan and NATO troops, officials said.The early morning explosion in Maidan Shahr, the capital of Wardak province, also destroyed or damaged several government offices and a local prison, said provincial...

Read More..

Halle Berry's ex arrested after fight at her house

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Halle Berry's ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry was arrested for investigation of battery Thursday after he and the Oscar-winning actress's current boyfriend got into a fight at her Hollywood Hills home, police said.Aubry, 37, was booked for investigation of a battery, a misdemeanor, and released on $20,000 bail, according to online jail records. He's scheduled to appear in court Dec....

Read More..

AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

Read More..

Egypt protesters attack Mursi's party offices

Some of the very same Republicans who have spent the last two weeks bashing Mitt Romney were, indeed, sucking up to him at a massive rally the Friday before the election — even angling for jobs in the Romney administration — a Romney adviser complains. At a rally with 100 Romney surrogates in West Chester, Ohio, Romney aide Dan Senor revealed on MSNBC Wednesday, the Romney bashers were Romney...

Read More..

Kazakhstan media hit by raid, court order

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — Kazakhstan's police on Thursday have raided the offices of a news website and taken steps to halt the publication of a newspaper critical of the government, in what a media watchdog group says was an "unprecedented offensive" against government critics.Guljan Yergaliyeva, an outspoken opposition figure and owner of the Guljan website, said police officers came to her office...

Read More..

Chevy Chase is leaving NBC's sitcom 'Community'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NBC series "Community" will finish the season without Chevy Chase.Sony Pictures Television said Wednesday that the actor is leaving the sitcom by mutual agreement with producers.His immediate departure means he won't be included in the last episode or two of the show's 13-episode season, which is still in production.Chase had a rocky tenure playing a bored and wealthy man who...

Read More..

Study finds mammograms lead to unneeded treatment

Mammograms have done surprisingly little to catch deadly breast cancers before they spread, a big U.S. study finds. At the same time, more than a million women have been treated for cancers that never would have threatened their lives, researchers estimate.Up to one-third of breast cancers, or 50,000 to 70,000 cases a year, don't need treatment, the study suggests.It's the most detailed look yet at...

Read More..

Gazans clean up as truce with Israel holds

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza residents cleared rubble and claimed victory on Thursday, just hours after an Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers ended the worst cross-border fighting in four years.The cease-fire announcement had set off frenzied late night street celebrations in the coastal strip, and raised hopes of a new era in relations between Israel and Hamas. The...

Read More..

Singapore opposition leader's bankruptcy annulled

SINGAPORE (AP) — Prominent Singapore opposition leader Chee Soon Juan has had his bankruptcy annulled, the government said Wednesday, after an unprecedented concession by two former prime ministers to whom he owed about $408,000.Ex-prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong agreed to accept a reduced amount of 30,000 Singapore dollars ($24,500) from Chee, which will free him from bankruptcy proceedings...

Read More..

Microsoft vs. Google trial over patents finishes up

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A Google expert witness testified on Tuesday that Microsoft will make roughly $ 94 billion in revenue through 2017 from its Xbox game console and Surface tablet that use Google‘s patented wireless technology.Michael Dansky, an expert for Google‘s Motorola Mobility unit, testified on the last day of a high stakes trial over patents...

Read More..

Elmo left behind on 'Sesame Street' as actor exits

NEW YORK (AP) — Even on "Sesame Street," where everything is famously A-OK, problems can arise for its residents.And that includes the Muppets. Cookie Monster grapples with an eating disorder. Oscar the Grouch gets cranky. Mr. Snuffleupagus gets the blues.But Elmo seemed immune to any of that. Since enjoying his breakout success more than two decades ago, the 3 1/2-year-old red monster has radiated...

Read More..

OB/GYNs back over-the-counter birth control pills

WASHINGTON (AP) — No prescription or doctor's exam needed: The nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.Tuesday's surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women's advocates to make the pill more accessible.But no one expects the pill to be sold without a prescription...

Read More..

Tel Aviv bus blast shakes Gaza diplomacy

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A bomb struck an Israeli bus near the nation's military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, wounding 10 people and complicating major diplomatic efforts to forge a truce between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers.The attack came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shuttled between Jerusalem and the West Bank to help piece together a deal to end Israel's...

Read More..

Afghan president praises Pakistan prisoner release

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president praised Pakistan on Tuesday for releasing a group of Taliban prisoners, a move he hopes will kick start peace talks with the militant group, the president's office said.The praise came in a meeting between President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's powerful army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who is in Kabul for a one-day visit. Kayani also met with...

Read More..

N.Y. police officer says not guilty of plan to cook, eat women

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York City police officer pleaded not guilty on Monday to conspiring to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women.Gilberto Valle, 28, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged and arrested in October with conspiring to cross state lines to kidnap the women and with illegally accessing a federal database. Prosecutors...

Read More..

New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make...

Read More..

Clinton heads to Mideast amid Gaza crisis

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world's top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire.Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers have staked out tough, hard-to-bridge positions,...

Read More..

Myanmar or Burma? Obama calls it both on visit

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Officially at least, America still calls this Southeast Asian nation Burma, the favored appellation of dissidents and pro-democracy activists who opposed the former military junta's move to summarily change its name 23 years ago.President Barack Obama used that name during his historic visit Monday, but he also called Burma what its government and many other people have been...

Read More..

Justin Bieber gets love at American Music Awards

Justin Bieber may be Canadian, but he was the all-American boy at Sunday night's American Music Awards.The pop singer dominated the awards show, winning three trophies, including artist of the year. His mom joined him onstage as he collected the award, beating out Rihanna, Maroon 5, Katy Perry and Drake."I wanted to thank you for always believing in me," Bieber said, looking to his mom.The 18-year-old...

Read More..

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...

Read More..