Russia vows tough response to U.S. human rights legislation

MOSCOW — Russian officials are promising a tough response to U.S. legislation that would impose sanctions on Russian officials...

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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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The Neediest Cases: Emerging From a Bleak Life to Become Fabulous Phil

For years, Phillip Johnson was caught in what seemed like an endless trench of bad luck. He was fired from a job, experienced intensifying psychological problems, lost his apartment and spent time in homeless shelters. At one point, he was hospitalized after overdosing on an antipsychotic drug. “I had a rough road,” he said. Since his hospital stay two years ago, and despite setbacks,...

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Black Friday: A survival guide

Shopping The plan | The numbers | The gear | The strategy | The apps | The start Black Friday, the most buzzed-about shopping day of the year, is starting even earlier this holiday season as retailers try to get a jump on the competition. The official kickoff to the Christmas shopping rush,...

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Former O.C. Sheriff Michael Carona seeks to cut prison sentence

Attorneys for former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona — who is now serving 66 months in federal prison for witness tampering...

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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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States Decline to Set Up Exchanges for Insurance

WASHINGTON — Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin joined more than a dozen other states on Friday in saying they would not establish health insurance exchanges, while a handful of other states said they would take advantage of an extra month allowed by the Obama administration to make decisions. The exchanges — online markets where consumers can shop for private insurance subsidized by the federal...

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Shopping for American-made holiday gifts

Get ready for a red, white and blue Christmas.With a sluggish economy, high unemployment and a just-finished presidential election...

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Veteran L.A. County sheriff's deputy charged with murder

After spending much of his life putting people behind bars, a veteran L.A. County sheriff's deputy stood in handcuffs Thursday,...

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4 Latin Grammys to Jesse & Joy, Juanes wins too

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mexican brother-sister duo Jesse & Joy and their pop hit "Corre!" ran away with four awards at the 13th Annual Latin Grammys, but Colombian rockero Juanes danced away with the award for best album for "MTV Unplugged" Thursday night."What a great joy. Thank God, and all the fans," Juanes said as he dragged Dominican mereguero Juan Luis Guerra, who produced the album, to the stage...

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Change Rattles Leading Health-Funding Agency

Major changes erupted at one of the world’s leading health-funding agencies Thursday as it hired a new director, dismissed the inspector general who had clashed with a previous director and announced a new approach to making grants. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesDr. Mark Dybul, who led the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, in 2007. Dr. Mark Dybul, the...

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McDonald's USA president to step down; successor named

The head of U.S. operations for McDonald's Corp. is on her way out amid the burger chain's efforts to counter intense competition...

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L.A. County sheriff's deputy held in fatal off-duty shooting

A veteran Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was arrested Wednesday for allegedly shooting and killing a man in Sylmar while...

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RIM CEO sees new BlackBerry powering growth

WATERLOO, Ontario (Reuters) – A new line of BlackBerry 10 devices will provide Research In Motion with a framework for growth over the next decade, offering long-term value for unhappy shareholders, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said on Wednesday.In an interview with Reuters, Heins said RIM had identified $ 800 million of the $ 1 billion of savings...

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Erdrich wins National Book Award for fiction

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Awards on Wednesday 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...

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I Was Misinformed: The Time She Tried Viagra

I have noticed, in the bragging-rights department, that “he doesn’t need Viagra” has become the female equivalent of the male “and, I swear, she’s a real blonde.” Personally, I do not care a bit. To me, anything that keeps you happy and in the game is a good thing. But then, I am proud to say, I was among the early, and from what I gather, rare female users. It happened when the drug...

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Looming 'fiscal cliff' bringing Wall Street, Obama back together

NEW YORK — There are growing signs that Wall Street is trying to mend its rocky relationship with a president who castigated...

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David Petraeus scandal hits White House at awkward time

WASHINGTON— The messy scandal that forced CIA Director David H. Petraeus to resign and sparked a Pentagon investigation of the...

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Man who accused Elmo puppeteer of teen sex recants

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who accused Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of having sex with him when he was a teenage boy has recanted his story.In a quick turnabout, the man on Tuesday described his sexual relationship with Clash as adult and consensual.Clash responded with a statement of his own, saying he is "relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest." He had no further comment.The man, who...

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Kidney Donors Given Mandatory Safeguards

ST. LOUIS — Addressing long-held concerns about whether organ donors have adequate protections, the country’s transplant regulators acted late Monday to require that hospitals thoroughly inform living kidney donors of the risks they face, fully evaluate their medical and psychological suitability, and then track their health for two years after donation. Enactment of the policies by the...

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McAfee proclaims innocence, alters look to evade Belize police

In another twist to an already bizarre story, the founder of the McAfee anti-virus software company contacted an American journalist...

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