| Midwest freeze leaves six dead Posted: 04 Dec 2013 09:59 AM PST  Storm pushes through Rockies, Midwest; bitter cold's effects reach Calif. crops.
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| Better pay for U.S. teachers might help improve student scores Posted: 04 Dec 2013 09:24 AM PST  America's lackluster performance on international math, reading and science tests released Tuesday has rekindled the debate over the status and pay of U.S. teachers.
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| Could your ancestors be Denisovans? Compelling DNA findings Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:11 AM PST  The oldest known human DNA found yet reveals human evolution was even more confusing than thought, researchers say. These new findings could shed light on a mysterious extinct branch of humanity known as Denisovans, who were close relatives of Neanderthals, scientists added. Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineage, others once strode the Earth. These included Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, and the relatively newfound Denisovans, who are thought to have lived in a vast expanse from Siberia to Southeast Asia.
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| Walker died of trauma, thermal injury, says coroner; movie shoot shut down Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:37 AM PST  Actor Paul Walker, best known for his roles in the "Fast & Furious" action films, died from "combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries" in a car accident, the Los Angeles County coroner said on Wednesday. Walker, 40, was a passenger in a fiery one-car crash on Saturday in Santa Clarita, California, about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Los Angeles. The driver of the Porsche Carrera GT, Roger Rodas, died of multiple traumatic injuries, the coroner said. As a result of Walker's death, Universal Pictures has put filming "Fast & Furious 7" on hold for an unspecified period.
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| Newtown 911 calls show calm response Posted: 04 Dec 2013 09:26 AM PST  Tapes released today in response to legal challenge.
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| Dozens of whales beached in Everglades National Park in Florida Posted: 04 Dec 2013 07:45 AM PST  By Jane Sutton MIAMI (Reuters) - Dozens of whales were beached in the Everglades National Park in southwest Florida, and rangers and wildlife workers were trying to keep the animals stable until the tide rose enough to allow them to return to sea, a park spokeswoman said on Wednesday. About 30 whales were stranded in shallow water, and 10 more were on the shore, in a remote park of the Everglades near the Gulf of Mexico when the pod was first sighted Tuesday, park spokeswoman Linda Friar said. The animals were believed to be short-finned pilot whales, typically found in deep water in tropical and temperate areas. "Pilot whales are common stranders.
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| Woman drives 'Liberty Van' 5,000 miles to fight ticket, wins Posted: 04 Dec 2013 06:42 AM PST  A 56-year-old grandmother drove from Kentucky to New Jersey several times in order to fight a $56 traffic ticket over her so-called "Liberty Van." Good news for the woman: She won.
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| Truck with dangerous radioactive waste stolen in Mexico Posted: 04 Dec 2013 09:38 AM PST  The vehicle was transporting a "teletherapy source" containing cobalt-60 from a hospital.
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| Christie's values Detroit-owned art at $452 million to $866 million Posted: 04 Dec 2013 08:36 AM PST  By Joseph Lichterman DETROIT (Reuters) - The auction house Christie's put a price tag on one of Detroit's highest-profile city assets, its share of the Detroit Institute of Arts collection, stating that nearly 3,000 works controlled by the city are worth between $452 million and $866 million. The finding by Christie's, hired to place a value on art treasures that could become a contested element of the Detroit bankruptcy, puts a range of value on 2,781 works owned or partially owned by the city. The holdings represent only about 5 percent of the DIA's full collection, but with the finding Tuesday that Detroit is bankrupt under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code, it is possible the city may seek to monetize some of the artwork. Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr retained Christie's in August to appraise city-owned works as part of Detroit's bankruptcy case.
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| Lawyer: Engineer in 'daze' before NYC train crash Posted: 04 Dec 2013 07:33 AM PST  YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — An engineer whose speeding commuter train ran off the rails along a curve, killing four people, experienced a hypnotic-like "daze" and nodded at the controls before he suddenly realized something was wrong and hit the brakes, a lawyer said.
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| Boxing champ turns opposition leader in Ukraine Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:23 AM PST  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Towering over his fellow protest leaders, reigning world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko has emerged as Ukraine's most popular opposition figure and has ambitions to become its next president.
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| Diligent Asian students dominate global exam Posted: 04 Dec 2013 09:01 AM PST  BEIJING (AP) — As a ninth-grader, Shanghai's Li Sixin spent more than three hours on homework a night and took tutorials in math, physics and chemistry on the weekends. When she was tapped to take an exam last year given to half a million students around the world, Li breezed through it.
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| UN, Mexico: Truck with radioactive load stolen Posted: 04 Dec 2013 09:54 AM PST  VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) — A cargo truck hauling used medical equipment with extremely dangerous radioactive material was stolen from a gas station in central Mexico, and authorities have put out an alert in six central states and the capital to find it, Mexican and U.N. nuclear officials said Wednesday.
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| Strain over security zone evident in Biden talks Posted: 04 Dec 2013 07:06 AM PST  BEIJING (AP) — In a sharp rebuff, China accused Washington on Wednesday of taking Japan's side in a tense clash over disputed islands in the East China Sea, underscoring rising regional friction as visiting Vice President Joe Biden met with Beijing's leaders.
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| Universal shuts down 'Fast & Furious 7' production Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:23 AM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Universal Pictures has shut down production "for a period of time" on "Fast & Furious 7" following the death of its star Paul Walker. |
| Obama: Income inequality a defining challenge Posted: 04 Dec 2013 10:17 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama turned his focus Wednesday to the pocketbook issues that Americans consistently rank as a top concern, arguing that the dream of upward economic mobility is breaking down and the growing income gap is a "defining challenge of our time."
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| Newtown 911 calls show calm response to shooting Posted: 04 Dec 2013 09:26 AM PST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Recordings of 911 calls from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting show town dispatchers calmly responding to a janitor, a teacher and others and assuring them help is coming. |
| Kerry to present security plan in Mideast visit Posted: 04 Dec 2013 07:38 AM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry will present the outlines of a West Bank security plan in meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, stepping up American involvement in hopes of reviving faltering Mideast peace efforts, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
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| Las Vegas mall modeled on Istanbul's Grand Bazaar Posted: 04 Dec 2013 06:57 AM PST  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas, where the only design rule seems to be that everything must mirror something else, is getting a new mall modeled on Istanbul's Grand Bazaar.
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| Newtown to release 911 calls from school shooting Posted: 04 Dec 2013 07:57 AM PST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Recordings of several 911 calls made from inside Sandy Hook Elementary during last year's school shooting are being released under court order Wednesday after a legal fight by The Associated Press. |
| Detroit bankruptcy decision puts pensions at risk Posted: 04 Dec 2013 07:38 AM PST DETROIT (AP) — A judge has given Detroit the green light to cut pensions as a way out of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, a decision that puts the case in the laps of thousands of retirees who had hoped that the Michigan Constitution would protect them from getting smaller checks in their golden years. |
| 'Dangerous' radioactive material stolen in Mexico truck: IAEA Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:30 AM PST  Thieves have made off with a truck in Mexico carrying a dangerous radioactive material used in medical treatments, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear body, did not give details on how much of the radioactive source, cobalt-60, was in the truck at the time. Cobalt-60 can potentially also be used to make a so-called "dirty bomb", where conventional explosives are used to disperse radiation from a radioactive source. But the IAEA made no mention of this in its statement.
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| Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson admits cocaine use Posted: 04 Dec 2013 08:44 AM PST  LONDON (AP) — Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson admitted Wednesday in a U.K. court that she had taken cocaine a handful of times. But she denied habitually using illegal drugs and accused her ex-husband of spreading that allegation to savage her reputation.
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| Afghanistan won't sign U.S. pact unless Karzai's demands met - spokesman Posted: 04 Dec 2013 06:32 AM PST  Karazi is demanding the United States end U.S. raids on Afghan homes.
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| 'The Car Poolers' documents Mexican workers doing what it takes to get by Posted: 04 Dec 2013 06:31 AM PST  Photographer Alejandro Cartagena offers a new perspective on how some workers commute to their jobs in Monterrey, Mexico
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| Feds blast NY railroad in wake of fatal derailment Posted: 04 Dec 2013 06:05 AM PST YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — The head of the Federal Railroad Administration is blasting a New York railroad following a derailment that killed four people and injured more than 60. |
| Cold snap felt across western half of nation Posted: 04 Dec 2013 02:34 AM PST Frigid temps prompt safety warnings in the Rockies and threaten crops in California. |
| News from North Korea, but is it true? Posted: 04 Dec 2013 03:24 AM PST  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — It's intriguing news: the claim by South Korea's spy agency that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un probably sacked the country's second-most-powerful official — his uncle. But the first question is, is it true?
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| Mandela putting up 'courageous fight' Posted: 04 Dec 2013 06:21 AM PST  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela is not "doing well" but is continuing to put up a courageous fight from his "deathbed," members of his family have told the South African Broadcasting Corporation in an interview.
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| Lawyer: Engineer had 'daze' before deadly crash Posted: 03 Dec 2013 11:37 PM PST  The engineer nodded at the controls before realizing something was wrong and hitting the brakes, a lawyer said.
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