General news

• Rouhani says Iran ready to help bring democracy to Syria, Yemen

  28-09-2015 23:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Parisa Hafezi and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that Tehran was ready to help bring democracy to war-torn Syria and Yemen, and blamed the spread of terrorism in the Middle East on the United States. In a speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, Rouhani said Iran was prepared to assist in "the eradication of terrorism and in paving the way for democracy". "As we aided the establishment of democracy in Iraq
  
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• China's Xi says to commit 8,000 troops for U.N. peacekeeping force

  28-09-2015 23:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China will contribute 8,000 troops for a United Nations peacekeeping standby force, China's President Xi Jinping told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, a move that could make it one of the largest players in U.N. peacekeeping efforts. Xi's pledge comes as China is trying to show it is a responsible international player amid concern over its growing military might and territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific region. D
  
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• Obama and Putin hold talks at UN

  28-09-2015 23:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shook hands Monday at United Nations headquarters and went into their first substantial bilateral talks in two years. Earlier, the pair had given rival speeches before the UN General Assembly, in which Obama denounced Putin for supporting Syria's "tyrant" ruler and the Russian blamed the rise of the Islamic State on failed US interventions in the Middle East.
  
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• Life on Mars? NASA says planet appears to have flowing water

  28-09-2015 23:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mars appears to have flowing rivulets of water, at least in the summer, scientists reported Monday in a finding that boosts the odds of life on the red planet.
  
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• Trump plan cuts corporate taxes, promises sweeping reform

  28-09-2015 23:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Emily Flitter NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday unveiled sweeping proposals to simplify the tax code, slash the corporate tax rate and impose a one-time levy on the overseas earnings of U.S. companies. In a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, he announced a plan promising populist measures, but at the same time handing a huge tax break to corporate America. Trump said he would cut the top tax rate for all businesses to 15 percent from th
  
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• The Latest: Cuban leader slams wars of aggression

  28-09-2015 23:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Developments as the United Nations General Assembly marks its 70th year and world leaders debate issues gripping the global community and governments.
  
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• China worries and sinking drugmakers slam stock market

  28-09-2015 23:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Ongoing worries about the health of the Chinese economy and another big sell-off in drugmakers pushed the stock market back toward its lowest level of the year.
  
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• Republican front-runner Trump proposes tax cuts for all

  28-09-2015 23:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — After weeks of vowing to raise taxes on "hedge fund guys" and high-income earners, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump unveiled a tax plan Monday that would cut rates across the board and reduce the amount paid by wealthiest Americans and corporations into the U.S. Treasury.
  
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• Prenuptial agreement cited in Kaley Cuoco divorce filing

  28-09-2015 23:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A divorce filing by "Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco (KAY'-lee KWOH'-koh) says the actress and her husband of 20 months have a prenuptial agreement.
  
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• Kenny Rogers announces retirement from touring

  28-09-2015 23:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — "The Gambler" Kenny Rogers says he's retiring from touring and will do one last worldwide farewell tour after five decades on the road.
  
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• Obama, Putin open talks on deep differences over Syria

  28-09-2015 23:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — With a stony-faced handshake, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday began their first formal meeting in more than two years, a discussion expected to lay bare their deep differences over the chaos in Syria.
  
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• Wall Street drops as anxious investors eye China

  28-09-2015 23:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks finished sharply lower on Monday and were on track for their worst quarter in four years as investors worried about the health of China's economy and its potential impact on the timing of a U.S. interest rate increase. The Nasdaq composite lost 3 percent and S&P 500 dropped more than 2 percent. Much of the damage came from pharmaceutical and biotech stocks after Democratic lawmakers on Monday attacked "massive" price increases of two heart drugs from Canada's Valeant Pharmaceutic
  
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• Ex-House Speaker Hastert lawyers talking possible plea deal

  28-09-2015 23:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — A possible plea agreement is being negotiated in the hush-money case of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, attorneys told a judge Monday, meaning potentially embarrassing details about the underlying actions in the case may never be released in court.
  
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• Ride the Ducks: Other tour companies complied with axle fix

  28-09-2015 23:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SEATTLE (AP) — The company that refurbished the duck boat involved in a crash that killed five people in Seattle says it had no reason to believe the vehicle's owner had not made a recommended repair.
  
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• Box Office Top 20: 'Hotel Transylvania 2' flies higher

  28-09-2015 23:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Hotel Transylvania 2" set the bar even higher for the best September opening of all time.
  
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• Oklahoma appeals court says Glossip's execution can proceed

  28-09-2015 23:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's highest criminal court on Monday narrowly denied a death row inmate's last-minute request for a new hearing and ordered that his execution can proceed, despite his claims that he is innocent.
  
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• 'Strongest evidence yet' of liquid water on Mars: NASA

  28-09-2015 23:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Scientists on Monday announced "the strongest evidence yet" of liquid water on Mars, raising the distant prospect of microscopic life on the Red Planet. Experts at NASA hailed the findings, made with the US space agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and said they were "revolutionising our understanding" of Earth's neighbour. "Mars is not the dry, arid planet we thought of in the past," Jim Green, NASA's planetary science director, told journalists in Washington.
  
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• Georgia Aquarium loses legal battle over beluga whales

  28-09-2015 23:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Aquarium has lost a legal battle to import 18 beluga whales from Russia, a federal judge ruled Monday.
  
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• US stocks fall sharply on China growth worries

  28-09-2015 23:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Ongoing worries about the health of the Chinese economy and another big sell-off in drugmakers pushed the stock market back toward its lowest level of the year.
  
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• Pledges bring world closer to climate goal

  28-09-2015 23:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A stream of national pledges have put the planet closer but still a ways from a goal of keeping warming within the key danger threshold of two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), an analysis said Monday. The new projection came at the end of a week of climate events in New York that aim to build pressure for a year-end United Nations conference in Paris, where countries will seek a far-reaching agreement. Climate Interactive, a Washington-based group whose analysis is used by leading governments,
  
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• Tony Awards show sets dates, but still no home

  28-09-2015 23:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The Tony Awards will be held June 5 next year, but where the ceremony will be held is still up in the air.
  
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• 3,000-page Primo Levi anthology includes Toni Morrison intro

  28-09-2015 22:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The fall's most ambitious literary release took 17 years to complete, runs more than 3000 pages, draws upon the talents of more than a dozen translators and has a list price of $100.
  
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• US stocks end sharply lower; S&P 500 -2.6%

  28-09-2015 22:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  New York (AFP) - US stocks fell sharply Monday, joining European equities in retreat after poor Chinese industrial data deepened worries about the world's second-biggest economy.
  
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• Scramble to fill top jobs in House after Boehner exit

  28-09-2015 22:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The House Majority Leader officially declares his candidacy for House speaker to replace John Boehner.
  
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• Trump vows drastic tax cuts

  28-09-2015 22:39 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Donald Trump is vowing to drastically cut income taxes for millions of Americans across the wealth spectrum while casting aside loopholes popular on Wall Street.
  
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• Ethics panel continues review of Texas lawmaker

  28-09-2015 22:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee said Monday it is continuing an investigation of Republican congressman Blake Farenthold of Texas, despite a recommendation by an investigative panel that the complaint be dismissed.
  
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• France, partners to discuss northern Syria 'safe zone': Hollande

  28-09-2015 22:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By John Irish UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France will discuss with its partners in the coming days a proposal by Turkey and members of the Syrian opposition for a no-fly zone in northern Syria, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday. Struggling with more than 1.8 million Syrian refugees, Turkey has long campaigned for a "no-fly zone" in northern Syria to keep Islamic State and Kurdish militants from its border and help stem the tide of displaced civilians trying to cross. France has al
  
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• Carson to NASCAR: Confederate flag OK on private property

  28-09-2015 22:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  RANDLEMAN, N.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on Monday said NASCAR fans should continue flying the Confederate Flag, so long as it's on private property, as he received the informal endorsement of racing legend Richard Petty.
  
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• GE moving jobs to Canada, blames US Congress on Ex-Im Bank

  28-09-2015 22:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — GE Power & Water said it will stop manufacturing gas engines in Wisconsin and move the work to Canada, meaning the loss of 350 jobs in a Milwaukee suburb, because the U.S. Congress has failed to reauthorize the Export-Import bank.
  
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• Man With Knife Breached Security at JFK Airport to Try to Meet Pope

  28-09-2015 22:30
  
  He was arraigned on charges including criminal impersonation and trespassing.
  
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• House votes to renew FAA authority for 6 months

  28-09-2015 22:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill temporarily renewing authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration while lawmakers consider whether to take responsibility for air traffic control away from the government and place it under the direction of a nonprofit corporation.
  
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• Oregon medical marijuana dispensaries gear up for rec sales

  28-09-2015 22:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's medical marijuana dispensaries are getting ready for a watershed moment this week: when recreational pot users will also be able to buy weed at their pot shops.
  
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• Clinton: Bush's 'free stuff' comments are 'deeply insulting'

  28-09-2015 22:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton says Jeb Bush's suggestion that Democrats offer "free stuff" to appeal to minority voters is "deeply insulting."
  
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• US: Clinton email storage safe not secure for some messages

  28-09-2015 22:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has told Senate investigators that it didn't provide Hillary Rodham Clinton's lawyer with a secure-enough method to read now-highly classified material from her homebrew email server because it didn't anticipate that the messages would be deemed so secret.
  
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• Obama wins pledges of 30,000 troops for UN peacekeeping

  28-09-2015 22:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  More than 50 countries have offered to contribute some 30,000 new troops and police to the UN's struggling peacekeeping missions, US President Barack Obama announced Monday. "We know that peace operations are not the solution to every problem," Obama told a peacekeeping summit organized by the United States on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
  
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• With next term looming, U.S. top court's justices mull new cases

  28-09-2015 22:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The U.S. Supreme Court's nine justices met behind closed doors on Monday ahead of the Oct. 5 beginning of their new term to consider cases to add to a calendar that already includes significant cases on affirmative action and labor unions. In an important case the justices may consider, the U.S. government is seeking to overturn an appeals court decision that threw out two major insider trading convictions secured by federal prosecutors. During their private meeting, the justices reviewed hundre
  
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• Russia ready for Syria airstrikes?

  28-09-2015 21:59 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Russia continues to position itself to potentially launch airstrikes in Syria -- but their movements suggest that their targets are something other than ISIS, according to U.S. officials.
  
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• Is he funny? Trevor Noah debuts as Jon Stewart heir

  28-09-2015 21:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South African comic Trevor Noah on Monday will try to fill some gigantic shoes when he takes over as host of "The Daily Show," replacing award-winning satirist Jon Stewart. The 52-year-old Stewart -- considered clever, biting and very, very funny by his many fans -- retired from the show on August 7 after a 16-year run on the Comedy Central network. Stewart became such a towering figure in the competitive world of late-night American TV comics that he landed President Barack Obama as a guest no
  
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• At U.N., Obama and Putin clash over working with Syria's Assad

  28-09-2015 21:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jeff Mason and Denis Dyomkin UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it was willing to cooperate with Russia, as well as Iran, to try to end the Syrian civil war but the two big powers clashed over whether to work with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Speaking at the annual United Nations General Assembly, U.S. President Barack Obama described Assad as a tyrant and as the chief culprit behind the four-year civil war in which at least 200,000 people have died and millions
  
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• Obama, Putin clash over Assad's fate in UN duel

  28-09-2015 21:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama sparred over Syria in duelling UN speeches on Monday, as Moscow and Tehran mounted a fierce defense of Bashar al-Assad. The Russian leader urged UN General Assembly members to unite to fight the Islamic State group and said it would be a disastrous error not to support Syria's beleaguered president. Iran piled on behind Russia, but Western leaders remained adamant Assad must step down and Obama branded him a child-killing tyran
  
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• Shell move dims oil prospects, delights environmentalists

  28-09-2015 21:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned its long quest to become the first company to produce oil in Alaska's Arctic waters, darkening the nation's long-term oil prospects and delighting environmental groups that tried to block the project.
  
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• Republican Kevin McCarthy says he wants to be House speaker

  28-09-2015 21:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy officially announced his candidacy to replace John Boehner as speaker of the House of Representatives on Monday, promising to heal the party's divisions. "If elected speaker, I promise you that we will have the courage to lead the fight for our conservative principles and make our case to the American people," McCarthy wrote in a letter to his House Republican colleagues.
  
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• Vandals deface statues of California saint

  28-09-2015 21:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Days after Pope Francis canonized Junipero Serra, vandals defaced two statues of the Franciscan friar and gravestones at the California mission where he is buried, police said Monday. The vandals acted overnight Saturday to Sunday, using paint and marker pens to mar two statues of Serra along with headstones of other European settlers buried on the grounds, Sergeant Luke Powell of the Carmel-by-the-Sea police department told AFP. "The vandalism specifically targeted either statues or signs of Se
  
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• Royal Dutch Shell pulls plug on Arctic exploration

  28-09-2015 21:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned its Arctic search for oil after failing to find enough crude, a move that will appease environmental campaigners and shareholders who said its project was too expensive and risky. The withdrawal came six weeks after the final U.S. clearance and three months after Shell was still defending the project, a rapid change of heart for such a large company that showed it is preparing for a prolonged period of low oil prices while trying to close its $70 billion takeover
  
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• Statue of missionary canonized by pope vandalized in California

  28-09-2015 21:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Carmel Mission Basilica said in a statement on Sunday that the vandalism was discovered inside the entrance courtyard by employees, and had taken place earlier that day. Local television channel KSBW-TV broadcast images of the fallen statue of Serra, doused with green paint, and the words "saint of genocide" scratched into the base where it had stood. "Apparently a person or persons broke in, splattered paint and toppled down the courtyard statue of Saint Serra and other historic statues on
  
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• Don't get drunk: advice college kids may not get from docs

  28-09-2015 21:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — Government researchers say "deplorably" few college students are warned by doctors about the danger from alcohol and drugs or encouraged to reduce drinking or substance use.
  
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• Sgt.: I had to beat alleged molester

  28-09-2015 21:32 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Sergeant 1st Class Charles Martland, the Green Beret being separated involuntarily from the U.S. Army for kicking and body slamming an Afghan police commander he describes as a "brutal child rapist," began telling his side of the story Monday.
  
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• Taliban free more than 500 inmates

  28-09-2015 20:23 via rss.cnn.com
  
  More than 500 prison inmates freed by Taliban fighters flooded the streets of the Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz on Monday, a police spokesman told CNN.
  
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• Why 100 women walked 100 miles

  28-09-2015 20:04 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Immigrant women made pilgrimage from Pennsylvania to D.C. to urge leaders to turn Pope's message of compassion into action on immigration.
  
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• The Latest: 1.2 million Skoda cars affected by VW scandal

  28-09-2015 19:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BERLIN (AP) — The latest developments on the Volkswagen emissions scandal. All times local.
  
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