General news

• East Coast likely to dodge hurricane, but flooding looms

  02-10-2015 23:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Millions along the East Coast breathed a little easier Friday after forecasters said Hurricane Joaquin would probably veer out to sea. But a freakishly powerful rainstorm fueled in part by the hurricane threatened to bring ruinous flooding to parts of the Atlantic Seaboard over the weekend.
  
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• Nigeria's ex-oil minister Alison-Madueke arrested in London - sources

  02-10-2015 23:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Julia Payne and Felix Onuah LAGOS/ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested in London on Friday, a source from Nigeria's presidency circle and another with links to her family said. Alison-Madueke was minister from 2010 until May 2015 under former president Goodluck Jonathan, who was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari at the polls in March. Buhari took office in May promising to root out corruption in Africa's most populous country, where few benefit from t
  
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• Acting education secretary says teachers saved him

  02-10-2015 23:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department's incoming secretary, John King Jr., says he recognizes that education can be the difference between life and death.
  
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• Veteran who tried to stop Oregon gunman was shot 5 times

  02-10-2015 23:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — When the gunshots started at Umpqua Community College, some people mistook them for falling books. But Army veteran Chris Mintz quickly recognized the threat.
  
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• Oregon gunman may have killed more if not for hero student

  02-10-2015 23:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Eric M. Johnson and Courtney Sherwood ROSEBURG, Ore. (Reuters) - The gunman who went on a deadly rampage at an Oregon college was well armed and equipped with extra ammunition, authorities said on Friday, and he may have killed more people if not for the heroism of a military veteran in an adjoining classroom. A day after the shooter killed nine people and wounded nine others at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, authorities sought a motive for this year's bloodiest mass shooting in the Un
  
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• Military vet shot seven times as he protected Oregon classmates

  02-10-2015 23:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  An Iraq war veteran and mixed martial arts fighter whose son turned 6 years old on Thursday was shot seven times as he blocked the gunman from entering a classroom, possibly saving lives during a mass shooting in southern Oregon. Chris Mintz, 30, was in the hospital on Friday after seven hours of surgery and significant blood loss from his injuries in the tragedy that left 10 dead including the shooter at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, said his former girlfriend Jamie Skinner. Before and
  
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• 'Here we go again' _ Americans' lament after Oregon shooting

  02-10-2015 23:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The news from Oregon was grim enough in isolation — nine people shot dead at a community college. For many Americans it was all the sadder as a reminder of how frequent, how depressingly routine, mass shootings have become — in malls, at churches, and so often at schools and colleges.
  
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• Missouri governor commutes sentence for condemned man

  02-10-2015 23:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday spared the life of a death row inmate four days before the scheduled execution, saying he did so after "significant consideration" of the circumstances but without explaining further.
  
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• France tells Putin to confine airstrikes to Islamic State

  02-10-2015 23:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — With Russian warplanes bombing Syria for a third day, French President Francois Holland told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that Moscow's airstrikes must be confined to attacking Islamic State militants, not other rebels opposing the Damascus government.
  
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• Will Smith returns to rap with Colombian band

  02-10-2015 23:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Will Smith, who long ago moved from music to acting, has briefly returned to rap in a collaboration with the Colombian band Bomba Estereo. Smith has previously voiced admiration for the Colombian band, which brings electronic dance beats to music rooted in the cumbia tradition. "When I was told that Will Smith wanted to collaborate on a remix with Bomba, I couldn't believe it," he said in a statement, hailing the rapper-actor for making an effort in Spanish.
  
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• Official: Christie transportation commissioner to step down

  02-10-2015 23:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie's transportation commissioner will resign this month as federal investigators continue a wide-ranging probe into Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which he previously lobbied on behalf of United Airlines.
  
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• Hurricane Joaquin batters Bahamas, fate of cargo ship unknown

  02-10-2015 23:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Neil Hartnell NASSAU (Reuters) - The fate of more than 30 crew aboard a cargo ship missing off the Bahamas in heavy seas whipped up by Hurricane Joaquin was unknown on Friday as the powerful storm battered the island chain for a second day. News the vessel had lost contact with shore came as forecasters shifted the likely track of the potentially catastrophic storm further away from the U.S. East Coast, but there were still warnings about the possibility of severe flooding in the Carolinas fr
  
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• Trump not coming to Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event

  02-10-2015 23:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has pulled out of a planned question-and-answer session with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington next week because he was concerned about the questions he'd be asked, the group said Friday.
  
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• Obama: No more temporary spending bills, budget deal needed

  02-10-2015 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Friday he won't sign another temporary government funding bill after the current one expires Dec. 11, insisting that congressional Republicans and Democrats work out a long-term budget deal with the White House.
  
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• Blatter defies calls from FIFA sponsors to quit immediately

  02-10-2015 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ZURICH (AP) — Sepp Blatter defied calls from FIFA sponsors Budweiser, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Visa on Friday to quit immediately as president of world soccer's governing body rather than clinging on until the emergency election in February.
  
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• The Latest: Oregon shooting victims ranged from 18 to 67

  02-10-2015 23:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — The latest on a deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon (all times local):
  
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• Families, friends grieve for Oregon college massacre victims

  02-10-2015 23:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Larry Levine was a college English instructor with a love of fly fishing. Lucero Alcaraz was an honors student with hopes of becoming a pediatric nurse. Rebecka Carnes was a teenager fresh out of high school, excited about her future.
  
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• Bleak US jobs report clouds Fed rate hike

  02-10-2015 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A bleak September jobs report raised concerns about the US economy's resilience to the global slowdown and questions about the Federal Reserve's plan to lift interest rates this year. US job growth faltered in September and the labor market weakened across the board, the Labor Department said. The US economy added a disappointing 142,000 jobs in September, well below analyst estimates of 205,000.
  
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• AP WAS THERE: 20 years ago OJ Simpson receives acquittal

  02-10-2015 23:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — EDITOR'S NOTE: If there was ever a murder case perfectly suited for media and public consumption it was the O.J. Simpson murder trial. It had it all: A former football star charged with killing his ex-wife and her friend. A slow-speed police chase seen by millions on TV that involved the defendant and a white Ford Bronco. And a defense attorney (Johnnie Cochran, Jr.) who famously said about a leather glove, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." And so Simpson was let go.
  
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• Cargo ship missing as Hurricane Joaquin batters Bahamas

  02-10-2015 23:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Rescue workers searched for a missing cargo ship with 33 aboard off the Bahamas Friday as Hurricane Joaquin battered the island chain, bringing everyday life in the popular tourist destination to a drastic halt. Contact with El Faro was lost Thursday as the "extremely dangerous" weather system began to bear down and efforts to locate the vessel by both air and sea have so far been unsuccessful, the US Coast Guard said. En route from Florida to Puerto Rico, the container ship was reported to be c
  
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• Rain at Dover washes out qualifying; Kenseth on pole

  02-10-2015 23:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  DOVER, Del. (AP) — For a driver on the brink of championship elimination, Kevin Harvick might have the biggest target at Dover.
  
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• Joaquin weakens to a Category 3 hurricane: NHC

  02-10-2015 23:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Joaquin has weakened to a Category 3 hurricane from Category 4, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Friday. The still-powerful storm was about 15 miles (25 km) west-northwest of San Salvador, Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (205 kph), the Miami-based weather forecaster added. Some slow weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, the NHC said. (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by James Dalgleish)
  
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• 3 MLB games postponed as Atlantic faces rain and wind

  02-10-2015 23:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Three major league baseball games were postponed Friday as the East Coast faced steady rain with Hurricane Joaquin swirling in the Atlantic.
  
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• 2 arrested in 1984 rape, killing of Pennsylvania teen girl

  02-10-2015 23:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) — Two men have been arrested in the 1984 rape and killing of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in the woods two weeks after she vanished, police said Friday.
  
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• Correction: Coral Bleaching story

  02-10-2015 23:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — In a story Sept. 11 about coral bleaching, The Associated Press reported erroneously the geographic location of mostly uninhabited islands in Hawaii where scientists observed that coral had died after being bleached last year. Some coral died at an island in the northwestern end of the island chain, not the northeastern end.
  
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• Major sponsors call on FIFA chief Blatter to resign

  02-10-2015 23:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Mica Rosenberg and Simon Evans NEW YORK/ZURICH (Reuters) - Major soccer sponsors on Friday issued the strongest calls yet for the immediate resignation of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, a week after Swiss authorities said they were opening a criminal investigation into the head of the world soccer body. In quick succession on Friday companies that have long linked their brand names to the global sport - Coca-Cola Co , McDonald's , Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch InBev and Visa - demanded Blatter
  
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• Ukraine local polls postponed to ensure 'undisputed' vote

  02-10-2015 23:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany agreed Friday to delay contentious local elections in Ukraine to ensure that they meet international standards. French President Francois Hollande said after a summit in Paris that light weapons would be withdrawn from the frontline in eastern Ukraine beginning on Saturday, in another step towards peace. Fighting has all but stopped in separatist eastern Ukraine after 17 months of conflict, but rival elections planned by Kiev and the Russia-back
  
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• All Blacks tested by battling Georgia

  02-10-2015 23:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A hat-trick of tries for Julian Savea were not enough to spare the blushes of an unimpressive All Blacks who struggled to down minnows Georgia 43-10 Although the win confirmed the All Blacks quarter-final berth with one pool game against Tonga remaining, alarm bells would be ringing in the defending champions' camp. In the bruising Pool C match at Millennium Stadium they outscored Georgia seven tries to one. Georgia's tough tackling hero Mamuka Gorgodze got the biggest cheer of the night in the
  
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• Oregon gunman fascinated by shootings, described as shy and skittish

  02-10-2015 23:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WINCHESTER, Ore/TARZANA, Calif (Reuters) - The man killed by police on Thursday after he fatally shot nine people at a southern Oregon community college was a shy, awkward 26-year-old fascinated with shootings, according to neighbors, a person who knew him, news reports and his own social media postings. Chris Harper-Mercer lived in Torrance, California, before moving to Winchester, Oregon, where he resided in an apartment with his mother Laurel Harper about a four-minute drive from Umpqua Commu
  
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• Vatican upends Davis affair with news of audience with gays

  02-10-2015 23:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican turned the tables on the Kim Davis affair Friday: Not only did it distance Pope Francis from her claims that he endorsed her stand on same-sex marriage, it said the only "real audience" Francis had in Washington was with a small group that included a gay couple.
  
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• Saints coach Payton expects QB Brees to start vs Cowboys

  02-10-2015 23:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Drew Brees is expected to return as starter for New Orleans against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night in the Superdome, Saints coach Sean Payton said Friday.
  
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• Hurricane Joaquin batters Bahamas; ship missing in storm

  02-10-2015 23:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ELEUTHERA, Bahamas (AP) — Hurricane Joaquin destroyed houses, uprooted trees and unleashed heavy flooding as it hurled torrents of rain across the Bahamas on Friday, and the U.S. Coast Guard said it was searching for a cargo ship with 33 people aboard that went missing during the storm.
  
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• Why I gave up my baby

  02-10-2015 22:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Made to feel ashamed for being a single mother
  
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• Shooting at police HQ in Australia

  02-10-2015 22:31 via rss.cnn.com
  
  A civilian police staff member was shot dead by a gunman outside a police headquarters near Sydney, Australia, as he was leaving work Friday, police said.
  
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• Climate: India comes clean

  02-10-2015 22:06 via rss.cnn.com
  
  India has pledged to curb its greenhouse gas emissions by 35% in the next 15 years. As CNN's Ravi Agrawal reports, now all the world's biggest polluters are in favor of a climate deal.
  
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• U.S. braced for floods

  02-10-2015 21:54 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Hurricane Joaquin might just be a no-show this weekend along the East Coast of the United States, but that doesn't mean residents there are out of the woods just yet. Heavy rain and potential flooding remains a concern, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
  
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• The Latest: Train hero missed college rampage due to TV show

  02-10-2015 21:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — The latest on a deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon (all times local):
  
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• Trump pulls out of event at US Hispanic chamber

  02-10-2015 21:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Republican White House frontrunner Donald Trump has backed out of an appearance at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the group confirmed Friday. Trump had previously agreed to participate in a question-and-answer session with the business organization on October 8 in Washington, but the chamber said the billionaire real estate tycoon was "unwilling" to abide by the terms of the format. "Trump's decision to forfeit the Q&A session was motivated by the concern of being 'put on trial,'" the
  
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• Aunt of wounded victim: nephew tried to stop college shooter

  02-10-2015 21:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — An Army veteran tried to stop the gunman from entering a classroom during the deadly rampage at a community college here and was shot at least five times, according to the man's aunt.
  
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• Coca-Cola calls on Blatter to resign now

  02-10-2015 21:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ZURICH (AP) — Coca-Cola became the first FIFA sponsor on Friday to call on Sepp Blatter to immediately stand down as president of world soccer's governing body.
  
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• Despite setback, Cruz says he'll play for Giants this season

  02-10-2015 21:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Despite another setback with his injury calf, wide receiver Victor Cruz believes he will play for the New York Giants this season.
  
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• UN chief urges US to curb 'appalling' gun violence

  02-10-2015 21:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged the United States to take action to curb gun violence, saying it was taking an "appalling toll" on American society. "In the face of yet another tragedy of this kind, the secretary-general expresses his strong hope that the United States, through the robust democratic process that characterizes it, will be able to take the necessary action to reduce the appalling toll in human life that gun violence is taking on American society," said a statement
  
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• Former ABC News president now goes in front of camera

  02-10-2015 21:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — As ABC News president in 2006, David Westin appointed Charles Gibson anchor of the network's flagship "World News." Nine years later, Gibson returned the favor.
  
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• Pakistan gives UN files claiming that India foments violence

  02-10-2015 21:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Pakistan took its long-running dispute with neighboring India to the United Nations Friday as the country's U.N. Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi presented three dossiers to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office alleging Indian involvement in fomenting unrest in Pakistan.
  
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• Irish playwright Brian Friel, famed for 'Lughnasa,' dies

  02-10-2015 21:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  DUBLIN (AP) — Brian Friel distrusted the reliability of mere facts. Ireland's greatest playwright of his generation, who died Friday at the age of 86, spent much of his life trying to convey the deeper truths of our existence — of a world filled with compelling fictions constructed by people, families and whole nations.
  
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• Bush donors embrace new mantra: He's built to last

  02-10-2015 21:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Jeb Bush's challenge in the first half of the year was daunting yet simple. To be considered a fundraising success, the Republican presidential candidate had to hit the magic number of $100 million, an ambitious goal set by some in his campaign. And he did.
  
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• Education Secretary Arne Duncan steps down after 7-year term

  02-10-2015 21:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Arne Duncan, who followed President Barack Obama to Washington to serve as his education secretary, announced Friday he will step down following a seven-year tenure marked by a willingness to plunge head-on into the heated debate about the government's role in education.
  
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• Oregon gunman was Army dropout who studied mass shooters

  02-10-2015 21:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — The 26-year-old gunman who opened fire in a community college English class, killing nine, was a boot camp dropout who studied mass shooters before becoming one himself.
  
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• Pope met, hugged old gay friend in Washington

  02-10-2015 21:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Pope Francis met with a gay friend and his partner while visiting Washington, the Vatican said Friday, confirming a highly symbolic encounter which occurred a day before the pontiff met prominent gay marriage opponent Kim Davis. CNN, which first reported the meeting, broadcast a video of the encounter showing the pope and his old friend Yayo Grassi sharing a hug at the Vatican embassy in the US capital.
  
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• Rihanna and Dior's mountain wrestle for attention in Paris

  02-10-2015 21:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — The sky was the limit for powerhouse Christian Dior which built an entire floral mountain within the Louvre to house its 15 minute show at Paris Fashion Week. On the front row was Rihanna, attracting almost as much attention as the decor. Here are the highlights of Friday's shows:
  
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