General news

• Bernie Sanders' campaign sues Democratic National Committee

  18-12-2015 23:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' campaign sued the Democratic National Committee on Friday, accusing it of improperly suspending the Sanders campaign's access to voter data. The case, filed in a Washington, D.C. court, seeks "immediate restoration" of the campaign's access to the data, according to the lawsuit. (Reporting by Dan Levine)
  
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• Juli Inkster returns as Solheim Cup captain

  18-12-2015 23:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Juli Inkster said being the U.S. Solheim Cup captain was one of the biggest thrills of her career.
  
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• US Congress passes huge spending, tax-relief deal

  18-12-2015 23:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Lawmakers approved a compromise $1.1 trillion spending package Friday that funds the US government through next September, tightens the nation's visa requirements, ends a longstanding oil export ban and reforms the IMF. The sprawling measure, which also extends several tax exemptions worth more than $620 billion and that critics warn will increase the national debt, easily passed the Senate 65 votes to 33 shortly after clearing the House earlier Friday as the last major acts of Congress before y
  
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• U.N. council endorses Syria peace plan; no agreement on Assad's fate

  18-12-2015 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Arshad Mohammed, Denis Dyomkin and John Irish UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously agreed a resolution endorsing an international roadmap for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives. "This council is sending a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people
  
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• Pharma bad-boy Shkreli quits Turing after fraud charges

  18-12-2015 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Reviled US pharmaceutical and hedge fund figure Martin Shkreli resigned as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals on Friday, a day after his arrest on fraud charges, the company said Friday. "We wish to thank Martin for helping us build Turing Pharmaceuticals into the dynamic research-focused company it is today, and wish him the best in his future endeavors," Ron Tilles, who was appointed as Turing interim chief executive, said in a statement. US police officials arrested Shkreli on Thursday
  
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• Brady listed as questionable for Sunday vs Titans

  18-12-2015 23:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was listed on the team's injury report Friday with an illness that made him questionable Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
  
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• Steelers-Bengals game produces $118,649 in fines

  18-12-2015 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL fined five players from the Steelers-Bengals game last weekend a total of $118,649. Cincinnati linebacker Vontaze Burfict was fined $69,454 for three separate infractions.
  
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• US airstrike may have inadvertently killed Iraqi soldiers

  18-12-2015 23:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says it is investigating an American airstrike that may have inadvertently killed Iraqi soldiers near the city of Fallujah.
  
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• Oil ends down for third week as U.S. rig count rises

  18-12-2015 23:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about half a percent on Friday after the U.S. oil rig count unexpectedly rose for the first time in five weeks, pressuring a market already at seven-year lows. Global oil benchmark Brent and U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled down for a third straight week. Despite the severity of the decline, data from oil services company Baker Hughes Inc showed U.S. energy firms added to the number of oil rigs in operation this we
  
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• NASA spacewalk to fix ISS rail car

  18-12-2015 23:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A pair of NASA astronauts will step out on a previously unscheduled spacewalk as early as Monday to fix a piece of motorized equipment that stalled outside the International Space Station. The mobile transporter rail car -- used to position the station's robotic arm -- stalled on Wednesday just four inches (10 centimeters) from where it began its move, said the US space agency in a statement. The Canadian-made robotic arm is used to reach out and grab approaching US cargo ships and was most rece
  
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• Texas police in manhunt for 'affluenza' teen

  18-12-2015 23:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Police have launched a manhunt for a wealthy Texas teenager described as suffering from "affluenza," after he apparently violated the terms of his probation for causing a deadly drunk-driving accident in 2013. Ethan Couch was 16 when he crashed his pickup truck into a group of pedestrians and another vehicle, leaving four dead and several seriously injured. The son of millionaire parents, Couch made headlines during his trial when a psychologist testifying on his behalf claimed he suffered from
  
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• UN Security Council endorses Syria peace plan

  18-12-2015 23:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The UN Security Council threw its unanimous support Friday behind a plan to bring Syria's brutal civil war to an end by summoning rebels and the regime to the negotiating table. The US and Russian initiative, supported by a 17-nation group, foresees a rapid ceasefire in the almost five-year-old conflict and peace talks from next month. If the plan brings Bashar al-Assad's regime to the table with the armed opposition, it will allow Russian and US-led forces to focus their firepower on the Islami
  
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• Cosby lawyers fight deposition of his wife in lawsuit

  18-12-2015 23:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Bill Cosby say they'll fight an attempt to require the comedian's wife to give a sworn deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed by seven women who accuse Cosby of sexually assaulting them decades ago.
  
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• Sikh middle schooler accused of bomb threat in Texas

  18-12-2015 23:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The mother of a Sikh middle school student accused of threatening to detonate a bomb at his Texas school is asking police to drop charges.
  
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• Republican Cruz criticizes leadership for $1.15 trillion spending bill

  18-12-2015 23:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Senator Ted Cruz told reporters the $1.15 trillion spending bill pass by Congress on Friday is his own party's leadership "playing Santa Claus to the lobbyists." "I think this omnibus was a betrayal of the men and women who elected us," Cruz said. "It was Republican leadership playing Santa Claus to the lobbyists in K St and the special interests, and it's why people are fed up with the Washington cartel." Conservative ha
  
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• Fiscal fights fade as U.S. Congress backs huge budget bill

  18-12-2015 23:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brushing aside concerns about deepening the budget deficit, U.S. lawmakers approved $1.8 trillion worth of federal spending and tax breaks on Friday in a rare case of bipartisan action after years of damaging fiscal fights in Congress. The Senate voted 65-33 to approve sweeping legislation that averted a government shutdown, locked in billions of dollars of tax breaks and scrapped a 40-year-old ban on the export of U.S. oil. "I think the
  
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• Star Wars breaks opening night record

  18-12-2015 23:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The latest Star Wars film has set a new opening night box office record in the US and Canada, industry experts say.
  
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• Report: Drug overdose deaths surged in 14 states last year

  18-12-2015 23:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Drug overdose deaths surged in 14 states last year, pushing the nation to a record count, according to a government report released Friday.
  
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• Hope as Syria peace plan passes

  18-12-2015 23:10 via rss.cnn.com
  
  The United Nations Security Council will vote, possibly as early as Friday, on a resolution that supports international efforts to seek a political solution in Syria.
  
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• Aretha Franklin appears with Jazz at Lincoln Center

  18-12-2015 22:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The Queen of Soul made a surprise appearance at the House of Swing, helping the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra usher in the holiday season at their first concert in their newly refurbished home.
  
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• Obama signs into law government funding bill, tax breaks

  18-12-2015 22:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law on Friday a massive government funding bill and billions of dollars of tax breaks in a low-key Oval Office ceremony witnessed by photographers. The $1.8 trillion package includes $1.15 trillion in government funding and tax breaks worth $680 billion over 10 years. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Carlos Barria; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
  
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• Indiana mayor re-elected by 1 vote after ballot challenge

  18-12-2015 22:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The mayor of an Indiana town has been re-elected by one vote after an election panel threw out a ballot.
  
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• Obama presses Turkey's president to lower tensions with Iraq

  18-12-2015 22:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Urging an end to tensions between two U.S. partners, President Barack Obama asked Turkey on Friday to keep pulling its troops from a training camp in Iraq and respect the country's integrity as a sovereign nation.
  
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• UN unanimously backs Syria peace process

  18-12-2015 22:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing a peace process to put an end to the nearly five-year war in Syria. The resolution, however, does not touch on one of the most contentious issues in the peace effort: the fate of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
  
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• UN endorses peace process for Syria, but no mention of Assad

  18-12-2015 22:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Security Council members approved a resolution Friday outlining a peace process for Syria involving talks by representatives of the Damascus government and the opposition, but the draft says nothing on the critical issue of what role President Bashar Assad will play.
  
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• Wal-Mart looks to China for new US marketing chief

  18-12-2015 22:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart is turning to its marketing chief in China to shape how it relays its message to shoppers in the U.S.
  
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• Rubio skips vote on budget deal, campaigns in Iowa

  18-12-2015 22:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio railed against the year-end budget and tax package, suggested he might slow down its inevitable passage and then skipped the vote Friday.
  
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• U.N. council endorses Syria peace plan in rare show of unity

  18-12-2015 22:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously agreed a resolution endorsing an international roadmap for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau, Arshad Mohammed, Michelle Nichols and John Irish)
  
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• Martin Shkreli starts YouTube live stream a day after leaving jail

  18-12-2015 22:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Martin Shkreli, the boyish pharmaceutical entrepreneur who was arrested on Thursday for what U.S. prosecutors said was a Ponzi-like scheme, started a live stream on YouTube on Friday after returning home. Shkreli was seen wandering around his apartment filled with guitars and musical instruments in pajama bottoms and a purple PBS T-shirt.
  
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• UN adopts resolution endorsing peace process for Syria but making no mention of Assad's future

  18-12-2015 22:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — UN adopts resolution endorsing peace process for Syria but making no mention of Assad's future.
  
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• NASA: Spacewalk needed to move stalled rail car

  18-12-2015 22:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two Americans aboard the International Space Station are gearing up for a spacewalk early next week to free a stalled rail car.
  
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• Iwakuma happily back in Seattle after failed Dodgers deal

  18-12-2015 22:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SEATTLE (AP) — Throughout Hisashi Iwakuma's free agency, the Seattle Mariners remained in contact and the team as quick to react when the pitcher unexpectedly became available again.
  
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• White House awakens to the force of Star Wars

  18-12-2015 22:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Washington (AFP) - Even the White House is not immune to The Force.
  
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• Crisis-hit Brazil replaces 'Scissorhands' finance minister

  18-12-2015 22:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Brasília (AFP) - Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff replaced her finance minister Friday, the presidency said, days after credit rater Fitch downgraded the country to junk status in an economic and political crisis. Joaquim Levy will be replaced by current Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa, a close ally of Rousseff, her office said in a statement. "The president is grateful for the dedication of Joaquim Levy, who played a fundamental role in tackling the economic crisis," it said.
  
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• US spending bill may aid economy just as Fed is pulling back

  18-12-2015 22:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as the Federal Reserve is pulling back slightly on the economic accelerator, Congress is pressing down a bit harder.
  
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• Photos: Oprah Buys Home in Colorado

  18-12-2015 22:04
  
  Current and former homes of the stars.
  
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• Up close with Russia's war machine

  18-12-2015 22:02 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Several miles off the Syrian coast, the Moskva, a Russian warship laden with long-range guided missiles, is a formidable symbol of Russian naval might in this stretch of the eastern Mediterranean.
  
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• Truck driver in Tracy Morgan crash wants charges tossed

  18-12-2015 22:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The truck driver who slammed into a limo carrying Tracy Morgan, killing one man and severely injuring the comedian, will ask a judge next week to throw out criminal charges against him.
  
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• Agreeing at last: Congress sends tax, spending bill to Obama

  18-12-2015 21:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Congress ended its chaotic year on a surprising note of bipartisan unity and productivity Friday, overwhelmingly approving a massive 2016 tax and spending package and sending it to President Barack Obama ...
  
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• Obama urges Turkey's Erdogan to withdraw troops from Iraq - White House

  18-12-2015 21:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Friday to "deescalate tensions" with Iraq by continuing to withdraw Turkish forces from northern Iraq, the White House said in a statement. The leaders also discussed the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria including efforts to support the moderate opposition in the war-torn nation, the White House said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Eric Walsh)
  
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• Now Trump praises Putin

  18-12-2015 21:53 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Donald Trump on Friday praised Vladimir Putin and appeared to defend the autocratic Russian president when pressed about his alleged killing of journalists and political opponents critical of his rule.
  
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• Obama: ISIS is losing ground

  18-12-2015 21:52 via rss.cnn.com
  
  President Barack Obama on Friday used his last press conference of 2015 to defend his administration's strategy against ISIS in the wake of terrorist attacks in California and Paris, as well as highlight policy achievements from the year, including negotiations with Cuba and Iran, action on climate change and more people signing up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
  
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• Gang rape killer to walk free

  18-12-2015 21:51 via rss.cnn.com
  
  Outside the Delhi High Court on Friday, there were few clues that a momentous decision was underway in India's watershed gang rape case. Besides a small band of lawyers and journalists, few were present when the court ruled that come Sunday, the youngest of six men who tortured and raped a physiotherapy student on a moving Delhi bus would be a free man.
  
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• Religious colleges seek waivers on transgender students

  18-12-2015 21:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nearly three dozen religious colleges and universities in 20 U.S. states have received federal waivers allowing them not to accommodate transgender students in admissions, housing and other areas of campus life, according to a report by the nation's largest LGBT rights group and documents obtained by The Associated Press.
  
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• Brazil's finance minister replaced amid economic upheaval

  18-12-2015 21:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's state-run news agency says Finance Minister Joaquim Levy is being replaced after just over a year on the job.
  
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• 'Agreement' on UN draft on Syria, but no mention of Assad

  18-12-2015 21:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Security Council members agreed Friday on a resolution on a peace process for Syria involving talks by representatives of the Damascus government and the opposition, but the draft says nothing on the critical issue of what role President Bashar Assad will play.
  
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• Obama urges Americans remain vigilant against homegrown threats

  18-12-2015 21:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Americans to remain vigilant against the potential threat of homegrown Islamic State militants on Friday due to the difficulty of tracking "lone wolf" attackers like those who went on a shooting spree in California. Obama appeared in the White House press briefing room for a year-end news conference shortly before traveling to San Bernardino, California, where the Dec. 2 shootings took place, to meet private
  
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• Powers 'agree Syria draft resolution'

  18-12-2015 21:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The five permanent UN Security Council members have agreed the text of a draft UN resolution for the Syrian peace process, diplomats say.
  
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• Big powers clinch deal on U.N. endorsement of Syria peace plan

  18-12-2015 21:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Sabine Siebold, Arshad Mohammed and Denis Dyomkin UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The five United Nations Security Council veto powers have agreed on the text of a draft resolution to endorse an international road map for a Syria peace process and the 15-member body is expected to adopt it later on Friday, diplomats said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power phoned the remaining 10 members of the council to brief them on the text, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.
  
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• Peacekeeper plan for bloody Burundi

  18-12-2015 21:37 via rss.cnn.com
  
  The African Union is planning to send 5,000 peacekeepers to protect civilians in strife-torn Burundi and has given the government there 96 hours to respond to the proposed mission, officials said Friday.
  
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