Karzai Implicates Pakistan in Attack on Afghan Spy Chief

KABUL, Afghanistan — The suicide bomber who tried to assassinate Afghanistan’s powerful new intelligence chief came from Pakistan and the attack was organized with the help of a sophisticated foreign intelligence service, President Hamid Karzai said Saturday. Mr. Karzai said he would ask for clarification from Pakistan’s president, when the two men meet later this month, on whether Pakistan’s...

Read More..

Zynga seeks real-money gambling license in Nevada

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Social games maker Zynga Inc said on Wednesday it filed a preliminary application to run real-money gambling games in Nevada, a significant step in cracking a complex but potentially massive new market that could resuscitate its faltering business.The Nevada Gaming Control Board will now examine whether Zynga is fit to hold a gaming license that would allow gamblers in the...

Read More..

Te'o and Manziel hit Manhattan with Heisman hopes

NEW YORK (AP) — Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o was looking forward to a break after a five-city-in-five-days tour, during which he has become the most decorated player in college football."I'm just trying to get a workout in and get some sleep," he said Friday about his plans for the night.Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel seemed to have more energy when he arrived at a midtown Manhattan...

Read More..

Vols hire Cincinnati's Jones as new football coach

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Butch Jones wasn't Tennessee's first choice as its next football coach. The Volunteers believe the former Cincinnati coach will prove he's the right choice.Tennessee announced Friday morning that Jones had agreed to become its fourth coach in six seasons, ending a tumultuous couple of days for both parties. Tennessee has scheduled a Friday afternoon news conference to announce...

Read More..

3 Charged With Plotting to Export Carbon Fiber to Iran

Three people have been charged with conspiring to illegally export to Iran and China a superstrong material called carbon fiber that can be used to make machines that can enrich uranium, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said on Wednesday. Iran has been pursuing carbon-fiber technology for years, and has had difficulty in obtaining the material. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for nuclear...

Read More..

Bryant eclipses 30,000, Lakers beat Hornets 103-87

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kobe Bryant grinned and uttered the word "irony" as he considered the fact that the team that drafted him nearly 17 years ago was his opponent on the night he eclipsed a scoring milestone to join an exclusive club of NBA greats.It's easy to forget that it was the Hornets who drafted and then traded Bryant away back in 1996.In the years since, the Hornets have changed cities, from...

Read More..

Extended Use of Breast Cancer Drug Suggested

The widely prescribed drug tamoxifen already plays a major role in reducing the risk of death from breast cancer. But a new study suggests that women should be taking the drug for twice as long as is now customary, a finding that could upend the standard that has been in place for about 15 years. In the study, patients who continued taking tamoxifen for 10 years were less likely to have...

Read More..

Dispute Flares Over Energy Exploration in South China Sea

BEIJING — China and two of its neighbors, Vietnam and India, were locked in a new dispute on Tuesday over energy exploration in the South China Sea, a signal that Beijing plans to continue its hard line in the increasingly contentious waterway. Vietnam accused a Chinese fishing boat of cutting a seismic cable attached to one of its vessels exploring for oil and gas near the Gulf of Tonkin,...

Read More..

PlayStation 3 was the world’s No.1 Netflix streaming device this year

There are dozens of devices that can stream Netflix (NFLX), but only one can machine be crowned the king of the living room. According to Netflix, that device is Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 console. Without revealing any specific figures, Netflix announced on its blog “in the U.S. and globally, PS3 is the largest TV-connected platform in terms of Netflix viewing” and that “at times, PS3 even surpassed...

Read More..

Jets going with Mark Sanchez as starting QB

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Rex Ryan is sticking with Mark Sanchez as the New York Jets' starting quarterback.The coach announced Wednesday that Sanchez, benched last Sunday against Arizona, will get the start this week over Greg McElroy and Tim Tebow when the Jets play the Jaguars at Jacksonville."I have to get this decision right," Ryan said, "and I believe I have."Sanchez was pulled late in the third...

Read More..

Well: New Meaning and Drive in Life After Cancer

When people hear the words “You have cancer,” life is suddenly divided into distinct parts. There was their life before cancer, and then there is life after cancer.The number of people in that second category continues to grow. In June, the National Cancer Institute reported that an estimated 13.7 million living Americans are cancer survivors, and the number will increase to almost 18 million over...

Read More..

Starbucks to Open Another 1,500 Cafes in the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) — Another Starbucks may soon pop up around the corner, with the world's biggest coffee company planning to add at least 1,500 cafes in the U.S. over the next five years. The plan, which would boost the number of Starbucks cafes in the country by about 13 percent, was announced at the company's investor day in New York Wednesday. Taking into account Canada and South America,...

Read More..

Egyptians Protesting Draft Constitution Are Met With Tear Gas

CAIRO — Egyptian riot police fired tear gas Tuesday night at tens of thousands of demonstrators who were converging on the presidential palace in Cairo to protest the country’s new draft constitution, which was rushed to completion last week by an assembly dominated by Islamists. It was the first time that the government of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, has...

Read More..

Is the iPad Mini as Good as the iPad?

The iPad Mini‘s screen doesn’t have the same “resolutionary” Retina display as its bigger brother, but don’t worry: the Apple snobs appear to have gotten over that. After spending time with his new baby-tablet, The New York Times‘s Nick Bilton gave in, calling the gadget his new “Desert Island Device.” (It replaced his iPhone, by the way.) The inferior screen had worried Bilton like it...

Read More..

Chiefs had given counseling to Belcher, girlfriend

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs officials knew that linebacker Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend were having relationship problems, and the team provided the couple with counseling in an effort to help, a police official said.Belcher fatally shot Kasandra Perkins, 22, at their Kansas City home Saturday before shooting himself in the head in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot in front of team...

Read More..

Sign Language Researchers Broaden Science Lexicon

Imagine trying to learn biology without ever using the word “organism.” Or studying to become a botanist when the only way of referring to photosynthesis is to spell the word out, letter by painstaking letter. For deaf students, this game of scientific Password has long been the daily classroom and laboratory experience. Words like “organism” and “photosynthesis” — to say nothing of more...

Read More..

Republicans Balk at Obama’s Short-Term Stimulus

WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats are struggling to find common ground on a long-term debt deal. But as economic growth has weakened this quarter, they are at odds over what the flagging recovery needs in the immediate future, too. The Obama administration is arguing that the sluggish economy requires a shot in the arm, and it included tens of billions of dollars of little-noticed stimulus...

Read More..

Suspected Gaza Collaborators Face a Grisly Fate

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — When Fadel Shalouf’s family went to pick up his body at the morgue the day after he was executed on a busy Gaza street corner, they found his hands still cuffed behind his back. Hamas, the militant faction that rules Gaza, did not provide a van to carry the body to burial, so they laid him on two men’s laps in the back of a sedan. It was an undignified end to a short,...

Read More..

Nokia Siemens to sell optical networks unit

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Mobile telecoms equipment joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, which is focusing on its core business, is to sell its optical fiber unit to Marlin Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum.Up to 1,900 employees, mainly in Germany and Portugal, will be transferred to the new company, NSN said on Monday.The company, owned by Nokia and Siemens, has sold a number of product lines since...

Read More..

Ruppert, O'Day, White elected to baseball Hall

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, longtime umpire Hank O'Day and barehanded catcher Deacon White have been elected to the baseball Hall of Fame for their excellence through the first half of the 20th century.The trio was picked by the Hall's pre-integration committee. The announcement was made Monday at the winter meetings.Induction ceremonies will be held July ...

Read More..