North Korea gears up to launch long-range rocket

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is gearing up to fire a long-range rocket this month in a defiant move expected to raise the stakes of a global standoff over its missile and nuclear programs.The North's announcement Saturday that it would launch the rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22 came as President Barack Obama prepares for his second term and as South Korea holds a presidential election...

Read More..

iPad mini shortages may soon be resolved

...

Read More..

Katzenberg, Spielberg attend Governors Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Hanks. Quincy Jones. Kristen Stewart. Warren Beatty. Quentin Tarantino. George Lucas. Steven Spielberg. Kirk Douglas. Amy Adams. Richard Gere.These and other famous folks came to the film academy's Governors Awards Saturday to honor filmmakers whose names may not be as well known, but whose contributions to the industry have affected movie-lovers everywhere.Documentarian D.A....

Read More..

Asperger's dropped from revised diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) — The now familiar term "Asperger's disorder" is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But "dyslexia" and other learning disorders remain.The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation's psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.Full details...

Read More..

Report: At least three dead after Japan tunnel collapse

TOKYO (Reuters) - A tunnel on a major highway in central Japan collapsed on Sunday, killing at least three people and starting a blaze, Japanese media reported. Attempts to rescue those still trapped inside the smashed tunnel, which began spewing smoke after concrete ceiling panels fell onto the road, have been interrupted for fear they might trigger another collapse. Three...

Read More..

Officials say bomb kills 3 in southern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Provincial officials say a suicide car bomber killed three civilians and wounded another six in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province.Abdullah Himmat, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said Saturday's blast occurred near the police headquarters of Uruzgan's Dehra Wood district.Fareed Ayal, a spokesman for the provincial police, says the car apparently detonated prematurely...

Read More..

JLo tones down concert in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Jennifer Lopez wowed thousands of fans in Indonesia, but they didn't see as much of her as concertgoers in other countries — the American pop star toned down both her sexy outfits and her dance moves during her show in the world's most populous Muslim country, promoters said Saturday.Lopez's "Dance Again World Tour" was performed in the country's capital, Jakarta, on Friday...

Read More..

South Africa makes progress in HIV/AIDS fight

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — In the early 90s when South Africa's Themba Lethu clinic could only treat HIV/AIDS patients for opportunistic diseases, many would come in on wheelchairs and keep coming to the health center until they died.Two decades later the clinic is the biggest ARV (anti-retroviral) treatment center in the country and sees between 600 to 800 patients a day from all over southern Africa. Those...

Read More..

Why Obama is pushing for stimulus in 'fiscal cliff' deal

How about a little government economic stimulus?That may sound incongruous considering the budget deficit and the push from Republicans to cut government spending.But President Obama’s first offer to avoid going over the "fiscal cliff" holds out the hope of at least some stimulus. This would include extending the 2 percentage point Social Security payroll tax cut, boosting a tax incentive to businesses,...

Read More..

Afghanistan presses Pakistan to free Taliban

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Afghan foreign minister pressed Pakistan on Friday to free more Taliban detainees in Islamabad's custody in a bid to help coax the militant group into peace negotiations to end the 11-year-old war in Afghanistan, officials said.Afghanistan's top diplomat, Zalmay Rasoul, pushed his case in talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, during a one-day visit to Islamabad....

Read More..