Spurs guard Ginobili out 10-14 days with injury

(Reuters) - San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is expected to miss 10-14 days due to a strained left hamstring, the National Basketball Association team said on Monday.The third-leading scorer on the Southwest division-leading Spurs was injured in the final minute of the first half of San Antonio's 106-88 victory over Minnesota on Sunday.Ginobili, 35, who has already dealt with back spasms, a...

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Golden era for QBs, with great stories around NFL

NEW YORK (AP) — The two kids from Northern California burst from NFL afterthought to championship contender in eerily similar fashion a decade apart.Tom Brady and Colin Kaepernick, each playing in a conference title game this weekend, are bookends to a fortuitous moment in quarterback history. On one side are the likes of Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, still scintillating in their mid-30s.On...

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Chiefs player legally drunk when he killed girlfriend: autopsy

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher was legally drunk when he killed his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and then took his own life last month, according to an autopsy released on Monday.The report showed Belcher had a blood alcohol content of .17 - more than double the .08 level that by Missouri law makes a driver drunk.Belcher, 25, killed Perkins, 22, in the...

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Israel PM vows to proceed with disputed settlement

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israel's prime minister pledged Sunday to move ahead with construction of a new Jewish settlement in a strategic part of the West Bank, speaking just hours after Israeli forces dragged dozens of Palestinian activists from the area.The activists pitched more than two dozen tents at the site on Friday, laying claim to the land and drawing attention to Israel's internationally...

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Syrian warplanes bomb rebellious Damascus suburbs

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian fighter jets on Sunday bombed Damascus suburbs in a government offensive to dislodge rebels from strategic areas around the capital, activists said, as clashes raged around army bases and airfields in the country's north.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes were hitting towns and villages around the capital, while regime forces targeted other neighborhoods...

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Palestinian premier urges Arabs to pay pledged aid

CAIRO (AP) — The Palestinian prime minister warned Sunday that his government could fail to meet its obligations to its people because of a cash crunch, and urged Arab countries to deliver on promised aid.Salam Fayyad met with Arab League members to discuss ways to raise the $100 million they pledged earlier to his Palestinian Authority. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said seven countries have responded...

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Cowboys hire Monte Kiffin to replace Rob Ryan

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have hired former Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin as the replacement for Rob Ryan.The team announced the move on its website Friday, a day after the 72-year-old Kiffin was at team headquarters to interview with coach Jason Garrett and owner Jerry Jones.The hiring of Kiffin means the Cowboys will switch back to the 4-3 defense after going to the...

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Falcons get chance to end playoff misery

(Reuters) - The Atlanta Falcons earned the top seed in the National Football Conference (NFC) with a 13-3 regular season record but it is a miserable run of form in the playoffs they will try to end against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.Three times in the era of head coach Mike Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan the Falcons have impressed in the regular season but have stumbled in their first games...

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It's official: Shafer takes over at Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — As he addressed the media at his first press conference as coach, Syracuse's Scott Shafer briefly fumbled for words as he looked over at his wife and two children and thought about his father."(Being a head coach) has been a goal of mine since I was 10 years old because I was influenced by my dad. I just have so many vivid memories of the influence that he had on so many young...

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GM to open third U.S. tech center, hire 1,000 people

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co will open a third U.S. information technology center as part of its plan to bring that work in-house and improve the automaker's efficiency and productivity.GM said on Thursday it will hire about 1,000 people, including software developers, database experts and business analysts, to staff the center near Atlanta. It will be the third of four centers in the United...

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Best Buy online sales rise as Amazon collects sales tax

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Best Buy Co, the world's largest electronics retailer, said its online sales have increased in certain markets as arch rival Amazon.com Inc collects tax on purchases in more states."In California, Texas and Pennsylvania where Amazon.com recently started collecting tax, it is very early, but Best Buy has seen a 4 to 6 percent increase in online sales observed in aggregate...

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Native Canadians could block development, chief warns

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Native Canadians are so angry that they could resort to blocking resource development and bring the economy "to its knees" unless the Conservative government addresses their grievances, an influential chief said on Thursday.Native Canadian chiefs are due to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday to discuss the poor living conditions facing many of Canada's 1.2 million...

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'Smart' potty or dumb idea? Wacky gadgets at CES

LAS VEGAS (AP) — From the iPotty for toddlers to the 1,600-pound mechanical spider and the host of glitch-ridden "smart" TVs, the International CES show is a forum for gadget makers to take big — and bizarre — chances.Many of the prototypes introduced at the annual gadget show over the years have failed in the marketplace. But the innovators who shop their wares here are fearless when it comes to...

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Obama to tap budget expert Lew to lead Treasury

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will nominate White House chief of staff Jack Lew to be his second-term Secretary of the Treasury, turning to one of Washington's most knowledgeable budget experts to manage prickly fiscal negotiations with Congress and steer the still-shaky national economy.Lew's nomination, expected Thursday, accelerates the overhaul of Obama's top advisers, with new leaders...

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Facing backlash, AIG won't join lawsuit against US

NEW YORK (AP) — Afraid of looking like a world-class ingrate, AIG on Wednesday decided against suing the federal government over the $182 billion bailout that saved the giant insurance company from collapse.American International Group Inc. was put in the awkward position of having to consider joining a lawsuit brought against Uncle Sam by its former CEO, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg.The suit claims...

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Wisconsin Assembly's all-nighters targeted

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — To young people, pulling an all-nighter usually involves lots of caffeine and staying up to study.To the Wisconsin state Assembly, it's an all-too-familiar method of doing the state's business.The new Republican speaker of the Assembly has some ideas for ending the all-night sessions, but he refused to announce what any of them were after a private meeting Tuesday with Democratic...

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AIG says obliged to consider joining lawsuit against government

BOSTON (Reuters) - AIG has an obligation to consider a demand by its former chief executive that the company join a lawsuit challenging some of the terms of the insurer's 2008 government rescue, AIG said on Tuesday.In a statement, American International Group said its board expected to make a decision "in the next several weeks...

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No joke: Obama to screen TV comedy "1600 Penn" at White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "trophy wife" as first lady, a hapless college-aged son who burns down a fraternity house, and a daughter frantically taking pregnancy tests in a White House bathroom - this TV comedy had better be funny.On Wednesday, President Barack Obama is slated to hold a private screening at the White House with the cast and crew of "1600 Penn," an NBC series about a dysfunctional first...

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Bank of America, other banks move closer to ending mortgage mess

CHARLOTTE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp announced more than $14 billion of legal settlements over bad mortgages it sold to investors and flaws in its foreclosure process, taking the bank a step closer to ending the home loan problems that have dogged it for years.About $3 billion of Bank of America's Monday's settlements were part of a larger $8.5 billion deal between 10 big mortgage...

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Chesapeake's McClendon will not receive 2012 bonus

Chesapeake Energy Corp , the U.S. oil and gas company battling a governance crisis and financial strain, said on Monday its chief executive officer, Aubrey McClendon, will not receive a bonus for 2012.The board, in a filing to regulators, said it made several changes to the company's corporate governance structure and executive pay. The company said McClendon recommended he not receive a bonus.Other...

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Citigroup fires private bank CIO amid job cuts - Bloomberg

 Citigroup Inc has fired Richard Cookson, chief investment officer of its private bank, as the company looks to cut costs, Bloomberg reported on Monday.Citigroup will no longer rely on one person to lead the firm's investment strategy and will instead seek to "better leverage the existing in-house expertise across Citi," including its markets and banking research teams, Bloomberg said, citing...

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AP Interview: Palestinian PM warns of cash crisis

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian self-rule government is in "extreme jeopardy" because of an unprecedented financial crisis, largely because Arab countries have failed to send hundreds of millions of dollars in promised aid, the Palestinian prime minister said Sunday.The cash crunch has gradually worsened in recent years, and the Palestinian Authority now has reached the point of not being...

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Defiant Assad pledges to continue fighting

BEIRUT (AP) — A defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad rallied a chanting and cheering crowd Sunday to fight the uprising against his authoritarian rule, dismissing any chance of dialogue with "murderous criminals" that he blames for nearly two years of violence that has left 60,000 dead.In his first public speech in six months, Assad laid out terms for a peace plan that keeps himself in power, ignoring...

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Egypt Copts mark Christmas with fear of future

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's minority Christians were celebrating their first Christmas after the election of an Islamist president and a new pope — and following adoption of a constitution many argue has an Islamist slant.Christians gathered in Cairo's main cathedral Sunday for Midnight Mass on the eve of Orthodox Christmas led by their new pope. Pope Tawadros II was elected in November to replace longtime...

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Merkel highlights economy in German election year

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted Germany's economic strength as she kicked off campaigning Saturday for an important state vote that comes months before national elections, and she brushed aside worries about the weakness of her party's coalition partner.Merkel's center-right party faces a tough battle to extend its 10-year hold on Lower Saxony state, a northwestern region of 8...

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