Archive By Section - Signal AP
Syria presses heavy air bombardment of rebels
BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian warplanes fired missiles at opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north on Wednesday as Turkey, a key backer of the anti-regime rebels, appeared to distance itself from an earlier call to impose a no-fly zone.
English town to burn Lance Armstrong in effigy
LONDON (AP) - His career is in ruins and now an effigy of Lance Armstrong is about to go up in smoke.
Disney unlikely to change 'Star Wars' brand
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Naysayers would have you believe Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm can only mean one thing: Bambi and Mickey Mouse are sure to appear in future "Star Wars" movies taking up lightsabers against the dark side of the Force.
Smugglers' SUV gets stuck atop Calif. border fence
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) - Suspected smugglers who tried to use ramps to drive an SUV over a 14-foot-tall border fence had to abandon their plan when the Jeep became stuck on top of the barrier, authorities said Wednesday.
Justices hear arguments over police dog use
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Wednesday considered curbing police use of drug-sniffing dogs as lawyers argued that using a dog's hypersensitive nose outside a home to indicate the possibility of illegal substances inside amounts to an unconstitutional breach of privacy.
SF holds ticker-tape parade for Giants
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Orange-and-black clad hordes flooded the streets of San Francisco on Wednesday for a ticker-tape parade celebrating the 2012 World Series champion Giants - a Halloween treat made all the more sweet as a repeat performance.
N. Calif. restaurant honest about cockroaches
MILL VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - A Northern California eatery is giving its customers information that most restaurants go to great lengths to cover up.
Uncertainty in campaigns
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - President Barack Obama put campaign battleground travel on hold to tour the ravaged New Jersey coast Wednesday, while down-to-the-wire campaigning resumed in swing state Florida that is critical to Republican Mitt Romney's victory plan.
Airports, stock exchange reopen
NEW YORK (AP) - Two major airports reopened and the floor of the New York Stock Exchange came back to life Wednesday, while across the river in New Jersey, National Guardsmen rushed to rescue flood victims and fires still raged two days after Superstorm Sandy.
Swift's 'Red' sells 1.2 million copies in debut
NEW YORK (AP) - Taylor Swift's new album is called "Red," but its true color is a brilliant platinum. The 22-year-old sold 1.2 million copies of her latest album in its first week - the largest sales week for any album in a decade.
Ohio teen convicted in deadly Craigslist scheme
AKRON, Ohio (AP) - A teenager taken under the wing of a man defense attorneys described as a master manipulator was found guilty of aggravated murder Tuesday for his role in a deadly plot to lure men desperate for work with phony Craigslist job offers.
SD executes man for rape, death of 9-year-old girl
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A South Dakota inmate was executed Tuesday night for the 1990 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl who disappeared after leaving her home to buy sugar at a nearby store so she could make lemonade.
'Octomom' checks into rehab citing anxiety, stress
LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Octomom" Nadya Suleman has checked herself into a rehabilitation center, citing anxiety, exhaustion and stress, a spokeswoman for the mother of 14 said Tuesday.
NYC Marathon planning moves forward after Sandy
NEW YORK (AP) - The 26 miles might be the easy part. The biggest challenge for this New York City Marathon on Sunday could be getting to the start, not the finish. The mayor of storm-battered New York says the race is still on, but flying in runners from out of town will be tricky, and there may not be a subway to get everyone to the starting line. Superstorm Sandy shut down transportation, ...
Gingrich raising cash, profile for Akin Senate bid
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) - Shunned by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin turned Tuesday to former presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich to help draw money and attention to his quest to oust Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Articles by Section - Signal AP
Commercial cyberspying and theft gives rich payoff
BEIJING (AP) - For state-backed cyberspies such as a Chinese military unit implicated by a U.S. security firm in a computer crime wave, hacking foreign companies can produce high-value secrets ranging from details on oil fields to advanced manufacturing technology.
Oscar nominated director held at LAX
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Immigration officials briefly detained the Palestinian director of the Oscar-nominated documentary "5 Broken Cameras" on his way into town for Sunday's Academy Awards.
OSHA finds VA at fault for Calif. researcher death
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal officials on Wednesday blamed unsafe working conditions and poor training for the death of a young Veterans Affairs medical center researcher in San Francisco who died after handling bacteria that causes meningitis.
Trial begins in case of fatal Ore. hunting mistake
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Lawyers for an Oregon hunter who killed a man he mistook for a bear say they concede their client shot the Marine reservist, but they maintain the death in a field near Silver Falls State Park was an accident.
Woman, 104, forced to lie about age on Facebook
GROSSE POINTE SHORES, Mich. (AP) - Marguerite Joseph can be forgiven for lying about her age on Facebook.
NY developer: Airline reneging on 9/11 promise
NEW YORK (AP) - A World Trade Center developer asked a judge Wednesday to disqualify American Airlines from using an "act of war" defense to dodge property liability resulting from the Sept. 11 attacks.
Jesse Jackson Jr. pleads guilty in campaign case
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., holding back tears, entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces 46 to 57 months in prison, and a fine of $10,000 to $100,000, under a plea deal with prosecutors.
Pentagon notifies Congress of likely furloughs
WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday that if automatic government spending cuts kick in on March 1 he may have to shorten the workweek for the "vast majority" of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilian workers.
Future science: Using 3-D worlds to visualize data
CHICAGO (AP) - Take a walk through a human brain? Fly over the surface of Mars? Computer scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago are pushing science fiction closer to reality with a wraparound virtual world where a researcher wearing 3-D glasses can do all that and more.
Renewed fervor for Google lifts stock above $800
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google's stock price topped $800 for the first time Tuesday amid renewed confidence in the company's ability to reap higher profits from its dominance of Internet search and prominence in the growing mobile market.
US homebuilder confidence dips from a 6½ year high
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Confidence among U.S. homebuilders slipped this month from the 6½ year high it reached in January, with many builders reporting less traffic by prospective customers before the critical spring home-buying season.
UPDATE: Body found in rubble of KC explosion
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The mayor of Kansas City says search crews have found a body in the rubble of a Kansas City restaurant destroyed by an explosion.
In fact-based films, how much fiction is OK?
NEW YORK (AP) - The scene: Tehran's Mehrabad airport, January 1980. Six U.S. diplomats, disguised as a fake sci-fi film crew, are about to fly to freedom with their CIA escorts. But suddenly there's a moment of panic in what had been a smooth trip through the airport.
US ready to strike back against China cyberattacks
WASHINGTON (AP) - As public evidence mounts that the Chinese military is responsible for stealing massive amounts of U.S. government data and corporate trade secrets, the Obama administration is eyeing fines and other trade actions it may take against Beijing or any other country guilty of cyberespionage.
14 hurt in Kansas City gas blast, fire
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A gas explosion that sparked a massive, block-engulfing blaze in an upscale Kansas City shopping district injured 14 people, a city official said Tuesday evening, adding it is believed that an accident by a utility contractor may have caused the blast.
