Deal reached for stopping spike in milk prices

WASHINGTON (AP) - The top leaders in both parties on the House and Senate Agriculture committees have agreed to a one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill that expired in October, a move that could head off a possible doubling of milk prices next month.

Chavez suffers new complications in cancer fight

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez's new complications after cancer surgery prompted his closest allies to call for Venezuelans to pray for him on Monday, presenting an increasingly bleak outlook and prompting growing speculation about whether the ailing leader has much longer to live.

Father of Conn. school gunman claims son's body

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The father of the gunman who killed 26 people in a Connecticut elementary school, including 20 first-graders, has claimed his son's body, a spokesman for the family said Monday.

Asian nations giving enthusiastic welcome to 2013

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Sydney's skyline erupted with tons of exploding fireworks as revelers cheered in the new year from the city's crammed harbor in the world's first major celebration for 2013.

Lake Superior State's 38th list of banished words

DETROIT (AP) - Lake Superior State University's 38th annual list of banished words:

List: No love for 'fiscal cliff,' 'spoiler alert'

DETROIT (AP) - Spoiler alert: This story contains words and phrases that some people want to ban from the English language. "Spoiler alert" is among them. So are "kick the can down the road," ''trending" and "bucket list."

UPDATE: AP Sources: 'Fiscal cliff' deal emerging

WASHINGTON (AP) - Working with Congress against a midnight deadline, President Barack Obama said Monday that a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" was in sight but not yet finalized. The emerging deal would raise tax rates on family income over $450,000 and individual income over $400,000 a year, increase the estate tax rate and extend unemployment benefits for one year.

Over the fiscal cliff: Soft or hard landing?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Efforts to save the nation from going over a year-end "fiscal cliff" were still in disarray as lawmakers returned to the Capitol to confront the tax-and-spend crisis. A tone-setting quotation was Democratic Sen. Harry Reid's assertion that the House under Republican Speaker John Boehner had been "operating with a dictatorship."

Armstrong better, Green Day to resume tour in 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Green Day is going back on the road. The Grammy-winning punk band announced new tour dates Monday. The band canceled the rest of its 2012 club schedule and postponed the start of a 2013 arena tour after singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong's substance abuse problems emerged publicly in September when he had a profane meltdown on the stage of the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. The band's rep announced later that ...

NTSB sends investigators to Ore. bus crash site

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) - A federal agency has sent two investigators to the site of an Eastern Oregon tour bus crash that killed nine people.

Attorney: Death Row inmate was improperly shackled

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A federal appeals court is weighing whether to overturn the murder conviction and death sentence of a California inmate whose attorneys say he was improperly shackled during his trial.

Final resting place of Newtown gunman a mystery

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The body of the man who massacred 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school was claimed by his father, a family spokesman said Monday, but the public may never know what happened with the remains.

Kanye West, Kim Kardashian expecting 1st child

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - A kid for Kimye: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are expecting their first child.

Over the fiscal cliff: Soft or hard landing?

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues.

Blasts aimed at Iraqi Shiites, police kill 23

BAGHDAD (AP) - Insurgents launched a wave of attacks across Iraq on Monday, primarily targeting Shiite communities and pilgrims and killing at least 23 people, officials said.

Auction house: We found Titanic violin

LONDON (AP) - The violin played by the bandmaster of the Titanic as the oceanliner sank has been unearthed, a British auction house said Friday.

Kobe getting day of treatment on sprained ankle

Kobe Bryant says Dahntay Jones' dangerous defense left him with a sprained left ankle, and the NBA agreed.

Vatican: anti-clerical campaign against pope

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican lashed out at what it called a "defamatory" and "anti-clerical left-wing" campaign to discredit Pope Francis over his actions during Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta, saying no credible accusation had ever stuck against the new pope.

Obama wants research to wean vehicles off oil

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is pushing Congress to authorize $200 million a year for research into clean energy technologies that can wean automobiles off oil.

GOP Sen. Portman of Ohio now supports gay marriage

CINCINNATI (AP) - Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is now supporting gay marriage and says his reversal on the issue began when he learned one of his sons is gay.

Missing LA-area movie exec now believed murdered

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The 10-month search for a movie executive has gone from a missing persons investigation to a murder investigation, and a convicted drug dealer has been named a person of interest.

Vatican lashes out over accusations

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican is lashing out at "defamatory" and "anti-clerical left-wing" forces seeking to discredit Pope Francis over his actions during Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta.

Westminster council meets on exclusion of gay group from parade

WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) - A Southern California city is reviewing its rules after a gay Vietnamese-American group was excluded from February's annual Tet Parade in Little Saigon.

Journalist charged in hacking case

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal authorities on Thursday charged a journalist with conspiring with the notorious hacking group "Anonymous" to deface a story on the Los Angeles Times' website a little more than two years ago.

LA pays settlement to newspaper carriers injured in Dorner case

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The city has agreed to give $40,000 to two women whose pickup was shot up by a Police Department protection detail that mistook their newspaper delivery vehicle for the truck driven by rogue ex-cop Christopher Dorner during his rampage, officials announced Thursday.

Foreclosure rates falling

LOS ANGELES (AP) - While the nation's foreclosure woes persist, new data show they're easing amid a resurgent housing market, rising home prices and efforts by some states to buy homeowners more time to avoid losing their homes.

Cruise line sends passengers home by air

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) - Passengers from the cruise ship Carnival Dream headed to the airport Thursday instead of sailing home after an on-board generator problem halted their trip in the latest maintenance headache for the world's largest cruise line.

TSA stands by plan to allow small knives on planes

Software glitch delays 660,000 tax refunds

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Internal Revenue Service says 660,000 taxpayers will have their refunds delayed by up to six weeks because of a problem with the software they used to file their tax returns.

Denver Nuggets owner buying Outdoor Network

DENVER (AP) - Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke is adding the Outdoor Network to his sports empire.