Launchers turned in to LAPD were from military

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Experts say two rocket launchers turned in during a one-day gun buyback program in Los Angeles appear to be antitank weapons from the military.

Light snow expected on some Bay Area mountains

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Thunderstorms, lightning, snow, massive waves and generally odd weather were all being reported across California as yet another storm moved through the region during the last weekend of the year.

Road trip on tap for NASA's Mars rover in new year

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Since captivating the world with its acrobatic landing, the Mars rover Curiosity has fallen into a rhythm: Drive, snap pictures, zap at boulders, scoop up dirt. Repeat.

21 missing Pakistani policemen found shot dead

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Twenty-one tribal policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban were found shot dead in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region early Sunday, government officials said.

Ex-President Bush's condition improves

HOUSTON (AP) - Former President George H.W. Bush's condition continued to improve Saturday, prompting doctors to move him out of intensive care, a spokesman said.

Over the fiscal cliff: Soft or hard landing?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three days out from the end of the year, lawmakers appeared to have made little progress toward devising a compromise to keep the nation from going over the so-called fiscal cliff at the start of 2013. All eyes were on the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate, who vowed to keep chipping away despite the wide gulf still separating them.

All eyes on them, Senate leaders seek fiscal deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate leaders rushed to assemble a last-ditch agreement to avoid middle-class tax increases and possibly delay steep spending cuts in an urgent attempt to find common ground after weeks of postelection gridlock.

New Calif. law eases sperm donor testing rules

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California women who want to get pregnant using sperm from a donor they know should find the process easier and less expensive next year, thanks to a new state law scheduled to take effect on Jan 1.

4 dead in Moscow airliner crash

MOSCOW (AP) - A passenger airliner careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport and partly onto a highway while landing on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing at least four people.

Maine same-sex couples marry in first hours of law

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Arriving in a limo, Donna Galluzzo and Lisa Gorney had all the trappings of a traditional wedding: Rings, flowers, wedding vows, an entourage and a friend to officiate.

2 dead after being swept into SF Bay by wave

SAUSALITO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a man and a juvenile fishing near the Golden Gate Bridge died after being swept into the ocean by large waves.

2012: A year of turbulence and altered landscapes

It was a year of storms, of raging winds and rising waters, but also broader turbulence that strained our moorings. Our atmosphere, our politics, our economy - rarely in memory have they seemed in such constant agitation.

A surprisingly good vintage as market logs gains

NEW YORK (AP) - If you'd told investors what was going to happen in 2012 - U.S. economic growth at stall speed, an intensifying European debt crisis, a slowdown in China, fiscal deadlock in Washington, decelerating corporate earnings growth - and asked how the stock market would perform, few would have predicted a good year.

Mayor: Keep 2 NY subway push deaths in perspective

NEW YORK (AP) - For New York City, it wasn't an unusual sight: a possibly mentally ill woman pacing and mumbling to herself on an elevated subway station platform.

FBI removes many redactions in Monroe file

LOS ANGELES (AP) - FBI files on Marilyn Monroe that could not be located earlier this year have been found and re-issued, revealing the names of some of the movie star's communist-leaning friends who drew concern from government officials and her own entourage.

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.