LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' pay will double to $4 million next year, after he took a pay cut due to management missteps this year.
Hastings' annual salary will rise to $2 million in 2013 and he will get $2 million in stock options, according to a securities filing Friday.
That's up from a salary of $500,000 and $1.5 million in stock options for 2012.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's state TV is reporting the country's navy has begun maneuvers in the area of the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world's oil passes.
It says the maneuvers began early Friday, involving warships, submarines jet fighters and hovercrafts.
The drills come as the West increases its pressure over Iran's nuclear program. The West suspects it may be aimed at producing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Patrick Dempsey says he wants to rescue a coffee house chain and more than 500 jobs.
The "Grey's Anatomy" star said Wednesday he's leading a group attempting to buy Tully's Coffee. The Seattle-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.
Dempsey said he's excited about the chance to help hundreds of workers and give back to Seattle.
The actor has a strong TV tie to the city: He plays Dr. Derek Shepherd on "Grey's Anatomy," the ABC drama set at fictional Seattle Grace Hospital.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- For years, Republicans have adhered fiercely to their bedrock conservative principles, resisting Democratic calls for tax hikes, comprehensive immigration reform and gun control. Now, seven weeks after an electoral drubbing, some party leaders and rank-and-file alike are signaling a willingness to bend on all three issues.
What long has been a nonstarter for Republicans - raising tax rates on wealthy Americans - is now backed by GOP House Speaker John Boehner in his negotiations with President Barack Obama to avert a potential fiscal crisis. Party luminaries, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have started calling for a wholesale shift in the GOP's approach to immigration after Hispanic voters shunned Republican candidates. And some Republicans who previously championed gun rights now are opening the door to restrictions following a schoolhouse shooting spree earlier this month.
Barack Obama cuts short holiday to tackle budget crisis as country faces breaching its $16.4tn debt limit
US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner warned on Wednesday he would have to take "extraordinary measures" to avoid a default on the US's legal obligations as the country is set to breach its $16.4tn (£10.16tn) debt limit.
In a letter to Congress, Geithner said the debt ceiling would be reached on 31 December and that the Treasury could raise $200bn (£124bn) to fund government spending as a stopgap measure. But he warned that the current impasse over the fiscal cliff budget crisis meant it was uncertain how long that money would last.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Three Atlanta-area counties have filed a lawsuit claiming that British bank HSBC cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in extra expenses and damage to their tax bases by aggressively signing minorities to housing loans that were likely to fail.
The Georgia counties' failure or success with the relatively novel strategy could help determine whether other local governments try to hold big banks accountable for losses in tax revenue based on what they claim are discriminatory or predatory lending practices. Similar lawsuits resulted in settlements this year worth millions of dollars for communities in Maryland and Tennessee.
Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb counties say in their lawsuit, which was filed in October, that the housing foreclosure crisis was the "foreseeable and inevitable result" of big banks, such as HSBC and its American subsidiaries, aggressively pushing irresponsible loans or loans that were destined to fail. The counties say that crisis has caused them tremendous damage.
President Mohamed Morsi wins support for measure amid growing fears for Egyptian economy
Egypt's electoral commission announced on Tuesday that voters had approved overwhelmingly the constitution drafted by President Mohamed Morsi's Islamist allies.
Final figures from the elections commission showed the constitution was backed by 63.8% of voters, giving Islamists their third straight victory at the polls since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 revolution. The yes vote, on an official turnout of 32.9%, paves the way for a parliamentary election in about two months' time.
Morsi's leftist, liberal, secularist and Christian opponents had taken to the streets to protest, saying the new constitution would dangerously mix politics and religion, but the president insists it offers sufficient protection for minorities and is necessary to end two years of turmoil and political uncertainty that has wrecked the economy. Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term credit rating on Monday.
• Swansea defender hit Manchester United striker with ball
• Sir Alex Ferguson said Dutchman could have been killed
The Football Association will not take action against the Swansea City defender Ashley Williams for kicking a ball at the head of Manchester United's Robin van Persie.
United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, called on the FA to ban Williams for a long time, claiming Van Persie "could have been killed" by the incident.
But the governing body will not instigate disciplinary procedures against the Wales international, who denied malicious intent. Van Persie was struck on the back of the head from close range while lying on the ground after being fouled but was able to continue without treatment. Williams was booked at the time by the referee, Michael Oliver.
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about Monday:
1. `WE CAN'T LOSE CHRISTMAS TOO'
The community of Newtown, Conn., nurtures its holiday spirit in the face of overwhelming tragedy.
2. WHAT THE NRA THINKS ABOUT FIREARMS RESTRICTIONS
The gun-rights group argues that not a single new gun regulation would make children safer.
3. WHO MIGHT GET THE BLAME IF US GOES OFF `FISCAL CLIFF'
"If we allow that to happen it will be the most colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time," Sen. Joe Lieberman says.
One year after putting together the NFL's worst record, the Indianapolis Colts are headed to the playoffs.
Joining them on Sunday were the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Colts (10-5) equaled the 2008 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to win at least 10 games after losing 14 or more the previous season. Top overall draft pick Andrew Luck completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne late in the fourth quarter for a 20-13 victory at Kansas City.
Cincinnati qualified for a second straight postseason berth for only the second time in franchise history, edging archrival Pittsburgh 13-10. The Bengals have never gone to the playoffs in successive years that did not involve a strike-shortened season.
Number of overcrowded homes doubles in a decade with families in West Midlands and London worst hit, says charity
More than one in four households in some parts of the UK are officially overcrowded – with 400,000 more families being classified as cramped since 2010, according to an analysis of the latest census data.
Shelter, the homeless charity, found that 1.06m households in England – almost 5% of the population – were classed as overcrowded, with the West Midlands and London accounting for almost half of families living in congested conditions.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- They say cats have nine lives. Now a Chinese toad has joined that club of wily survivors.
South Africans are marveling at the endurance of a toad that got trapped in a cargo shipment from China to Cape Town after jumping into a porcelain candlestick that was made there. South African officials reportedly planned to put down the creature, fearing it would cause harm as an invasive species if it were let go in the wild.
But the toad got a last-minute reprieve. Mango Airlines, a South African airline, transported the toad on Friday to Johannesburg for delivery to an animal sanctuary after officials decided to find a way to let the globe-trotting toad live. The two-hour flight was a breeze compared to the trip from China, an odyssey of many weeks and thousands of kilometers (miles) across the Indian Ocean.
Capture of an Austrian man and Finnish couple highlight security dangers in capital city of the strife-torn country
The kidnap of three foreigners in broad daylight, in one of the busiest and most secure streets in Sana'a, is a sign of the growing lawlessness in Yemen's capital.
An Austrian man and a Finnish couple became on Friday the latest victims of abductions in the strife-torn country. Witnesses said the three were taken by masked gunmen as they made their way to a tailor's shop in central Tahrir Square at about 4pm, during the busy afternoon shopping period.
Mohammed Abdullah, who sells nuts and dried fruit from a small cart on the street, said that four armed men, their faces covered with scarves, jumped on the group of foreigners as they walked along the busy thoroughfare.
WHITE HOUSE — President Barack Obama has told U.S. congressional leaders to work out a stopgap deal that would prevent the U.S. economy from falling off the fiscal cliff of expiring tax cuts and mandatory government spending cuts.
Obama's appearance before reporters late Friday came amid sharply increased pessimism that a deal can be achieved, and after most members of Congress had left town for their Christmas break.
On Thursday, The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, decided to bring an alternative tax plan to a vote in the House.
But he failed to gain enough Republican support for his proposal to raise tax rates on annual incomes above $1 million and was forced to withdraw the bill, a humiliating defeat.
CAPITOL HILL — U.S. lawmakers are heading home for the Christmas holidays without any agreement or even a clear path forward on a way to avoid a combination of massive tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff. The entire process came to a standstill late Thursday, when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, was unable to muster enough votes in his own Republican caucus for a bill that would only have raised taxes on incomes of $1 million a year.
After suffering what most analysts viewed as a humiliating setback to his leadership Thursday, House Speaker Boehner sought to push responsibility onto the president and the Senate, even though the House of Representatives would also have to vote to approve any compromise agreement on taxes and spending.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Argentina's cash-strapped state energy company signed a partnership deal Wednesday with Chevron Corp. for a "massive development" of the South American country's vast nonconventional oil and gas resources.
YPF President Miguel Galuccio and Chevron's Latin America and Africa chief, Ali Moshiri, signed a letter of intent to start on a shale pilot project by drilling more than 100 wells within 12 months in the Vaca Muerta area of Patagonia. YPF hopes the effort will help it boost production to meet Argentina's growing energy demands.
The companies said the pilot project will cost a shared $1 billion, while it could take more than $15 billion for full development of the Vaca Muerta ("Dead Cow") formation that was discovered in Neuquen province in 2010.
SEOUL — In her initial appearance during her first day as president-elect, Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri (New Frontier) Party went to South Korea's national cemetery to pay tribute to three deceased presidents, including her father.
She burned incense at her parents' tomb. The moment marked a poignant transition for the 60-year-old democratically-elected president, finally stepping out of the shadow cast by her dictator father's legacy.
Park Chung-hee's long grip on power, that had begun with a military coup in 1961, ended in 1979 when he was murdered by his intelligence chief.
The president-elect also lost her mother in 1974 to an assassin's bullet. It was fired by a North Korean-backed agent.
WASHINGTON — Michelangelo is known worldwide as the great Italian Renaissance sculptor. Now, one of his more intriguing works is on loan to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, which has no other Michelangelo in its collection.
The white marble sculpture is graceful with curves. One knee is bent and the torso is twisted into what the Italians call “serpentinata” or Serpentine. Michelangelo’s mastery of sculpture makes the pose looks natural, fluid and easy. But that is not the case when gallery visitors try to mimic it.
Like many Michelangelos the sculpture appears unfinished. Andrew Cary was mesmerized by the chisel marks.
LONDON (AP) -- The last missing member of an NBC team that was kidnapped in Syria has been freed and is safely in Turkey, NBC News executives said Wednesday.
Ian Rivers was part of the NBC team led by the network's chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel. They were kidnapped in Syria on Thursday, and Engel and several other members escaped unharmed on Monday.
"We're thrilled that he found his way to safety," said NBC News communications director Erika Masonhall.
In a brief amateur video made before he left Syria, Rivers said he and the others had been "blindfolded, handcuffed and roughed up a little bit" while being held by pro-regime militia groups.
He said he ended up getting released on his own "in the confusion of some type of handover."
NBC said in a statement that Rivers got separated from the other journalists as the other men escaped from captivity during a firefight between their captors and Syrian rebels.
British family of US school shooting victim Dylan Hockley, six, say they took comfort from knowing son died in the arms of teaching assistant
The British family of six-year-old Dylan Hockley, who was one of 20 children shot dead in a school shooting in Connecticut on Friday, have spoken of their gratitude for an outpouring of support from around the world.
In a moving statement Ian and Nicole Hockley, who moved to the US last year with their son Dylan and her older brother Jake, said they had been humbled by the overwhelming support from their "beautiful community" and around the world.
• Player aggrieved at £340,000 fine for missing games
• 22-year old says club breached established guidelines
Mario Balotelli's strained relationship with Manchester City will be paraded before a Premier League tribunal in London on Wednesday when the champions will insist he was guilty of unacceptable behaviour last season and in breach of contract.
The Italy international may appear before the independent two-man panel as he continues to fight his employers over the £340,000 fine imposed last season. City last month rejected the striker's appeal against the penalty of two week's wages for missing more than one-fifth of their matches during their title-winning campaign through suspension.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A Facebook page purportedly created by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attracted nearly 10,000 followers on Tuesday although the site's content and style raise serious questions about its authenticity.
Iranian authorities had no immediate comment on the site, which apparently went online last week but only recently gained prominence among social media watchers. Despite the possibility that it is a hoax, the page has generated at least 170 comments - laudatory and derogatory, and nearly all in Farsi - that highlight the deep political divisions in Iran and possibly opposition fervor from expatriate Iranians.
More than a quarter of U.S. workers say their workplaces will close down during the holidays and even if they don't, employees are likely to take time off, according to a nationwide survey released on Monday.
The Working the Holiday poll commissioned by the Workforce Institute, a think tank established by the management solution company Kronos Inc, found more employees planning to take Christmas Eve and/or New Year's Eve off - 26 percent, compared with 18 percent in a similar study conducted in 2007.
Blue Boar inn rises again in model and digital form, recreated from detailed drawings found in Leicester family's archives
The medieval inn in Leicester where King Richard III slept before riding out to meet his fate at the battle of Bosworth has been recreated by the team of archaeologists and academics who dug up a local car park this summer searching for his bones.
News of their discovery of the remains of a man with a twisted spine and a gaping war wound, in the foundations of a long demolished abbey, created ripples of excitement around the world. Results of the scientific tests on the remains have not been announced, though there have been rumours that they proved inconclusive. Although DNA has been extracted from far older bones, the success of the technique depends on the quality of their preservation.
Constable from specialist Met police unit held after force received information on alleged leaking of information
An officer from Scotland Yard's diplomatic protection group, SO6, has been arrested in connection with the alleged leaking of information to the press about an incident at Downing Street in which Andrew Mitchell, the then chief whip, is said to have called officers "plebs".
The constable from the specialist Metropolitan police unit, which guards embassies as well as members of the government, was bailed on Sunday after his arrest the day before and has been suspended from duty.
The Met said in a statement on Sunday night that its directorate of professional standards (DPS) arrested him on suspicion of misconduct in a public office after the force received fresh information on Thursday regarding the alleged unauthorised disclosure of information.
HAVANA (AP) -- Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro has been nominated for a seat in the country's parliament, authorities said Sunday.
The afternoon TV news announced "the leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz heads the list of 25 candidates to the Cuban parliament from the municipality of Santiago de Cuba, approved by the delegates of this state body."
Castro was also named as a delegate in 2008, when he officially retired as president. It's unclear whether he has played an active role in legislative duties in the years since.
The current session of parliament held its last gathering last week and is due to reconvene with new membership in February following elections. It's expected to rename to the presidency Castro's younger brother Raul, who was also nominated as a representative of the municipality of Segundo Frente.
• Former Coventry and Birmingham striker seriously hurt
• Peter Ndlovu involved in car crash in Zimbabwe
The former Sheffield United, Coventry City and Birmingham City forward Peter Ndlovu has been critically injured in a car accident in his native Zimbabwe.
Sheffield United confirmed the news in a statement on their official Twitter feed, which read: "Our thoughts are with former player Peter Ndlovu, who has been critically injured in a car accident in his native Zimbabwe."
Ndlovu moved to England in the summer of 1991 to join Coventry. He made 196 appearances in all competitions for the Sky Blues, scoring 43 goals.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- All Butler guard Alex Barlow saw Saturday was space and an opportunity to make a play.
So the unlikeliest player on the floor took a chance and made the biggest shot of the game.
When Indiana's defenders failed to converge on the 5-foot-11 walk-on, Barlow kept right on going through the lane, drove to the basket and hit a spinning 6-foot jumper with 2.4 seconds left in overtime Saturday to give the Bulldogs another stunning upset - 88-86 over No. 1 Indiana in the Crossroads Classic.
"The floater is a shot I work on a lot and I happened to get a lucky bounce," Barlow said. "It was a good feeling."
Luckily for the Bulldogs (8-2), Barlow was on the floor.
The kid who spurned college scholarship offers to play his best sport, baseball, and opted to come to Butler for only one reason - to learn how to coach basketball from Brad Stevens - showed everyone he can hoop it up, too.
Barack Obama calls for end to gun violence after shooting which claimed lives of 20 children and six adults
America was reeling on Saturday from one of the worst school shootings in its history as fresh details emerged about a massacre that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults.
The shock of the tragedy that befell Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, has fuelled fresh national soul-searching about the role guns play in American life and prompted strong calls for greater controls.
In his weekly radio address on Saturday morning, President Barack Obama said that the US needed to take steps to curb the plague of gun violence after a year marked by mass shootings in Oregon, Colorado, Wisconsin and elsewhere.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. commanders are offering glowing reviews of their 2012 war campaign, upbeat assessments that could be interpreted as leeway for President Barack Obama to order another round of troop withdrawals next summer.
Obama faces a tension between calls by Democrats and even some Republicans to wind down the war more quickly and the military's desire to avoid a too-fast pullout that might squander hard-won sacrifices.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has not yet recommended to Obama a specific pace of withdrawals for 2013. But during the Pentagon chief's two-day visit to the war zone this past week, commanders suggested that things are going better than is generally believed by an American public weary of war after 11 years.
U.S. President Barack Obama is signing legislation Friday that normalizes trade relations with Russia, while imposing sanctions on Russian officials accused of violating human rights.
The U.S. Senate passed the bill last week, about three weeks after it cleared the House of Representatives. The bill combines two separate measures into one. The first part lifts trade restrictions on Russia dating back to the Cold War era. It also normalizes trade with Moldova. The second part denies visas and freezes the U.S. bank assets of suspected Russian rights violators.
The bill is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian anti-corruption lawyer who died in jail in 2009 after exposing what he called a criminal ring of officials who stole $250 million in tax money. The legislation is designed to target Russian officials involved in Magnitsky's detention, abuse or death.
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Christmas season kicked off Friday at the Vatican with the traditional lighting of the tree in St. Peter's Square - and a reminder from the pope about what happened when the "lights" of God were turned off in past atheistic regimes.
Benedict XVI, 85, occasionally refers to his experiences as a devout young Catholic in Nazi Germany in pressing his case for Europe to recover its Christian heritage and reassert its faith in everyday life.
In comments to a delegation from Italy's south-central Molise region, which donated the Vatican's main Christmas tree this year, Benedict said the tree lights that were being turned on at a ceremony early Friday evening represented "divine light."
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli security guards at the Western Wall on Friday searched women worshippers arriving at the holiest place where Jews can pray for a seemingly inoffensive object - the Jewish prayer shawl, which under the Orthodox tradition can be worn only by men.
Once the shawls were found, dozens of women had to deposit them before proceeding to pray in the section reserved for women. A few, who managed to sneak the shawls in under their coats and wrapped them around their shoulders, were promptly evicted or detained.
Similar scenes have played out almost a dozen times every year since the group known as Women of the Wall was first established nearly 25 years ago.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- European Central Bank officials say there is "no room for complacency" even though stresses from the debt crisis have eased on banks and financial markets.
The central bank for the 333 million people in the 17-country eurozone on Friday warned that failure by governments to reduce deficits and improve growth risked worsening the situation again.
And European leaders need to press on with building new rules and institutions to safeguard the euro, the bank added in its twice-yearly financial stability report.
"Key financial stability risks remain and there is no room for complacency," the bank said.
Europe is struggling with high levels of government debt in some countries, financially weak banks, and sluggish economic growth. Greece, Ireland and Portugal have needed government rescue loans, although Spain and Italy are now breathing easier after struggling to finance themselves over the summer.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- Members of the ruling party met behind closed doors, bartering all night for votes to depose four Supreme Court justices who had rejected the president's plan to weed out corrupt police. Ominously, soldiers and police surrounded the National Congress.
As the hours ticked by, representatives inside puffed on cigarettes in violation of their own anti-smoking laws and jokingly accused each other of vote-buying. Then shortly before dawn Wednesday, President Porfirio Lobo's National Party overwhelmingly and, many say illegally, approved the judges' dismissal.
That was a risky move.
"We don't know when we leave after the vote if there will be prosecutors waiting to detain us," admitted Sergio Castellanos of the Democratic Unification party, who voted with the majority. "Here you have to be ready for anything."
PARIS (AP) -- France's competition watchdog has slapped (EURO)183 million ($239 million) in fines on the country's two top mobile operators for anti-competitive pricing policies between 2005 and 2008.
The Autorite de Concurrence said Thursday that Orange and SFR had abused their dominant market positions and hurt the country's number three operator, Bouygues Telecom. Specifically the watchdog cited the policy of offering unlimited calls between subscribers of one network, which it said threw up an unjustified barrier to free competition among operators.
CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. (AP) -- Worlds away from the Shire, a stone cottage tucked into the Pennsylvania countryside would make Bilbo Baggins feel like he was back home with his Hobbit friends in Middle-earth.
Nestled in a part of Chester County dotted with picturesque barns and rolling fields surprisingly close to Philadelphia, this Hobbit house belongs to a lifelong fan of author J.R.R. Tolkien who wanted a worthy - and private - repository for the rare books and Tolkien-inspired memorabilia he has collected in 30 years of travel in the U.S. and abroad.
The 600-square foot building is a short walk from his main house, on a flat stone path and through an English-style garden.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Mo Williams' 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted the Utah Jazz to a 99-96 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night, snapping the Spurs' five-game winning streak.
Paul Millsap led Utah with 24 points and 12 rebounds, Al Jefferson scored 21 points and Gordon Hayward added 19.
The Jazz trailed by eight with a little more than 4 minutes remaining but fought back. Williams' winning shot was his only 3 of the night and he finished with eight points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Taylor Heinicke passed his way through the record books on his way to becoming an All-American.
Heinicke, the record-setting quarterback from Old Dominion, and fellow Payton Award finalists Eric Breitenstein from Wofford and Miguel Maysonet from Stony Brook were selected to The Associated Press FCS All-America team released Wednesday.
Heinicke had the most prolific passing season in the history of what used to be called Division I-AA. The sophomore from Atlanta passed for 5,076 yards, breaking the record set by the late Steve McNair when he was at Alcorn State in 1994. Heinicke finished with 5,546 yards of total offense, second only to McNair's 5,799.
"What Taylor did this year from an individual standpoint is nothing short of incredible," ODU coach Bobby Wilder said Wednesday.
CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's political crisis is threatening to plunge its ailing economy even deeper into distress after the government delayed a request for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund that would have eased a ballooning budget deficit and reassured foreign investors.
Fear of stoking the street unrest over a disputed Islamist-oriented constitution led President Mohammed Morsi to suspend a package of tax hikes that were key to reducing that deficit - and his government may now have to renegotiate the loan deal that took more than a year to hammer out.
While the government said it wants to delay the request for only a month, the IMF the mentioned no timeframe in its statement on Tuesday, saying only that it stands ready to "consult with the authorities on the resumption of discussions."
DAKAR, SENEGAL — Mali's interim president has appointed a new prime minister. The move comes less than 24 hours after the former interim prime minister resigned following his arrest by soldiers loyal to the military junta that overthrew the elected government in March.
Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, said Tuesday night on state television that he had accepted the resignation of now former prime minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra, but made no direct mention of his arrest.
Traore said he had received the formal resignation in writing and accepted it. He thanked Diarra for his service and said Mali would know its new prime minister within 24 hours and have a new government by the end of the week.
Despite concrete barricades and a heavy military presence in the Egyptian capital Cairo, opposition leaders say they will keep up the pressure on the president to cancel Saturday's constitutional referendum.
The opposition National Salvation Front, led by liberals including Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa, have called on their supporters to march on the presidential palace in Cairo on Tuesday.
In a statement late Sunday, a National Salvation Front spokesman said the draft constitution does not properly represent the Egyptian people. He said going ahead with a referendum on the document will lead to more confrontation in the country.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's plan to increase taxes on top earners would have only a small impact on the nation's economy, according to congressional budget experts. But don't tell that to small business owners facing a tax hike.
Obama's proposal would hit about 940,000 people who report business income on their individual or household returns, says the Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress. That's only 3.5 percent of the people who report business income, but those business owners are projected to earn 53 percent of the $1.3 trillion in business income that will be reported on individual returns next year.
That, Republicans in Congress argue, makes those business owners an important engine for economic growth and job creation.
Sunday's rescue of an American doctor officials say was kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taliban cost a U.S. service member his life.
A NATO spokesman on Monday discussed the rescue of Dr. Dilip Joseph from what he described as kidnappers "heavily armed" with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
"The operation took part in eastern Afghanistan and very sadly one of the soldiers who was taking part in the rescue operations died, and our thoughts and condolences go to the families and to the friends of this individual," said Brigadier General Gunter Katz.
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- European leaders are in Norway to collect the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to the European Union for fostering peace on a continent ravaged by war.
Nobel committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland will present the prize, worth $1.2 million, at a ceremony in Oslo City Hall later Monday. Some 20 European government leaders are to attend the ceremonies and an evening banquet.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just six blocks from the White House, the FBI's hulking headquarters overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue has long been the government building everyone loves to hate. The verdict: It's an ugly, crumbling concrete behemoth, an architectural mishap - all 2.4 million square feet of it.
But in this time of tight budgets, massive deficits and the "fiscal cliff," the 38-year-old FBI headquarters building has one big thing in its favor.
It sits atop very valuable real estate, an entire city block on America's Main Street, midway between the U.S. Capitol and the White House. Just how valuable? The General Services Administration intends to find out.
NEW YORK (AP) -- It sure didn't feel like a farewell.
The Rolling Stones - average age 68-plus, if you're counting - were in rollicking form as they rocked the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for 2 1/2 hours Saturday night, their first U.S. show on a mini-tour marking a mind-boggling 50 years as a rock band.
And although every time the Stones tour, the inevitable questions arise, - whether it's "The Last Time," to quote one of their songs - there was no sign that anything is ending anytime soon.
"People say, why do you keep doing this?" mused 69-year-old Mick Jagger, the band's impossibly energetic frontman, before launching into "Brown Sugar." "Why do you keep touring, coming back? The answer is, you're the reason we're doing this. Thank you for buying our records and coming to our shows for the last 50 years."
A leading eco-entrepreneur who took the Rolling Stones on a carbon neutral tour wants people around the world to lend their voices to save the planet.
Dan Morrell is co-founder of the CarbonNeutral company, which encourages governments, industries and individuals to offset their carbon emissions with environmentally beneficial, carbon-reducing actions.
Now Morrell has created a charitable organization called CHANT. It’s working to protect the environment by inviting you, and everyone else, into a kind of virtual global choir.
A new public opinion poll gives U.S. President Barack Obama his highest approval rating since the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden in May of 2011.
The poll, released Friday, says Obama's approval rating stands at 57 percent. A similar survey conducted shortly before last month's presidential election put the president's approval rating at 52 percent.
The survey results on Obama's overall performance were mixed. When asked what kind of president did they think Obama had been so far, 37 percent of respondents said outstanding or above average, while 36 percent said below average or poor.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Ben McLemore scored 24 points, Kevin Young added 16 points and eight rebounds and ninth-ranked Kansas rolled to a 90-54 victory over former Big 12 member Colorado on Saturday.
Elijah Johnson hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points, and Travis Releford added 10 points and six assists for the Jayhawks (7-1), who have won seven straight since losing to Michigan State early in the year.
Kansas used an 18-3 run in the opening minutes to silence a small but vocal section of Colorado fans, pushed the advantage to more than 20 by halftime and kept building on it throughout the second half. The lead surpassed 30 with 17 minutes left and reached the 40-point mark with about 8 minutes to go.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. military has detained more than 200 Afghan teenagers who were captured in the war for about a year at a time at a military prison next to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the United States has told the United Nations.
The U.S. State Department characterized the detainees held since 2008 as "enemy combatants" in a report sent every four years to the United Nations in Geneva updating U.S. compliance with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The U.S. military had held them "to prevent a combatant from returning to the battlefield," the report said.
A few are still confined at the Detention Facility in Parwan, which will be turned over to the Afghan government, it said. "Many of them have been released or transferred to the Afghan government," said the report, distributed this week.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- No snow boots needed in Milwaukee. Chicago commuters aren't dodging knee-deep snow drifts frozen along city sidewalks. And children in Des Moines are settling for ice shavings dumped from a Zamboni.
Many cities in the Midwest haven't seen any decent snow this season - and some are even setting records for the number of days without it, in part because last winter was so mild and any precipitation that does fall gets soaked into the drought-parched land.
On Thursday, Des Moines matched a record set in 1889 when it hit its 277th consecutive day without measurable snowfall, according to the National Weather Service. Iowa's capital city is expecting clear skies Friday.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- For generations, Michigan was the ultimate labor stronghold - a state built by factory workers for whom a high school diploma and a union card were the ticket to a middle-class life.
Yet it took only hours for Republicans to tear down a key part of that tradition, the requirement that all employees in a union workplace pay dues.
The swift action was the result of a decisive governor who teamed up with a supermajority of GOP allies in the statehouse to win a prize long sought by conservatives. It also provided a window into how state governments might work in an era when they are increasingly run by a single party.
Gov. Rick Snyder, a venture capitalist and corporate executive before his successful run for governor in 2010, didn't bother with political niceties this week after dropping his previous objection to dealing with the right-to-work issue. He announced his support Thursday at a news conference.
BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's Cabinet on Thursday approved sending German Patriot air defense missiles to Turkey to protect the NATO member against possible attacks from Syria, in a major step toward a possible Western military role in the Syrian conflict.
Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters that two batteries with a total of 400 soldiers would be sent to the border area under NATO command for one year, although the deployment could be shortened.
The decision must be endorsed by the German Parliament, which is expected to take the matter up between Dec. 12 and 14, but approval is all but assured.
BANGKOK (AP) -- Investigators say they plan to file murder charges against Thailand's former prime minister and his deputy in the first prosecutions of officials for their roles in a deadly 2010 crackdown on anti-government protests.
The protests and crackdown left more than 90 people dead and about 1,800 injured in Thailand's worst political violence in decades. Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrat Party, now in the opposition after being ousted in elections last year, and "red shirt" supporters of the ruling Pheu Thai Party have blamed each other for the bloodshed since.
Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Phengdit said Thursday that investigators found Abhisit possibly culpable in the death of a taxi driver because he allowed troops to use war weapons and live ammunition against protesters.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Heads bowed, somber past and present Kansas City Chiefs players turned out Wednesday for a memorial service for teammate Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend and then himself over the weekend.
Belcher fatally shot 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins on Saturday at the Kansas City home they shared with their 3-month-old daughter, Zoey. He then drove to the Chiefs practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium, where coach Romeo Crennel, general manager Scott Pioli and defensive assistant Gary Gibbs witnessed Belcher commit suicide.
The team moved up its practice schedule so that players could attend Wednesday afternoon's service at the nearby Landmark International Deliverance and Worship Center, where Belcher and Perkins worshipped. The media wasn't allowed inside.
Games can be both a welcome and an annoying diversion on Facebook, the world's most popular online social network. This year, Facebook crossed a big milestone - reaching 1 billion active users. Game companies such as "FarmVille" creator Zynga Inc. and Rovio Entertainment Ltd. of "Angry Birds" fame seek to tap into that vast base of users to gain more players for their games.
This week, Facebook Inc. issued a list of the 25 top-rated games that launched on Facebook in 2012. The company says the rankings are based on user ratings and engagement with the games. It's the same methodology that Facebook uses to rank apps in its App Center.
LONDON (AP) -- Two Australian radio disc jockeys apologized Wednesday after impersonating Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles in a prank call and getting a London hospital to tell them all about Kate Middleton's condition.
The King Edward VII hospital in London acknowledged that the Australian radio station made the hoax call to the hospital in the early hours Tuesday - and that the hospital fell for it.
The 30-year-old Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant and is being treated at the hospital for severe morning sickness.
A woman using the often-mimicked voice of Britain's monarch asked after the duchess' health - and was told by a nurse that Kate "hasn't had any retching with me and she's been sleeping on and off."
HOUSTON (AP) -- Jack Brooks hounded government bureaucrats, drafted President Richard Nixon's articles of impeachment and supported civil rights bills in a congressional career spanning 42 years. But for most of the country the Southeast Texas politician is frozen in a photograph, standing over the left shoulder of Jacqueline Kennedy as Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president.
Brooks, who died Tuesday at age 89, was in the Dallas motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Hours later he stood behind the grief-stricken widow in the cabin of Air Force One as Johnson took the oath of office.
NEW YORK (AP) -- An NFL version of No. 1 vs. No. 2 is set for Monday night when the Houston Texans visit the New England Patriots.
The Texans remained first in the AP Pro32 power rankings Tuesday, while the Patriots inched up two spots into a second-place tie with the Atlanta Falcons.
Houston received eight first-place votes and 376 points in balloting by The Associated Press' panel of 12 media members who regularly cover the league. The Texans (11-1) are first for the fourth straight week.
New England (9-3) and Atlanta (11-1) each had 364 points; the Patriots received three first-place votes, the Falcons one.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Internet radio company Pandora Media Inc. said Tuesday that its third-quarter net profit more than tripled to $2 million as revenue rose slightly faster than costs. But it predicted a loss in the fourth quarter, a bad surprise for investors who sent shares tumbling.
CEO Joe Kennedy said in an interview that worries about the federal tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1 unless Congress acts -the so-called "fiscal cliff"- are affecting the advertising revenue outlook. That is especially true for January, when any tax increases could take effect. Pandora's fourth quarter ends at the end of January.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The latest round of appeal hearings in the NFL's bounty investigation concluded Monday evening following witness appearances by former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress, Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt and linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
Now Vilma, Saints defensive end Will Smith and two other players await a ruling by former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue on whether player suspensions should be reduced. If they don't like how that turns out, they could still get relief from a federal judge in New Orleans who has been presiding over lawsuits challenging the way the league has handled the probe and resulting discipline.
Vilma sounded hopeful that Tagliabue, who has been appointed to oversee the players' latest appeals to the NFL, would bring the process to a fair resolution.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks closed little changed Tuesday on Wall Street as budget talks continued in Washington.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 13.82 points at 12,951.78 after trading in a narrow range of just 82 points. The Standard and Poor's 500 was down 2.41 points to 1,407.05. The Nasdaq composite was down 5.51 at 2,996.69.
Investors are waiting on developments from Washington in the budget talks, which are aimed at avoiding the "fiscal cliff." That refers to a series of sharp government spending cuts and tax increases that begin to kick in Jan. 1 and could eventually cause a recession.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that a proposal by House Speaker John Boehner on Monday was "still out of balance." Obama, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, insisted on higher taxes for wealthy Americans.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's a decision President Barack Obama put off during the 2012 campaign, but now that he's won a second term, his next move on a proposed oil pipeline between the U.S. and Canada may signal how he will deal with climate and energy issues in the four years ahead.
Obama is facing increasing pressure to determine the fate of the $7 billion Keystone XL project, with environmental activists and oil producers each holding out hope that the president, freed from the political constraints of re-election, will side with them on this and countless other related issues down the road.
On its surface, it's a choice between the promise of jobs and economic growth and environmental concerns. But it's also become a proxy for a broader fight over American energy consumption and climate change, amplified by Superstorm Sandy and the conclusion of an election that was all about the economy.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A month after Sandy's floodwaters swept up his block, punched a hole in his foundation and drowned his furnace, John Frawley still has no electricity or heat in his dilapidated home on the Rockaway seashore.
The 57-year-old, who also lost his car and all his winter clothes in the flood, now spends his nights shivering in a pair of donated snow pants, worrying whether the cold might make his chronic heart condition worse.
"I've been coughing like crazy," said Frawley, a former commercial fisherman disabled by a spine injury. He said his family doesn't have the money to pay for even basic repairs. So far, he has avoided going to a shelter, saying he'd rather sleep in his own home.
"But I'm telling you, I can't stay here much longer," he said.