Pakistani polio workers get police protection

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Under police guard, thousands of health workers pressed on with a polio immunization program Thursday after nine were killed elsewhere in Pakistan by suspected militants who oppose the vaccination campaign.Immunizations were halted in some parts of Pakistan and the U.N. suspended its field participation everywhere until better security was arranged for its workers. The violence...

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Twitter post offers clue to The Civil Wars' future

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — While there still remain questions about the future of The Civil Wars, there's new music on the way.Joy Williams, one half of the Grammy Award-winning duo with John Paul White, said Thursday during a Twitter chat that she was in the studio listening to new Civil Wars songs.It's a tantalizing clue to the future of the group, which appeared in doubt when a European tour unraveled...

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AP IMPACT: Steroids loom in major-college football

WASHINGTON (AP) — With steroids easy to buy, testing weak and punishments inconsistent, college football players are packing on significant weight — 30 pounds or more in a single year, sometimes — without drawing much attention from their schools or the NCAA in a sport that earns tens of billions of dollars for teams.Rules vary so widely that, on any given game day, a team with a strict no-steroid...

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Snowstorm triggers deadly Iowa pileup

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The first widespread snowstorm of the season crawled across the Midwest on Thursday, with whiteout conditions stranding holiday travelers and sending drivers sliding over slick roads — including into a fatal 25-vehicle pileup in Iowa.The storm, which dumped a foot of snow in parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, was part of a system that began in the Rockies earlier in the week before...

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UN suspends polio drive in Pakistan after killings

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The United Nations suspended its polio vaccination drive in Pakistan on Wednesday after eight people involved in the effort were shot dead in the past two days, a U.N. official said.The suspension was a grave blow to the drive to bring an end to the scourge of polio in Pakistan, one of only three countries where the crippling disease still survives.On Wednesday, gunmen shot...

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Changes in law aim to protect kids’ online data

WASHINGTON (AP) — Aiming to prevent companies from exploiting online information about children under 13, the Obama administration on Wednesday imposed sweeping changes in regulations designed to protect a young generation with easy access to the Internet.Two years in the making, the amended rules to the decade-old Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act go into effect in July. Privacy advocates...

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Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy welcome a baby boy

NEW YORK (AP) — Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy's "Homeland" just got bigger.Danes' rep confirms the couple welcomed a baby boy named Cyrus Michael Christopher.People.com first reported Monday's birth.It's the first child for 33-year old Danes and 37-year-old Dancy. They were married in 2009.There's no word yet whether the new mom will attend the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 13. She's nominated for Best...

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma

WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering...

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Scam artists creep in as families grieve

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The family of Noah Pozner was mourning the 6-year-old, killed in the Newtown school massacre, when outrage compounded their sorrow.Someone they didn't know was soliciting donations in Noah's memory, claiming that they'd send any cards, packages and money collected to his parents and siblings. An official-looking website had been set up, with Noah's name as the address, even including...

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Both SKorean presidential hopefuls promise change

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Koreans bundled in thick mufflers and parkas braved frigid weather Wednesday to choose between the liberal son of North Korean refugees and the conservative daughter of a late dictator. For all their differences, the presidential candidates hold similar views on the need to engage with Pyongyang and other issues.One big reason: Many voters are dissatisfied with current...

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