Hiring surges in January; jobless rate at 8.3 pct. (AP)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:01:54 GMT
AP - In a long-awaited surge of hiring, companies added 243,000 jobs in January — across the economy, up and down the pay scale and far more than just about anyone expected. Unemployment fell to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years.

Syrian activists: 200 dead in government assault (AP)
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:34:15 GMT
AP - In a barrage of mortar shells, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said Saturday.

Komen drops plans to cut Planned Parenthood grants (AP)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:28:15 GMT
AP - For leaders of the nation's pre-eminent breast-cancer charity, it was a firestorm they didn't see coming — and couldn't withstand.

No charges against Armstrong (AP)
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:44:33 GMT
AP - The case against Lance Armstrong is closed. His legacy as a seven-time Tour de France champion endures.

Army orders court-martial in WikiLeaks case (AP)
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:49:47 GMT
AP - An Army officer ordered a court-martial Friday for a low-ranking intelligence analyst charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history.

Hackers intercept FBI, Scotland Yard call (AP)
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:04:57 GMT
AP - Trading jokes and swapping leads, investigators from the FBI and Scotland Yard spent the conference call strategizing about how to bring down the hacking collective known as Anonymous, responsible for a string of embarrassing attacks across the Internet.

Muslims to NY attorney general: Investigate NYPD (AP)
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:30:27 GMT
AP - Thirty-three civil rights groups from around the country complained to the New York attorney general Friday about police documents that showed the New York Police Department recommending increased surveillance of Shiite mosques based on their religion.

Obama pushes for veterans jobs programs (AP)
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:19:59 GMT
AP - In an effort to cut the unemployment rate among veterans, President Barack Obama is calling for a new conservation program that would put veterans to work rebuilding trails, roads and levees on public lands.

Heavy snowstorm hits Colorado on its way east (AP)
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:48:02 GMT
AP - The most powerful storm of the winter season pounded Colorado and parts of neighboring states on Friday, creating whiteout conditions on the eastern plains, cancelling more than 600 flights in Denver and closing hundreds of miles of highway between major Colorado cities and the Kansas border.

INFLUENCE GAME: Big donors and what they want (AP)
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:13:20 GMT
AP - The millionaires, billionaires and companies giving big sums to political committees supporting Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama have important business with the next president. Some are already in trouble with the government. Some are pressing for new laws or regulations that would benefit their interests in energy, mining and high finance.