Afghans set presidential poll date; Taliban jeer

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghans will elect a new president in the spring of 2014 in a ballot considered crucial for their country's stability and security after more than 11 years of war.Afghan politicians and the country's foreign backers hailed Wednesday's announcement as a step toward a peaceful transition of power. The Taliban, who could make or break the poll, denounced it as meaningless and...

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Facebook shares fall as lock-up period expires

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Museums, theaters among NYC attractions reopening

NEW YORK (AP) — Museums, the Empire State Building, Broadway theaters and many stores reopened Wednesday to the relief of tourists who'd been stuck in hotel rooms since the weekend due to superstorm Sandy. But parks, the 9/11 Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and many other top attractions remained shuttered, some indefinitely as damage assessment continued."We tried to go to Central Park...

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Man with bionic leg to climb Chicago skyscraper

CHICAGO (AP) — Zac Vawter considers himself a test pilot. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping to test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts.He will put this groundbreaking bionic leg to the ultimate test Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's...

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Obama gets first-hand look at devastation

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — President Barack Obama jetted to storm-stricken New Jersey on Wednesday for a first-hand look at the devastation, as his aides tried to keep overt politics at bay for one more day.Still, with Election Day less than a week away, Obama's visit was layered with political implications. The deadly storm has given Obama an opportunity to project presidential leadership in the...

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Apparent insider attack kills 2 NATO troops

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A man wearing an Afghan police uniform killed two NATO troops in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the international military alliance said.The assault appeared to the be the latest in a string of insider attacks that have threatened to sever the partnership between international troops and the Afghan forces they are trying to train to take over responsibility for the country's...

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Nokia says shipping new Lumia smartphones this week

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From Springsteen to Letterman, Sandy disrupts

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center all remained dark Tuesday as Superstorm Sandy left the New York entertainment industry fighting to go on with the show — even if it meant performing for empty studios.That was how David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon taped their late shows Monday night, leading to some remarkably quiet monologues. On Tuesday, as the city took account of the damage...

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China passes law to curb abuse of mental hospitals

BEIJING (AP) — China's legislature on Friday passed a long-awaited mental health law that aims to prevent people from being involuntarily held and unnecessarily treated in psychiatric facilities — abuses that have been used against government critics and triggered public outrage.The law standardizes mental health care services, requiring general hospitals to set up special outpatient clinics or provide...

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Sandy's death toll climbs; millions without power

NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of people from Maine to the Carolinas awoke Tuesday without electricity, and an eerily quiet New York City was all but closed off by car, train and air as superstorm Sandy steamed inland, still delivering punishing wind and rain. The U.S. death toll climbed to 38, many of the victims killed by falling trees.The full extent of the damage in New Jersey, where the storm roared...

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