Start of "Santa rally" dampened by "cliff" worries

This holiday season is not awesome for Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, a Republican member of the "Gang of Eight" and a Mormon bishop, after police caught him driving drunk in Virginia. This is what happens when you slug down too many egg nogs, hop in your car, run a red light in front of a police cruiser at 12:45 a.m. and then fail "several" sobriety tests. Police took the senator into custody, charged...

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Colts recovering coach returns to team facility

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chuck Pagano was back at work Monday morning.Three months after taking an indefinite leave to battle leukemia, the Colts' coach was scheduled to meet with players, coaches and reporters as he retook the reins from interim coach Bruce Arians.When Pagano arrived at the team headquarters, he drove past an inflatable Colts player to the side of the driveway with a simple message across...

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The Hottest Climate Change Stories of 2012

Global warming was hot news this year, literally.Perhaps the most unavoidable climate story of 2012 was the warmth that gripped much of the United States, and to a lesser degree, the planet, throughout the entire year. Heat waves brought “spring in March” to parts of the country, and broke all-time high-temperature records in a number of places. This, inevitably, led to a discussion of global warming...

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Gunman killed after ambushing, shooting 4 firefighters

WEBSTER, N.Y. -- A western New York police chief says a gunman who ambushed and shot four volunteer firefighters outside a blazing...

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Afghan policewoman kills coalition contractor in Kabul: NATO

KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan woman wearing a police uniform shot dead on Monday a civilian contractor working for Western forces in the police chief's compound in Kabul, NATO said. The incident is likely to raise troubling questions about the direction of an unpopular war. It appeared to be the first time that a woman member of Afghanistan's security forces carried out such...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: A lump of coal for "Fiscal Cliff-mas"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street traders are going to have to pack their tablets and work computers in their holiday luggage after all. A traditionally quiet week could become hellish for traders as politicians in Washington are likely to fall short of an agreement to deal with $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in early next year. Many economists forecast that this...

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UK paper suing Lance Armstrong over libel case

LONDON (AP) — Lance Armstrong is being sued for more than $1.5 million by a British newspaper over the settlement of a libel action, which followed doping allegations against the cyclist that it published.The Sunday Times paid Armstrong 300,000 pounds (now about $485,000) in 2006 to settle a case after it reprinted claims from a book in 2004 that he took performance-enhancing drugs.The U.S. Anti-Doping...

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Senators slam movie's torture scenes

In the new film "Zero Dark Thirty," Jessica Chastain plays a CIA analyst who is part of the team hunting Osama bin Laden. STORY HIGHLIGHTSSens. Feinstein, McCain, Levin send letter calling new film "grossly inaccurate"Letter adds to controversy over depiction of torture as a key to finding bin Laden, Bergen saysSenate committee has approved 6,000-page classified report on CIA interrogations programBergen...

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2 hurt in blaze at Bronzeville senior housing building

Chicago fire department officials move a victim of a high-rise fire at 49th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue to a waiting...

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Egyptians back new constitution in referendum

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Islamist-backed Egyptian constitution won approval in a referendum, rival camps said on Sunday, after a vote the opposition said would sow deep social divisions in the Arab world's most populous nation. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled President Mohamed Mursi to power in a June election, said an unofficial tally showed 64 percent of voters backed the...

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