AP Online articles from Friday, November 30

NYC Mayoral Security: How It Works

Nov 30, 2007; ... Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday hinted that another interest rate cut may be needed to bolster the economy. The worsening credit crunch, a deepening housing slump and rising energy prices probably will create some "headwinds for the consumer in the months ahead," he ...

Nov 30, 2007; ... The mayor of the nation's largest city is protected around the clock, even when he's not working. He's trailed on the golf course, at the theater, while visiting relatives for Thanksgiving dinner _ with taxpayers footing the bill. That's usually all but unnoticed. But questions now ...

Missing Student's Body Apparently Found

Nov 30, 2007; ... A body found in Kansas appears to be that of a missing college student who led a secret life as an Internet porn star, police said Thursday. Authorities said the preliminary physical description of the body found about 50 miles east of El Dorado matches that of missing college student ...

Bracelet Found in Chicken After 25 Years

Nov 30, 2007 ... It won't fit him anymore, but a Massachusetts man has his metal identity bracelet back after it was found inside a chicken gizzard in this southern Minnesota city _ more than 25 years after he lost it in his grandfather's barn. Aaron Giles, 31, of Gloucester, Mass., lived in Fairmont ...

Graveyard Shift Work Linked to Cancer

Nov 30, 2007; ... Thousands of Iraqis whose support for the U.S. war effort in Iraq has put them and their families in grave danger at home are being excluded from a new fast-track system aimed at speeding up refugee resettlement in the United States for American allies, officials said Thursday. The ...

Nov 30, 2007; ... Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer. It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and ...

Marines to Cut Armored Vehicle Orders

Nov 30, 2007; ... Hollywood studios presented a sweetened contract offer to striking film and TV writers Thursday, and negotiators requested a four-day recess to consider it, the producers' organization said. The talks will resume Tuesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in ...

Nov 30, 2007; ... The Marines plan to buy fewer bomb-resistant vehicles than planned despite pressure from lawmakers who are determined to spend billions of dollars on the vehicles. The Marine Corps' requirement for mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles would drop from the planned 3,700 to about ...

Israeli Says Elusive Biblical Wall Found

Nov 30, 2007; ... A biblical wall that has eluded archaeologists for years has finally been found, according to an Israeli scholar. A team of archaeologists in Jerusalem has uncovered what they believe to be part of a wall mentioned in the Bible's Book of Nehemiah. The discovery, made in Jerusalem's ...

Missing Student's Body Apparently Found

Nov 30, 2007 ... Hollywood studios presented a sweetened contract offer to striking film and TV writers Thursday, and negotiators requested a four-day recess to consider it, the producers' organization said. The talks will resume Tuesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in ...

Teammates Portis, Moss Mourn Taylor

Nov 30, 2007; ... Sean Taylor's locker has been sealed in Plexiglas. The contents haven't been disturbed, and the stool with his name on it still sits in front. Clinton Portis can't bear to look at it. "I stay out of the locker room," Portis said. "My locker is next to his. A ...

Nov 30, 2007; ... Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton used an appearance at one of the nation's largest evangelical churches Thursday to sketch a broad agenda to take on disease around the globe, calling it "the right thing to do." The centerpiece of a speech laced with Biblical references and ...

Police: Teen Pulled Heists, Kept Curfew

Nov 30, 2007 ... A teenager says he held up a dozen businesses in part to get "gas money" but made sure the heists wouldn't make him miss curfew or church on Sundays with his mom. Justin T. Veal, 18, was jailed on a felony robbery charge after being arrested last week in a liquor store ...

Viagra Pumps Up Thai Political Race

Nov 30, 2007 ... Vote-buying is an old practice in Thai politics, but one candidate for December's Thai election has reportedly come up with a new tactic _ handing out Viagra instead of cash. The allegation, made Thursday by a campaign worker against a rival party, comes as rules about handing out ...

Nov 30, 2007; ... Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of the capital Thursday to oppose a referendum that would eliminate term limits for President Hugo Chavez and help him establish a socialist state in Venezuela. Blowing whistles, waving placards and shouting "Not like ...

Today on the Presidential Campaign Trail

Nov 30, 2007; ... IN THE HEADLINES Queries Giuliani doesn't want ... Edwards pledges new partnership with counties ... Clinton picks up endorsements from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a transit workers union ... Biden: Oil prices cost of Bush failures ... American Conservative Union chairman David Keene ...

Oil Spill Fuels Debate in Ship Industry

Nov 30, 2007; ... Eric Robinson stepped onto the bridge of the container ship Horizon Pacific and peered at a computer monitor depicting San Francisco Bay. Ship icons blipped clearly in the virtual water, but the meaning of some of the other symbols was murky. Robinson, a San Francisco ship pilot, ...

Teen Says He Pulled Heists, Kept Curfew

Today on the Presidential Campaign Trail

Reward for 'Boid' With Brooklyn Accent

Nov 30, 2007; ... More than 100,000 people flooded the streets of the capital Thursday to oppose a referendum that would eliminate term limits for President Hugo Chavez and help him establish a socialist state in Venezuela. Blowing whistles, waving placards and shouting "Not like this!" the ...

Nov 30, 2007 ... Missing: one parrot with Brooklyn accent. Reward: $10,000. The African gray parrot named Franklin disappeared from a pet boarding facility in Manhattan the day before Thanksgiving, said owner Leigh Ann Frankel. "Franklin is my child. Every day he wakes up and says, 'Hi mommy, how ...

Marines to Cut Armored Vehicle Orders

More Mentally Ill Barred From Gun Buying

Nov 30, 2007; ... A federal list of mentally ill people barred from buying guns has doubled in size since the Virginia Tech shootings, and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey encouraged more states Thursday to add information to the database. In his first policy speech since taking over as attorney ...

NZealand Arrests Top Cyber Suspect

Nov 30, 2007; ... Police detained the suspected teenage kingpin of an international cyber crime network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts, officials said. Working with the FBI and police in the Netherlands, New Zealand police ...

Bin Laden: Europeans Should End US Help

Nov 30, 2007; ... Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden called on Europeans to stop helping the United States in the war in Afghanistan, according to excerpts of a new audiotape broadcast Thursday on Al-Jazeera television. Bin Laden said it was unjust for the United States to have invaded Afghanistan for ...

3 Wis. Ex-Officers Sentenced in Beating

Nov 30, 2007; ... Three white former police officers were sentenced to long prison terms Thursday for the off-duty beating of a biracial man, an attack that outraged the city and sent protesters into the streets. A judge sentenced Jon ...

AT&T CEO Says a Faster iPhone on Its Way

Nov 30, 2007 ... AT&T Inc. says it plans to offer a version of an iPhone next year that runs on a faster wireless network so users can get speedier results when surfing the Web. The move would address one of the main drawbacks about the smart phone made by Apple Inc. and distributed exclusively by ...

Studios Give Writers a Sweetened Offer

Bush Pushes Democrats to OK War Funding

Nov 30, 2007; ... President Bush sternly pressed Democrats to approve money to fund the Iraq war "without strings and without delay" before leaving town for the Christmas holidays, something congressional leaders have already indicated they will not do. After more failed attempts to pass ...

Marines to Cut Armored Vehicle Orders

Cowboys Lead Packers After First Quarter

Nov 30, 2007; ... Tony Romo was ahead of childhood hero Brett Favre through the first quarter of the NFC showdown of 10-1 teams. Romo threw a 3-yard TD pass to Patrick Crayton, three plays after Favre threw an interception, and the Dallas Cowboys led the Green Bay Packers 13-10 after the first quarter ...

Missing Student's Body Apparently Found

Bin Laden: Europeans Should End US Help

Woman to Decorate Stump After Tree Axed

Nov 30, 2007 ... Mary Moran figures she'll turn that 3-foot stump in her front yard into a Christmas statement of sorts. Moran awoke Wednesday to find that a long-needled pine the family had decorated for years was cut down and stolen during the night. The family planted the pine 10 years ago, and it ...

Stocks Rise Moderately After Big Run-Up

Nov 30, 2007; ... Wall Street extended its rally with modest gains in the major indexes following two days of sharp advances, despite economic readings that painted a mixed picture of the economy. Though the indexes rose, declining issues narrowly outpaced advancers on the New York Stock Exchange. ...

Bad Pet Food May Have Killed Nearly 350

Nov 30, 2007; ... More than 300 dogs and cats may have died earlier this year as a result of eating contaminated pet food, a survey released Thursday shows. There were no accurate counts earlier on how many pets had died from eating contaminated food, although estimates had run from a few dozen to ...

Anti-Steroid Programs Work in Short Term

Nov 30, 2007 ... Programs designed to reduce performance-enhancing drug use among teenage athletes are effective in the short term, but their impact over longer periods of time is unclear, a report by the Government Accountability Office concluded. The report, released Thursday, included evaluations ...

Testers See Windows XP Passing Vista

Nov 30, 2007; ... Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP operating system is about to get faster and Windows Vista isn't, according to a report that caused a stir online this week as industry watchers speculated that a zippier XP could keep customers from upgrading to Vista. Microsoft, however, said it's too ...

34 Taliban Killed in Afghan Clashes

Nov 30, 2007; ... Joint Afghan and foreign forces attacked two Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan and called in airstrikes, killing 30 militants, officials said Thursday. Two Danish soldiers died in violence elsewhere in the south. Denmark's Army Operational Command said the two soldiers killed ...

Return of Iraqi Refugees Concerns US

Nov 30, 2007; ... The U.S. military is expressing concern that the Iraqi government is unprepared to deal with a mass return of refugees to Baghdad despite declining violence. The fears raised echoed a warning by the chief U.N. humanitarian organization that it is too early to promote returns as the ...

BP Alaska Unit Pleads Guilty in Spill

Nov 30, 2007; ... The Alaska subsidiary of oil company BP PLC pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal environmental crime for failing to prevent a crude spill across a swath of delicate tundra in America's largest oil field. The guilty plea by BP Exploration Alaska Inc. is part of a settlement with the ...

O'Brien to Pay Nonstriking Staffers

Nov 30, 2007; ... With his nonstriking "Late Night" staffers facing layoffs after Friday, Conan O'Brien has promised to cover their salaries next week, an NBC spokeswoman said Thursday. "He's paying the staffers' salaries out of his own pocket," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said ....

Feds Want Kerik's Lawyer Disqualified

Nov 30, 2007; ... Federal prosecutors on Thursday asked the judge in the case against former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to consider disqualifying Kerik's lawyer, saying he has a potential conflict of interest because he could be called as a witness. Kerik, once President Bush's ...

Paterno Earns More Than $500,000 a Year

Nov 30, 2007; ... Joe Paterno's salary is no longer one of the most closely guarded secrets in college sports. The Penn State coach will earn more than $500,000 this year. The State Employees' Retirement System released Paterno's salary Thursday, more than a week ...

U.S. Over-Counted Iraqi Volunteer Guards

Nov 30, 2007; ... The American military discovered there are fewer Iraqi civilians serving as volunteer guards in their home areas than it had thought, saying accounting mistakes had inflated the number by thousands. Senior military officers said they had reduced the nationwide total from 77,000 to ...

UN Chief Urges Agreement on Darfur Force

Nov 30, 2007; ... U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he is "mobilizing all possible means" to get the Sudanese government's agreement on key issues so a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force can start deploying in Darfur in January. Ban told reporters that he had "firm ...

Chicago Mayor Chooses New Police Chief

Nov 30, 2007 ... Mayor Richard Daley picked a Philadelphia FBI official on Thursday as Chicago's next top cop to lead a department tarnished by allegations of police misconduct and abuse. J.P. "Jody" Weis, the head of the ...

Feds Want Kerik's Lawyer Disqualified