Report: At least three dead after Japan tunnel collapse

TOKYO (Reuters) - A tunnel on a major highway in central Japan collapsed on Sunday, killing at least three people and starting a blaze, Japanese media reported. Attempts to rescue those still trapped inside the smashed tunnel, which began spewing smoke after concrete ceiling panels fell onto the road, have been interrupted for fear they might trigger another collapse. Three...

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Officials say bomb kills 3 in southern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Provincial officials say a suicide car bomber killed three civilians and wounded another six in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province.Abdullah Himmat, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said Saturday's blast occurred near the police headquarters of Uruzgan's Dehra Wood district.Fareed Ayal, a spokesman for the provincial police, says the car apparently detonated prematurely...

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JLo tones down concert in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Jennifer Lopez wowed thousands of fans in Indonesia, but they didn't see as much of her as concertgoers in other countries — the American pop star toned down both her sexy outfits and her dance moves during her show in the world's most populous Muslim country, promoters said Saturday.Lopez's "Dance Again World Tour" was performed in the country's capital, Jakarta, on Friday...

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South Africa makes progress in HIV/AIDS fight

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — In the early 90s when South Africa's Themba Lethu clinic could only treat HIV/AIDS patients for opportunistic diseases, many would come in on wheelchairs and keep coming to the health center until they died.Two decades later the clinic is the biggest ARV (anti-retroviral) treatment center in the country and sees between 600 to 800 patients a day from all over southern Africa. Those...

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Why Obama is pushing for stimulus in 'fiscal cliff' deal

How about a little government economic stimulus?That may sound incongruous considering the budget deficit and the push from Republicans to cut government spending.But President Obama’s first offer to avoid going over the "fiscal cliff" holds out the hope of at least some stimulus. This would include extending the 2 percentage point Social Security payroll tax cut, boosting a tax incentive to businesses,...

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Afghanistan presses Pakistan to free Taliban

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Afghan foreign minister pressed Pakistan on Friday to free more Taliban detainees in Islamabad's custody in a bid to help coax the militant group into peace negotiations to end the 11-year-old war in Afghanistan, officials said.Afghanistan's top diplomat, Zalmay Rasoul, pushed his case in talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, during a one-day visit to Islamabad....

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Adkins explains Confederate flag earpiece

NEW YORK (AP) — Trace Adkins wore an earpiece decorated like the Confederate flag when he performed for the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting but says he meant no offense by it.Adkins appeared with the earpiece on a nationally televised special for the lighting on Wednesday. Some regard the flag as a racist symbol and criticized Adkins in Twitter postings.But in a statement released Thursday,...

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Kenya village of AIDS orphans hangs hopes on trees

NYUMBANI, Kenya (AP) — There are no middle-aged adults in the Kenyan village of Nyumbani. They all died years ago. Only the young and old live here.The 938 children here all saw their parents die. The 97 grandparents saw their middle-aged children die. But put together, the bookend generations take care of one another.UNAIDS says that as of 2011 an estimated 23.5 million people living with HIV resided...

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Republican congressman makes waves in 'fiscal cliff' negotiations

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) made headlines this week when suggested that his Republican colleagues should join with President Obama on a quick "fiscal cliff" fix by voting to extend the Bush tax-rates for everyone but the highest income earners, and leaving the rest of the debate for later.Cole's plan, which was first reported by Politico, was rejected by House Speaker John Boehner, who told reporters,...

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Official says 10 Afghan civilians killed by bomb

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A provincial official says a roadside bomb has killed 10 people and wounded eight in a remote part Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province.District Governor Nayamatullah Khaliqi said Thursday that the blast occurred late Wednesday and that most of the dead were women and children. He had no other details about the casualties from the blast near the village of Dehzak in the...

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