How did America become so polarized?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The election laid bare a dual — and dueling — nation, politically speaking, jaggedly split down the middle on the presidency and torn over much else. It seems you can please only half of the people nearly all of the time.Americans retained the fractious balance of power in re-electing President Barack Obama, a Republican House and a Democratic Senate, altogether serving as guarantors...

Read More..

China hauls away activists in congress crackdown

BEIJING (AP) — During her 30-hour train journey to Beijing, Wang Xiulan ducked into bathrooms whenever the conductors checked IDs. Later, as she lay low in the outskirts of the capital, unidentified men caught her in a nighttime raid and hauled her to a police station. She assumed a fake identity to get away, and is now in hiding again.Wang's not a criminal. She's a petitioner.She's among many people...

Read More..

Exclusive - Amazon to win EU e-book pricing tussle with Apple

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"2145892301","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'38c9a5d1-884c-3226-a2e9-00bf0b1e4f04\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'News\' ctopid=\'1499989;1550500;2299500;1507989;1506989;1542500;1550000;1507489;1092500;1055500;2063500\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\'...

Read More..

The Civil Wars cancel tour using divorce language

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grammy-winning duo The Civil Wars have canceled their upcoming tour dates, citing irreconcilable differences.The folk-pop duo Joy Williams and John Paul White released a statement Tuesday announcing that because of "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition" they were unable to "continue as a touring entity at this time."Although they used the language of...

Read More..

Study: Stem cells from strangers can repair hearts

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Researchers are reporting a key advance in using stem cells to repair hearts damaged by heart attacks. In a study, stem cells donated by strangers proved as safe and effective as patients' own cells for helping restore heart tissue.The work involved just 30 patients in Miami and Baltimore, but it proves the concept that anyone's cells can be used to treat such cases. Doctors are...

Read More..

Four more years for Obama

President Barack Obama handily defeated Gov. Mitt Romney and won himself a second term Tuesday after a bitter and historically expensive race that was primarily fought in just a handful of battleground states. Obama beat Romney after nabbing almost every one of the crucial battleground states.The Romney campaign's last-ditch attempt to put blue-leaning Midwestern swing states in play failed as Obama's...

Read More..

Elephant in South Korean zoo imitates human speech

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An elephant in a South Korean zoo is using his trunk to pick up not only food, but also human vocabulary.An international team of scientists confirmed Friday what the Everland Zoo has been saying for years: Their 5.5-ton tusker Koshik has an unusual and possibly unprecedented talent.The 22-year-old Asian elephant can reproduce five Korean words by tucking his trunk inside...

Read More..

Apple sells three million iPads over first weekend

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"7665149","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'2f95a3fe-a4b6-398a-b7f8-d3ff20ab4762\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'10612989;1499989;1550500;2299500;1507989;1542500;1506989;1550000;2315000;1507489;1547500\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\'...

Read More..

Composer, Pulitzer winner Carter dies in NY at 103

NEW YORK (AP) — Classical composer Elliott Carter, whose challenging, rhythmically complex works earned him widespread admiration and two Pulitzer Prizes, died Monday at age 103.His music publishing company, Boosey & Hawkes, called him an "iconic American composer." It didn't give the cause of his death.In a 1992 Associated Press interview, Carter described his works as "music that asks to be...

Read More..

Study: Stem cells from strangers can repair hearts

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Researchers are reporting a key advance in using stem cells to repair hearts damaged by heart attacks. In a study, stem cells donated by strangers proved as safe and effective as patients' own cells for helping restore heart tissue.The work involved just 30 patients in Miami and Baltimore, but it proves the concept that anyone's cells can be used to treat such cases. Doctors are...

Read More..