N. Korea: We've detained a U.S citizen for "crimes"

Updated 5:10 a.m. EST PYONGYANG, North Korea North Korea said Friday it has detained an American citizen who has confessed to unspecified crimes. State media said in a short dispatch that someone named Pae Jun Ho entered North Korea on Nov. 3 as a tourist but was detained because of crimes. The North said the crimes were "proven through evidence," but didn't elaborate. Pyongyang has detained...

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NRA to Speak on Stopping Newtown Repeat

For the past week, leadership at the National Rifle Association has largely stayed away from the media, but this morning the group may weigh in on how to keep a deadly shooting massacre like last week's at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school from happening again.The NRA will hold a news conference in Washington, D.C., just before 11 a.m.Its leadership has held off on interviews...

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On gun control, look to Biden

Rebecca Puckwalter-Poza says Vice President Joe Biden was a leader on gun control in the Senate.STORY HIGHLIGHTSRebecca Buckwalter-Poza: Obama has apparently tapped Biden as gun control point manShe says he was leader in Senate on issue, shepherding 1994 gun control legislationIt banned manufacture of many semi-automatic guns,criminalized high-capacity magazinesWriter: Biden worked across aisle; he's...

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Football: Milan-Barca, Madrid-United top last-16 line-up

NYON: Ties between Barcelona and AC Milan and Manchester United and Real Madrid topped the bill in the draw for the Champions League last 16 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday.Arsenal were drawn against last season's beaten finalists, Bayern Munich, while Celtic's reward for reaching the knockout phase is a rendezvous with Italian champions Juventus.Big-spending French...

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Blizzard warning issued for big chunk of Midwest

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: 156-mile stretch of freeway closed in Colorado23-car pileup in Texas dust storm kills one, injures 17Heavy snow, high winds stretch from Colorado to Wisconsin in season's first blizzardStorm to crawl from Midwest to New England by Friday(CNN) -- People traveling early for Christmas in the center of the country will be dashing through the snow and the rain and the wind.The first...

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Senate GOP proposes much smaller Sandy aid package

WASHINGTONSenate Republicans on Wednesday proposed a $24 billion emergency aid package for Superstorm Sandy victims, less than half of what Democrats hope to pass by Christmas. The GOP alternative bill would provide more than enough money to pay for immediate recovery efforts through the spring. Republicans complain that the $60.4 billion Democratic bill being debated in the Senate is larded with...

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Obama Invokes Newtown on 'Cliff' Deal

Invoking the somber aftermath of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., President Obama today appealed to congressional Republicans to embrace a standing "fair deal" on taxes and spending that would avert the fiscal cliff in 13 days."If there's one thing we should have after this week, it should be a sense of perspective about what's important," Obama said at a midday news conference."I...

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Virginia Tech mom: Ignore gun lobby

Newtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community says goodbyeNewtown funerals: A community...

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Quake risk at Japan atomic recycling plant: experts

TOKYO: Japan's only reprocessing plant for spent nuclear fuel could sit on an active seismic fault vulnerable to a massive earthquake, experts warned Wednesday.If regulators agree they will have to order its closure and Japan would be without any recycling capacity of its own, a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.This would leave it dependent on other countries and...

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Report details final minutes for ambassador, 3 others

STORY HIGHLIGHTSU.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in September of this yearHe was the first U.S. ambassador murdered since 1988 Along with Stevens, three other Americans were killed (CNN) -- They were hiding in a place security officers called a "safe area." It was anything but.Outside an angry crowd grew, gunfire rang out and a fire blazed.Thick smoke blinded the three trapped men. The intruders...

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