Dalai Lama wants thorough probe into Tibet deaths

TOKYO (AP) — Lashing back at criticism from Beijing, the Dalai Lama on Tuesday said China needs to thoroughly investigate the causes of self-immolations by Tibetans and blamed "narrow-minded Communist officials" for seeing Buddhist culture as a threat.The Dalai Lama also called on foreign media and members of Japan's parliament to visit Tibet — though such trips are severely restricted — to see that...

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Lakers intrigued by chance to play for D’Antoni

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Pau Gasol got home from the game and read about it on Twitter, while Dwight Howard got a midnight message on his BlackBerry. They shared most Los Angeles Lakers fans’ mix of surprise, trepidation and anticipation.Just when everybody thought the Lakers were getting back together with Phil Jackson, they switched course in the middle...

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'Skyfall' brings record Bond debut of $88.4M

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Bond is cashing in at the box office."Skyfall," the 23rd film featuring the British super-spy, pulled in a franchise-record $88.4 million in its U.S. debut, bringing its worldwide total to more than $500 million since it began rolling out overseas in late October.The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross,...

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British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for...

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Petraeus probe ensnares top U.S. commander in Afghanistan

PERTH, Australia (AP) — In a new twist to the Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom Petraeus had an extramarital affair.Defense Secretary Leon Panetta...

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China delegates swoon at their proximity to power

BEIJING (AP) — Tears welled in Li Jian's eyes whenever President Hu Jintao mentioned the environment in his speech to Communist Party delegates gathered in the Great Hall of the People during China's most important political event of the decade.Hu's exhortation last week to create a "beautiful China" and to "cherish and love nature" spoke to the 55-year-old bioengineer's dearest concerns. Hours later,...

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Laughing in the storm: Comics don't shy from Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) — Comedian Dave Attell told a packed house at the Comedy Cellar that New York after Superstorm Sandy had a familiar feel. "It was dark. Toilets were backing up. ... It was pretty much like it always was."Another comic, Paul Mecurio, told the same crowd that he got so many calls from worried family members that he started making things up about how bad it was."I'm drinking my own urine...

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Food labels multiply, some confuse consumers

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Want to avoid pesticides and antibiotics in your produce, meat, and dairy foods? Prefer to pay more to make sure farm animals were treated humanely, farmworkers got their lunch breaks, bees or birds were protected by the farmer and that ranchers didn't kill predators?Food labels claim to certify a wide array of sustainable practices. Hundreds of so-called eco-labels have cropped...

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Congress wants answers on Petraeus affair

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress said Sunday they want to know more details about the FBI investigation that revealed an extramarital affair between ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer, questioning when the retired general popped up in the FBI inquiry, whether national security was compromised and why they weren't told sooner."We received no advanced notice. It was like a lightning...

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Cautious enforcer to be China's next premier

BEIJING (AP) — The man in line to oversee China's massive but rapidly slowing economy for the coming decade speaks English and comes from a generation of politicians schooled during a time of greater openness to liberal Western ideas than their predecessors.But Li Keqiang also has been a cautious career bureaucrat who rose through, and is bound by, a consensus-oriented Communist Party that has been...

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