Seahawks coach hails team's spirit after crushing loss

(Reuters) - Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll hailed his team's never-say-die attitude after they fell just short of an extraordinary playoff comeback against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.The Seahawks erased a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to grab the lead with 31 seconds left but that proved just enough time for Atlanta to win it with a 49-yard kick from Matt Bryant."I can't imagine that anyone...

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Falcons survive Seattle rally in thriller

(Reuters) - The top-seeded Atlanta Falcons needed a last-minute field goal to claim a nerve-jangling 30-28 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday despite squandering a 20-point lead in an exhilarating fourth quarter.Atlanta will now host the San Francisco 49ers on January 20 in the National Football Conference championship game with a berth in the Super Bowl on the line.Matt Bryant's 49-yard field...

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Brady powers Patriots past Texans into AFC title game

(Reuters) - Tom Brady set a record for most playoff wins by a quarterback in leading the New England Patriots to a 41-28 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday to move one win away from a second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl.Brady, who surpassed Hall of Famer Joe Montana with his 17th playoff win, completed 25-of-40 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns in the divisional playoff, setting...

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AP Interview: Palestinian PM warns of cash crisis

The Palestinian self-rule government is in "extreme jeopardy" because of an unprecedented financial crisis, largely because Arab countries have failed to send hundreds of millions of dollars in promised aid, the Palestinian prime minister said Sunday.The cash crunch has gradually worsened in recent years, and the Palestinian Authority now has reached the point of not being able to pay the salaries...

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Defiant Assad pledges to continue fighting

A defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad rallied a chanting and cheering crowd Sunday to fight the uprising against his authoritarian rule, dismissing any chance of dialogue with "murderous criminals" that he blames for nearly two years of violence that has left 60,000 dead.In his first public speech in six months, Assad laid out terms for a peace plan that keeps himself in power, ignoring international...

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Analysis: Air assaults raise doubts about Myanmar's reformist rulers

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Unprecedented aerial attacks on ethnic Kachin rebels by Myanmar's military have raised doubts about whether the retired generals in a government hailed for its reforms have really changed their harsh old ways.Assurances by the quasi-civilian government that it wants a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and that the military is exercising "maximum restraint" are...

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Israeli-Palestinian clashes erupt in West Bank

TAMOUN, West Bank (AP) — An arrest raid by undercover Israeli soldiers disguised as vegetable vendors ignited rare clashes in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, residents said, leaving at 10 Palestinians wounded. Israeli army raids into Palestinian areas to seize activists and militants are fairly common. The raids are normally coordinated with Palestinian security forces, and suspects are usually...

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Ten crushed to death, 120 injured at Angola church event

Ten people were crushed to death and 120 injured in the Angolan capital Luanda as they tried to enter an overcrowded stadium for a vigil organized by a Pentecostal church, the state news agency Angop reported on Tuesday. Angop cited an emergency services spokesman as saying the victims, including four children, were crushed at the gates of the Cidadela Desportiva stadium, where the Universal Church...

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Iraq PM warns Sunni protesters, makes small concession

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has warned he will not tolerate Sunni anti-government rallies indefinitely, but made a concession to their demands by promising to free some women prisoners.Thousands of Sunnis have been taking to the streets of Iraq for more than a week in protest against Maliki, whom they accuse of discriminating against their sect and being under...

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India paying welfare directly, aiming to end fraud

NEW DELHI (AP) — India will pay billions of dollars in social welfare money directly to its poor under a new program that aims to cut out the middlemen blamed for the massive fraud that plagues the system.Previously officials only handed out cash to the poor after taking a cut — if they didn't keep all of it for themselves — and were known to enroll fake recipients or register unqualified people....

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Venezuelans on edge amid shifting news on Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez alike nervously welcomed the new year Tuesday, left on edge by shifting signals from the government about the Venezuelan leader's condition three weeks after cancer surgery in Cuba.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised interview in Cuba that he had...

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1 Indian gang rape suspect may be juvenile

NEW DELHI (AP) — A bone test is being conducted to confirm the age of a young suspect in custody in the fatal assault and gang rapeof a woman on a bus in India's capital, while prosecutors will seek the death penalty for five other men arrested with him, police said. The six will be formally charged in court on Thursday on accusations that they kidnapped, gang raped and...

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Russia: Syrian chemical weapons under control

 Russia's foreign minister says the Syrian government has consolidated its chemical weapons in one or two locations amid a rebel onslaught.Sergey Lavrov says Russia, which has military advisers training Syria's military, has kept close watch over its chemical arsenal. He says the Syrian government has moved them from many arsenals to just "one or two centers" to properly safeguard them.U.S. intelligence...

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Kate and William to spend Christmas Day with her parents

 Prince William and his pregnant wife Kate will spend Christmas Day with her parents, their office said on Saturday, in a break with the tradition of royals joining The Queen at her country estate at Sandringham.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will celebrate in private with Carole and Michael Middleton at their home in the village of Bucklebury, about 50 miles (80 km) west of London."The Duke...

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UK prosecutors consider charges over royal hoax call

 British detectives investigating the death of a nurse found hanged after she took a prank phone call at a hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate have passed an evidence file to prosecutors, police said on Saturday.Public prosecutors must decide whether the case is strong enough to bring charges over a stunt that was condemned around the world and fuelled concerns about media ethics.Indian-born...

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Prince William to spend Christmas with the in-laws

 Prince William will spend Christmas with his pregnant wife Kate and his in-laws in the southern England village of Bucklebury, royal officials said Saturday.That means a family Christmas for the Duchess of Cambridge, who was recently hospitalized after suffering from severe morning sickness.A statement from St. James' Palace, William's official residence, didn't go into much detail, saying only...

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Pope pardons ex-butler who stole, leaked documents

 Pope Benedict XVI granted his former butler a Christmas pardon Saturday, forgiving him in person during a jailhouse meeting for stealing and leaking his private papers in one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. The Vatican said...

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Egypt opposition alleges vote fraud in referendum

Egypt's opposition said Sunday it will keep fighting the Islamist-backed constitution after the Muslim Brotherhood, the main group backing the charter, claimed it passed with a 64 percent "yes" vote in a referendum. The opposition alleged vote fraud and demanded an investigation — a sign that the referendum will not end the turmoil that has roiled this country for nearly two years since the uprising...

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South Korea charges North building missile that could reach US

South Korean defense officials say they have evidence showing a recent North Korean missile launch was to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). South Korean navy divers have recovered more than three tons of debris from the first stage of a missile Korean analysts say was fueled by a type of nitric acid developed in the former Soviet Union over 40 years ago for firing missiles with warheads...

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Monti says he is open to leading next government

After keeping Italians, and the rest of Europe, in suspense for weeks, caretaker Premier Mario Monti on Sunday ruled out campaigning in February elections, but said he would consider leading the next government if politicians who share his focus on reform request it. The decision positions him to take the helm again without having to get into the political nitty-gritty of an election — preserving...

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