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...

Read More..

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 anti-retroviral, or ARV, treatment center in the country and sees between 600 to 800 patients a day from all over southern Africa....

Read More..

Obama accuses House GOP of holding middle class tax cuts 'hostage'

President Obama is urging Congress to extend tax breaks for the middle class, saying it's "unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans."With the clock ticking toward the so-called "fiscal cliff," Obama asked lawmakers in his weekly address to "begin by doing...

Read More..

Pakistan agrees to free more Taliban prisoners

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan agreed on Friday to free more Taliban prisoners in the future, a move considered a key step to coaxing the militant group into peace negotiations to end the 11-year-old war in Afghanistan.The decision was announced in a statement by the foreign ministry in Islamabad after a one-day visit by Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul, who held talks with his Pakistani counterpart,...

Read More..

MacFarlane surprises UCLA class, announces contest

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oscar host Seth MacFarlane is inviting college students to join him on stage at the Academy Awards.The "Family Guy" creator made a surprise appearance at UCLA to announce a contest sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and mtvU that will allow winning college students to appear on the Feb. 24 Oscar telecast.The contest invites students to submit videos on...

Read More..

Kenya village pairs AIDS orphans with grandparents

NYUMBANI, Kenya (AP) — There are no middle-aged people in Nyumbani. They all died years ago, before this village of hope in Kenya began. Only the young and old live here.Nyumbani was born of the AIDS crisis. The 938 children here all saw their parents die. The 97 grandparents — eight grandfathers among them — saw their middle-aged children die. But put together, the bookend generations take care of...

Read More..

Shapiro: Immigration reform unlikely soon

By Walter ShapiroAs landslide numbers go, they were far more lopsided than Lyndon Johnson’s evisceration of Barry Goldwater in 1964, Richard Nixon’s all-but-Massachusetts 1972 humiliation of George McGovern and Ronald Reagan’s 49-state morning-in-America sweep of Walter Mondale in 1984. In numbers that should be etched on the iPhone cases of every political reporter in the land, Barack Obama obliterated...

Read More..

Myanmar cracks down on mine protest; dozens hurt

MONYWA, Myanmar (AP) — Security forces used water cannons, tear gas and smoke bombs Thursday to clear protesters from a copper mine in northwestern Myanmar, wounding villagers and Buddhist monks in the biggest use of force against demonstrators since the reformist government of President Thein Sein took office last year.Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who arrived in the area hours later on a previously...

Read More..

Video Games: Art-Tested, MoMA-Approved

Citing a palpable “aesthetic experience” in classic games while eschewing others, the Museum of Modern Art announced Thursday that it has assembled a new collection of video games. The museum’s initial collection includes 14 classics like Pac-Man and Tetris, but also more recent additions to the canon like Passage and Canabalt. The museum has a “wish list” of...

Read More..

AP Newsbreak: New Suzanne Collins book in 2013

NEW YORK (AP) — "The Hunger Games" novelist Suzanne Collins has a new book coming out next year.The multimillion-selling children's author has completed an autobiographical picture story scheduled for Sept. 10, 2013, Scholastic Inc. announced Thursday. The 40-page book will be called "Year of the Jungle," based on the time in Vietnam served by Collins' father, a career Air Force officer."Year of the...

Read More..