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Sunday May 20th, 2012

Top Stories

As more latest news come in, this list will be updated...

Oil rises near $92 ahead of key Iran nuclear talks
Oil prices rose to near $92 a barrel Monday in Asia ahead of talks this week aimed at avoiding a military conflict over Iran's nuclear program.
 
NATO to endorse Afghan exit plan, seeks routes out
CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders will endorse plans to hand over combat command in Afghanistan by mid-2013 on Monday and seek practical progress in opening routes to bring an international army of more than 130,000 back home from an unpopular, resource-draining war. The strategy for a gradual exit from Afghanistan is aimed at holding together the multinational force and maintaining security in spite of France's decision to withdraw its troops earlier than scheduled. ...
 
Miss. prison riot leaves guard dead, 6 hurt
A prison guard was killed Sunday during a riot that also injured five other correctional officers and hurt at least one inmate at a privately run facility in Mississippi that holds illegal immigrants, authorities said.
 
Protesters march through Chicago to NATO summit

Demonstrators make a futile attempt to stop a Chicago police officer from detaining a protester during this weekend's NATO summit in Chicago Sunday, May 20, 2012 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Chicago on Sunday in one of the city's largest demonstrations in years, airing grievances about war, climate change and a wide range of other complaints as world leaders assembled for a NATO summit.


 
Eclipse 'ring of fire' wows Asian, US sky-gazers

Many in Tokyo got a spectacular sight of the Millions turned their eyes to the sky on both sides of the Pacific as a solar eclipse created a "ring of fire" from Asia to the western United States, where it was greeted with whoops in California.


 
Yahoo to sell half of its Alibaba stake for $7.1B

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2005, file photo, a man walks past a screen displaying the Yahoo and Ali Baba.com logos before a joint news conference by the companies at the China World hotel in Beijing. Yahoo announced that it has agreed to sell half of its 40 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba for about $7.1 billion. The deal will see Alibaba Group buying back the stake from Yahoo Inc. for $6.3 billion cash and up to $800 million of Alibaba preference shares. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel, File)Yahoo Inc. has agreed to sell half of its 40 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba for about $7.1 billion, and the struggling U.S. Internet company said it would return most of the cash to shareholders.


 
MS prison riot leaves guard dead, 6 hurt
Officials say a riot at a privately run federal prison in southwest Mississippi that left one guard dead and five other correctional officers and an inmate injured has been brought under control.
 
Pakistan restores access to Twitter

Pakistan on Sunday restored access to Twitter after briefly blocking the microblog over Pakistan restored access to Twitter after briefly blocking the microblog over "blasphemous" posts about a Facebook competition involving caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.


 
Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets
Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter for several hours because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.
 
Chinese company to buy US movie theater chain AMC
A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings for $2.6 billion to create the world's biggest movie theater operator.
 
APNewsBreak: 22 states join campaign finance fight

FILE - Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is seen at an event in which he announced the start of his 2012 gubernatorial campaign on in this Sept. 7, 2011 file photo taken in Billings, Mont. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending. Bullock argues that political corruption in the Copper King era led to the state ban on corporate campaign spending. A clarification of Citizens United is needed to make clear that states can block certain political spending in the interest of limiting corruption, he said. On Friday, May 18, 2012 Montana's case was given a boost when U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-D-R.I., signed on in support. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending.


 
Study: 2,000 convicted then exonerated in 23 years

FILE - In this March 27, 2007, file photo, Audrey Edmunds poses at the John C. Burke Correctional Center in Waupun, Wis., 10 years into serving her 18-year conviction and sentence for shaking a baby to death, while babysitting. Edmunds is one of more than 2,000 people falsely convicted of a serious crime who have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years, according to a new national registry painstakingly assembled by the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. It is the most complete list of exonerations ever compiled. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years, according to a new archive compiled at two universities.


 
Europe faces difficult search for growth

French President Francois Hollande, left, talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the North Atlantic Council meeting in Chicago during the NATO 2012 Summit Sunday, May 20, 2012. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is at back center. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)On paper at least, European leaders agree: They need stronger growth measures to help their economies expand out of their 2½-year-old government debt crisis. Figuring out exactly what those new steps might be will be the hard part.


 
Asia stocks mixed after G8 vague on Europe fix
Asian stock markets struggled for direction Monday, with investors unconvinced that the world's major economies nailed a solution to the European debt crisis following a summit in Washington.
 
Protesters clash with police at NATO summit

Protesters and Chicago Police confront each other near the NATO conference venue in ChicagoProtesters clashed with riot police as an anti-NATO protest turned ugly in Chicago when a few hundred demonstrators demanding an end to war ignored orders to clear the streets.


 
Ultra-Orthodox hold large NYC meeting on Net risks

In this photo provided by VosIzNeias.com, Ultra-Orthodox Jews who believe that the Internet threatens their way of life fill New York's Citi Field for an unprecedented gathering on how to use modern technology in a religiously appropriate way, Sunday, May 20, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/VosIzNeias.com) MANDATORY CREDITTens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men attended a rally Sunday at the New York Mets' stadium on the dangers of the Internet and how to use modern technology in a religiously responsible way.


 
Today in History
Today is Monday, May 21, the 142nd day of 2012. There are 224 days left in the year.
 
NATO shifts to help an elusive Afghanistan peace

President Barack Obama stands looks to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during the opening session of the North Atlantic Council at the NATO Summit in Chicago, Sunday, May 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)President Barack Obama and NATO allies declared Sunday that the end of the long and unpopular Afghanistan war is in sight even as they struggled to hold their fighting force together in the face of dwindling patience and shaky unity.


 
Ruling party candidate leads Dominican vote count

A woman mark her ballot during the presidential election in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Sunday May 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)A long-time governing party official took the lead late Sunday in vote counting from the Dominican Republic's presidential election, leading a brash ex-president whose last term ended with the deepest economic crisis in the country's modern history.


 
AP Photos: Millions view 'ring of fire' eclipse

An annular solar eclipse appears during a break in clouds over Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, May 21, 2012. The annular eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around its edges, was visible to wide areas across China, Japan and elsewhere in the region before moving across the Pacific to be seen in parts of the western United States. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)Millions of early risers in Asia turned their attention skyward to view a rare "ring of fire" eclipse as it crossed their skies Monday morning.


 
3 charged in carjacking of pastor Marvin Winans

The Rev. Marvin Winans preaches during a Sunday morning service at Perfecting Church in Detroit, Sunday May 20, 2012, his first appearance before the whole congregation since being beaten and carjacked this week. The 54-year-old gospel singer and pastor of Detroit's 4,500-member Perfecting Church told congregants Sunday that he was never afraid during Wednesday's attack but feels a lingering regret over what it says about the state of the community. (AP Photo/Detroit News, David Coates) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT MBO (REV-SHARE)Three young men were arraigned Sunday in the assault and carjacking of popular Detroit pastor and gospel singing icon Marvin Winans.


 
Coyotes live to fight another day in NHL series

Shane Doan (L) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Phoenix Coyotes celebrate Doan's second period goalThe Phoenix Coyotes weren't about to go quietly into the night as long as captain Shane Doan had a say in the matter.


 
Newark mayor: Romney business record is fair game
Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker is backing off comments he made earlier Sunday, when he criticized President Barack Obama's re-election campaign for its attacks on Bain Capital, the private equity firm once run by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
 
Alibaba to buy back shares from Yahoo! for $7.1 bln

Alibaba had long expressed a desire to buy back the 43 percent chunk of the company owned by Yahoo!Alibaba, China's top e-commerce player, will re-purchase a 20-percent state in itself from US portal Yahoo! for at least $7.1 billion, the companies announced.


 
Bee Gees' Robin Gibb dies after long cancer battle

In this Nov, 6, 1979, file photo, the Bee Gees from left, Maurice, Robin and Barry Gibb sing close into the microphone at a Miami Beach concert in Miami. November 6, 1979. A representative said on Sunday, May 20, 2012, that Robin Gibb has died. He was 62. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File)With his carefully tended hair, tight trousers and perfect harmonies, Robin Gibb, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, defined the disco era. As part of the Bee Gees — short for the Brothers Gibb — they created dance floor classics like "Stayin Alive," ''Jive Talkin'," and "Night Fever" that can still get crowds onto a dance floor.


 
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