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Liston scores 17, No. 5 Duke women beat Va. Tech

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:23 EST

Tricia Liston scored 17 points to help No. 5 Duke beat Virginia Tech 67-45 on Wednesday night.

Chelsea Gray added 15 points as the Blue Devils (22-3) improved to 13-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play for the fifth time in program history.

Liston made two 3-pointers and a steal during a 14-2 run in the second half as Duke pulled away for its 29th consecutive home win against conference foes.

Elizabeth Williams added 12 points and Haley Peters had 11 for the Blue Devils.

Aerial Wilson scored 15 of her 19 points in the first half to lead Virginia Tech (7-19, 3-10). The Hokies suffered their 10th loss in the last 11 games and their 17th consecutive defeat against Duke.

Cooley scores 22 to lead No. 23 Irish over Rutgers

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:27 EST

Jack Cooley scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half to lead No. 23 Notre Dame to a 71-53 win over Rutgers on Wednesday night.

Cooley also had 18 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (18-8, 9-3 Big East), who won their seventh straight game. Jerian Grant added 11 points, Eric Atkins had 10 points and eight assists, and Pat Connaughton also scored 10.

Notre Dame's last loss came at Rutgers on Jan. 16.

Dane Miller scored 11 points as the Scarlet Knights (12-14, 4-8) committed 26 fouls, allowing Notre Dame to pour in 24 points from the free throw line.

Rutgers has lost four in a row and six of seven.

Harrison outlasts Rochus in 3 sets at SAP Open

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:23 EST

Ryan Harrison has won his second-round match at the SAP Open, beating eighth-seeded Olivier Rochus of Belgium 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The 19-year-old American rallied past Rochus from 3-1 down in the third set to win the final five games. Harrison overpowered Rochus 27 aces to none, riding the momentum from last weekend's Davis Cup victory over Switzerland.

Day 3 of the tournament had a schedule packed with former and future promising Americans.

And following recent history, not all delivered.

Sam Querrey lost his second-round match against Russia's Denis Istomin 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. Andy Roddick was scheduled to face fellow American Denis Kudla later Wednesday night in his first match since retiring in the second round of the Australian Open with a right hamstring injury.

Ex-Maryland man faces Guantanamo war crimes trial

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:12 EST

A Pentagon legal official approved war crimes charges Wednesday for a Pakistani detainee at Guantanamo who is accused of joining al-Qaida and taking part in a series of post-Sept. 11 terror plots after spending much of his youth in Maryland.

Majid Khan, 31, faces up to life in prison if convicted of charges that include murder, attempted murder and providing material support for terrorism.

The Pentagon's Convening Authority approved the charges two days after they were filed by military prosecutors, a process that has taken months of review in the past. That approval means the prisoner must be arraigned within 30 days before a military judge at the U.S. base in Cuba. The date of the arraignment has not yet been announced.

Khan lived as a child in the suburbs of Baltimore, graduating from high school in 1999 and working at gas stations in the area owned by his family, but he is a citizen of Pakistan. Prosecutors say he joined al-Qaida on a trip to his homeland, working directly with senior members of the terrorist organization, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The military has accused Khan of plotting with Mohammed to blow up underground fuel tanks in the U.S. and scheming to assassinate then President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. Khan also allegedly delivered $50,000 to help pay for the al-Qaida bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Indonesia in August 2003, an attack that killed 11 people and wounded 81.

No. 18 Hoosiers hold off Northwestern 71-66

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:57 EST

Cody Zeller kept Indiana in the game Wednesday night. Verdell Jones' late charge proved to be the difference.

Zeller finished with 23 points and seven rebounds, and Jones overcame a bruised right shoulder to score all six of his points over the final 4:03, helping No. 18 Indiana get past Northwestern 71-66.

The victory gave Indiana coach Tom Crean his first 20-win season in four seasons in Bloomington. The Hoosiers (20-6, 8-6 Big Ten) are 15-1 at home this season.

Northwestern (15-10, 5-8) had won six of the previous seven in this series and needed another victory at Indiana to help make a stronger case to the NCAA tournament selection committee.

John Shurna led the Wildcats with 29 points, and Drew Crawford finished with 18, but they didn't get enough help to pull off the upset - or to keep up with Jones' finishing flurry.

Contest would focus on teacher quality

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:37 EST

Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday spelled out details of a proposed new $5 billion Race to the Top-style competition focused on improving teacher quality.

Among the changes the administration is seeking: higher teaching salaries, compensation tied to performance and more selective and improved teaching colleges.

The proposed contest was included in the budget proposal President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Monday. It will probably face obstacles in the gridlocked Congress, where some Republicans have complained of federal overreach and overlapping programs in education.

Race to the Top, Obama's signature education initiative, already has awarded more than $5 billion in competitive grants to states willing to enact certain changes favored by the administration.

A growing body of research shows the big difference that effective teachers can play in student lives, from reducing teenage pregnancies to increasing a student's lifetime earnings. Duncan frequently notes during speeches that within the next decade, about a million baby boomer teachers will retire and quality teachers are needed to fill those spots. Yet, a report from the McKinsey & Co. global consulting firm found that only about a quarter of new teachers come from the top third of their class and said prestige and peer group appeal, along with compensation, were factors influencing whether top college students enter teaching.

Nets honor Whitney Houston with Super Bowl anthem

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:07 EST

The New Jersey Nets honored the late Whitney Houston by playing her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the 1991 Super Bowl before their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

The Newark-born singer died in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday at the age of 48. Her funeral will be Saturday in Newark at the New Hope Baptist Church, where she sang as a child. She will be buried in Fair View Cemetery in Westfield, where her father, John Russell Houston Jr., was buried in 2003.

Houston's stirring rendition of the national anthem came at the time of the first Gulf War.

Foes allege Sen. Lugar doesn't really live in Ind.

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:57 EST

U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, once seemingly unbeatable in Indiana, has been scrambling to reintroduce himself to Hoosiers amid a barrage of attacks that he has lost touch - an argument his tea party challenger repeated Wednesday in front of the Indianapolis home the incumbent sold decades ago.

The Republican who has spent 35 years in Washington has been campaigning as though he was a rookie politico, trying to introduce himself to the masses and define his image before opponents do.

The charge by GOP challenger Richard Mourdock is just the latest in a series of them levied against the Republican senator by an unlikely alliance of Democrats and conservatives who have joined forces to argue Lugar no longer has much to do with Indiana. Both sides sense political vulnerability from the state's senior senator.

"We decided that when we have a campaign theme about the senator no longer being in touch with Indiana, the perfect place to kick off this campaign is here, in front of the house he once owned," Mourdock, the state's treasurer, said Wednesday.

While nearly all members of Congress have living arrangements in the Washington, D.C., area, most own homes or rent apartments in the states they represent. Lugar, who owns a home in Virginia, typically stays in hotels when he returns to Indiana and no longer has a physical address there.

Amnesty: Libyan militias commit war crimes

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:32 EST

Armed militias now rule much of Libya, Amnesty International said Wednesday, accusing them of torturing detainees deemed loyal to the ousted regime of Moammar Gadhafi and driving entire neighborhoods and towns into exile.

Amnesty International quoted detainees as saying "They had been suspended in contorted positions; beaten for hours with whips, cables, plastic hoses, metal chains and bars, and wooden sticks and given electric shocks with live wires and taser-like electroshock weapons."

At least 12 detainees had died since September after torture, Amnesty said. "Their bodies were covered in bruises, wounds and cuts and some had had nails pulled off," the group said.

The report is a fresh blow to Libya's new government, the National Transitional Council, which helped lead the anti-Gadhafi uprising that broke out one year ago this week and spiraled into a brutal, eight-month civil war.

Since the war's end with the capture and killing of Gadhafi last October, the NTC has struggled to extend its control over the vast desert nation. It has largely failed to rein in the hundreds of brigades that fought in the war, many of which now run their own detention centers for those accused of links to Gadhafi's regime.

Marriott 4Q profit falls on timeshare spinoff

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:57 EST

Marriott International Inc. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net income fell 18 percent, hurt by a one-time charge tied to the spinoff of its timeshare business.

The Bethesda, Md., company earned $141 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with $173 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier. Taking out one-time items in both periods, it earned $159 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $135 million, or 35 cents per share in the fourth-quarter of 2010.

Revenue inched higher to $3.69 billion from $3.64 billion the year before.

The results fell short of Wall Street's expectations, and shares fell slightly in afterhours trading after the results were released. According to FactSet Research, analysts expected an adjusted profit of 47 cents per share on revenue of $3.74 billion. They usually exclude one-time items from their estimates.

Revenue per available room - a key measure of health for hotel companies - rose 5.9 percent in the quarter. That metric grew at a faster rate in North America than the rest of the world.

Joseph Kennedy III announcing Mass. Congress bid

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:22 EST

Joseph Kennedy III said Wednesday he's formally jumping into the race for the congressional seat now held by retiring U.S. Rep. Barney Frank.

"I believe this country was founded on a simple idea: that every person deserves to be treated fairly, by each other and by their government, but that's not happening in America anymore," Kennedy, a Democrat, said ahead of an announcement scheduled for Thursday.

He said he would work hard to earn every vote and if elected would "bring that fight for fairness to the U.S. Congress."

Kennedy, the son of former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II and a grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy, recently moved from Cambridge to Brookline, part of the state's newly redrawn 4th Congressional District.

The family has deep ties to the Boston suburb. Brookline is the site of the birthplace of Kennedy's great-uncle, the late President John F. Kennedy.

In letter, Iran says it's ready for nuclear talks

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:42 EST

Iran has told world powers it is ready to resume talks as soon as possible over its disputed nuclear program, according to a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, an offer that could reflect its difficulty in coping with tough U.S. and European sanctions, or amount to another delaying tactic as it moves ahead with activities that could bring it closer to developing an atomic bomb.

The letter from chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was sent Tuesday, just a day before Iran claimed two major advances in producing nuclear fuel and indicated it was on the verge of imposing an oil embargo on European countries to retaliate for sanctions. The Obama administration dismissed the announcements as unimpressive and said Tehran's erratic behavior was indicative of the squeeze it is feeling as a result of hard-hitting economic measures against it.

"We voice our readiness for dialogue on a spectrum of various issues which can provide ground for constructive and forward looking cooperation," Jalili wrote in the letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the point of contact for the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, who are demanding that Iran freeze all uranium enrichment.

Ashton had written Jalili in October, offering Iran a new round of talks toward an agreement that "restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program." The West fears Iran seeks nuclear weapons, and speculation is rife that Israel may launch a pre-emptive strike to set back the program.

Jalili welcomed Ashton's statement of respect for Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy use and said that "by committing to this approach, our talks for cooperation based on step-by-step principles and reciprocity on Iran's nuclear issue could be commenced," according to a translated copy of the letter.

Eurozone calls for tighter Greek surveillance

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:22 EST

European finance ministers insisted Wednesday on much tighter oversight of Greece's spending and austerity efforts, despite politicians' assurances that Athens will go ahead with promised cuts and reforms to secure a euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout.

Following a 3 1/2 hour conference call between the finance chiefs of the 17 countries that use the euro, the ministers welcomed the debt-ridden country's declaration that it had identified another euro325 million ($470 million) in cuts on top of the layoffs of thousands of public workers and other wage and pension cuts.

They also greeted written commitments from leaders of the two Greek parties that make up the coalition government to implement the promised cuts and reforms even if there is a change in power after elections expected in April.

But in a sign of deep distrust that has built up - especially among rich nations like Germany, the Netherlands and Finland - Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the finance ministers' meetings, said the eurozone needed better ways to track Greek spending before new aid could be released.

"Further considerations are necessary" to ensure better surveillance of Greek finances, Juncker said, stressing that the new oversight had to ensure "priority is given to debt servicing."

Friends: Accused ex-lacrosse player's mood shifted

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:32 EST

A former University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing his ex-girlfriend lied about visiting friends hours before her battered body was found and had a "blank stare" on his face, a former teammate testified Wednesday as the prosecution rested and the defense began.

Ken Clausen and other teammates of George Huguely testified at his first-degree murder trial in the May 3, 2010, slaying of Yeardley Love. Friends have testified that the woman's lacrosse player had a jealously fueled, on-and-off relationship with Huguely, who is 24.

Love, 22, was found in the bedroom of her Charlottesville apartment with bruises on her body and a battered right eye and neck. She died of blunt force trauma, an autopsy concluded. Huguely and Love's apartment buildings stood side-by-side.

The defense began its presentation with a medical expert who said he believed Love was asphyxiated from lying face down in a damp, bloody pillow. The testimony did not state how she came to be in that position.

"That could do it," Dr. Jan E. Leestma said of his pillow death theory. During cross-examination, Prosecutor Dave Chapman sharply questioned Leestma and asked how much he was paid to testify for the defense. He replied $8,000.

Judge: Texas should plan on May 29 primary

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:57 EST

The Texas primary, which once loomed as the biggest prize of next month's Super Tuesday and a possible kingmaker in the Republican presidential race, skidded toward becoming an afterthought Wednesday when a federal judge advised officials to instead aim for late May.

It was the latest toll of the Texas redistricting battle that began last summer and left state GOP leaders newly disappointed with a second primary delay. Instructions to plan on a May 29 primary came despite compromise earlier Wednesday over one of three disputed election maps that have kept the Texas political landscape in limbo.

Minority rights groups and the state announced a deal on the state Senate map for the 2012 elections, though that still left separate challenges to the Texas House and congressional maps unresolved. Democrats cheered the Senate deal, but another federal judge grew irritated that more maps weren't settled.

"So here we are since Thanksgiving, all this time has passed, $1.5 million has been spent, and we're fighting over one or two state districts?" U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez said of the Texas House map.

As the state's primary date has slipped due to the redistricting battle, so too have its chances of influencing the Republican presidential race.

Against tough odds, Sarkozy is seeking second term

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:13 EST

Nicolas Sarkozy threw himself Wednesday into what may be the toughest fight of his political career: Unpopular for years and running a feeble economy, the divisive French president announced he's running for a second term.

The man who improved French relations with the United States, rallied European leaders to ward off financial meltdown and kicked off international airstrikes in Libya is widely disliked back at home. Polls suggest his Socialist challenger will be the one attending world summits come May.

But Sarkozy is not one to give up easily. He pledged Wednesday to get the jobless back in the workforce and new reforms to ensure a "strong France" and that the French "way of life" can survive the 21st century.

"Yes, I am a candidate," he said on national TV network TF1 on Wednesday night, ending weeks of largely artificial suspense over whether he would run.

Pollsters say the president will face an uphill battle to convince voters that they should elect him again. He has only two months to change minds: The first round of the two-round vote is April 22.

Fed minutes: Members divided over more bond buys

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:37 EST

The Federal Reserve isn't about to launch another bond-buying program to boost the economy - at least not anytime soon.

While some Fed officials are open to such a move, according to minutes of the Fed's Jan. 24-25 policy-setting meeting, others believe the economy - which has come to life lately - would need to weaken before taking such action.

The debate took place at a meeting in which the Fed decided to hold its benchmark interest rate at record lows until at least late 2014. One Fed official argued that the central bank might need to consider abandoning that plan to keep inflation low.

"The minutes did not show an urgency to pursue further measures, with the general tone seeming to be one of 'wait-and-see'," said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR, Inc. "So, if the economy loses steam, markets will begin to expect further action."

That seems even less likely now after recent data show the economy has picked up since that meeting.

GM plans to freeze salaried workers' pensions

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:42 EST

General Motors Co. plans to freeze its U.S. pension plan for longtime white-collar workers and give all salaried employees annual bonuses but not pay raises in an effort to hold down expenses, officials announced Wednesday.

The Detroit-based automaker said roughly 19,000 salaried workers hired before 2001 will move from a traditional pension with guaranteed payments to a 401(k)-type plan with contributions based on salary and bonuses. Employees hired after 2001, which represent about 30 percent of the company's salaried workforce, already are in that defined contribution plan.

The changes take effect Oct. 1, and workers will keep all pension benefits they have already accrued, officials said.

GM also said it would offer bonuses to all 26,000 salaried employees and release the amounts when it announces quarterly and full-year earnings Thursday. The company is expected to post a 2011 net profit of around $8 billion - the best in its 103-year history.

GM vice president of global human resources Cindy Brinkley said the changes are geared toward increasing profitability and reducing risk.

Xi wraps up highly scripted visit to US capital

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:12 EST

For Americans looking at the U.S. visit of China's likely future leader for a clue about where relations between the two nations might be headed, the signal has been clear: No change in substance, but perhaps a change in style.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping toed the line set by the man he is to succeed as Communist Party chief in the fall, Hu Jintao, who made a grand U.S. state visit a year ago.

Xi, who is expected to become president in 2013, made clear that China wants a deeper relationship with the United States and even welcomes its engagement in the Asia-Pacific, as long as it respects China's interests and concerns in its own neighborhood.

"It was a scripted trip without surprises," said Jeff Bader, East Asia policy director during the first two years of the Obama administration. "He obviously wasn't here to make policy, or make decisions or alter positions on issues. He is not the No. 1 yet and he doesn't want to prejudice his chances of being No. 1."

But while Xi, 58, has said little new - and did little to narrow the gaping differences that exist between the U.S. and China on issues such as human rights - he made a conscious effort to appear less remote than the stiff and aloof Hu.

Cisco challenges Microsoft takeover of Skype in EU

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:56 EST

Networking company Cisco said Wednesday that it is challenging Microsoft's $8.5 billion takeover of Skype at the European Union's top court to ensure Microsoft won't block other video conferencing services.

Microsoft completed the deal in October shortly after the European Commission, the EU's competition regulator, cleared the takeover. Microsoft Corp. hopes that owning Skype will allow it to better compete with other tech giants including Apple Inc. or Google Inc.

But for Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment, the Skype deal creates a serious challenger to its video conferencing systems.

"Cisco does not oppose the merger, but believes the European Commission should have placed conditions that would ensure greater standards-based interoperability," Marthin De Beer, the head of Cisco's video conferencing division, wrote in a blog post.

Video conferencing equipment is a relatively small part of Cisco's overall sales, but it's growing rapidly. Cisco's latest major acquisition was of Tandberg, a Norwegian maker of video conferencing equipment. Cisco spent $3.4 billion for the company in 2010.