Packers in position to take control of NFC North

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers finally got the best of Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings.

And with the Chicago Bears struggling, the NFC North title appears to be there for the taking.

At least for a day, the Packers could forget about their own disappointing start, recent back-to-back overtime losses and a remarkable rash of injuries. Sunday night's emotional victory over the Vikings brought renewed optimism to Green Bay on Monday.

Girl who had hiccups for five weeks charged with murder

A teenager who became famous after hiccupping uncontrollably for weeks has been charged with luring a man she met online to a house where he was robbed and fatally shot.

Jennifer Mee, 19, of St. Petersburg and two others are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Shannon Griffin, 22, on Saturday.

NPR chief sorry over handling of Williams' firing

Vivian Schiller, chief executive of NPR, apologized to colleagues for how she handled Juan Williams’s firing.

NPR's chief executive says she's sorry for how analyst Juan Williams' dismissal was handled - but not for firing him. Vivian Schiller sent an apology to National Public Radio staff members on Sunday night and wrote to managers at NPR stations. Her dismissal of Williams for saying on Fox News Channel that he gets nervous when he sees people on a plane with clothing that identifies them as Muslim became a "public relations disaster," NPR's ombudsman said.

The question now for NPR is whether the situation will cause lasting damage to public broadcasting permanently, or whether in some ways it might help it.

Williams, who was fired in a phone conversation, deserved a face-to-face meeting, Schiller wrote. She has also expressed regret for saying, after last Wednesday's firing, that whatever feelings Williams has about Muslims should be between him and "his psychiatrist or his publicist - take your pick."

Obama touts job creation as midterm elections near

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday touted his administration's job-creation efforts just eight days before elections in which voters' economic anxiety threatens his Democrats' grip on Congress.

Making a campaign stop in the tiny state of Rhode Island, Obama acknowledged some of his policies were not popular and that Americans were frustrated by the weak economic recovery. But the steps he took averted a second Great Depression, he stressed.

Twister tears through northeast Texas, local authorities say

At least one tornado ripped through northeast Texas Sunday evening, destroying homes, turning over vehicles and knocking train cars off tracks, local authorities said.

A tornado struck Rice Texas at 5:30 p.m., Navarro County Chief Deputy Mike Cox said.

The twister destroyed three homes, damaged at least two more, turned over an 18-wheeler truck onto a passenger car and knocked cars from a freight train off their tracks, he said. It also caused extensive damage to Rice Elementary School.

NIU on lockdown; Campus uneasy as police reveal few details about missing student and remains found

 

Antinette Keller appears in this photo supplied by NIU Police Department. Antinette Keller, a Northern Illinois University student has been missing since Oct. 14, 2010.

(Courtesy NIU Police Department)

Unease and fear hit the Northern Illinois University campus on Sunday as dormitories remained on lockdown and students waited to hear if remains found in a heavily wooded park belonged to one of their own.

Vale, union halt exploratory talks

Exploratory talks between the union and the mining company in the Voisey's Bay strike have broken off without resolution, opening the way for a provincial inquiry.

Bob Carter, a spokesman for nickel mining giant Vale, said the Brazilian-based company met with the United Steelworkers union and a mediator in St. John's on Friday.

MacBook Air and the future of notebooks

If there’s one Apple product that professionals love to hate, it’s the MacBook Air, Apple’s super-lightweight notebook that was just refreshed. At the launch event, Steve Jobs said the future of notebooks can be seen today in the new MBA. Whether the sexy Air is right for everyone at this moment is questionable – although it’s always chancy to bet against Steve Jobs – but the Air likely heralds the future for the MacBook.
At the rollout event, Jobs said: ‘We asked ourselves, “What would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up?’ Well, this is the result. … We think it’s the future of notebooks.”

Microsoft: Windows 8 Is 2 Years Away

In a blog post on its Dutch website, Microsoft said that the next version of Windows, Windows 8, is in the works, but that the new operating system will not hit the market for about two years.

The news came at the bottom of a post commemorating Windows 7’s one-year anniversary, and suggests a substantially later deployment date than the one detailed in a leaked slide deck about the forthcoming product earlier this year.

According to the slide deck, the next version of Windows should include a Windows App Store similar to the one Apple unveiled for Mac last week, logins via facial recognition and faster boot-up times. It also cited early 2011 as the intended launch date.

Nikkei inches down as yen weighs; earnings awaited

* Earnings in full swing this week; Canon, Sony to report
* Eyes on companies' currency assumptions, impact on f'casts
* Toyota down; media reports to cut H2 dlr/yen rate to 80 yen
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average inched down on Monday as investors grew cautious ahead of the peak of Japan's earnings season, with many focusing on the impact of a strong yen on companies' full-year earnings outlooks.
The benchmark Nikkei erased small earlier gains as the dollar fell broadly after investors interpreted a Group of 20 agreement to shun competitive currency devaluations as a greenlight to resume dollar selling.

Poly Real Estate, China's Property Developers Decline on Trial Tax Report

Poly Real Estate Group Co. led China’s property developers lower in Shanghai and Shenzhen trading, after a newspaper report said the country may start levying a property tax before March next year.
Poly, the nation’s second-largest publicly traded developer, dropped 2.9 percent in Shanghai as of 9:43 a.m. while China Merchants Property Development Co. fell 2.7 percent in Shenzhen. An index tracking 34 real-estate companies in Shanghai lost 0.6 percent, compared with a 0.2 percent decline in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index.
The country may start levying the property tax on a trial basis prior to March, the China Securities Journal reported today, citing Nie Meisheng, president of the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce. The government said last month it will speed up the introduction of a trial property tax in some cities and then expand the levy to the whole country.

Asian Markets Rise On G-20 Agreement

SINGAPORE—Asian stock markets were modestly higher early Monday, with sentiment getting a small boost after the Group of 20 nations agreed on a truce to defuse currency-market tensions.
In Tokyo, strong-yen concerns continued to hold back buyers, while the Sydney market braced for an announcement of a US$8.2 billion takeover bid for the ASX Ltd. from Singapore Exchange Ltd.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.6%,

Clinton urges small crowd to vote big

Oct. 24, 2010 -- Former President Bill Clinton speaks as Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) listens at a rally to get out the vote. Clinton earlier stumped for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

DETROIT -- Former President Bill Clinton lavished praise Sunday on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero, but the Detroit rally took place in a high school gym that was only about one-third full.

Sherpa who scaled Everest 19 times feared dead on climb

Chhewang Nima hit by avalanche near summit of Baruntse in Himalayas
 

A famed Sherpa guide was last night feared dead after being struck by an avalanche while nearing the peak of the 7,129m Mount Baruntse in eaastern Nepal.

Chhewang Nima was leading an expedition of seven people, which included some British climbers, up the mountain when he was struck by the avalanche as he was fixing ropes, his agency said last night.

The accident happened when he was less than 100 metres from the summit. The other members of the team dug the snow but were unable to find him.

India and Japan to sign nuclear deal

India is ready to seal a civilian nuclear deal and boost trade ties with Japan, as New Delhi looks to prove its friendship in the wake of Tokyo's bitter territorial spat with Beijing.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, pictured, is heading to Tokyo to meet with his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan Photo: REUTERS

 

Karzai Stands By Private Security Ban

KABUL—Afghan President Hamid Karzai is standing by his decree to dissolve the private security companies some aid organizations use for protection, although a delegation of Western diplomats warned Sunday that huge amounts of aid and development money could be affected.
Several international aid organizations are drawing up plans to withdraw from Afghanistan, worried about the ability of Afghan security forces to protect their staffs, potentially taking with them billions of dollars in development cash as well as jobs for ordinary Afghans. President Karzai's decree makes exceptions for foreign embassies and military bases, but not aid groups.
Western officials warned Mr. Karzai in the Sunday meeting that the cash these development organizations manage will not start flowing directly to the Afghan government if they leave, said people familiar with the discussion.

Associated Press

An Afghan policeman looks at weapons confiscated from private security companies.

Hurricane Richard Makes Landfall

AT 400 PM...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RICHARD WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 88.0 WEST. RICHARD IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 13 MPH....AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TONIGHT WITH A DECREASE IN FORWARD SPEED ON MONDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CENTER WILL CROSS THE COAST OF BELIZE IN A COUPLE OF HOURS AND MOVE OVER LAND TONIGHT AND MONDAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 90 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. RICHARD IS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN STRENGTH IS EXPECTED BEFORE LANDFALL...AND WEAKENING WILL BEGIN AFTER THE CENTER CROSSES THE COAST.
THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED FROM HURRICANE HUNTER
AIRCRAFT DATA IS 981 MB...28.97 INCHES.

Prince Charles' friend dies in helicopter crash

Prince William and Prince Harry say they are "shocked and deeply saddened" by the death of their friend Charles Stisted in a helicopter crash in Northern Ireland.

Rescue teams work at the isolated scene

Mr Stisted, 47, was the chief executive officer of The Guards Polo Club in Windsor, Berkshire, and a close friend of their father The Prince of Wales.

Singapore says tanker seized by pirates off Kenya

Singapore says pirates seized a liquefied gas tanker registered in the city-state 105 miles (165 kilometers) off the coast of Kenya.

The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority said in a statement Sunday that the YORK was traveling from Mombasa to Mahe in the Seychelles with 17 crew when pirates commandeered it late Saturday.

The authority says it is working with the ship's owner, York Maritime Co., and government agencies to recover the ship.

It did not give the size of the vessel or the value of the gas it was carrying.

Foreign troop deaths in Afghanistan near 600 for 2010

Total foreign military deaths in Afghanistan in 2010 neared 600 with the death of another service member on Sunday, an unwelcome figure that will likely weigh heavily on Western leaders amid declining support for the war.