Gov't: Food allergies may be disability under law

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Allergic to gluten? What about peanuts? Federal disabilities law may be able to help.

The Justice Department said in a recent settlement with a Massachusetts college that severe food allergies can be considered a disability under the law. That gives those who suffer from such allergies a new avenue in seeking menus that fit their diet. But some say it goes too far.

The decision leaves schools, restaurants and other places that serve food more exposed to legal challenges if they fail to honor requests for accommodations by people with food allergies.

To supporters, Swartz was protagonist for a cause

BOSTON (AP) -- Since his suicide, friends and admirers have cast free-information activist Aaron Swartz as a martyred hero hounded to his death by the government he antagonized. One newspaper columnist - whose piece on Swartz was accompanied by a photo showing him at his computer, his head encircled by a golden halo - even compared him to an Internet-age Martin Luther King Jr.

But those closest to the 26-year-old Swartz say the hacker prodigy wasn't out to be a hero. Rather, he was a painfully shy young man who felt passionately that government and big business had hijacked the Web and hoped to make a difference.

Tubby leaning heavy on starters in Big Ten play

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Tubby Smith drew some criticism in his first five seasons in Minnesota for a substitution pattern that often looked more like a hockey philosophy.

He would run groups of five players in and out, playing his starters almost the same amount of minutes as his bench players.

Now that he has a talented, versatile starting group that believes it can play with any team in the nation, Smith is taking an entirely different approach. He's riding his most talented players hard this season, a strategy that has taken Minnesota to the No. 9 ranking and a highly anticipated game against No. 5 Michigan on Thursday night.

'American Idol' returns betting big on new judges

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "American Idol" is facing a $36 million-plus question: Will that combined paycheck lavished on superstar judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban pay off in ratings?

The newcomers have their work cut out for them whether they earn it with colorful feuding - ladies, you know who we're talking about - or by discovering a singer who can charm America.

The talent show, a TV groundbreaker when it debuted in 2002 despite a starless panel with Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, needs every edge as its audience erodes and other contests emerge as challengers.

World Bank urges poor countries to boost growth

Chief says poor countries cannot rely on high-income nations to drag them along

The World Bank has warned developing countries that they would need to be able to cope with a weak recovery in the west as it predicted a tentative and uneven recovery from the financial crisis of four years ago.

Highlighting the risks from a relapse in the euro area and from the political in-fighting in the US over the budget, the bank said poor countries needed to build up their economic strength because they could not rely on high-income countries to drag them along.

HMV suspends share trading, seeks rescue

LONDON (AP) -- British music and entertainment retailer HMV admitted defeat on Tuesday after more than 90 years in business, suspending trading in its shares and calling in administrators to try to salvage any viable parts of the business.

HMV is the last big retail chain selling recorded music in Britain and employs more than 4,000 people working in 238 stores, which will remain open for the time being.

The company's management confirmed that it had failed to gain agreements with lenders and suppliers to continue trading. It has appointed three partners of Deloitte LLP to administer the business.

Zuckerberg sees Facebook's Graph Search as way to halt user decline

Social-media giant wants new tool to keep users on site and grab a slice of sizeable advertising revenue tied to search

Facebook wants each journey on the web to begin and end on its site. Its first significant move into search is designed to provide all the answers to users' questions: which of my friends like Rihanna? How many of my friends speak German? Which TV shows are my colleagues watching?

Graph Search, which was announced by Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, is a clear statement of intent. It is designed for the age of the social web, when internet users spend more time on Facebook or Twitter than they do searching the outside web.

Crime writer Cornwell has personal courtroom drama

BOSTON (AP) -- For more than two decades, crime writer Patricia Cornwell has famously dramatized the life of a fictional medical examiner in her best-selling books. Now, she has her own personal drama unfolding in federal court.

Cornwell, a wildly successful author through her novels about Dr. Kay Scarpetta, is suing her former financial management firm and business manager for negligence and breach of contract, claiming they cost her and her company millions in investment losses and unaccounted for revenues during their 4 1/2-year relationship.

`Argo,' `Les Mis' win at Golden Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Ben Affleck got some vindication and Jodie Foster made a revelation at the Golden Globe Awards.

Affleck's "Argo" earned him best motion picture drama and director honors at Sunday night's ceremony. The awards came just a few days after Affleck was surprisingly omitted from the best-director category at the Academy Award nominations. Affleck also stars in the real-life drama as the CIA operative who orchestrated a daring rescue of six American embassy employees during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.

Graduate job opportunities shrink amid economic uncertainty

First drop in graduate recruitment among top 100 companies in three years recorded

Leading British companies recruited fewer graduates in 2012 than 2011, according to a study of 100 top companies, the first drop in three years and an indicator of continued economic uncertainty in the corporate sector.

There were 0.8% fewer graduate-level jobs among the 100 companies, with the biggest reductions at investment banks and accounting firms, according to the report by a specialist market research company, High Fliers.

Reddit co-founder dies in NY weeks before trial

NEW YORK (AP) -- The family of a Reddit co-founder is blaming prosecutors for his suicide just weeks before he was to go on trial on federal charges that he stole millions of scholarly articles.

Aaron Swartz hanged himself in his Brooklyn apartment Friday night, his family and authorities said. The 26-year-old had fought to make online content free to the public and as a teenager helped create RSS, a family of Web feed formats used to gather updates from blogs, news headlines, audio and video for users.

Hospitals crack down on workers refusing flu shots

CHICAGO (AP) -- Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as U.S. hospitals increasingly crack down on employees who won't get flu shots, with some workers losing their jobs over their refusal.

"Where does it say that I am no longer a patient if I'm a nurse," wondered Carrie Calhoun, a longtime critical care nurse in suburban Chicago who was fired last month after she refused a flu shot.

Brazil police: Artist's death a possible suicide

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Artist Jorge Selaron may have taken his own life by setting himself on fire on the very steps of his masterpiece, a brilliantly colored public staircase that became a symbol of Rio de Janeiro, the homicide police chief said Friday.

The body of Selaron, a Chilean who had adopted Rio as his home, was found early Thursday morning lying charred on the steps he had covered in a rainbow of bright tiles from all over the world as a tribute to the Brazilian people. The stairs, his life's work, were declared city patrimony in 2005, when Selaron was made an honorary carioca, as Rio residents are called.

Chinese buyer says solar firm MiaSole will expand

BEIJING (AP) -- The Chinese company that bought MiaSole, a California producer of thin-film solar panels, says it can make the emerging technology successful where others have suffered huge losses.

Hanergy Group's strong finances will help MiaSole invest in research and ride out a downturn in the global solar market, while its links to customers in China and abroad will help build sales, chairman Li Hejun said Wednesday. Hanergy says it is China's biggest privately owned renewable energy company, with interests in hydro, wind and solar power.

Facing backlash, AIG won't join lawsuit against US

NEW YORK (AP) -- Afraid of looking like a world-class ingrate, AIG on Wednesday decided against suing the federal government over the $182 billion bailout that saved the giant insurance company from collapse.

American International Group Inc. was put in the awkward position of having to consider joining a lawsuit brought against Uncle Sam by its former CEO, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg.

The suit claims that the terms of the taxpayer-funded bailout were too onerous. The government received a huge stake in AIG when it bailed the company out at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. AIG has since paid all the money back and notes that the government made a profit of $22.7 billion.

McConnell: Any gun proposals to take back seat

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell federal spending and the country's debt will dominate the congressional agenda for the next three months, and that debate about potential gun legislation in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting will take a back seat.

The Kentucky lawmaker tells ABC's "This Week" that lawmakers will wait to see what an Obama administration review led by Vice President Joe Biden might propose. McConnell says Congress will need to study any recommendations and then see what's appropriate to do.

Merkel highlights economy in German election year

BERLIN (AP) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted Germany's economic strength as she kicked off campaigning Saturday for an important state vote that comes months before national elections, and she brushed aside worries about the weakness of her party's coalition partner.

Merkel's center-right party faces a tough battle to extend its 10-year hold on Lower Saxony state, a northwestern region of 8 million people, in the Jan. 20 election there. Polls suggest the center-left opposition has a good chance of winning, which would give it a significant boost ahead of September national elections in which Merkel will seek a third term.

Merkel made clear that her Christian Democrats will make "economic competence, together with jobs - and jobs that are well-qualified and fairly paid," along with economic strength, a keystone of this year's campaigns. She identified opposition plans for tax increases as one battleground.

Author offers spot in book for finding lost dog

BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) -- There's a new mystery on Dennis Lehane's mind, and the best-selling author is offering a special reward: Find his lost dog and get a spot in his next book.

The plot kicked off Christmas Eve, when the crime novelist's rescue beagle Tessa escaped from his yard after an outdoor gate latch didn't lock all the way.

Since then, Lehane's family has launched an all-out search. They've posted fliers, organized foot searches and used social media to try to bring Tessa back to their home in Brookline, Mass., near Boston.

Saving Lives, Saving Money

Every year, road crashes kill more than a million people around the world and injure many, many more. But a new study says deaths and injuries can be sharply reduced by taking simple safety measures. What’s more, safer roads can bring major economic benefits as well.

Dr. Margie Peden said that traffic collisions should be viewed as a health issue.

“It’s a huge public health problem. It’s a public health problem
akin to those of malaria, tuberculosis and some other infectious diseases. It kills around 1.3 million people every year and it injures and disables somewhere between 20 and 50 million people,” she said.

Five men charged over gang rape and murder to appear in Delhi court

Men accused of violent assault in Delhi that sent shockwaves through India will make first public appearance since arrest

The five men charged with the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old year old medical student in Delhi have been ordered to appear in court on Monday. It will be their first public appearance since being detained two days after the attack three weeks ago.

The men's full trial is due to start in a week in a new fast-track court inaugurated last week specifically to deal with sexual violence against women. A sixth accused, a juvenile, will be tried separately.

Cole having medical at West Ham

• Cole expected to complete return to former club
• Midfielder started nine Premier League games since 2010

Liverpool's Joe Cole is understood to be undergoing a medical at West Ham United ahead of his proposed return to the club where he began his career.

Cole has started only nine Premier League games since he swapped Chelsea for Liverpool in the summer of 2010.

The midfielder has played the majority of his games with Liverpool in cup competitions and was sent out on loan to Lille last season.

Privatizing liquor sales hasn't brought price down

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- Privatizing liquor sales in Washington state hasn't brought prices down, as some had hoped. Instead, average liquor prices are up 10 percent since a year ago.

The cost of liquor in Washington went up six months ago, right after the changeover, and has mostly stayed that way, The Daily Herald  reported Monday.

The average statewide price per liter of hard liquor after taxes was $24.06 in October, according to the state Department of Revenue.

Briton shot dead at Thai new year party

Stephen Ashton, 22, reportedly killed after getting caught in gang crossfire while dancing at beach bar on Koh Phangan

A British tourist has been shot dead at a New Year's Eve party in Thailand after getting caught in the crossfire of a gun fight between two local gangs.

Stephen Ashton, 22, is said to have been killed as he danced with friends at a beach bar on the island of Koh Phangan.

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the identity of the dead man as Ashton, and said: "We are aware of the death of a British national in Thailand on New Year's Eve and we are providing consular assistance to the family."

Obama calls on House to follow Senate and back fiscal cliff deal

Senate votes 89-8 – two hours after midnight deadline – to pass legislation to block impact of tax increases and spending cuts

Barack Obama has called for the House of Representatives to follow the Senate's lead and pass the fiscal cliff deal "without delay" to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans and raise tax rates on top earners.