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Social affairs

Blogger contests ex-cheerleader's libel suit
A gossip website operator defended himself Wednesday against a defamation lawsuit by arguing that a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader featured in ...
After shootings, states rethink mental health cuts
Dozens of states have slashed spending on mental health care over the last four years, driven by the recession's toll on revenue and, in some cases, ...
Soul-searching in focus as GOP gathers in NC
Republican soul-searching begins in earnest this week as GOP officials from every state in the nation come together for the first time since their ...
Hate crime, murder alleged in Philly basement case
A paroled killer targeted mentally disabled adults in a scheme to steal their Social Security benefits, confining them like "zoo animals," forcing ...
Seau's family sues NFL over brain injuries
Add Junior Seau's family to the thousands of people who are suing the NFL over the long-term damage caused by concussions. Seau's ex-wife and four ...
Unions suffer sharp decline in membership
Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s as cash-strapped state and local governments shed workers and unions had ...
Report: Myanmar still recruits child soldiers
Myanmar is still recruiting and using child soldiers, despite embracing democratic reforms and a U.N. agreement to end the practice, a human rights ...
AP IMPACT: Recession, tech kill middle-class jobs
Five years after the start of the Great Recession, the toll is terrifyingly clear: Millions of middle-class jobs have been lost in developed countries ...
Experts back NYC's link of gun laws, lower crime
In his nationwide effort for tighter gun control, Mayor Michael Bloomberg attributes historic crime lows in New York to strict gun laws that are ...
Rise of Israeli centrist raises hopes for peace
The unexpectedly strong showing by a new centrist party in Israel's parliamentary election has raised hopes of a revival of peace talks with ...
Jordanians vote for newly empowered parliament
Jordanians voted Wednesday for a parliament with wider authority, as the king cedes some of his powers to try to prevent simmering dissent from ...
Air Force general calls sex assaults a 'cancer'
Likening sexual assault in the Air Force's ranks to a cancer, the service's top officer resolved Wednesday to tackle the problem by screening ...
Israeli election casts ex-TV anchor as kingmaker
Israel's election has put a suave former TV news anchor and political novice in the role of kingmaker, and he has signaled he will use his power to ...
Thousands strike amid gov't crisis in Slovenia
Schools closed down, theaters cancelled shows, hospitals switched to weekend schedules and long lines formed at Slovenia's borders on Wednesday in a ...
Immigration fallout from saying no to 'Obamacare'
Governors who reject health insurance for the poor under the federal health care overhaul could wind up in a politically awkward position on ...
Russia denies large Syria evacuation amid fighting
Russia acknowledged Wednesday for the first time that it pulled the families of its diplomats out of Syria long ago, and rejected suggestions that the ...
Biden's recent moves stoking chatter about 2016
Joe Biden is thanking Democratic supporters in the afterglow of President Barack Obama's second inauguration, dropping plenty of hints that he may try ...
Research chimps may be headed from lab to leisure
Chimpanzees who have spent their lives in U.S. research labs being prodded, poked and tested may be headed for retirement in a leafy sanctuary where ...
Witness describes killings by Malian army
Malian soldiers killed people accused of ties to radical Islamists at a bus stop around the time the French-led military intervention began, a witness ...
Sundance doc sheds light on 3rd-trimester abortion
Third-trimester abortions — those done beyond the 28th week of pregnancy — account for less than 1 percent of all abortions performed in the United ...
Editor gets 10 years in jail for Thai royal insult
A prominent Thai activist and magazine editor was sentenced to a decade in prison Wednesday for defaming Thailand's monarchy, a verdict rights groups ...
Groups call for Somali gov't to release journalist
Rights groups on Wednesday called for the Somali government to release a journalist arrested by police for interviewing a woman who said she was raped ...
Israeli PM Netanyahu scrambles to keep his job
A weakened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled Wednesday to keep his job by extending his hand to a new centrist party that advocates a more ...
Gay activists laud Obama speech, now want action
President Barack Obama's emphatic gay-rights advocacy in his inaugural address thrilled many activists. Yet almost immediately came the questions and ...
Morocco to change law allowing rape marriage
Nearly a year after Morocco was shocked by the suicide of a 16-year-old girl who was forced to marry her alleged rapist, the government has announced ...