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NEW YORK (AP) — The American Beverage Association says efforts by the mayors of 18 cities to stop food stamps from being used to buy sugary drinks won't make the nation healthier. Mayors from cities including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are reviving a push against letting food stamps be used for soda and other sugary drinks. They say in a letter sent to congressional leaders Tuesday it's time to evaluate approaches limiting the use of the subsidies for sugar-laden beverages in the interest of fighting obesity. The American Beverage Association represents the non-alcoholic, refreshment beverage industry. It says obesity is "a complex health condition that affects Americans of all income levels," not just those on food

ASHLAND, Ohio (AP) — A mentally disabled woman charged with shoplifting a candy bar asked to be jailed because three people "had been mean to her" — then went on to tell authorities about her time spent in unfathomably cruel servitude, along with her young daughter, at the hands of three people, authorities said Tuesday. On several occasions, according to an FBI affidavit, the suspects injured her and ordered her to go to an emergency room for pain medication they would then take for themselves. The 29-year-old woman was forced to do housework under the threat of harm to her and her child by her captors' pet python or pit bulls, authorities allege, and a menagerie of snakes was put in the terrified 5-year-old's face until

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings died early Tuesday in a car accident in Los Angeles, his employer and family said. Hastings, who was 33, was described by many of his colleagues as an unfailingly bright and hard-charging reporter who wrote stories that mattered. Most recently, he wrote about politics for the news website BuzzFeed, where the top editor said colleagues were devastated by the loss. "Michael was a great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story, and a gift for finding ways to make his readers care about anything he covered from wars to politicians," said Ben Smith, BuzzFeed's editor-in-chief. Smith said he learned of the death from a f

SEATTLE (AP) — An indication of an oil filter problem prompted the crew of a Boeing 787 flying from Denver to Tokyo to divert to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, a United Airlines spokeswoman said. Flight 139 landed normally and an airline maintenance team was inspecting it, United spokeswoman Mary Ryan said in an email statement. The plane touched down in Seattle shortly after 4 p.m., a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. United just put its 787s back in the air May 20 after smoldering batteries on two 787s owned by other airlines prompted authorities to ground the planes in January. In her statement, the United spokeswoman said the crew decided to land in Seattle because o

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 13-year-old boy from a New Orleans suburb was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old half-sister after investigators said he told them he repeatedly struck her with wrestling moves imitated from TV. "The 13-year-old reported he started to wrestle with the victim and practiced 'WWE' style wrestling moves on the 5-year-old," Col. John Fortunato of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release Tuesday. Those moves allegedly included repeatedly slamming the girl on a bed, punching her in the stomach, jumping on her and striking her with his elbow. A coroner's investigation found the girl died of multiple injuries, including broken ribs, lacerations of the liver and i

MARIPOSA, Calif. (AP) — An unattended campfire near a main route into Yosemite National Park has grown into a blaze that has led to the evacuations of 1,500 people and 800 homes, officials said Tuesday. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials released the cause of the fire Tuesday, as 2,200 firefighters - up from more than 700 Monday - worked to gain the upper hand on it amid windy, dry conditions. No other details were available about where the fire started, spokeswoman Karen Guillemin said. The fire 6 miles northeast of Mariposa has burned more than 2 square miles and was 15 percent contained. Though temperatures were down, officials feared the weather conditions could still fuel the flames, offici

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Doctors in Bolivia say a 4-year-old girl who was unconscious for nearly three weeks after being mauled in the face and body by a Rottweiler is conscious and ready to fly to Boston for reconstructive surgery. The case of Rosalia has been closely watched by Bolivians. Doctors say it also drew the attention of the Boston Children's Hospital, which offered to send a plane to pick up the girl. Rosalia was unconscious following the May 24 attack until last Wednesday, when she woke up and asked for her mother. Dr. Alfredo Rodriguez at the Bolivian children's hospital said Tuesday that Rosalia is out of the most critical stage and is ready to travel. Authorities in Bolivia say they expect the plan

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma executed a 36-year-old man on Tuesday for taking part in the brutal killing of a ranching couple 13 years ago. James Lewis DeRosa was killed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, becoming the state's second inmate executed this year. At a clemency hearing last month, DeRosa took responsibility for his role in the Oct. 2, 2000, stabbing deaths of Curtis and Gloria Plummer, for whom he had previously done some ranch work. He also apologized to their family. Strapped to the gurney in the penitentiary's death chamber, though, he had nothing to say before the fatal mixture of drugs was pumped into his veins. "Mr. DeRosa, would you like to make a last sta

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to eight days in jail for stealing a former "American Idol" contestant's iPhone while the singer was performing at a California elementary school. City News Service reports 47-year-old Bertha Alicia Avalos, of Santa Ana, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft charges Monday and was sentenced immediately. Todrick Dramaul Hall reported his phone missing after a performance at Hazard Elementary School in Santa Ana. Hall and a school security guard used the "Find My iPhone" feature on the device to track the phone to a grocery store where Avalos was shopping with her son, a student at the school. Avalos gave the phone back to Hall. He wanted to press charges, so she w

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The endangered Lakota language has lost one of its greatest supporters. Albert White Hat, who was instrumental in teaching and preserving the American Indian language and translated the Hollywood movie "Dances with Wolves" into Lakota for its actors, died last week surrounded by loved ones at a South Dakota hospital. The 74-year-old had prostate cancer and other health issues, according to family and friends. White Hat, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, authored several books on writing and reading Lakota, a language fluently spoken by fewer than 6,000 people.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Satellite TV operator Dish Network Corp. said Tuesday it would not submit a revised bid for Sprint, leaving the path open for the wireless carrier to accept what it already considers a superior offer from Japan's Softbank. Dish said that Sprint Nextel Corp.'s decision to cut Dish's due diligence process short, among other things, made it "impracticable" to submit a revised bid. It said it will continue to focus on its bid for Clearwire, a wireless network operator in which Sprint has a majority stake. "We will consider our options with respect to Sprint, and focus our efforts and resources on completing the Clearwire tender offer," Dish said. Sprint had given Dish until Tuesday to make its best

SYDNEY (AP) — Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex. The discovery was announced late Monday in a peer-reviewed paper released early by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The laser scanning revealed a previously undocumented formally planned urban landscape integrating the 1,200-year-old temples. The Angkor temple complex, Cambodia's top tourist destination and one of Asia's most famous landmarks, was constructed in the 12th century during the mighty Khmer empire. Angkor Wat is a point of deep pride for Cambodians, appearing on the national flag, and was named a UNESCO World H

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A group of U.S. senators is urging Secretary of State John Kerry to order a review of aid for Honduras' police and military amid allegations of abuse and human rights violations. Twenty-one senators said in a letter sent to Kerry on Monday that they want the State Department to provide Congress with a detailed report on whether the Honduran government is protecting freedom of expression, implementing the rule of law and investigating abuses allegedly involving police and soldiers, as required by the U.S. The senators said they have "serious questions regarding the State Department's certification that these conditions were met for Fiscal Year 2012.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' attorney general filed a brief Tuesday backed by his counterparts in 35 other states asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to uphold a $1.2 billion fine levied against Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary over the marketing of the antipsychotics drug Risperdal. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel called on the justices to reject the companies' appeal of a Pulaski County jury's ruling last year in which it found that the drug makers downplayed and hid risks associated with taking Risperdal. The companies have asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to overturn that ruling. In his brief, McDaniel said the companies were going too far with their argument that the ruling against them violated the U.S.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — 'Terminator 2' star Edward Furlong has been charged with assault after a May 21 incident in which his girlfriend called police and reported he attacked her. Deputy District Attorney Linda Loftfield says Furlong pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday. Furlong already has two pending misdemeanor battery cases. He allegedly violated a restraining order when he returned to the victim's West Hollywood home. He's also accused of damaging a laptop and photo equipment. In March, the 35-year-old actor was sentenced to six months in jail for violating his probation in a 2010 case for violating a similar restraining order. Furlong has been the subject of such orders taken out by both his ex-wife a

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson's personal chef described for jurors the home lives of the children during the final months of the singer's life and their ongoing grief over their father's death nearly four years ago. Gone are the freewheeling days when the children, Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson played with their father and traded jokes at the dinner table, chef Kai Chase told jurors Tuesday. It has been replaced, Chase said, by a weight on eldest son Prince Michael Jackson's shoulders. Daughter Paris Jackson cries and no longer wants parties for her birthday since her father hosted a private circus for her 11th birthday. Youngest son Blanket, who remains home-schooled, wears a T-shirt with his father's image every

PLANADA, Calif. (AP) — A California couple have been convicted of luring an acquaintance to their home and strangling her to kidnap her 2-month-old boy. A jury found Maria Robles guilty of first-degree murder Friday, and a separate jury found Jose Velarde guilty of second-degree murder Monday, the Merced Sun-Star reported (http://bit.ly/ZZfjd6 ). Both were also convicted of kidnapping and other charges. Robles, 34, faces life in prison without parole, and Velarde, 38, faces a sentence of 32 years to life behind bars. "We don't expect either of these defendants to get out of prison," Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II told the Sun-Star. "We expect they will die in custody and that's appropriate.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A Brazilian congressional human rights committee on Thursday approved legislation that would allow psychologists to treat homosexuality as a disorder or pathology. The commission is led by evangelical pastor Marco Feliciano of the Social Christian Party, who has been accused of homophobia and enraged activists by calling AIDS a "gay cancer" in a tweet. His appointment as head the Commission for Human Rights and Minorities in the lower house of Brazil's Congress was fiercely opposed by gay and human rights groups. The measure approved Tuesday seeks to lift a prohibition on psychologists treating homosexuality that was established by the Federal Psychology Council. The ban has been in effect since 1999

SAO PAULO (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators flooded a square in Brazil's economic hub, Sao Paulo, on Tuesday evening for the latest in a historic wave of protests against the shoddy state of public transit, schools and other public services in this booming South American giant. Sparked earlier this month by a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares and organized via social media, the nationwide protests are giving voice to growing discontent over the gap between Brazil's high tax burden and the low quality of public infrastructure, echoing similar mobilizations in Turkey, Greece and other parts of the globe where weariness with governments has exploded in the streets.

PHOENIX (AP) — A Texas congressman who was choking on a piece of popcorn is thanking a fellow Republican from Arizona and a House staffer who is also a doctor for stepping in to help. A spokeswoman for Rep. Ted Poe said the five-term congressman from the state's 2nd District was eating dinner at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington Thursday when he began choking. Poe spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon was eating nearby and he and another bystander jumped into action and began doing the Heimlich maneuver to clear Poe's airway. "They did that for a few minutes and it didn't appear to be dislodging," Salmon spokeswoman Kristine Michalson said Tuesday. Salmon began calling for someone to call 911 and for a d