| House GOP, eager to mend wounds, ready to make Ryan speaker Posted: 29 Oct 2015 01:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Outgoing Speaker John Boehner bade farewell to his colleagues Thursday as the House commenced the political pageantry of electing Paul Ryan to replace him, with Republicans hoping the young but seasoned lawmaker can mend the splintered party's self-inflicted wounds and craft a conservative message to woo voters in next year's elections.
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| Best one-liners of the third GOP presidential debate Posted: |
| China ends one-child policy: state media Posted: 29 Oct 2015 02:17 PM PDT  China announced the end of its hugely controversial one-child policy on Thursday, after decades of strict, sometimes brutal enforcement left it with an ageing population and shrinking workforce that has heightened the challenges of slowing economic growth. All couples will be allowed two children, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing a communique issued by the ruling Communist Party following a four-day meeting in Beijing. The historic change was "intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an ageing population", Xinhua said.
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| Plane catches fire on takeoff at Florida airport, 15 hurt Posted: 29 Oct 2015 03:54 PM PDT  An engine on a passenger jet bound for Caracas, Venezuela, burst into flames while taxiing for takeoff at a Florida airport on Thursday, forcing frightened passengers to exit the plane using inflatable emergency slides. Fifteen people were injured, one seriously, as 101 passengers and crew evacuated the Dynamic International Airways' Boeing 767-200ER within minutes of the pilots realizing there was a problem. Television images showed the plane surrounded by white foam and firefighters' trucks in Fort Lauderdale, its left engine badly charred.
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| Sandusky move for new trial puts Pennsylvania AG Kane in spotlight Posted: 29 Oct 2015 01:21 PM PDT  By David DeKok BELLEFONTE, Pa. (Reuters) - Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was ordered Thursday to turn over evidence that she says proves that a judge had leaked secret information to a reporter about a grand jury investigating Jerry Sandusky for child sex abuse. The order came during a hearing into defense moves to win a new trial for Sandusky, the former assistant football coach at Penn State University, who was convicted in 2012 of molesting 10 boys over 15 years. Sandusky lawyer Alexander Lindsay maintains that the grand jury initially heard from only two victims and the case was falling apart, but the judge's leaks generated publicity that prompted other victims to come forward and helped prosecutors shore up their case and win indictments.
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| Year in jail for former U.S. prep school student in sex assault trial Posted: 29 Oct 2015 01:54 PM PDT  A New Hampshire judge on Thursday sentenced a former student at an elite prep school to serve one year in jail for luring an underage classmate into a sexual encounter. Owen Labrie, 20, was convicted in August at the end of a high-profile trial that cast a harsh light on the culture of the elite St. Paul's School and its tradition of a "senior salute," in which final-year students invited underclassmen for sexual encounters. Labrie could be seen crossing himself in a gesture of prayer as he waited for Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler to issue his sentence, which was considerably less than the seven years prosecutors had sought.
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| Rubio, Cruz dominate rowdy Republican presidential debate Posted: 28 Oct 2015 10:41 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and James Oliphant BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz emerged as the strongest challengers on Wednesday to insurgent front-runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson, in a fiery debate that may have marked a new phase in the 2016 race. With time running short until the first nominating contest in three months, the 10 Republicans in the evening's main debate were anxious to stand out. In a dominating performance, Rubio, the U.S. senator from Florida, swatted away Jeb Bush when the former Florida governor attacked his attendance record in the Senate.
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