SEATTLE (AP) -- Amazon says iPhone and iPod Touch users will be able to buy music from its digital store for the first time beginning Thursday.
Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that its MP3 library has 22 million songs available.
Serbs set up "Rage Room" for unleashing anger
NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) -- Savo Duvnjak looks around the room, lifts a metal baseball bat and wrecks everything in sight - bed, table, shelves, chair - until there's nothing left to wreck.
This isn't a criminal onslaught. It's the Rage Room.
And it's smashing its way to success in Serbia one angry visitor at a time.
"This feels so good!" Duvnjak said sweating and panting, as he admired the mound of debris he created - for just a modest fee.
Webb to work for 'Inside Edition' at Super Bowl
NEW YORK (AP) -- The beauty pageant queen who shot to social media stardom during the BCS championship will be back in front of the cameras ahead of the NFL's title game.
Former Miss Alabama USA Katherine Webb will serve as a correspondent for "Inside Edition" leading up to next month's Super Bowl in New Orleans.
The girlfriend of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, Webb became a star when ESPN's cameras lingered on her during the Crimson Tide's rout of Notre Dame on Jan. 7 and announcer Brent Musburger commented on her looks.
Lentz: Toyota winning back buyers with new models
DETROIT (AP) -- Toyota is on a roll after two difficult years, when it was hit by a string of safety recalls and then by the earthquake in Japan.
The Japanese automaker's U.S. sales rose 27 percent last year, thanks in part to strong sales of its recently expanded Prius lineup and its Camry sedan.
Now, Toyota's U.S. chief Jim Lentz is turning his attention to the Corolla, Toyota's dated small car. The company unveiled a concept version at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week that hints at a radical styling change for the Corolla. Lentz said the company must now decide how edgy it can go with the Corolla's styling, to win over new customers, without losing longtime buyers.
House approves long-delayed $50.7bn Sandy disaster aid package
Democrats supported emergency relief worth $50.7bn in large numbers, but there was substantial Republican backing too
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved $50.7bn in emergency relief for Hurricane Sandy victims on Tuesday night, ending an episode that exposed party divisions more than 10 weeks after the storm brutalised parts of the heavily populated north-east.
The vote was 241-180, and officials said the Senate was likely to accept the measure early next week and send it to Barack Obama for his signature. Democrats supported the aid in large numbers, but there was substantial Republican backing, too, in the Republican-controlled House.
Fitch warns it may downgrade US over debt standoff
LONDON (AP) -- The United States could lose its top credit rating for the second time from a leading agency if there's a delay in raising the country's debt ceiling, Fitch Ratings warned Tuesday.
Congress has to increase the country's debt limit, which effectively rules how much debt the U.S. can have, by the end of February or face a potential default, Fitch says.
There are fears that the debate will descend into the sort of squabbling and political brinkmanship that marked the last effort to raise the ceiling in the summer of 2011. Outgoing U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned then that it had nearly reached a point where government would be unable "to meet our commitments securely."
Maryland governor Martin O'Malley to seek repeal of death penalty
O'Malley says punishment does not prevent violent crime as state bids to become 18th in union to abolish death penalty
The governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley, has announced that he will seek to repeal the death penalty, in a move that would make his state the sixth in as many years to discard the ultimate punishment.
At the start of his final term as governor, that ends in 2016, O'Malley said he would use the full weight of his office to see the abrogation of capital punishment in Maryland. "The death penalty does not work in terms of preventing violent crime," he said.
Chilly Golden Globes carpet gets haute in red
Jennifer Lawrence and Marion Cotillard were Dior Haute Couture twins on Sunday night's Golden Globe red carpet.
Lawrence wore a strapless coral organza gown and metallic belt, and Cotillard was in an orange velvet bustier dress with a silver belt.
With all the pressure to strike the right style note at this kickoff to the Hollywood award season, Lawrence broke the ice: "I don't really know what `haute' means," she told E!
Hal Rubenstein, editor-at-large of InStyle, said designer Raf Simons did enough to differentiate them. Cotillard's had an asymmetrical hemline and was more ethereal, while Lawrence's was a more structured ball gown.
Iran's election tip to critics: Keep quiet
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Elections to pick Iran's next president are still five months away, but that's not too early for some warning shots by the country's leadership.
The message to anyone questioning the openness of the June vote: Keep quiet.
A high-level campaign - including blunt remarks by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - seeks to muzzle any open dissent over the process to select the successor for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and likely usher in a new president with a far tamer political persona.
British girl shot dead in Jamaica was 'accidental victim of feud'
Imani Green, 8, was on holiday with family when she was hit in the head by a bullet while playing in a shop
An eight-year-old British girl who was shot dead while visiting relatives in a quiet Jamaican town is thought to have been the accidental victim of a violent local feud.
Imani Green, from Balham, south London, was playing with her cousins in a shop in the north coast town of Duncans on Friday night when a gunman burst in and opened fire.
Imani was hit twice – once in the head – and died on the way to hospital. Three people injured in the shooting were also taken to hospital and are thought to be in a stable condition.
Obama won't support building 'Death Star'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A "Death Star" won't be a part of the U.S. military's arsenal any time soon.
More than 34,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the Obama administration to build the "Star Wars" inspired super-weapon to spur job growth and bolster national defense.
But in a posting Friday on the White House website, Paul Shawcross, an administration adviser on science and space, says a Death Star would cost too much to build - an estimated $850 quadrillion - at a time the White House is working to reduce the federal budget.
Reddit co-founder dies in NY weeks before trial
NEW YORK (AP) -- The family of a Reddit co-founder who committed suicide in New York weeks before he was to go on trial on federal charges that he stole millions of scholarly articles is blaming prosecutors for his death.
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.
In 2011, he was charged with stealing millions of scientific journals from a computer archive at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in an attempt to make them freely available.
AP Interview: UN chief says Mali getting more help
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that France, Senegal and Nigeria have responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter an offensive by al-Qaida-linked militants who control the northern half of the country and are heading south.
The U.N. chief said in an interview with The Associated Press that assisting the Malian defense forces push back against the Islamist armed groups is "very important." The militants captured the city of Konna on Thursday, and were threatening the city of Mopti, which has 100,000 inhabitants.
The secretary-general said he received a letter from Mali's President Dioncounda Traore on Thursday "informing me of his intention to request assistance from French government and other regional powers, which I have brought to (the) urgent attention of the Security Council."
TV-over-Internet service expands despite lawsuits
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Barry Diller-backed Internet company that challenged cable and satellite TV services by offering inexpensive live television online plans to expand beyond New York City this spring.
In the wake of a federal court ruling that tentatively endorsed its legality, Aereo will bring its $8-a-month service to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and 18 other markets in the U.S., as well as to New York's suburbs. For the past year, the service had been limited to New York City residents as the company fine-tuned its technology and awaited guidance on whether its unlicensed use of free, over-the-air broadcasts amounted to a copyright violation.
China trade rebounds in sign of economic recovery
BEIJING (AP) -- China's trade growth rebounded strongly in December in a positive sign for the gradual and still uncertain recovery of the world's second-largest economy.
Export growth more than quadrupled from the previous month to 14.1 percent while imports - which failed to grow at all in November - rose 6 percent in a sign of increasing domestic demand, data showed Thursday.
The trade figures add to evidence China is gradually emerging from its worst economic downturn since the 2008 global crisis. Factory output and other activity improved in the final quarter of 2012, but analysts say a recovery is still shaky and will be too weak to drive a global rebound without a turnaround in the United States and Europe.
Rare color photos of the Beatles to go up for sale
LONDON (AP) -- Unpublished early color photographs of the Beatles' first U.S. tour will be sold at a U.K. auction.
The photos were taken during the rock band's 1964 visit to the U.S., when color film was expensive and most images of the group were in black and white.
The collection of 65 slides contains many stage shots, including George Harrison with his legendary red Rickenbacker guitar and close-up portraits from a Las Vegas Sahara Hotel press conference and Las Vegas Convention Centre gig.
US pushes to finish Afghan dam as challenges mount
KAJAKI, Afghanistan (AP) -- In the approaching twilight of its war in Afghanistan, the U.S. is forging ahead with a giant infrastructure project long criticized as too costly in both blood and money.
It's a $500 million effort to refurbish the massive Kajaki dam and hydro-electric power system with an extensive network of power lines and transmission substations. It is supposed to bring electricity to 332,000 people in southern Afghanistan, increase crop yields and build up a cohort of trained Afghan laborers in a region badly in need of them.
But completion, which originally was envisaged for 2005, now is projected for some time in 2015, the year after most combat troops will have left the country. And there are some crucial ifs:
Indian court to rule on generic drug industry
NEW DELHI (AP) -- From Africa's crowded AIDS clinics to the malarial jungles of Southeast Asia, the lives of millions of ill people in the developing world are hanging in the balance ahead of a legal ruling that will determine whether India's drug companies can continue to provide cheap versions of many life-saving medicines.
The case - involving Swiss drug maker Novartis AG's cancer drug Glivec - pits aid groups that argue India plays a vital role as the pharmacy to the poor against drug companies that insist they need strong patents to make drug development profitable. A ruling by India's Supreme Court is expected in early 2013.
NY county: Releasing gun names endangers public
NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York county clerk justified his refusal to release the names and addresses of handgun permit holders to a newspaper, saying it would give stalkers and thieves a convenient roadmap to target potential victims - and determine whether they have a gun.
"This certainly puts my public in danger," Putnam County Clerk Dennis Sant said Thursday following a news conference in which he was backed by the county executive and other elected officials.
The Journal News, which serves New York City's northern suburbs, sparked an outcry last month when it published clickable online maps with the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties.
Hugo Chávez ally re-elected as Venezuela's assembly chief
Legislature cements Diosdado Cabello's position as third most powerful figure in government
Venezuelan politicians re-elected a staunch ally of Hugo Chávez to head the national assembly on Saturday, putting him in line to be caretaker president if the socialist leader does not recover from cancer surgery.
By choosing the incumbent, Diosdado Cabello, the "Chávista"-dominated legislature cemented the combative ex-soldier's position as the third most powerful figure in the government, after Chávez and vice-president Nicolás Maduro.
Everton annual report reveals £9.1m loss as wage bill reaches £63.4m
• Spending on wages reaches 75% of club's turnover
• Loss was increase of £3.7m on previous season
Everton's wage bill increased from £58m in 2010-11 to £63.4m last season, making it 75% of the club's turnover.
The club's annual results showed that Everton recorded a net loss of £9.1m for the 2011-12 season, an increase of £3.7m from the previous season's net loss. Turnover was down slightly from £82m to £80.5m.
Members-only marijuana clubs open in Colorado
DENVER (AP) -- Recreational marijuana clubs opened Monday in Colorado, less than a month after the state governor signed into law a constitutional amendment allowing recreational pot use.
With a reggae soundtrack and flashing disco-style lights, Club 64 in an industrial area just north of downtown Denver opened Monday afternoon, with some 200 people signed up. The opening came less than 24 hours after club organizers announced they would charge a $29.99 admission price for the bring-your-own pot club.
Two Colorado clubs were believed to be the first legal pot dens in the nation.
Fiscal cliff deal hangs in balance
Hopes of avoiding tax rises for majority of Americans reside with Republicans as prospect of Tea Party rebellion lingers
The fate of a deal to resolve America's fiscal cliff crisis hung in the balance on Tuesday, in spite of an overwhelming vote in the Senate hours earlier in favour of a compromise bill aimed at ending the long-running saga.
President Barack Obama hailed the Senate vote and called on the House of Representatives to act "without delay". But senior figures in the House, where the Republicans have a majority, expressed dissatisfaction with the deal and it was unclear on Tuesday what its fate would be.
Indian bus rape: five suspects to be charged with murder
Police order tests on sixth accused to confirm he is a juvenile. Adult suspects face death penalty if convicted
Indian police say they expect to formally charge five suspects with murder over the death of the 23-year-old woman who was raped on a moving bus in New Delhi. The sixth suspect in the case that has outraged the country is under 18 and a juvenile.
Police ordered a bone test for the sixth accused to confirm his age, the Associated Press reported. Under Indian law, a juvenile cannot be prosecuted for murder.
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