AP IMPACT: Steroids loom in major-college football

WASHINGTON (AP) — With steroids easy to buy, testing weak and punishments inconsistent, college football players are packing on significant weight — 30 pounds or more in a single year, sometimes — without drawing much attention from their schools or the NCAA in a sport that earns tens of billions of dollars for teams.Rules vary so widely that, on any given game day, a team with a strict no-steroid...

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Snowstorm triggers deadly Iowa pileup

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The first widespread snowstorm of the season crawled across the Midwest on Thursday, with whiteout conditions stranding holiday travelers and sending drivers sliding over slick roads — including into a fatal 25-vehicle pileup in Iowa.The storm, which dumped a foot of snow in parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, was part of a system that began in the Rockies earlier in the week before...

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UN suspends polio drive in Pakistan after killings

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The United Nations suspended its polio vaccination drive in Pakistan on Wednesday after eight people involved in the effort were shot dead in the past two days, a U.N. official said.The suspension was a grave blow to the drive to bring an end to the scourge of polio in Pakistan, one of only three countries where the crippling disease still survives.On Wednesday, gunmen shot...

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Review: 'The Impossible' overwhelms with melodrama

Based on the true story of a family swept away by the deadly 2004 tsunami that pummeled Southeast Asia, "The Impossible" is about as subtle as a wall of water.The depiction of the natural disaster itself, which killed 230,000 people, is visceral and horrifying. Director Juan Antonio Bayona has crafted an event that's impeccable from a production standpoint with its dizzying, seemingly endless sprawl...

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma

WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.Last week's school shooting in Connecticut raises the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering...

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Obama: 'Words need to lead to action' on gun control

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spurred by a horrific elementary school shooting, President Barack Obama tasked his administration Wednesday with creating concrete proposals to reduce gun violence that has plagued the country."This time, the words need to lead to action," said Obama, who set a January deadline for the recommendations. He vowed to push for their implementation without delay.The president, who exerted...

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Both SKorean presidential hopefuls promise change

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The liberal son of North Korean refugees faces the conservative daughter of a late dictator in South Korea's presidential election Wednesday. For all their differences, they hold similar views on the need to engage with Pyongyang and other issues.One big reason: Voters are deeply dissatisfied with current President Lee Myung-bak, including with his hardline stance on the...

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CBS dominates week in TV ratings

NEW YORK (AP) — CBS had little competition for dominance last week in the television ratings.The network had 17 of the 25 most-watched programs on the air last week, according to the Nielsen company. It beat second-place NBC by an average of nearly four million viewers a night last week, and also took the 18-to-49-year-old demographic that advertisers seek."60 Minutes" and "NCIS" were the most popular...

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Experts: Kids are resilient in coping with trauma

WASHINGTON (AP) — They might not want to talk about the gunshots or the screams. But their toys might start getting into imaginary shootouts.Last week's school shooting in Connecticut begs the question: What will be the psychological fallout for the children who survived?For people of any age, regaining a sense of security after surviving violence can take a long time. They're at risk for lingering...

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W.H.: 'Gun laws alone would not solve this'

President Barack Obama (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)President Barack Obama supports Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's legislation banning assault weapons—signed into law in 1994, it expired in 2004—and other potential gun measures, the White House revealed on Tuesday, after declining to discuss gun control specifics the day before."He is actively supportive of, for example, Sen. Feinstein's stated intent...

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