Obama election tweet most repeated but Olympics tops on Twitter

(Reuters) - An election victory tweet from President Barack Obama -- "Four more years" with a picture of him hugging his wife -- was the most retweeted ever, but the U.S. election was topped by the Olympics as the most tweeted event this year. Obama's tweet was retweeted (repeated) more than 810,000 times, Twitter said as it published a list of the most tweeted events in 2012. (http://2012.twitter.com/) "Within...

Read More..

No. 2 Alabama places 4 on AP All-America team

NEW YORK (AP) — Alabama is No. 1 when it comes to All-Americans. The second-ranked Crimson Tide placed four players on The Associated Press All-America team released Tuesday. Among them was center Barrett Jones, who became a two-time first-team selection. No other team had more than two players selected to the first team. The Tide also led with six players chosen to all three teams. Notre Dame,...

Read More..

Tagliabue overturns Saints suspensions

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned the suspensions of four current and former New Orleans Saints players in the league's bounty investigation of the club. Tagliabue, however, found that three of the players engaged in conduct detrimental to the league. He said they participated in a performance pool that rewarded key plays — including hard tackles — that could merit...

Read More..

Tom Cruise defends role as "Jack Reacher"

LONDON (Reuters) - Tom Cruise has defended his role as Jack Reacher in the first of what could be a new action movie franchise, despite being much slimmer and shorter than the character created by author Lee Child in the original books. Cruise told Reuters Television at the world premiere in London on Monday of "Jack Reacher" that he would not have taken the part if British thriller writer Child...

Read More..

Messi edges Falcao at top of AP soccer rankings

LONDON (AP) — Lionel Messi narrowly stayed on top of AP's Global Soccer Rankings this week despite breaking the record for goals in a calendar year. The Barcelona great finished one point ahead of Spanish league rival Radamel Falcao, who scored five goals for Atletico Madrid. Barcelona lost its top spot in the team rankings to Manchester United, which beat Manchester City 3-2 to stay in first place...

Read More..

BAE Systems wins 1.2 billion pound British submarine contract

LONDON (Reuters) - The UK's Ministry of Defence said on Monday it has awarded a 1.2 billion-pound ($1.92 billion) submarine contract to British defence contractor BAE Systems. BAE Systems will design and manufacture the submarine HMS Audacious, the fourth of seven nuclear-powered submarines being built for the Royal Navy. The deal comes after Chancellor George Osborne told all government departments...

Read More..

UK police unable to identify man who fell from sky

LONDON (AP) — Police believe he was from Africa, probably from Angola, but they don't know his identity, or how to notify his next of kin. The mystery began in September when residents of a suburban street in the Mortlake neighborhood of West London woke up on a quiet Sunday morning to find the crumpled body of a black man on the sidewalk of Portman Avenue, near a convenience store, an upscale lingerie...

Read More..

Royal phone scandal highlights new media risks

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Back in 2007, as investigations were gathering strength into the UK phone hacking scandal involving journalists working under the umbrella of the Murdoch media empire, a comedy show based around prank telephone calls made a low-key debut in Britain. 'Fonejacker' proved such a hit with the British public that the next year the programme, in which a masked caller bamboozles hapless...

Read More..

AP Exclusive: Georgia details nuke investigations

BATUMI, Georgia (AP) — On the gritty side of this casino resort town near the Turkish border, three men in a hotel suite gathered in secret to talk about a deal for radioactive material. The Georgian seller offered cesium, a byproduct of nuclear reactors that terrorists can use to arm a dirty bomb with the power to kill. But one of the Turkish men, wearing a suit and casually smoking a cigarette,...

Read More..

Romania gov't easily wins parliamentary elections

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Partial results show Romania's center-left government has overwhelmingly won parliamentary elections, an outcome that could bring more upheaval because of a bitter personal feud between the president and the prime minister. Election official Marian Muhulet said Monday that the center-left alliance led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta won about 59 percent of the seats in the...

Read More..