Hurting Spaniards pin hopes on Christmas lottery

MADRID (AP) — After another brutal year of economic hardship, Spaniards across the country are hoping for relief when the country's famed Christmas lottery — the world's richest — pays out €2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) in tax-free awards on Saturday. Almost everyone in the country of 46 million people will be glued to live TV to watch school children sing out the winning numbers for the lottery that...

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Hurting Spaniards celebrate Christmas lottery wins

MADRID (AP) — Winners of Spain's cherished Christmas lottery — the world's richest — celebrated Saturday in more than a dozen locations where the top lucky tickets were sold, a moment of uplift for a country enduring another brutal year of economic hardship. The lottery sprinkled a treasure chest of €2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) in prize money around the country. Champagne corks popped and festive cheer...

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Working-class neighborhood in Madrid wins "El Gordo" lottery

MADRID (Reuters) - Unemployed Spaniards in a highly indebted commuter town in the outskirts of Madrid celebrated with joy after sharing the top prize in "El Gordo", the world's biggest lottery. The 200-year-old Christmas draw doled out more than 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in prizes, with a top individual prize of 4 million euros. The smallest ticket, known as a "decimo" wins a tenth of the prize...

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Florida governor asks Obama to block possible ports strike

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's Republican governor wants President Barack Obama to invoke federal law and order a cooling-off period if nearly 15,000 longshoremen walk off the job in a looming strike that would be a big blow to the state's economy, according to a letter he sent the president this week. The International Longshoremen's Association union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance grouping of shippers...

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Obama starts Hawaiian vacation, leaving Washington on ice

KAILUA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Taking what promised to be a very brief Christmas break from the ongoing struggle to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts, President Barack Obama relaxed with his family on Saturday at a beach retreat in Hawaii. Congress was to return to Washington next Thursday and Obama has pledged to work with lawmakers to strike a deal to avoid the economic shock from...

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Cleared Minnesota college coach fights suspension

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota college football coach who was cleared of child porn charges is fighting a suspension, his union said Thursday, although neither it nor the university would say what prompted the punishment or shed light on his prospects for reinstatement.Coach Todd Hoffner received a written notice from Minnesota State University, Mankato late Tuesday afternoon about a 20-day unpaid...

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Finding the right footwear a constant challenge for offensive lineman Sewell

When Matt Sewell starts the season with a new pair of football cleats, he'll go to great lengths to make sure they last.The McMaster Marauders hulking offensive lineman isn't superstitious or especially finicky about his footwear. It's just with size 17 feet, finding shoes that fit is a constant challenge.So when the six-foot-eight, 340-pound Sewell gets his hands on a suitable pair of shoes, he goes...

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AP Sources: Jets could trade QBs Sanchez, Tebow

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Mark Sanchez is no longer the face of the New York Jets. He could soon be a former member of the team.And Tim Tebow might even beat him out the door.A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Jets will consider all of their options regarding the two quarterbacks during the offseason. That means both Sanchez and Tebow are in limbo...

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Thursday's Scoreboard

Thursday's Games (All Times Eastern) NBA Minnesota 32 Oklahoma City 18 (in 2nd) Miami at Dallas, 9:30 p.m. Denver at Portland, 10 p.m. -- AHL Peoria at Charlotte Houston at Lake Erie -- U.S. College Football Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego Brigham Young vs San Diego State, 8 p...

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It's official, Andersen is new Wisconsin coach

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Several schools tried to lure Gary Andersen away from Utah State.Wisconsin finally got him.Andersen was officially hired as the Badgers' new coach Thursday, and will be formally introduced at a news conference Friday morning. He replaces Bret Bielema, who left the Badgers for Arkansas this month."I don't know if I can really have a word for how excited I am to be at Wisconsin...

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U.S. slaps duties on China wind towers, high-level talks begin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday pressed forward with plans to slap steep punitive duties on wind turbine towers imported from China at prices deemed unfairly low, even as officials welcomed a high-level Chinese delegation for trade and economic talks.The U.S. Commerce Department set final anti-dumping duties ranging from 44.99 to 70.63 percent on utility-scale towers manufactured...

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Republicans put squeeze on Obama in "fiscal cliff" talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans tried to wring more tax-rate concessions out of the White House  on Tuesday as political maneuvering intensified over an agreement to keep the U.S. economy from tumbling off the "fiscal cliff" next year. Markets rallied on hopes for a deal.After important concessions in recent days from both President Barack Obama and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner,...

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Insight: The booming Philippines' missing link - foreigner investors

MANILA (Reuters) - The gathering had the air of a post-mortem. About 100 executives and government officials listened quietly as Guillermo Luz poked holes in the Philippines' fairytale economic revival.Luz, head of the Philippines' National Competitiveness Council, projected a deck of slides onto two pull-down screens that showed the fast-growing Philippine economy slipping in the World's Bank's "Ease...

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Asia stocks rise over US budget deal optimism

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets  rose Wednesday after U.S. political leaders appeared to be closing in on a budget deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" by the year-end deadline. Economists have been warning the U.S. economy could be thrown back into recession without a deal.Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.1 percent to 10,034.45. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.7 percent to 22,640.25. Australia's...

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Smooth ANC vote keeps S.Africa's rand near 2-month high

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The rand traded near a two-month high early on Wednesday and looked to further those gains in an upbeat market after an internal ANC election passed off smoothly and U.S. officials appeared to make progress in talks about the fiscal cliff.The unit held firm on Tuesday after President Jacob Zuma won a second term as party leader, almost certainly giving him a second five-year...

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