Lunch meat maker Hormel orders up Skippy sandwich
Written by CANDICE CHOI,AP Business Writers MICHELLE CHAPMAN,AP Business Writers
NEW YORK (AP) — Hormel Foods apparently has a hankering for a peanut butter and bacon sandwich. The company primarily known for Spam and other cured, smoked and deli meats said Thursday that it's buying Skippy, the country's No. 2 peanut butter brand, in its biggest-ever acquisition.
Fiscal-cliff deal no recipe for a robust economy
Written by CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER,AP Economics Writers PAUL WISEMAN,AP Economics Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Housing is rebounding. Families are shrinking debts. Europe has avoided a financial crackup. And the fiscal cliff deal has removed the most urgent threat to the U.S. economy.
Farm bill extension evidence of lost clout
Written by MARY CLARE JALONICK,Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A patchwork extension of federal farm programs passed as part of a larger "fiscal cliff" bill keeps the price of milk from rising but doesn't include many of the goodies that farm-state lawmakers are used to getting for their rural districts.
Incarcerated veterans train dogs for other vets
Written by DAVID DISHNEAU,Associated Press
CRESAPTOWN, Md. (AP) — Hazard Wilson's new cellmate is a hairy bundle of energy whose playful zeal can't be contained by steel doors: a five-month-old golden retriever. Yardley is one of three canines assigned since September to inmates at a maximum-security prison in western Maryland for training as service dogs for disabled military veterans.
Congress ushering in new members, with old divide
Written by DONNA CASSATA,Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is ushering in the new and the old — dozens of eager freshmen determined to change Washington and the harsh reality of another stretch of bitterly divided government.
Indian police charge 5 in New Delhi gang rape
Written by ASHOK SHARMA,Associated Press
NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities filed rape and murder charges Thursday against five men accused of the gang rape of a 23-year-old university student on a New Delhi bus, a crime that horrified Indians and provoked a national debate about the treatment of women.
Pakistan says US drones kill senior Taliban figure
Written by ISHTIAQ MAHSUD,Associated Press RASOOL DAWAR,Associated Press
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Two U.S. drone strikes on northwest Pakistan killed a senior Taliban commander who fought American forces in Afghanistan but had a truce with the Pakistani military, intelligence officials said Thursday.
2016 politics on display as Congress ends term
Written by KEN THOMAS,Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice presidential candidate, voted for the "fiscal cliff" compromise that raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul voted against it. And Vice President Joe Biden helped broker the deal with GOP leaders in the Senate.