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| AP Top Headlines At 4:03 a.m. EDT |
| Census: Minorities now surpass whites in US births Thu, 17 May 2012 07:16:33 GMT WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the first time, racial and ethnic minorities make up more than half the children born in the U.S., capping decades of heady immigration growth that is now slowing.... |
| Obama requesting help to pay for Afghan army Thu, 17 May 2012 08:01:35 GMT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mapping the way out of an unpopular war, the United States and NATO are trying to build an Afghan army that can defend the country after 130,000 international troops pull out. The alliance's plans for arm's-length support for Afghanistan will be a central focus of the summit President Barack Obama is hosting Sunday and Monday in Chicago.... |
| As Facebook grows, millions say, 'no, thanks' Thu, 17 May 2012 07:38:56 GMT NEW YORK (AP) -- Don't try to friend MaLi Arwood on Facebook. You won't find her there.... |
| Closing arguments to begin in John Edwards case Thu, 17 May 2012 08:03:15 GMT GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- With only two hours allotted to each side to make closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors and defense lawyers neared the end of a month-long trial into whether former presidential candidate John Edwards violated campaign finance laws.... |
| Honduran area demands DEA leave after shooting Thu, 17 May 2012 07:31:49 GMT TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- People in Honduras' predominantly Indian Mosquito coast region burned down government offices and demanded that U.S. drug agents leave the area, reacting angrily to an anti-drug operation in which a local mayor said police gunfire killed four innocent people, including two pregnant women.... |
| GOP Senate hopes once again rest on insurgents Thu, 17 May 2012 07:59:13 GMT WASHINGTON (AP) -- For Senate Republicans, 2012 is starting a lot like 2010.... |
| 'Ring of Fire' eclipse visible from China to Texas Thu, 17 May 2012 07:53:46 GMT LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sunrises and sunsets often dazzle, but they'll have a special ring to them in a few days for people in the western United States and eastern Asia: The moon will slide across the sun, blocking everything but a blazing halo of light.... |
| Lower oil prices ease load on consumers and Obama Thu, 17 May 2012 04:05:47 GMT NEW YORK (AP) -- What only weeks ago was seen as a serious threat to the economic recovery could now turn into a stimulus everyone can love.... |
| Thunder rally to edge Lakers 77-75 in Game 2 Thu, 17 May 2012 07:46:59 GMT OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Down in desperation time, Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks called on Kevin Durant to show that he's more than just a three-time scoring champion. And that meant guarding one of the NBA's all-time best.... |
| Celtics top 76ers 107-91 in Game 3 for 2-1 lead Thu, 17 May 2012 03:15:10 GMT PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Kevin Garnett yapped his way down the court after big baskets and clearly enjoyed taking it to the 76ers.... |
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| Word of the day |
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 17, 2012 is:
maffick • \MAF-ik\ • verb
: to celebrate with boisterous rejoicing and hilarious behavior
Examples:
Fans mafficked for hours outside the stadium, celebrating the team's dramatic victory in the division championship.
"In half an hour, after the mildest of mafficking, the last visitors of the exhibition's last day had gone out of the gates and the staff began their final acts of closing up shop." — From an article in The Guardian (London), October 1, 2011
Did you know?
"Maffick" is an alteration of Mafeking Night, the British celebration of the lifting of the siege of a British military outpost during the South African War at the town of Mafikeng (also spelled Mafeking) on May 17, 1900. The South African War was fought between the British and the Afrikaners, who were Dutch and Huguenot settlers originally called Boers, over the right to govern frontier territories. Though the war did not end until 1902, the lifting of the siege of Mafikeng was a significant victory for the British because they held out against a larger Afrikaner force for 217 days until reinforcements could arrive. The rejoicing in British cities on news of the rescue produced "maffick," a word that was popular for a while, especially in journalistic writing, but is now relatively uncommon.