CANBERRA, Australia – A clash between protesters and Australian police that forced bodyguards to rush Prime Minister Julia Gillard out of an event appears to have been set off by information released by one of Gillards own aides. The aide has been fired. Gillard's office said Friday that a member of her media unit told someone that opposition leader Tony Abbott would be at Thursday's event in Canberra, the capital. A spokesperson said in a statement that the information w ... Full Story

Fri Jan 27, 2012 - 1:22 PM

ORLANDO, Fla. – Mitt Romney, forced to prove his resilience after a stinging loss in South Carolina, is showing why the so-called Republican establishment thinks he has the best discipline, organization and campaign smarts to challenge President Barack Obama this fall. The former Massachusetts governor turned in his best debate performance yet Thursday night, putting chief rival Newt Gingrich on the defensive from the opening minutes in Jacksonville, Fla., and never letti ... Full Story

A new study may explain why the cancer drug Avastin hasn't worked in the treatment of breast cancer patients. Although the drug stops tumor growth for a short time, it often leads to more invasive tumors in the long run. The reason for this revved-up invasiveness, researchers concluded from experiments done in mice, is that drugs like Avastin increase the portion of a tumor made of breast cancer stem cells. Although Avastin, when initially given, ca ... Full Story

Fri Jan 27, 2012 - 6:05 PM

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Tom Brady felt the power of the New York Giants pass rushers when he was sacked five times in their first Super Bowl confrontation. Four years later, the New England Patriots' offensive linemen expect another fierce attack on their quarterback in the championship rematch on Feb. 5. The Giants will indeed have plenty of strong, speedy pass rushers zeroing in on Brady. "This year, they're definitely the best defensive line in football," P ... Full Story

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A serial burglar nicknamed the "Barefoot Bandit" was sentenced on Friday in Seattle to 6-1/2 years in prison for his guilty plea to federal charges stemming from a sensational, two-year crime spree as a sometimes-shoeless teenage runaway. The federal judge also ordered that Colton Harris-Moore, 20, serve his federal sentence simultaneously with a state term of more than seven years in a move his lawyers say could see him freed before his 26t ... Full Story

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – IFC Films has purchased the North American rights to the thriller "Simon Killer," TheWrap has confirmed. Directed by Antonio Campos and starring Brady Corbet, the film centers on a recent college student who travels to France where he meets and becomes involved with a prostitute. Campos wrote the screenplay for the film. He is a co-founder of the filmmaker collective Borderline Films, which was behind last year's Sundance breakou ... Full Story

MUMBAI, India – A Pakistani commission investigating the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai will visit in early February, but will not be allowed to interrogate the lone surviving gunman, Indian officials said Monday. The visit is the result of intricate negotiations between the nuclear-armed neighbors, but is unlikely to resolve tensions over whether Pakistan is sincerely working to prosecute the attacks perpetrators — who India says are linked to Pakistani security forc ... Full Story

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A former Marine convicted of killing three women in Illinois has pleaded not guilty to murdering five more women in California. A spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney says Andrew Urdiales entered the plea Friday in Superior Court in Santa Ana. Authorities say Urdiales killed five women in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties between 1986 and 1995. Many of his victims were prostitutes who were repeatedly stabbed or sho ... Full Story

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. – Dick Kniss, a bassist who performed for five decades with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary and co-wrote the John Denver hit "Sunshine on My Shoulders," has died. He was 74. Kniss died Wednesday of pulmonary disease at a hospital near their home in the Hudson Valley town of Saugerties, said his wife, Diane Kniss. Kniss was born in Portland, Ore., and was an original member of Denvers 1970s band. He also played with jazz greats including ... Full Story

DENVER (Reuters) – A daring jailbreak planned by one of three Florida siblings accused in a multistate crime spree was thwarted when officers at a Colorado lockup where the trio are being held uncovered the plot, authorities said on Friday. Dylan Stanley Dougherty was accused of having stashed a homemade knife in his cell as part of a plot to escape from the Huerfano County jail through a plumbing duct and then bust out his sister, according to an arrest affidavit. ... Full Story

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A jury has convicted a New York prison inmate of falsely filing tax returns seeking $890 million in refunds. Prosecutors say the man filed the bogus returns from 2006 to 2010 while at various state prisons. They say he even was issued a refund for $327,000 — but prison officials intercepted the check and returned it to the Internal Revenue Service, which led the investigation. The man was convicted Thursday of 11 counts of filing fal ... Full Story

DENVER (Reuters) – A daring jailbreak planned by one of three Florida siblings accused in a multistate crime spree was thwarted when officers at a Colorado lockup where the trio are being held uncovered the plot, authorities said on Friday. Dylan Stanley Dougherty was accused of having stashed a homemade knife in his cell as part of a plot to escape from the Huerfano County jail through a plumbing duct and then bust out his sister, according to an arrest affidavit. ... Full Story