Notre Dame's defense overmatched in title game

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Manti Te'o stood perfectly still as he took a long look at one of the giant video screens in Sun Life Stadium, studying the replay of an Alabama touchdown.It was a pose that Notre Dame repeated way, way too often in the BCS title game.Te'o — the senior linebacker who was widely considered the nation's top defensive player this season — was a non-factor early in Monday's...

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American Football-Alabama crush Notre Dame to win championship

MIAMI (Reuters) - Alabama's 'Crimson Tide' swept aside Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game on Monday, dominating the 'Fighting Irish' 42-14 to win their third college football title in four years.Notre Dame, 12-0 in the regular season, had been looking for their first national title since 1988 but were all at sea against irresistible Alabama, who set the tone of the game with an utterly one-sided...

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Bama's Lacy romps over Notre Dame defense

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Eddie Lacy romped through Notre Dame's defense with power and his favorite move.No. 2 Alabama's latest star tailback rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown and scored with a spin move on a catch in Monday night's 42-14 rout over No. 1 Notre Dame in the BCS championship.If the game ends up being the junior's finale at Alabama, it was a doozy. He was slowed early in the season...

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Taxes rising for most people despite fiscal deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth...

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Global stocks, commodities rise on U.S. fiscal deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks jumped 2 percent or more and commodities rallied on Wednesday after U.S. legislators struck a deal to halt a round of automatic fiscal tightening that threatened to push the world's largest economy into recession.The deal reached on Tuesday to avert the "fiscal cliff" put off the immediate pain of income tax hikes for almost all U.S. households but did nothing to...

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Swiss bank to pay $57.8M in US tax evasion plea

NEW YORK (AP) — Switzerland's oldest bank became the first foreign bank to plead guilty in the United States to tax charges when it admitted Thursday that it helped American clients hide more than $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.Wegelin & Co., founded in 1741, entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan, agreeing to pay $20 million in restitution to the IRS, a $22 million fine...

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3 Philippine police officers among 13 killed in gunbattle

ATIMONAN, Philippines - At least three police personnel were among 13 suspected criminals who were gunned down in a shootout with Philippine security forces at a highway checkpoint, officials said Monday.Gunmen riding in three black SUVs opened fire on more than 50 army and police troopers who flagged down the vehicles late Sunday in the coastal town of Atimonan in Quezon province, about 140 kilometres...

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Officials can't rule out casualties after Australian wildfires destroy 100 homes and buildings

HOBART, Australia - Officials are searching for bodies among the charred ruins of more than 100 homes and other buildings destroyed by wildfires in the island state of Tasmania.Acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard said Monday no casualties had yet been reported. But it would take time before officials were certain that no one had died in the blazes that have razed 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres)...

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Sunday's Scoreboard

Sunday's GamesNFLAFC Wild Card GameBaltimore 24 Indianapolis 9NFC Wild Card GameSeattle 24 Washington 14--U.S. College footballGoDaddy.com Bowl at Mobile, AlabamaArkansas State 17 Kent State 13--NBAOklahoma City 104 Toronto 92Miami 99 Washington 71Charlotte 108 Detroit 101 (OT)Memphis 92 Phoenix 81Denver 112 L.A. Lakers 105--AHLCharlotte 2 Norfolk 1Connecticut 2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 0Springfield...

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Sources: Obama to nominate ex-Sen. Chuck Hagel as defence secretary; bumpy path in Senate?

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as his next defence secretary, a senior administration official said Sunday, choosing a former Senate colleague and a decorated Vietnam veteran and signalling he's ready for a contentious confirmation fight likely dominated by questions about Hagel's stands on Israel and Iran.Obama, who avoided a Capitol Hill battle by deciding not to nominate...

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