KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | AP Top News at 11:53 p.m. EDT - September 28

AP Top News at 11:53 p.m. EDT - September 28

Iran test fires missiles amid flap over nukes

TEHRAN (AP) - Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles Sunday in drills meant to show Tehran is prepared to crush any military threat from another country. The display of force comes days after the U.S. and its allies warned Iran over a newly revealed nuclear facility it was secretly constructing.

Polanski's arrest could be his path to freedom

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A surprise arrest at the Zurich airport, detention at the hands of Swiss authorities, and a high-profile extradition process that could take weeks or months. The irony is that for Roman Polanski, the acclaimed director accused of child rape three decades ago, this latest ordeal could lead to the one thing he's lacked since: his freedom. Polanski's arrest as he arrived Saturday in Switzerland for a film festival honor could potentially spur on his legal team's recent motion to dismiss charges that have dogged him since he fled the U.S. for France in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

Germany's Merkel wins 2nd term, new coalition

BERLIN (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a second term on Sunday, along with the center-right majority that eluded her four years ago - nudging Europe's biggest economic power to the right as it claws its way out of a deep recession. Voters sent the nation's main left-wing party, the Social Democrats of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, into opposition after 11 years in government. It was the party's worst parliamentary election result since World War II.

Job losses, early retirements hurt Social Security

WASHINGTON (AP) - Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s. The deficits - $10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in 2011 - won't affect payments to retirees because Social Security has accumulated surpluses from previous years totaling $2.5 trillion. But they will add to the overall federal deficit.

William Safire, speechwriter, NY columnist, dies

NEW YORK (AP) - William Safire, the conservative columnist and word warrior who feared no politician or corner of the English language, died Sunday at age 79. The Pulitzer Prize winner died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, family friend Martin Tolchin said.

Top Afghan official threatens to quit after attack

KABUL (AP) - A powerful member of President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet threatened to quit after a suicide car bomb attack targeted him Sunday, killing five people, in the latest Taliban attempt to destabilize Afghanistan's struggling government. Two Americans were among six NATO troop deaths elsewhere. Shortly after the bombing in the western city of Herat, Energy Minister Ismail Khan railed against the dramatic rise in violence in Afghanistan, saying that thousands of new refugees are seeking shelter in Herat because of militant attacks in outlying districts. Five civilians died in the failed assassination attempt, police said.

Attorney: OKC bombing tapes appear edited

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Long-secret security tapes showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building are blank in the minutes before the blast and appear to have been edited, an attorney who obtained the recordings said Sunday. "The real story is what's missing," said Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney who obtained the recordings through the federal Freedom of Information Act as part of an unofficial inquiry he is conducting into the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation

WASHINGTON (AP) - Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way. Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

Jackson sneak peek screenings sell out in 2 hours

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Jackson is still playing to sellout crowds. Advance screenings to the music documentary "Michael Jackson: This Is It" sold out within two hours early Sunday as fans who began lining up three days earlier snapped up all 3,000 tickets to the Los Angeles shows.

Manning carves up Cardinals for 28-10 Colts lead

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Peyton Manning carved up the Arizona defense for four touchdown passes, three in the second quarter, and the Indianapolis Colts held a 28-10 lead over the Cardinals after three quarters on Sunday night. The Colts' quarterback had four TD passes in a game for the 18th time in his career, moving ahead of Johnny Unitas into third on the NFL career list, behind Dan Marino (21) and Brett Favre (20).

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