US retailers roll out sales as snow threatens East

ATLANTA (AP) — An East Coast snowstorm put a damper on after-Christmas shopping on Sunday. But shoppers across the rest of the U.S. scoured clearance racks and spent gift cards during the afterglow of the best holiday season for retailers since 2007.

Washington, D.C., was expecting 5 to 8 inches (12.5 to 20 centimeters) of snow Sunday. Blizzard warnings were issued in New York and parts of New England. Predictions called for 11 to 16 inches (28 to 41 centimeters) of snow in New York City.

"The forecast will tend to keep them at home, it's not the best day for shopping," said Scott A. Bernhardt, chief operating officer at weather research firm Planalytics.

Because the …

Merkel, Sarkozy want better euro zone supervision

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy say the euro zone needs strengthened economic supervision to avoid future Greek-style crises.

The two leaders say in a excepts of a letter published in Le Monde that they are "fully committed to preserve the solidity, stability and unity of the euro zone."

They say leaders of euro zone …

Riverside coach is worried about more than just Barrett

In attempting to stop the state's best football player during lastyear's Class AAA playoff semifinal, Parkersburg South Coach MikeDeVol took a page from a basketball playbook.

"We went back and brought out the ol' box-and-one," he said.

DeVol locked up a defensive back on Martinsburg's Brandon Barrett,who was about the same stature as the 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver,but not nearly as fast.

"We put him man-for-man with a four-deep secondary, and played himstrong," DeVol said.

"And our guy played above himself.

"We gave up certain things and said you can beat us doing this,but you're not going to beat us with him."

After setting state records …

Gas pipeline explosion kills 28 in Saudi Arabia

An explosion on Sunday killed 28 people working on a natural gas pipeline in eastern Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's national oil company said.

The cause of the fire, which broke out just after midnight, was maintenance work, the company, Saudi Aramco, said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said 12 people were missing and an unspecified number were wounded. The fire did not disrupt gas supplies, he told reporters during an OPEC summit in Riyadh.

"The fire broke out while contract workers were linking a new pipe" to the pipeline during maintenance, Aramco said.

The fire occurred about 30 kilometers (19 …

Baseball gets boost at 4 Chinese universities

Four Chinese universities will begin extending preferential enrollment policies for talented baseball athletes, promoters said Thursday, in a bid to boost the sport's growth in the world's most populous country.

The schools, all located in the country's more developed east, will lower the minimum academic requirements for entry to athletes who show promise, said a joint news release from the Chinese Baseball Association and QSL Sports Limited, which was named this month as the association's partner in the China Youth Baseball League.

Promoters hope that will encourage parents to enter their children in baseball programs as a way of boosting their chances of …

Pirates' suit `ignorant' - Parker

CINCINNATI Cincinnati Reds outfielder Dave Parker says hisformer employers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, are "ignorant" for suinghim for the cocaine use Parker says he ended in 1982.

Parker says the Pirates' lawsuit that alleges he breached hismultiyear contract with the club is just an effort to save the teamfrom paying him $5.3 million in deferred payments. Parker, 34, leftthe Pirates after the 1983 season and signed for 1984 with the Redsas a free agent.

The Pirates announced Monday they were suing Parker to formallycharge that his cocaine use hurt his baseball skills and kept himfrom staying in top physical shape. He violated terms of thecontract by failing to …

Celtics Acquire Garnett in 7-For-1 Deal

BOSTON - All-Star Kevin Garnett was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to Boston on Tuesday for five players and two draft picks, a deal that transforms the Celtics into an instant contender.

The Celtics - who have 16 championships but none in more than two decades - obtained the former MVP and 10-time All-Star from Minnesota for forwards Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes and Gerald Green, guard Sebastian Telfair and center Theo Ratliff and two first-round draft picks.

With Paul Pierce and Ray Allen already on the roster, the Celtics are now far more than a promising collection of youngsters who had the NBA's second-worst record last season in a mediocre Eastern Conference. …