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WASHINGTON (AP) — The sooner you start explaining the world to your baby, the better. New research shows that both how much and how well parents talk with babies and toddlers helps tune the youngsters’ brains in ways that build vocabulary skills. It’s a key to...

GRASS VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — After spending $3.5 million, California has scrapped a plan more than two decades in the making to turn a legendary Nevada County gold mine into a tourist destination. Officials recently announced that they would spend no more money on the Empire...

Pedestrians attempt to traverse slush puddles near Pennsylvania Station, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, in New York. Snow and sleet are falling on the East Coast, from North Carolina to New England, a day after sleet, snow and ice bombarded the Southeast. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)...

Comcast Corp. announced Thursday that it is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $45.2 billion in stock. The deal combines two of the nation’s top pay TV and Internet service companies and makes Comcast, which also owns NBCUniversal, a dominant force in both creating and...

EDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — A traffic jam deliberately orchestrated by members of Gov. Chris Christie’s staff that caused days of gridlock in northern New Jersey appeared not to lead to anyone’s death or seriously compromise their medical care, according to a...

Yemeni soldiers secure a street leading to the central prison after an explosions in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. Witnesses said explosions have rocked the Yemeni capital near the central prison followed by heavy gunfire and smoke billowing into the sky. (AP Photo/Hani...

AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu broke his own record and won the men’s short program at the Sochi Games on a night four-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko retired from competitive skating. About two hours after Plushenko...

Buying Time Warner Cable would add to a Comcast media and cable empire that already runs the gamut from “Saturday Night Live” to Universal Studios theme parks. A look at Comcast’s holdings: COMCAST CABLE The division touts itself as the nation’s largest...

NEW YORK (AP) — Drake says he won’t do magazine interviews following his recent story in Rolling Stone magazine. The rapper was supposed to be on the cover of the magazine’s new issue, but was replaced by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Drake tweeted Thursday...