Los Angeles police detectives are seeking to review old audio tapes of conversations between Manson Family member Charles "Tex" Watson and his former lawyer, hoping they will shed light on any additional murders the cult may have committed.The eight hours of recorded discussions between Watson and attorney Bill Boyd were made more than 40 years ago and have surfaced as a part of a bankruptcy case involving Boyd's now-defunct Texas law firm.
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Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter Mariela said on Wednesday she was surprised by the warm welcome she received on arrival in the United States and was heartened by President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage.Sexologist Mariela Castro, 50, heads the communist island nation's National Center for Sex Education and is an outspoken gay rights advocate. She is reputed to have used her influence to persuade Cuba to grant certain rights to gay communities.
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Wide receiver is a position where the 49ers needed an upgrade, as evidenced by the addition of veterans Randy Moss and Mario Manningham and rookie A.J. Jenkins, who was the team’s first-round draft choice.The 49ers are hoping quarterback Alex Smith can develop a chemistry with several of those receivers, and he seemed to be throwing quite a bit to Moss in Wednesday’s organized team activity session. Coach Jim Harbaugh refused to acknowledge that Smith has been targeting Moss more, though.
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Two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els is among 24 players who have earned full exemptions for next month’s U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco via the world rankings, the United States Golf Association said Wednesday.
The South African Els, who won the year’s second major in 1994 and 1997, gained a spot by virtue of being ranked in the top 60 through Monday.
Els, a former world No. 1, is currently ranked 44th.
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Hewlett Packard Co outlined a plan on Wednesday to lay off roughly 27,000 employees or about 8 percent of its workforce to jumpstart growth.The layoffs, which will be mainly achieved through early retirement offers, will generate annual savings of $3 billion to $3.5 billion as it exits fiscal 2014, the company said.The world's No. 1 personal computer maker, which employs more than 300,000 people across the globe, also reported a 3 percent decline in quarterly revenue.
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Google Inc's Android mobile platform has not infringed Oracle Corp's patents, a California jury decided in a high-stakes trial fought by the two Silicon Valley giants over smartphone technology.Because the same jury could not unanimously agree on the copyright allegations earlier in the case, the latest verdict on patents effectively puts an indefinite hold on Oracle's quest for damages.The verdict was delivered on Wednesday in a San Francisco federal court, and confirmed by a Google spokesman. An Oracle attorney declined to comment on the decision.
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Buster Posey homered and had three RBIs for the second straight night to power the Giants past the host Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.
Joaquin Arias clubbed a two-run homer, the first of his career, and Matt Cain labored through seven innings to win his third straight start.
Cain (4-2) allowed four runs on 11 hits while striking out eight in helping the Giants win for the fifth time in six games.
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Four months after botching a pair of punt returns in January’s NFC Championship Game loss to the New York Giants, Kyle Williams opened the 49ers’ first organized team practice for veterans on Tuesday in a battle for a roster spot.
San Francisco brought in significant competition at the position, signing free agents Randy Moss and Mario Manningham and using their first-round pick last month on Illinois’ A.J. Jenkins in an effort to improve the league’s 29th-ranked passing game.
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Raiders coach Dennis Allen said he has contingency plans for all positions, so he’s not overly concerned about what will happen should inside linebacker Rolando McClain face discipline from the NFL stemming from an assault conviction in Alabama.
“Right now, as we look at it, Rolando is part of our family, he’s part of our team. We’re going to let the whole process play out before we do anything,” Allen said. “Once the legal proceedings are finished, then we’ll determine what, if any, action we need to take.”
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Facebook’s shares fell again on Tuesday, leaving them down more than a quarter from Friday’s highs as questions mounted over the company’s financial prospects and its ability to grow fast enough to live up to the hype surrounding its stock.After Friday’s nearly flat close and Monday’s 11 percent plunge, the stock dropped as much as 9 percent in early trading on Tuesday before reversing some of the decline.
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Hector Sanchez homered with one out in the top of the 14th inning, lifting visiting the visiting Giants to a 4-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first of a three-game series on Monday. Sanchez unloaded on Juan Perez (0-1), Milwaukee’s sixth pitcher, to give the Giants their fourth win in five games.Buster Posey, who was replaced by Sanchez as part of a double switch in the 12th, belted a three-run homer in the first inning for San Francisco’s other runs.
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Facebook shares sank on Monday in the first day of trading without the full support of the company’s underwriters, leaving some investors down 25 percent from where they were Friday afternoon.Facebook’s debut was beset by problems, so much so that Nasdaq said on Monday it was changing its IPO procedures. That may comfort companies considering a listing but does little for Facebook, whose lead underwriter Morgan Stanley had to step in and defend the $38 offering price on the open market.
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Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group is buying back up to half of Yahoo Inc’s 40 percent stake for $7.1 billion in a deal that moves the Chinese e-commerce leader closer to a public listing.Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell one-half its stake in Alibaba for at least $6.3 billion in cash and up to $800 million in new Alibaba preferred stock. The deal, announced on Monday, caps years of often acrimonious talks between Alibaba and Yahoo over how the Chinese company could reclaim some or all of the stake that Yahoo bought for about $1 billion in 2005.
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Robert Gesink of the Netherlands cruised to victory in the Tour of California on Sunday, finishing the eighth and final stage in the middle of the pack, just eight months after he shattered his leg in a fall.
The Dutchman, who claimed the leader’s yellow jersey when he won Saturday’s penultimate stage in the Californian mountains, retained his 46-second lead over his nearest competitor, American David Zabriskie.
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Right-handed pitcher Brandon McCarthy was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder, the A’s announced Sunday.
The move is retroactive to May 18, the day after his last start.
The A’s replaced McCarthy on the roster by recalling right-hander Jim Miller.
McCarthy, who went on the DL for the seventh time in his career, has a 3-3 record with a 2.95 ERA in nine starts this season.
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