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AP EXPLAINS: Why Hawaii's sugar plantations have disappeared

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FILE - This April 27, 2010 file photo shows cane fields at Hawaii's last sugar plantation in Puunene, Hawaii. The owners of Hawaii's last sugar plantation say they're getting out of the sugar-growing business. Sugar cane fields once spread across the islands, providing work to thousands of immigrants and shaping Hawaii life. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy, File)

HONOLULU (AP) — The owners of Hawaii's last sugar plantation say they're getting out of the sugar-growing business. Miles of sugar cane fields once spread across the islands, providing work to thousands of immigrants and shaping Hawaii life. Soon, they'll be gone. Here's an explanation of why sugar grew to dominate Hawaii and why it faded.

HOW DID SUGAR GET TO BE A BIG BUSINESS IN HAWAII?

Sugar was farmed on a relatively small scale in the islands until the U.S. Civil War. But the conflict cut the North off from sugar grown in Louisiana, leading to a surge in imports from Hawaii. In the 1870s, the U.S. and what was then the Hawaiian Kingdom signed a treaty that eliminated U.S. tariffs on sugar and rice and Hawaiian tariffs on cotton and other products. Plantation profits almost doubled. Sugar cane growing expanded further after the U.S. annexed Hawaii and property rights for plantation owners became more secure, said Sumner La Croix, a University of Hawaii economics professor. Acres planted with sugar cane exploded from 15,000 in 1876 to 238,000 in 1941.

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HOW HAS SUGAR SHAPED HAWAII?

Entrepreneurs from the U.S., Britain and beyond — including several descendants of Protestant missionaries to Hawaii — got into the business. They brought in laborers from China, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico and elsewhere for the crushing work of plowing, planting and cutting cane. A distinct language, Hawaiian pidgin or Hawaiian Creole English, emerged as immigrants and Native Hawaiians looked for ways to communicate. Sugar growers began diverting vast quantities of water from wetter parts of islands to drier areas with arable land. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar, which ran the plantation that plans to harvest its last cane this year, has been diverting water from 19 streams in east Maui and several others in central Maui to irrigate its 36,000 acres. Some of the old plantation irrigation infrastructure today supports housing subdivisions and golf courses on arid land.

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WHY HAS IT DISAPPEARED?

Plantations started to close in the 1950s. The pace accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. U.S. tariff and quota protections for sugar began declining in the decades after World War II amid broader trade liberalization. Plantation workers first began to organize effective unions in the 1930s, which helped build Hawaii's middle class but also made the industry less competitive compared with other countries. Then Hawaii's land values began to spike as the introduction of passenger jets reduced travel times to Hawaii and launched a tourism boom. Many landowners found they could make more money building hotels and homes than growing cane.

The last Maui plantation's parent company lost $30 million on its agriculture business last year. La Croix said the end of the sugar industry is a watershed moment for Hawaii but not a surprise.

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WHERE ELSE IS SUGAR GROWN IN THE U.S.?

Sugar cane accounted for 43 percent of the sugar grown in the U.S. last year, with the rest coming from beets, according to data from the American Sugar Alliance. Florida is the biggest producer of U.S. cane sugar, with over 2 million tons last year, followed by Louisiana with 1.5 million tons. Hawaii produced 165,000 tons worth about $83 million last year.

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Lindsey Vonn fastest in last World Cup downhill training run

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Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during a training for an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in Altenmarkt Zauchensee, Austria, Friday, Jan 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria (AP) — Lindsey Vonn was fastest in Friday's final training run for a women's World Cup downhill despite standing up out of her tuck well before the finish.

The four-time overall champion from the United States clocked 1 minute, 5.74 seconds on the shortened Kaelberloch course to lead Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany by 0.28.

Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein, who led Thursday's training, was 0.59 behind in third, and overall World Cup leader Lara Gut of Switzerland trailed by 0.80 in fourth.

In an unusual format for a downhill, Saturday's race will consist of two runs on a shortened course. Organizers had to lower the start because of insufficient snow conditions in the upper section.

A super-G on the same course is scheduled for Sunday.

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Here comes the jobs report ... (DIA, SPX, SPY, QQQ, TLT, IWM)

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american flag

Good morning!

At 8:30 a.m. ET, the BLS will release the December jobs report, which is expected to show continued improvement in the US labor market. 

Via Bloomberg, here's what Wall Street is looking for:

  • Nonfarm payrolls: +200,000
  • Unemployment rate: 5%
  • Average hourly earnings, month-on-month: +0.2%
  • Average hourly earnings, year-on-year: 2.7%
  • Average weekly hours worked: 34.5

Business Insider's Bob Bryan has the full preview here

And so the headline job gains and unemployment rate are expected to be more of the same, but if year over year wages come in as expected it will be the biggest gain since the financial crisis. This, however, will in part be due to poor wage growth last year

Overall, Friday's number is expected to show that 2015 was another solid year for job gains. 

Ahead of the jobs report stock futures were pointing to a higher open after what's been a rough week for markets. 

We'll be back with the full report when the numbers cross. 

SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know before the bell

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NOW WATCH: Why Chinese executives keep disappearing

The 3 plays in sports everybody will be talking about today

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Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about Friday.

Bryce Alford hit a game-winner for UCLA and Russell Westbrook enjoyed it. Bryce Alford did his dad proud, hitting a game-winning 3-pointer with less than two seconds remaining to lift UCLA to an 87-84 win over Arizona. But maybe the most impressed person in the arena was Russell Westbrook who had a front-row view of the shot.

It was Throwback Thursday for Kobe Bryant. The highlights for Kobe Bryant are few and far between on his farewell tour, but it is clear that he can still soar from time to time as evidenced by this sweet alley-oop. Throw it down, big fella! Alas, the Lakers fell to the Kings 118-115.

One play that sums up the 2015-16 Houston Rockets. A year ago, the Houston Rockets were a championship contender and did not make plays like this. A year ago, James Harden was an MVP candidate and did not make plays like this. It is not 2014-15 anymore. The Rockets did go on to beat the Utah Jazz 103-94.

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NOW WATCH: How Tiger Woods makes and spends his millions

NY mine where 17 workers got stuck is closed for 2nd day

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The fourth group of workers emerge from an elevator Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, after they were stuck overnight in a shaft at the Cayuga Salt Mine in Lansing, N.Y. Cargill Inc. spokesman Mark Klein said all 17 miners have been rescued. (Simon Wheeler/The Ithaca Journal via AP, Pool)

LANSING, N.Y. (AP) — A central New York salt mine remains shut down as officials try to determine what caused an elevator to get stuck, stranding more than a dozen workers hundreds of feet underground.

Cargill Inc. spokesman Mark Klein says the Minneapolis-based company's operations in Lansing are closed again Friday, a day after 17 miners spent hours struck on an elevator 900 feet below ground.

The workers were heading to the mine's 2,300-foot deep floor to start their overnight shift late Wednesday night when the two-level elevator got stuck. A crane was brought in to drop a basket to the miners and haul them out. The last group of miners was rescued by 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Cargill says it appears a beam that kept the elevator car aligned in the mine shaft bent or broke before the miners boarded.

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Chinese stocks volatile a day after abrupt sell-off

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A Chinese investor takes a smartphone photo of electronic displays showing stock prices in a brokerage house in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. Chinese stocks were volatile Friday and other Asian markets rebounded after a plunge in Chinese prices rattled global markets. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

LONDON (AP) — A rebound in Chinese stocks helped shore up the mood in global stock markets Friday in the run-up to U.S. jobs data.

KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.5 percent at 5,982 while Germany's DAX rose 0.2 percent to 9,998. The CAC-40 in France underperformed, trading 0.3 percent lower at 4,390. Wall Street was poised for a solid open, with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.7 percent.

PAYROLLS LOOM: How U.S. stock actually open could hinge on December jobs data. The figures could help determine the pace at which the Federal Reserve raises interest rates this year. In December, it raised its main rate to 0.25 percent, its first increase in nearly a decade, largely because of an improvement in the U.S. labor market. The figures, due an hour before the U.S. opening bell, are expected to show non-farm payrolls increased by a little more than 200,000 in December.

ANALYST TAKE: "Today's US jobs report may be seen to carry less significance than in recent months, particularly given the drama surrounding Chinese markets this week, but with the rate hike cycle now underway, the data will only become increasingly significant as it will largely determine whether a faster pace of tightening is necessary, or the Fed has made a mistake in initiating the process," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

DOLLAR REACTION: The dollar will be in focus after the payrolls figures as traders assess the path of future rate hikes. Ahead of the figures, the dollar was firm. The euro was down 0.4 percent at $1.0873 while the dollar rose 0.5 percent to 118.32 yen.

CHINA RELIEF: Investors around the world were relieved Friday by a steadier tone in Chinese trading. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 2 percent to 3,186.41 a day after trading was suspended following a 7 percent plunge. Worries about China have been fueled by soft economic data. Those fears have drowned out signs that the United States and Europe are doing fairly well.

ASIA'S DAY: In other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.6 percent to 20,453.71 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.7 percent to 1,917.62. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.4 percent to 17,697.96 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 percent to 4,990.80. India's Sensex added 0.6 percent to 25,009.80 and Taiwan and Singapore also advanced.

OIL: In energy trading, U.S. crude sank Thursday to its lowest level in 12 years on fears Chinese demand might weaken. The benchmark U.S. contract rebounded moderately Friday, rising 19 cents to $33.46 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 39 cents to $34.14 a barrel in London.

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'Shark Tank' star Barbara Corcoran knows the 'gift' that makes Donald Trump so successful

Philadelphia police: Officer shot while in police cruiser

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An investigator walks through the scene of a shooting Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, in Philadelphia. A Philadelphia police officer was shot multiple times by a man who ambushed him as he sat in his marked police cruiser, authorities said. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia police officer was ambushed by a man while sitting in his marked cruiser, and was in stable condition Friday after being shot three times in his left arm, officials said.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the suspect fired 13 shots that hit Officer Jessie Hartnett and his car late Thursday. He said the officer returned fire, hitting his assailant at least three times.

"This is absolutely one of the scariest things I've ever seen," Ross said at a news conference early Friday. "This guy tried to execute the police officer. The police officer had no idea he was coming."

The suspect ran away but was quickly apprehended by other officers, authorities said.

Ross, who was sworn in as commissioner Tuesday, said there was no apparent motive for the attack.

"Why someone would do something so absolutely evil is just beyond us," Ross said. "It's amazing he's alive."

There was no immediate word on the suspect's condition. Officer Christine O'Brien said the man was stuck at least once in the buttock.

Jim Kenney, who is in his first week as mayor of the nation's fifth-largest city, said, "There are just too many guns on the streets and I think our national government needs to do something about that."

His statement comes on the heels of President Barack Obama's announcement on Tuesday of his plan to tighten gun control laws.

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Associated Press writers Joscelyn Paine and Bob Lentz contributed to this report.

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16 pieces of fantastic career advice from successful people to try in 2016

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Richard Branson

The holidays are over and 2016 stretches before us, wide and unwritten. You can make it your best year so far. 

Sure, the next 12 months will bring your share of troubles, issues and set-backs. But they will also usher in a heaping load of opportunities, experiences and victories.

To help guide you to make the most of all them, here's 16 pieces of fantastic and thought provoking career advice from 16 successful people for you to try in 2016.

SEE ALSO: The 20 best unicorn startups to work for, according to their employees

Richard Branson: Don't waste energy on your so-called failures

Richard Branson's mother taught him that regret is simply wasted energy.

"The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures, rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me,"

The Virgin Group founder and chairman told The Good Entrepreneur. "I have fun running ALL the Virgin businesses — so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve."



Mark Cuban: Be the listener

An early mentor taught Mark Cuban that the most important skill was to listen.

He told Cuban at the start of any meeting, write the word LISTEN at the top of his notebook and use it as a reminder through the whole meeting.

By listening, he didn't mean simply being quiet, waiting for his turn to talk. He meant really focusing on what the other person was saying. 



Solemates founder Becca Brown: Act 'as if'

Becca Brown, in her mid 30's, cut her teeth at Goldman Sachs before launching her shoe-care startup, which now sells its products in over 3,000 stores.

The best advice she ever got was from her college lacrosse coach, who told her to "Act as if."

"It's a mentality, a state of mind, a perspective," Brown explains.

"Things are not always going to go your way in business, in your career, and in life. There will be setbacks and disappointments, and you may be tempted to get down on yourself, but you have to act as if — as if it didn't happen. As if it didn't faze you. As if things had gone your way."



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South Korea to North Korea: KIM JONG UN'S WIFE CARRIES A REALLY EXPENSIVE PURSE!

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Kim Jong Un wife

On Thursday, South Korea told North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, it would troll him on his birthday in response to his latest nuclear test. On Friday, Kim Jong Un's 33rd birthday, South Korea followed through.

Steve Herman, the Southeast Asia bureau chief for Voice of America news tweeted:

Back in 2012, South Korean newspaper Joongang Daily observed that Kim's wife owned a $1,600 Dior handbag

Also:

 The announcements were made perhaps to appeal to a population that is facing an historic drought and famine.

SEE ALSO: 16 fascinating facts about North Korea

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NOW WATCH: Police say the 'affluenza' teen is on the run

Mercedes, Audi sales top new records in 2015

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Mercedes-Benz, flagship brand of Daimler, says it sold 1.872 mn vehicles worldwide last year

Frankfurt (AFP) - German top-of-the-range carmakers Audi and Mercedes-Benz on Friday reported record sales in 2015, even holding their own in China despite difficult market conditions. 

Mercedes-Benz, flagship brand of Daimler, said it sold 1.872 million vehicles worldwide last year, an increase of 13.4 percent over the previous year.

Rival Audi, the high-end brand of embattled auto giant Volkswagen, said it sold 1.803 million cars, up 3.6 percent year-on-year.

"Last year, we sold more cars than ever before," said Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche. 

"We were able to increase our unit sales in all three core regions -– Europe, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and Asia-Pacific. And with 373,459 units sold, China developed into our biggest individual market worldwide in 2015. With growth there of 32.6 percent, Mercedes-Benz grew significantly faster than the overall automobile market," Zetsche said. 

Daimler said Mercedes-Benz launched more than 15 new or updated models in China last year, where it also expanded the dealer network to approximately 500 dealerships. 

Local production capacities were also expanded.

At Audi, which has been affected by the massive pollution-cheating scandal that has engulfed its parent company VW, sales growth was more modest. 

"2015 has proved that Audi is solidly on track and that we are able to master a year that presented various challenges very successfully," said chief executive Rupert Stadler. 

In China, Audi's sales slipped by 1.4 percent to 570,889, but the level was still "very high," Stadler insisted. 

"Over the course of the next months, (we) will introduce various new models throughout our Chinese product portfolio: by the summer of 2016, successors will be launched for models that represent around 60 percent of total Audi sales in China," Audi said. 

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Oil is rallying

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The price of oil is making a comeback today.

After hitting 14-year lows on Thursday, prices of both UK Brent and US crude made big gains early on Friday morning.

By 8:35 a.m. GMT (3:35 a.m. ET) Brent was up 1.69% at $34.29 (£23.47), and West Texas Intermediate crude was up just shy of 1.2% to $33.70 (£23.06).  Both benchmarks recovered substantially after hitting levels not seen since 2002 on Thursday. By late morning both WTI and Brent had tempered most of their gains, but they've since rallied again.

As of 1:00 p.m. GMT (8:00 a.m. ET) Brent was up 1.9% to $34.40 (£23.60) per barrel, while WTI lagged behind a little, up by 1.4%.

This is the state of Brent crude right now:

oil 3

And here's how WTI looks:

Screen Shot 2016 01 08 at 13.00.47

Why is oil start recovering on Friday? 

The crucial reason seems to be that China's stock markets finally made gains on Friday, and tempered the crazy losses they've seen all year so far. That's not so say that the markets in the country weren't a bit crazy, and as reported by Business Insider Australia's David Scutt, the Shanghai Composite share index swung wildly all day.

But, the index did eventually close the day in positive territory, ending up by 1.98%, its biggest percentage gain since December 14. 

Oil has also been helped by the small gains seen by the Chinese yuan, which is currently trading up 0.02% against the dollar to 6.5915, but it gained as much as 0.07% earlier in the day.

Today's price rises may just be a minor rebound however. Tensions in oil rich nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran are still at an all time high, and despite today's gains, equity markets in Asia are still incredibly jittery and unpredictable right now.

Oil has already briefly rebounded several times during its current slump, before returning to continued losses quickly afterwards.

Will the recovery continue? As with everything in the markets right now, nobody knows.

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NOW WATCH: Volkswagen's brand chief gave an extended apology before their CES keynote

Ford sells 1.1M vehicles in China in 2015, sets new record

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NEW YORK (AP) — Ford reported record sales of about 1.1 million vehicles in China last year.

The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker said Friday that its 2015 sales in the country were up 3 percent from the previous year.

It also set a new monthly sales record in December, selling 124,768 vehicles. That's up 27 percent from the prior-year period.

Ford Motor Co.'s passenger car joint venture, Changan Ford Automobile, broke its annual and December sales records. For 2015, the joint venture sold 836,425 vehicles. It's a 7 percent rise from 2014. It sold 96,960 vehicles in December, a 49 percent jump from the year-ago period.

Demand for its new Mondeo gave a boost to Changan's annual and December sales performances, the company said.

Annual sales of sport utility vehicles like the Ecosport, Kuga, Edge, Explorer and Everest rose 13 percent to 274,188 vehicles. December sales of SUVs surged 56 percent to 32,290 vehicles.

Jiangling Motors Corp., Ford's commercial vehicle investment in China, reported a 6 percent decline in annual sales and a 12 percent drop in December sales.

On Tuesday when U.S. auto sales were reported, Ford came in as the best-selling individual brand for the sixth straight year, with sales of just over 2.5 million. The company sold 780,354 F-Series trucks in the U.S. in 2015 — more than one every minute — making it the nation's top-selling vehicle.

Ford's stock gained 15 cents to $12.85 before the market open.

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South Korea resumes anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts

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South Korean soldiers stand in front of equipment used for propaganda broadcasts near the border area between South Korea and North Korea in Yeoncheon, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. South Korea responded to North Korea's nuclear test with broadcasts of anti-Pyongyang propaganda across the rival's tense border Friday, believed to be the birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (Lim Tae-hoon/Newsis via AP) KOREA OUT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — As world leaders debated how to punish North Korea's claim of a fourth nuclear test, South Korea retaliated by broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda across the rivals' tense border Friday on what was believed to be Kim Jong Un's birthday.

North Korea considers such broadcasts to be an act of psychological warfare and likely will have a furious response. Pyongyang is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of the authoritarian leadership of Kim, the third member of his family to rule the country. When South Korea briefly resumed propaganda broadcasts in August after an 11-year break, Seoul says the two Koreas exchanged artillery fire, followed by threats of war.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that frontline troops, near 11 sites where loudspeakers started blaring propaganda at noon, were on highest alert. Yonhap said Seoul had deployed missiles, artillery and other weapons systems near the border to swiftly deal with any possible North Korean provocation. South Korea's Defense Ministry did not immediately confirm the reports.

The North Korean response could be harsh because of the high emotions surrounding the likely birthday of Kim, who is believed to be in his early 30s. North Korean military forces often compete to show their loyalty to the leader. The North's state media has yet to mention Kim's birthday or South Korea's loudspeaker campaign.

The broadcasts came as world powers sought to find other ways to punish the North for conducting what it said was its first hydrogen bomb test Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged China, the North's only major ally and its biggest aid provider, to end "business as usual" with North Korea.

Diplomats at a U.N. Security Council emergency session pledged to swiftly pursue new sanctions. For current sanctions and any new penalties to work, better cooperation and stronger implementation from China is seen as key.

South Korean and U.S. military leaders also have discussed the deployment of U.S. "strategic assets," Seoul's Defense Ministry said. Officials refused to elaborate, but the assets likely are B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters and nuclear-powered submarines.

After North Korea's third nuclear test in 2013, the U.S. took the unusual step of sending its most powerful warplanes — B-2 stealth bombers, F-22 stealth fighters and B-52 bombers — to drills with South Korea in a show of force. B-2 and B-52 bombers are capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

It may take weeks or longer to confirm or refute the North's claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, which would mark a major and unanticipated advance for its still-limited nuclear arsenal. Outside experts are skeptical the blast was a hydrogen bomb, but even a test of an atomic bomb would push North Korea closer to building a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a long-range missile.

Late Friday, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said a small amount of radioactive elements was found in air samples collected from the peninsula's eastern seas after the blast but the measured amount was too small to determine whether the North had really detonated a nuclear device.

The institute said the level of xenon-133 isotopes found in the samples was similar to levels normally detected at its two radioactive gas detectors on the eastern and western coasts. KINS official Lee Ki-hyeong also noted that other types of xenon isotopes used to confirm nuclear explosions weren't detected.

Lee said the institute will continue to collect and analyze more samples.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had asked South Korea to refrain from the propaganda broadcasts. But South Korea sees K-pop and propaganda as quick ways to show its displeasure — and a guaranteed irritant to the North's sensitive and proud leadership.

The broadcasts include Korean pop songs, world news and weather forecasts as well as criticism of the North's nuclear test, its troubled economy and dire human rights conditions, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.

Performers on Seoul's propaganda playlist include a female K-pop band that rose to fame when its members fell multiple times on stage, a middle-aged singer who rose from obscurity last year with a song about living for 100 years and songs by a young female singer, IU, whose sweet, girlish voice might be aimed at North Korean soldiers deployed near the border.

North Koreans are prohibited from listening to K-pop, but defectors have said their countrymen enjoy music and other elements of South Korea popular culture that are smuggled into the country on USB sticks and DVDs.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.

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Follow Foster Klug, AP's Seoul bureau chief, on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@APKlug

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People are worried about how much information Windows 10 collects (MSFT)

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Windows 10 event

There are growing concerns about how much information Windows 10 collects about users. Microsoft recently made statistics about the operating system available, including the total amount of time users spent in apps. 

This information comes from Windows 10, which tracks the way users are using the operating system in order to get a better understanding of what works and what doesn't work. 

"Consistent with all modern services and websites, the Windows 10 information highlighted in the blog on January 4 is standard diagnostic, anonymous analytics that enables us to deliver the best Windows 10 experience possible," Microsoft said in a statement. 

Martin Brinkmann of GHacks was the first to highlight the potential problems of knowing how much time users spend in Edge, the web browser, among other apps. Apple, which makes OS X and iOS, does not collect this kind of data. 

Alan Woodward, a professor at Surrey University in the UK, told the BBC that users are "walking into [using Windows 10] blindfolded" when it comes to privacy. "[Users] don't necessarily realise what's going on," he said. 

Woodward was also curious about how, and where, Microsoft was storing the data from users, especially those from outside the US. 

Concerns about user privacy in Windows 10 have been growing recently after it emerged that the operating system sends data back to Microsoft even if it is told not to

Terry Myerson, Microsoft's Windows and Devices chief, wrote a blog post explaining the company's commitment to user privacy. 

Myerson highlighted the positives of data collection by Windows 10. "[The operating system] collects information so the product will work better for you," he wrote. "You are in control with the ability to determine what information is collected." 

"Microsoft is deeply committed to protecting our customers' privacy," the company said. 

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NOW WATCH: How to make Safari more secure on your iPhone


Extradition for Mexican drug lord not likely to be swift

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FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2015 file photo, Sean Penn speaks during a forum with young entrepreneurs during the IMF and World Bank annual meeting in Lima, Peru. Late Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, Rolling Stone magazine published an interview that Guzman apparently gave to Penn in his hideout in Mexico months before his recapture. In the article and interview, Penn describes the complicated measures he took to meet the legendary drug lord. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Recaptured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's secret interview with U.S. actor Sean Penn helped authorities locate his whereabouts, a Mexican law enforcement official said late Saturday.

The world's most wanted drug trafficker was arrested early Friday after a shootout in Los Mochis in his home state of Culiacan, six months after he embarrassed the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto by escaping for Mexico's most-secure prison. Five people were killed during the operation that led to the recapture of Guzman, who has twice escaped from prison.

Mexico Attorney General Arely Gomez had said on Friday that Guzman's contact with actors and producers for a possible biopic helped give law enforcement a new lead on tracking and capturing the world's most notorious drug kingpin.

On Saturday, a Mexican official said it was the Penn interview that led authorities to Guzman in a rural part of Durango state in October. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to comment. Authorities aborted their raid at the time because he was with two women and child. But they were able to track him to Los Mochis, Sinaloa, where he was captured.

The interview between Guzman and Penn, purportedly held in late 2015 in a hideout in Mexico, appeared late Saturday on the website of Rolling Stone magazine.

In it, the actor describes the complicated security measures he took to meet the drug lord. The men discuss topics ranging from drug trafficking to the Middle East.

When asked about whether he is responsible for the high level of drug addiction in the world, Guzman purportedly responds: "No, that is false, because the day I don't exist, it's not going to decrease in any way at all. Drug trafficking? That's false."

The magazine says the meeting was brokered by Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. Its website has a two-minute video it says is the first ever exclusive interview with Guzman. It is in Spanish and in it Guzman sits in front of a chain link face and speaks to a camera. He is wearing a print blue shirt and dark baseball cap, but his face is clearly visible. Accompanying the article is a picture of Penn shaking hands with Guzman.

Asked about who is to blame for drug trafficking, Guzman is quoted as saying: "If there was no consumption, there would be no sales. It is true that consumption, day after day, becomes bigger and bigger. So it sells and sells."

Earlier Saturday, a federal law enforcement official said that Mexico is willing to extradite Guzman to the United States, a sharp reversal from the official position after his last capture in 2014.

"Mexico is ready. There are plans to cooperate with the U.S.," said the Mexican official, who spoke on condition anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment.

But he cautioned that there could be a lengthy wait before U.S. prosecutors can get their hands on Guzman, the most-wanted trafficker who was recaptured Friday after six months on the run: "You have to go through the judicial process, and the defense has its elements too."

Top officials in the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto also floated the idea of extradition, which they had flatly ruled out before Guzman's embarrassing escape from Mexico's top maximum security prison on July 11 — his second from a Mexican prison.

"He has a lot of outstanding debts to pay in Mexico, but if it's necessary, he can pay them in other places," said Manlio Fabio Beltrones, president of Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party.

But even if Mexican officials agree, Guzman's attorney Juan Pablo Badillo told the Milenio newspaper that the defense already has filed six motions to challenge extradition requests.

"They can challenge the judge, challenge the probable cause, challenge the procedure," said Juan Masini, former U.S. Department of Justice attache at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. "That's why it can take a long time. They won't challenge everything at once ... they can drip, drip, milk it that way."

Guzman was apprehended after a shootout between gunmen and Mexican marines at a home in Los Mochis, a seaside city in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa.

The operation resulted from six months of investigation by Mexican forces, said Gomez.

Following his capture, the head of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel was brought to Mexico City's airport, frog-marched to a helicopter before news media, and flown back to the same prison he'd fled.

There were immediately calls for his quick extradition, just as there were after the February 2014 capture of Guzman, who faces drug-trafficking charges in several U.S. states. At the time, Mexico's government insisted it could handle the man who had already broken out of one maximum-security prison, saying he must pay his debt to Mexican society first.

Then-Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said the extradition would happen only after he finished his sentence in Mexico in "300 or 400 years."

Then Guzman escaped on July 11 under the noses of guards and prison officials at Mexico's most secure lock-up, slipping out an elaborate tunnel that showed the depth of the country's corruption while thoroughly embarrassing Pena Nieto's administration.

He also escaped a different maximum-security facility in 2001 while serving a 20-year sentence. Lore says he hid in a laundry cart, though many dispute that version. He spent 13 years on the lam.

Gomez said that one of Guzman's key tunnel builders led officials to the neighborhood in Los Mochis, where authorities had been watching for a month. The team noticed a lot of activity at the house Wednesday and the arrival of a car early Thursday morning. Authorities were able to determine that Guzman was inside the house, she said.

The marines were met with gunfire as they closed in.

Gomez said Guzman and his security chief, "El Cholo" Ivan Gastelum, were able to flee via storm drains and escape through a manhole cover to the street, where they commandeered getaway cars. Marines climbed into the drains in pursuit. They closed in on the two men based on reports of stolen vehicles and they were arrested on the highway.

What happens now is crucial for Guzman, whose cartel smuggles multi-ton shipments of cocaine and marijuana as well as manufacturing and transporting methamphetamines and heroin, mostly to the U.S.

According to a statement from the Mexican Attorney General's office, the U.S. filed extradition requests June 25, while Guzman was in custody, and another Sep. 3, after he escaped. The Mexican government determined they were valid within the extradition treaty and sent them to a panel of federal judges, who gave orders for detention on July 29 and Sept. 8, after Guzman had escaped.

Those orders were not for extradition but just for Guzman to begin the extradition hearing process. Now that he is recapture, Mexico has to start processing the extradition requests anew, according to the law.

The quickest he could be extradited would be six months, said a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity, but it's not likely because lawyers file appeals. He said that they are usually turned down, but each one means a judge has to schedule a hearing.

"That can take weeks or months, and that delays the extradition," he said. "We've had cases that take six years."

The attorney general's office noted that Guzman's lawyers have already filed various appeals, some overruled and some still pending.

"He shouldn't be extradited to the United States or any other foreign country," Guzman's lawyer, Badillo, said Saturday. "Mexico has laws grounded in the constitution. Our country must respect national sovereignty, the sovereignty of its institutions to impart justice."

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Associated Press writer Christopher Sherman in Los Mochis, Maria Verza in Mexico City and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

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Lax enforcement weakens UN sanctions on nuclear North Korea

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People dance near the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, after the government said it had conducted a hydrogen bomb test two days earlier. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — While the U.N. Security Council considers new sanctions on North Korea after its latest nuclear test, experts say existing sanctions are going unenforced.

Despite the mounting international concern over North Korea's nuclear capabilities, less than 40 of the U.N. 193 member states have turned in reports on sanctions implementation since the latest round of sanctions was imposed in 2013. Compliance has been lowest in Africa, an increasingly important market for low-cost North Korean weapons sales.

Perhaps more disturbingly, the most recent annual report published by the U.N. panel of experts on North Korea found no new instances of member states' seizure or inspection of prohibited items, although its investigations showed that the North "continues to attempt to procure or transfer items" for its nuclear and missile programs.

Since North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, the Security Council has approved four sanctions resolutions that prohibit North Korea from possessing and trafficking weapons of mass destruction, importing luxury goods and trading in arms. That's made it trickier for the North to get hard currency to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

But the measures have failed to check the North's progress. While Pyongyang's claim to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb Wednesday was greeted with skepticism, experts say it is likely making progress on miniaturizing a nuclear weapon and could have enough fissile material for dozens of bombs by 2020.

As expected, the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body, has strongly condemned the latest test and pledged to swiftly push for "further significant measures." U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the council should hold North Korea accountable by imposing tough new restrictions, "and by ensuring rigorous enforcement of the resolutions it has already adopted."

Diplomats say it can take a few weeks for a new draft resolution to be negotiated and put to a vote.

The council, including veto-wielding permanent members China and Russia that have close ties to North Korea, has long opposed the North's nuclear ambitions. There's been less enthusiasm, however, when it comes to agreeing on individuals and entities to be sanctioned and excluded from the international financial system.

By the end of 2015, only 32 names associated with North Korea were under sanctions, compared with 121 for Iran.

"You've got some pretty good restrictive measures," said Richard Nephew, a former top U.S. State Department official coordinating sanctions policy, "but when it comes to lists of individuals and entities where you can have some important impact on the North Korean leadership" the U.N. process has been lacking.

A U.N. diplomat familiar with the workings of the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions on North Korea said its actions require consensus by all 15 member states, which slows the process of making new designations. While Western nations basically agree on all the recommendations of the U.N. panel of experts on North Korea, other members, such as China and sometimes Russia, tend to stall. The diplomat says that could give potential targets time to adapt.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the diplomat was not authorized to speak publicly about the committee's meetings, which are not public.

A sign of how sluggish the process can be came after the most significant arms seizure to date under the North Korea sanctions, when Panama in 2013 impounded a North Korean vessel loaded with MiG-21 fighters and anti-aircraft missiles in transit from Cuba, hidden under a cargo of sugar. It took the council a whole year to add the Pyongyang-based operator, Ocean Maritime Management Company, Ltd., or OMM, to its sanctions blacklist.

The panel of experts later reported on how deft North Korea is at responding in an effort to circumvent sanctions. It found that OMM had renamed most of its vessels, with 13 of its 14 ships changing owners and managers, "effectively erasing" the company from a database kept by the International Maritime Organization.

None of the ships were seized by member states, as called for by sanctions.

The panel's report, in February 2015, also recommended updating the sanctions list with 34 OMM entities and said all 14 vessels should be subject to sanctions. But according to the latest U.N. sanctions list dated Dec. 30, there have been no additions since July 2014.

William Newcomb, a former panel member, said that China uses the sanctions committee's consensus rule "to renege on what it agreed to do in the Security Council as well as to block proposed designations."

The news is not all bad. Experts say China has become more responsive to panel inquiries, which it used to ignore.

Joseph DeThomas, a former senior State Department official who advised on Iran and North Korea, said the U.N. sanctions, combined with unilateral U.S. sanctions, have made it harder for North Korea to move money through the international banking system. They also have helped in detecting and intercepting some illicit arms shipments.

"There are still loopholes, interpretations, problems. Those involve third-country brokers, North Korean front companies and lax inspection procedure or other problems in particular ports. But they are having an impact," he said.

Experts say North Korea's trade in missiles to the Mideast has dropped off. New weapons sales to another important client, Myanmar, stopped when the country shifted from direct military rule and embraced democratic reforms. But there's little sign that sanctions have stopped North Korea selling and refurbishing Soviet-era weapons to African nations.

The U.N. panel last year reported a "lack of awareness and understanding" of the sanctions resolutions has allowed North Korea to exploit long-standing relationships with African countries for arms-related services and training.

Among the reported transgressions the panel has investigated: North Korean ties to an ammunition manufacturer in Ethiopia, maintenance of fighter jets in Tanzania, and martial arts training for police in Uganda.

North Korea has also managed to keep supplying luxury goods for its elite from multiple countries, including Western ones. A yacht seen alongside leader Kim Jong Un in 2013 was sourced by the panel of experts to a British manufacturer, Princess Yachts International, which the panel said did not reply to a request for more information.

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Pennington reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Once-homeless vet to be among Michelle Obama's speech guests

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In this Jan. 9, 2016, photo, Cynthia Dias holds Copper, a friend's dog who she looks after, at her apartment in Las Vegas. Dias lived at a homeless shelter before moving into Veteran's Village, a former motel in downtown Las Vegas that was renovated to provide housing for veterans. Dias will sit in First Lady Michelle Obama’s visitor box during the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. (AP Photo/John Locher)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A formerly homeless veteran from Las Vegas will sit in first lady Michelle Obama's visitor box during the State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Cynthia Dias, 64, served during the Vietnam War on a hospital ship as a registered nurse and attributed her years of homelessness to post-traumatic stress disorder.

About a year ago, Dias says, she was able to move from a homeless shelter for women and children into a former motel in downtown Las Vegas that was renovated through private donations to provide 122 units of housing for veterans. While staying in Veterans Village, residents like Dias get access to health care, job training and counseling.

The Obama administration is highlighting a challenge that the first lady and Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, issued for local leaders to do more to end veteran homelessness in 2015.

Las Vegas responded to the call, and city leaders say they have enough services and programs in place to house every homeless veteran.

Dias said she's in shock from Mrs. Obama's invitation and hopes people will think about her survival when they see her.

"I survived and I'm thriving here at Veterans Village," Dias said.

"For me, it's been a heaven-sent gift to be among other veterans who are suffering from PTSD," she said. "The camaraderie that veterans have for one another, it's better medication than the anti-depressants."

The founder of Veterans Village, Arnold Stalk, said it's important to get veterans off the street first and into a stable environment. Once that happens, it's easier to provide the health care and other support they'll need to live in a home permanently.

Dias will join two other Obama guests, early supporters who the president says provided early inspiration to his campaign.

Edith Childs, of Greenwood, South Carolina, met Obama at a rally in her state in June 2007. Obama credits her with coining the "Fired up! Ready to go!" call-and-response that became a rallying cry for both of his White House bids.

Another guest, Earl Smith, was head of security at an Austin hotel when he met Obama in February 2008. He gave Obama a military patch he had carried with him for 40 years; Obama carried it with him for the rest of the campaign.

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

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Chiefs beat Texans 30-0 for first playoff win since 1994

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Kansas City Chiefs running back Knile Davis (34) returns a kickoff for a touchdown as Houston Texans inside linebacker Max Bullough (53) chases him during the first half of an NFL wild-card football game Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

HOUSTON (AP) — After 22 years without a playoff victory, the Kansas City Chiefs were determined not to give up the lead this time.

The Chiefs had enough points to win after jumping ahead 7-0 in the first 11 seconds, and they used relentless pressure, five turnovers and a ball-control offense to dominate the Houston Texans 30-0 in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday.

They were especially cognizant of not letting up after blowing a 28-point lead in a loss to the Colts in their last playoff appearance in 2013.

"What happened to us a couple years ago, everybody remembers that even the coaches included, so our entire mentality is about finishing," quarterback Alex Smith said. "The mentality doesn't change."

They finished off the Texans early, and they had the hometown fans booing by the second quarter. Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer had the worst game of his career with four interceptions and a fumble.

Houston's defense kept the Texans close in the first half, but J.J. Watt left with an injury in the third quarter, Jadeveon Clowney never even put on his jersey and the Chiefs were able to close the game out in the second half.

The Chiefs extended their NFL-best winning streak to 11 games and will face New England on Saturday.

"We wanted to come in and dominate," Chiefs safety Eric Berry said. "Right now we are locked in and ready for next week.

On the opening kickoff, Knile Davis got three good blocks around the 10-yard line and then simply outran the rest of the defenders for the 106-yard kickoff return score, the second-longest kickoff return TD in postseason history.

"It was a huge deal, man. It set the tempo," Davis said. "It quieted everybody, kind of made everybody relax."

The defense took over after that, forcing Hoyer into a fumble and a three of his career-high four interceptions before halftime to help the Chiefs (12-5) take a 13-0 lead.

"I made some bad decisions that really hurt the team," Hoyer said.

Houston coach Bill O'Brien said he never considered benching Hoyer, but backup Brandon Weeden told a different story, saying he was warming up late in the game.

"We had talked about me going in there with Brian," Weeden said. "Brian wanted to finish the thing out. I don't blame him."

Smith threw a touchdown pass late in the third and Spencer Ware added a 5-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 27-0.

Travis Kelce, who also had more than 100 yards receiving in the first meeting with the Texans this year, had another big day, finishing with eight receptions for 128 yards.

The victory breaks a streak of eight straight playoff losses by the Chiefs and is their first postseason win since beating the Oilers in Houston on Jan. 16, 1994. That team was led by Joe Montana and Marcus Allen.

"Was it 1994? I didn't feel it, but I know how important it is, too," coach Andy Reid said. "You get to the playoffs, and first round, if things don't go well, that rips your heart out."

Hoyer was 15 of 34 for 136 yards as Houston (9-8) lost a home playoff game for the first time. Hoyer's performance cast more doubt on his future as the starter.

Watt missed most of the second half after injuring his groin in the third quarter. Last year's Defensive Player of the Year and the NFL sack leader didn't have a sack as Houston's defense played well but couldn't hold off an offense that got so many extra chances because of turnovers.

Watt returned a few plays after he was initially hurt, but soon left the game again when he was pushed to the ground by the head by tackle Eric Fisher.

"That's just a dirty play," Watt said. "But the injury was before that moment."

Fisher said he didn't know the play was over. Kansas City receiver Jeremy Maclin strained his right knee on the same play and didn't return.

The Chiefs capped that drive when Smith found rookie Chris Conley in the back of the end zone for 9-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 20-0.

Houston defensive end Jared Crick got a personal foul late in the third quarter when he hit Fisher after a play, in an apparent retaliation for the Watt hit.

Down 7-0, the Texans were driving when Hoyer was sacked by Allen Bailey and fumbled. Dontari Poe recovered it at the Kansas City 42 and the Chiefs extended their lead to 10-0 on a 49-yard field goal.

Trailing 13-0, a 49-yard run by Alfred Blue got Houston to the Kansas City 13. The Texans got a first down at the 2 and Watt and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork came in on offense, with Watt lined up as the wildcat quarterback and Wilfork blocking. Watt took the direct snap but had nowhere to go and lost a yard on his first career carry. Hoyer was intercepted on the next play by Josh Mauga.

Hoyer had also struggled against the Chiefs in the season opener, being benched in the fourth quarter of a 27-20 loss.

NOTES: Clowney, the top overall pick in the 2014 draft, was inactive with a foot injury. ... Maclin will have an MRI on Sunday. ... Kansas City right tackle Laurent Duvernay-Tardif suffered a concussion in the first half.

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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

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NFL Latest: Knile Davis takes opening kick 106 yards for KC

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Pittsburgh Steelers' Martavis Bryant (10) makes a 10-yard touchdown reception against Cincinnati Bengals' Dre Kirkpatrick (27) during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Gary Landers)

The latest from the NFL wild-card games Saturday (all times EST):

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11:57 p.m.

The Steelers are on to Denver while the Chiefs are heading to New England.

Ben Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers to an 18-16 comeback win over Cincinnati after being carted off the field with a right shoulder injury, setting up a second-round playoff game against the Broncos (12-4) next Sunday.

The Steelers (11-6) might be without star receiver Antonio Brown, who was injured after taking a shot to the head on the final drive.

The Chiefs (12-5) also could be without their top receiver following a 30-0 win at Houston. Jeremy Maclin had tears in his eyes when he was carted off with a right knee injury. Maclin will have an MRI on Sunday. He missed the entire 2013 season because of a torn right ACL.

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10:51 p.m.

Ben Roethlisberger was carted off the field after injuring his right shoulder.

Roethlisberger was taken to the locker room for examination after landing hard on his shoulder while being sacked by Cincinnati's Vontaze Burfict on the final play of the third quarter. Burfict drove Roethlisberger into the ground and the quarterback quickly walked to the team trainers and backup Landry Jones began warming up.

The Bengals finally scored on the ensuing possession to pull within 15-7.

Cincinnati lost running back Giovani Bernard for the rest of the game with a concussion, and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick is out with a thigh injury.

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10:28 p.m. EST

The Pittsburgh Steelers are pulling away in Cincinnati.

Ben Roethlisberger hit Martavis Bryant with a 10-yard touchdown pass with 5:02 remaining in the third quarter to put the visiting Steelers up 15-0 in the rain at Paul Brown Stadium.

Bryant, who had been called out by Roethlisberger during the week for lackluster play heading into the postseason, somehow secured the ball while somersaulting out of the end zone to cap an 82-yard drive that perched the Bengals and their anemic offense on the verge of a first-round exit for the fifth straight year. No other team in NFL history has lost more than three consecutive opening-round games.

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9:44 p.m.

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking like they miss Andy Dalton.

The Pittsburgh Steelers took a 6-0 halftime lead over the Bengals during a sloppy and soggy two quarters at Paul Brown Stadium thanks to a pair of Chris Boswell field goals. While the Bengals have kept Ben Roethlisberger and All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown in check, Cincinnati and quarterback AJ McCarron have done little against the league's 21st ranked defense.

The Bengals managed all of 56 yards in the first half. McCarron completed just 7 of 14 passes for 59 yards. His interception to Pittsburgh's Antwon Blake set up Boswell's first field goal.

Cincinnati's secondary is dealing with a pair of injuries. Safety Reggie Nelson is out with a busted left ankle and corner Dre Kirkpatrick is questionable with left quad injury.

Pittsburgh running back Fitzgerald Toussaint — who came in with 69 career yards of total offense — had 81 in the opening half on 38 yards rushing and 43 receiving.

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8:46 p.m.

After keeping things cool in pre-game warmups, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals got testy once the game started.

The Steelers were called for a couple of 15-yard penalties in the opening quarter, including one by Hall of Fame offensive line coach Mike Munchak, who was flagged for pushing Cincinnati safety Reggie Nelson after Nelson pushed Steelers running back Jordan Todman out of bounds.

Nelson left the game after tweaking his left ankle while sacking Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Nelson tied for NFL lead with eight interceptions and has picked off Roethlisberger six times in the teams' last seven meetings.

Pittsburgh's running game is doing fine without injured starters Le'Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams. Backups Fitzgerald Toussaint and Jordan Todman combined for 50 yards in the first 15 minutes, though the Steelers did lose fullback Will Johnson to a hamstring injury. He is doubtful to return.

The teams were scoreless after one quarter.

— Will Graves reporting from Cincinnati.

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7:49 p.m.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals played nice this time.

The two rivals went through their pregame workouts without incident on Saturday night in the run-up to their wild-card matchup, never coming within 10 yards of each other. Then again, they didn't really have much choice, as members of both coaching staffs provided a black-clad DMZ at the 50.

It was a stark contrast from Pittsburgh's last visit to Paul Brown Stadium, when Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict crossed over to the Steelers' side of the field before kickoff and exchanged words with Pittsburgh linebacker Vince Williams. The ensuing pushing and shoving set the tone for a testy three hours that culminated with a one-sided 33-20 Steelers' win.

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7:35 p.m.

The Chiefs are on to New England or Denver.

Kansas City beat Houston 30-0 on the road for its 11th straight win to advance to the AFC divisional round. Andy Reid and the Chiefs now have to wait a few hours to find out their next opponent.

If the Bengals beat the Steelers in the night game, the Chiefs will play Denver for the third time this season. They beat the Broncos on the road 29-13 in Week 10. The Broncos won in Kansas City, 31-24, in Week Two.

If the Steelers win, the Chiefs will visit the Patriots.

The Chiefs last played New England in 2014. They beat up on Tom Brady in a 41-14 victory.

Kansas City overcame a 1-5 start and won the final 10 regular-season games.

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6:40 p.m.

Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin left the field in tears on a cart after injuring his right knee in the third quarter and Texans All-Pro J.J. Watt is questionable to return because of a groin injury.

There was no immediate word on the extent of Maclin's injury. He missed the entire 2013 season because of a torn right ACL.

Maclin also suffered the same injury at Missouri four years before the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in the first round in 2010. Maclin had 87 catches for 1,088 yards and eight TDs in his first season with the Chiefs.

Watt limped off the field earlier in the third quarter but returned. He came off again on the same play Maclin was injured, went to the locker room and was cheered when he came back to the sideline.

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5:55 p.m.

Brian Hoyer has turned into a turnover machine in his first career playoff start.

Hoyer threw three interceptions and lost a fumble on Houston's first six possessions. The Chiefs led the Texans 13-0 at halftime.

Hoyer hadn't thrown more than one pick in any of his nine starts this season. He had 19 TDs and seven interceptions.

The three interceptions tied Hoyer's career-high. He did it twice with Cleveland, including in a 26-24 win at Atlanta in 2014.

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5:42 p.m.

Down 13-0, the Houston Texans turned to J.J. Watt and Vince Wilfork on offense.

It didn't work.

Watt lined up at quarterback, took a snap out of shotgun formation and ran behind the 325-pound Wilfork, who was an extra blocker. The Chiefs weren't surprised and stuffed Watt for a 2-yard loss.

Brian Hoyer then threw an interception so the Texans didn't get anything after their best drive.

Watt has three career receptions and each was a touchdown. This was his first carry.

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5:28 p.m.

Chiefs right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is being evaluated for a concussion and has been replaced by Zach Fulton.

Duvernay-Tardif, a sixth-round pick in 2014, started 13 games this season. Fulton, a sixth-round pick in the same draft, started 22 games over his first two seasons.

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4:40 p.m.

Knile Davis got the NFL playoffs started in style.

Davis took the opening kickoff 106 yards to give Kansas City a 7-0 lead over Houston in the first AFC wild-card game Saturday.

It was second-longest return in postseason history and the fifth time the opening kick was returned for a touchdown in a playoff game. Chicago's Devin Hester was the last to do it against Indianapolis in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, 2007.

Davis had a team-record 108-yard return against Denver in 2013.

The Texans won the coin toss, but deferred. Davis found a hole, cut to the outside and sprinted down the left side untouched.

The Chiefs overcame a 1-5 start and have won 10 straight games entering the playoffs. The Texans bounced back from a 2-5 start to win the AFC South.

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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

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