WASHINGTON (AFP) –
The White House on Tuesday mocked Republican attacks on President Barack Obama's trip to Copenhagen this week to play a starring role in Chicago's final 2016 Olympic presentation.

Some Obama critics, including Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, have accused the president of neglecting domestic and foreign crises to fly to Copenhagen ahead of Friday's vote on the venue of the 2016 Summer Games.

Chicago is locked in a pitched battle with Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo for the right to host the global sporting extravaganza.

"Who's he rooting for?" White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, when told of Steele's remarks.

"Is he hoping to hop a plane to Brazil and catch the Olympics in Rio? I don't know. Maybe it's Madrid."

Earlier, in a conference call with reporters, Steele said it was noble of Obama to go to Denmark on behalf of his native "Chi-town" but that the president had other pressing business to attend to.

"I think at a time of war, I think at a time of recession, at a time where Americans have expressed rather significantly their concerns and frustrations.... I think that this trip, while nice, is not necessary for the president," Steele said.

"The goal should be creating, not job opportunities seven years from now, but job opportunities today."

"And I think that what the president is doing is not necessarily helpful and does not, in my view, instill the confidence in the American people that the focus is there on jobs, wealth creation and moving us beyond recession to prosperity."

Obama's trip is unlikely to take too much time out of his packed schedule. He will leave Washington Thursday night for Denmark, arriving on Friday morning hours before Chicago is set to make its final presentation.

After giving a speech, he is set to return straight home.

NEW YORK – "Jon & Kate Plus 8" will soon be simply "Kate Plus Eight."
That's the word from the TLC network, who announced Tuesday that its hit reality show is adapting to changes in the Gosselin household, which has been disrupted by the split up of Kate and Jon.
The renamed "Kate Plus Eight," which begins Nov. 2, will continue to chronicle the lives of the Gosselin kids (5-year-old sextuplets and 8-year-old twins) but will also focus on Kate's role as a single mother.
"It's not a huge shift, but it's reflective of where the show was already going," said Eileen O'Neill, TLC's president and general manager.
"Jon's going to be involved in the show," she said, adding that he will be seen less often than before. TLC retains an exclusive arrangement with him, as well as the rest of the family, O'Neill said.
The couple made their separation official on a "Jon & Kate" episode that aired in June and was seen by 10.6 million viewers.
The rupture came after weeks of tabloid reports of marital strains and infidelities, which both spouses denied. On the show, the parental co-stars barely spoke to each other.
Since then, media coverage of the squabbling exes has continued full-bore, and both Jon and Kate have made separate he-said-she-said talk-show rounds. They are in divorce proceedings.
It's quite a change since the series clicked with viewers two years ago for its heartwarming look at the challenges of raising eight young children.
Going forward, O'Neill said, "We hope for the sake of the family that things are more manageable. I don't think anyone asked for that amount of attention."
She spoke hopefully of a bright future for the series and dismissed a report circulating Tuesday that Kate Gosselin had posted a tweet that this season might be the last: Kate doesn't have a Twitter account, O'Neill said.
Although the audience for recent "Jon & Kate" airings has dropped below two million viewers, the current season has averaged a robust 3.2 million (even omitting its two record-setting "event" episodes), which represents an increase of 300,000 viewers over last season.
Discussions are under way with Kate Gosselin for another series that might debut in 2010, O'Neill said.
"I think there's an opportunity for Kate beyond her role as a supermom to explore her other interests," O'Neill said.
Meanwhile, with reality-based programming that also includes "Little People, Big World," "What Not to Wear" and "LA Ink," the network is boasting a year of consecutive month-to-month audience gains.
"We're not a one-hit wonder," O'Neill said.
The series airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT.
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TLC is owned by Discovery Communications, LLC.

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On the Net:

http://www.tlc.com

LOS ANGELES – With a departed teammate in their thoughts and celebrations, the Los Angeles Angels ended the AL West race with one emphatic win — followed by one cathartic party. Ervin Santana pitched a seven-hitter for his fourth career shutout, and Kendry Morales' early two-run homer propelled the Angels to an 11-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night, clinching Los Angeles' fifth division title in six seasons.
With fewer wins and more scars than last season's 100-victory club, the Angels are back in the playoffs for the sixth time in eight years. Outfielder Torii Hunter believes everything the Angels have endured in the past year, particularly pitcher Nick Adenhart's tragic death, only made them stronger for this October.
"We overcame a lot of obstacles, a lot more than anybody expected," Hunter said. "I definitely feel we haven't played our best yet, and this year is different. But if you want to put your money on Boston, go ahead, do it. We believe in ourselves."
Los Angeles (92-64) will open at home in the best-of-five first round next week — most likely against Boston, a familiar nemesis. The Red Sox, who have won all four of the clubs' playoff series, need one win or a Texas loss to earn the AL wild card.
After spending the past two months desperately fending off challenges from second-place Texas, the Angels refused to let the Rangers hang around the AL West race for even one more day. Texas arrived at Angel Stadium needing a four-game sweep to stay in contention for the division title, but that suspense lasted about as long as the first inning.
Kendry Morales hit a two-run homer, and Vladimir Guerrero started the rally with an RBI double off Rangers rookie Tommy Hunter (7-9), who stumbled to his shortest start of the season.
Maicer Izturis had three hits and two RBIs for the Angels, while Erick Aybar and Guerrero also drove in two runs — yet Santana (8-8) scarcely needed the help in his first victory in seven starts, allowing just one runner to reach third base. In the postgame mob on the field, Santana's teammates slapped his shoulders and rubbed his head.
About 10 minutes into their clubhouse celebration, the players grabbed Adenhart's No. 34 jersey and gave it a joyous group dousing in champagne and beer. The Angels have taken Adenhart's jersey on every road trip and kept his locker intact in memory of the 22-year-old who died in a car accident hours after his promising season debut in April.
"We remembered Nick before we started," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We've played the whole year with heavy hearts. But it was never about us, and it isn't about us. It's all about supporting Nick's family in any small way, and we're going to bring Nick's memory forward."
The Angels later posed for a group photo in front of the tribute to Adenhart on Angel Stadium's center field wall.
Michael Young had two hits in his return from a hamstring injury for the Rangers, on the verge of elimination from the pennant race after impressively staying in contention all summer despite several major injuries. Texas (85-71) trails Boston (91-65), which lost to Toronto, by six games with six to play.
"We didn't get it done, and that's not a good feeling," Young said. "The Angels had a great year and overcame a tremendous amount of adversity, and they deserve a lot of credit. But from our side, it's not a good feeling. We've got to get better. It's as simple as that."
Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 5
At Boston, Josh Beckett was scratched from his scheduled start and the Blue Jays scored seven runs off substitute Michael Bowden in a game that was called in the seventh inning because of rain.
It was the fourth straight loss for Boston, which could have clinched the wild card with a victory coupled with the Rangers' 11-0 loss to the Angels. Boston is six games ahead in the wild card with seven to play.
Yankees 8, Royals 2
At New York, Robinson Cano capped a five-run seventh inning with a grand slam to lead a makeshift Yankees lineup in win No. 101.
One day after the Yankees secured their first AL East title since 2006, Ramiro Pena hit his first major league home run and Shelley Duncan had a tiebreaking single in the sixth while New York rested most of its regulars.

Cano's second career slam was his 25th homer this season and helped set a franchise record for most players with at least 25 in a season. He joined Mark Teixeira (38), Alex Rodriguez (28), Hideki Matsui (28) and Nick Swisher (27).

White Sox 6, Indians 1

At Cleveland, Gordon Beckham drove in three runs and John Danks threw his first career complete game to win for the first time in more than a month.

Danks (13-10) allowed three hits and one run, striking out seven. Shin-Soo Choo hit his 19th homer leading off the seventh to break up the left-hander's bid for his first career shutout

Rays 7, Orioles 6

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and pinch-hitter Willy Aybar had one of four Tampa Bay homers to extend Baltimore's losing streak to 11 games.

Gabe Kapler, Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria also homered for the Rays, who are 8-5 since an 11-game skid. Tampa Bay has hit 193 homers this season, breaking the team record of 190 set in 2006.

KABUL – Officials say the civilian death toll in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan has reached 30.
Kandahar provincial police chief Sardar Mohammad Zazai says nine women and seven children are among the 30 killed. A packed bus traveling from the western city of Herat to Kandahar hit a land mine in Maiwand district Tuesday. Thirty-nine people were wounded.
Militants are planting more roadside bombs than ever, but the bombs kill far more Afghan civilians than they do soldiers.
A U.N. report issued Saturday said August was the deadliest month of the year for civilians because of violence from the insurgency. A total of 1,500 civilians died in Afghanistan from January through August, up from 1,145 for the same period of 2008.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
KABUL (AP) — A roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan has killed 12 civilians.
Police chief Bismullah Khan says a civilian bus hit a bomb in Kandahar province's Maiwand district Tuesday morning, killing the 12 civilians and wounding another 15. He says some of the more seriously wounded civilians were taken to a NATO base for treatment.
Militants are planting more roadside bombs than ever as they battle U.S. and NATO troops. But the bombs kill far more Afghan civilians than they do soldiers.
A U.N. report issued Saturday said August was the deadliest month of the year for civilians because of violence from the insurgency. A total of 1,500 civilians died in Afghanistan from January through August, up from 1,145 for the same period of 2008.