Associated Press

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man has been convicted of sexually abusing girls ages 7 and 8 in western Iowa.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline says its proposed route through Nebraska is still legally valid until a higher court decides whether the state's pipeline-siting law is constitutional.

(Information in the following story is from: Lincoln Journal Star, http://www.journalstar.com)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Oil production grew again last year in southwest Nebraska thanks to new techniques, but state officials don't expect the boom to last long.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Hotels, gas stations and restaurants would have to notify customers if they place temporary hold charges on their debit cards, under a bill set for review in the Nebraska Legislature.

A 55-year-old restaurant manager died and more than two dozen others were taken to hospitals Saturday after being overcome by carbon monoxide at a New York mall, police said.

Suffolk County police identified the man who died as Steven Nelson, a manager at the Legal Sea Foods restaurant at the Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station on Long Island.

Police said 28 others affected by carbon monoxide were taken to area hospitals.

The Taliban has suspended talks over a possible exchange of Taliban and U.S. prisoners due to the "complexity" of the situation in Afghanistan, the militant group said on Sunday.

"Due to the political complexity of the current situation in the country, the leadership of the Islamic Emirate has decided to suspend the issue for some time," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an email to media organizations, using the name the Taliban gave their 1996-2001 government.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — More than 25 bighorn sheep have been relocated from Nebraska's Wildcat Hills to the Pine Ridge area.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha attorney and former Douglas County prosecutor Brian Buescher has joining the race for Nebraska attorney general.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Cities that don't already impose occupation taxes on alcohol, tobacco and motor-vehicle fuels would be banned from doing so in the future, under a bill that won first-round approval from Nebraska lawmakers.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha-based economist says a survey of bankers in 10 Midwest and Plains states suggests the regional economy is losing steam.