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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan police official says that an explosion has struck a group of children who were playing on the outskirts of a provincial capital in the country’s north, killing three boys and wounding 12 children, four of them critically.

Provincial police spokesman Jawed Basharat says the explosion took place on Tuesday at the outskirts of Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province. He says the victims were all between 7 and 12 years old.

Basharat says it wasn’t immediately clear what the source of the explosion was and that it could have been a land mine or some other left-over ordnance from the wars.

Afghanistan still regularly sees explosions from left-over land mines and other unexploded ordnance that kill dozens of people despite decades of clean-up efforts across the country.

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London (AFP) – Chinese investors China Media Capital (CMC) and CITIC Capital have bought a 13 percent stake in the parent company of Manchester City Football Club for $400 million (377 million euros), the companies said.

“We and our consortium partner CITIC Capital also see this investment as a prime opportunity for furthering the contribution of China to the global football family,” CMC chairman Ruigang Li said.

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BERLIN (AP) — The German Cabinet has approved plans to commit up to 1,200 soldiers to support the international coalition fighting against the Islamic State group in Syria.

The mandate, which requires parliamentary approval, was endorsed by ministers Tuesday, news agency dpa reported. It isn’t yet clear when lawmakers will consider it, but Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition has a large majority and approval looks assured.

Following the Paris attacks, Merkel agreed to honor a request from France to provide support for its operations against IS in Syria. Germany plans to send reconnaissance aircraft, tanker planes and a warship to the region in support roles, but won’t actively engage in combat.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the daily Bild that he doesn’t expect Germany to have 1,200 soldiers participating at any one time.

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — President Petro Poroshenko has pardoned a Russian citizen arrested in eastern Ukraine and exchanged him for a Ukrainian serviceman held by Russian-backed separatists.

Poroshenko announced the exchange on his official website, which showed a photograph of him meeting early Tuesday with the freed Ukrainian, Andrei Grechanov.

The president said he pardoned Vladimir Starkov, a Russian who was arrested in July while driving a truck loaded with ammunition in eastern Ukraine and later sentenced to 14 years in prison. Ukrainian security services released a video in which Starkov acknowledged being a Russian military officer.

Russia has denied sending troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine, where separatists have been fighting government troops since April 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 8,000 people.

A cease-fire has largely held since September.

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Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has delivered another blistering attack on the music industry and the “laughable amounts” services like YouTube pay to artists.

By: Michael Rundle,

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Nasa has released a new video of Valkyrie, or ‘R5’ as its more officially known, strutting its stuff.

By: Matt Burgess,

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s prime minister has accused Russia of trying to “cover up” its infringement of Turkey’s airspace with “unfounded” claims that Turkey is illegally importing oil from the Islamic State group in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Turkey shot down its plane to protect what he described as Turkish profiteering from the oil trade — a charge Turkey denies.

Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters Tuesday: “It is not possible to cover up the violation of the Turkish airspace with unfounded accusations against Turkey.”

He renewed a call for Russia to keep military and diplomatic channels for dialogue open, insisting that Russia’s stance was turning the Syria crisis into a “crisis between Russia and Turkey.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s December, when Congress typically passes a last-minute package of temporary tax breaks, sparing millions of businesses and individuals from unwanted tax increases just weeks before the start of filing season.

This year, lawmakers will have to do it again if they want to avoid the wrath of angry taxpayers at holiday time.

Congress extends these tax breaks every year or two, usually in the final days, drawing complaints from business leaders tired of the uncertainty.

The Senate Finance Committee passed a package of 56 temporary tax breaks in July. The package would extend the tax breaks through the end of 2016, saving taxpayers $95 billion, which would be added to the budget deficit.

Expect the full Senate and House to take up the package — or a version of it — before leaving town for the year.

Things to know about the year-end tax package:

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WHO BENEFITS?

Businesses big and small, commuters who use public transportation, teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies and people who live in states without state income taxes.

The package of 56 tax breaks is a collection of narrow provisions targeting specific groups and industries, held together by a few broad tax breaks that benefit millions.

In all, they affect about one in six taxpayers, according to the Tax Institute, the independent research arm at tax giant H&R Block.

Among the biggest breaks for businesses are a tax credit for research and development and an exemption that allows financial companies such as banks and investment firms to shield foreign profits from being taxed by the U.S. Several provisions allow retailers and other businesses to write off capital investments more quickly.

A popular tax break for individuals allows people who live in states without an income tax to deduct local sales taxes on their federal returns. Seven states don’t tax income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Two states — New Hampshire and Tennessee — tax investment income but not wages.

Other, narrower provisions include tax breaks for film and theater producers, NASCAR racetrack owners, racehorse owners, and rum producers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

One protects struggling homeowners who get their mortgages reduced from paying income taxes on the amount of debt that was forgiven.

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DIDN’T THE TAX BREAKS ALREADY EXPIRE?

Yes, they expired at the beginning of the year. The Senate bill would retroactively extend them, enabling taxpayers to claim them on their 2015 and 2016 income tax returns.

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WHY NOT MAKE THEM PERMANENT?

Some of the tax breaks were originally intended to be temporary, but powerful interest groups keep them alive year after year. Others are popular but expensive, leaving some deficit-weary lawmakers reluctant to make them permanent.

For example, some conservatives say a generous tax credit for using wind farms and other renewable energy sources to produce electricity has outlived its purpose. The tax break was first enacted in the 1990s to help kick-start a fledgling industry. It has been renewed many times since.

One of the most popular tax credits rewards businesses for investing in research and development. Both Democrats and Republicans want to make it permanent, but congressional estimates say it would cost more than $150 billion in lost revenue over the next decade, so lawmakers simply renew it every year or two, masking the true long-term cost.

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GOOD POLICY?

Tax experts say it’s terrible policy to let these tax breaks expire repeatedly, only to renew them retroactively at a later date.

Consider this: The tax credit for research and development is supposed to provide an incentive for businesses to invest in R&D. The credit expired in January, and more than 11 months later, it hasn’t been renewed. How much incentive do you think the credit has been providing since it expired?

Also, business groups complain that companies can’t accurately project expenses from year to year because they don’t know for sure whether Congress will renew their tax breaks.

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Lawmakers have been negotiating a package that would make some of the tax breaks permanent while extending others temporarily. However, Democrats and Republicans are once again struggling to agree on which ones to make permanent.

Last December, Congress was faced with the exact same scenario and lawmakers only extended the tax breaks through the end of 2014, allowing them to expire again just a few weeks later.

Lobbyists and business groups are working hard to avoid a repeat.

“I believe we’ll get this done before the end of the year. I would love to see permanency in some of these,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters on Monday. “In these situations, it’s always coming down to the last week or so to see what mix we’re able to get.”

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AP Congressional Correspondent Erica Werner contributed to this report.

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

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LE BOURGET, France (AP) — The latest news from the U.N. climate conference in Paris, which runs through Dec. 11. All times local:

9:45 a.m.

French President Francois Hollande is holding talks with African leaders about what their countries need to cope with and reduce global warming.

The meeting Tuesday is part of broader international diplomatic efforts toward a possible long-term accord for all countries to cut man-made carbon emissions. Those emissions produce heat-trapping gases and scientists say are causing glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise and leading to more and more droughts and other extreme weather.

Hollande hosted President Barack Obama and 149 other world dignitaries Monday to kick off two weeks of U.N.-led climate talks outside Paris. The leaders agreed that something must be done to protect the planet for future generations, but now must overcome disagreements over who should shoulder the economic responsibility for cutting emissions and protecting countries already hit by climate change.

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9:15 a.m.

Envoys at the Paris climate conference say governments and companies need to do more to protect forests, which can help slow global warming.

Prince Charles, South American indigenous leaders and other dignitaries are holding a special meeting Tuesday to call attention to shrinking global forests from South America to Russia and Africa.

Peru’s Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal told reporters ahead of the meeting that companies too need to do their part to limit deforestation. Envoys are urging greater efforts against illegal logging.

The world’s forests play an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide released by man-made emissions from burning oil, gas and coal.

The meeting is part of two weeks of U.N.-led talks aimed at a worldwide, long-term accord to cut human-made emissions blamed for climate change.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — After a long, bumpy ride, production of RVs has just about returned to where it was before the Great Recession put sales in the slow lane.

Overall recreational vehicle shipments from manufacturers to dealers — a key measure of consumer demand — are expected to increase 3.5 percent to 369,100 units in 2015, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association said Tuesday at the start of an industry trade show in Louisville.

Shipments are up for all kinds of RVs, from less-expensive towable ones to stand-alone motor homes, it said.

And the industry expects to ride the momentum into 2016, when total wholesale shipments are projected to reach 375,100. That would be the highest total since the pre-recessionary boom times a decade ago.

“We’ve come all the way back from the recession low to recover all that ground,” RVIA spokesman Kevin Broom said.

Shipments swelled to 384,400 RVs in 2005 and 390,500 in 2006, and were still strong at 353,400 units in 2007, the last year before sales tanked along with the economy. During the recession, sales plunged, plants closed and thousands of jobs were cut as orders for RVs dropped to their worse level in decades. Shipments sank to 165,700 in 2009, but have steadily risen every year since then.

An improved economy, access to credit and pent-up consumer demand have helped fuel the industry’s comeback, the industry said. The plunge in fuel prices has reinforced its upbeat forecast that more Americans will want to hit the open road in the traveling homes.

“I really don’t see an end in sight,” said Derald Bontrager, president and CEO of RV manufacturer Jayco Inc. “The demographics are all in our favor.”

Indiana-based Jayco has expanded production space and added several hundred workers to keep pace with accelerating demand, Bontrager said. The company predicts its shipments will rise about 12 percent this year, with growth of at least 8 percent to 10 percent forecast for 2016, he said.

Dealers are reaping the benefits as well, after struggling a few years ago to clear inventory clogged by tepid sales.

Lindsey Reines has operated an RV dealership for decades at Manassas, Virginia, and now has opened a second location near Richmond. Sales have been strong for his lineup of motor homes ranging from $80,000 to $200,000, he said. Reines said his business has fully recovered from the recession.

“I think it’s the perfect storm right now for people to buy RVs,” Reines said, citing the stock market, low fuel prices, consumer confidence, an improved economy and low interest rates.

Tom Stinnett, an RV dealer in southern Indiana, said his customers are trending toward the less-expensive towables and more moderately priced motor homes since the recession.

“People still want to spend the money and go do what we offer,” Stinnett said. “But they simply aren’t spending the amounts of money on this that they did” before the recession.

Towables, attached to pickups or hitched to the back of another vehicle, account for about 85 percent of new RV shipments. Through October, towable shipments were up 4.9 percent for the year, while motor home shipments had risen 5.8 percent, the industry said.

Towables cost between $8,000 and $95,000, with an average price of about $29,000, according to RVIA. Stand-alone motor homes range from $45,000 to $1.5 million for the most luxurious, bus-like vehicles. The average price is about $128,000 for the amenity-filled moving homes.

Indiana is the clear manufacturing leader, accounting for 81 percent of RV production in 2014, followed by Oregon, Michigan, California and Iowa.

The recession thinned out the number of RV manufacturers, suppliers and dealers. The manufacturers who survived are now stronger than ever as production returns to pre-recession levels, Bontrager said. “The same size of pie is being eaten by fewer people,” he said.

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