eNews ReferenceHeadlines

Hackers prob U.S. energy infrastructure

2013-05-25 03:16:10

The United States is investigating "a string of malicious" cyber incidents that appear to be focused on probing energy infrastructure, a U.S. official familiar with the latest intelligence tells CNN.

The official, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the information, said the suspected hacking did not appear to be intended to steal trade secrets or exploit technology for commercial reasons. It appeared to be aimed at identifying weaknesses in fuel and electrical systems in the United States. - More

Hung Jury on Jodi Arias Sentencing, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-23 16:58:08

Jodi Arias will not be put to death -- at least not yet.

A judge declared a mistrial in the sentencing phase of her murder trial today, after the jury could not agree on whether to sentence Arias to death or to life in prison for murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in 2008. - More

Jodi Arias - Killing of Travis Alexander Wiki

Eric Holder signed-off on search warrants

2013-05-23 16:35:26

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

The disclosure of the attorney general’s role came as President Barack Obama, in a major speech on his counterterrorism policy, said Holder had agreed to review Justice Department guidelines governing investigations that involve journalists. - More

President Obama: America is at a crossroads

2013-05-23 13:46:42

President Barack Obama in a major counterterrorism speech Thursday defended the American drone program, saying that despite the controversies around it, the strikes are legal and save lives.

Obama said the use of lethal force extends to U.S. citizens as well.

On Wednesday, his administration disclosed for the first time that four Americans had been killed in counterterrorist drone strikes overseas, including one person who was targeted by the United States. - More

Heinrich Rohrer, Nanotechnology Physicist, Dies at 79, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-23 10:30:31

Heinrich Rohrer, who shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing a microscope that made it possible to see individual atoms and move them around, an achievement that led to vastly faster computing and greatly advanced molecular biology, died on Thursday night or early Friday morning in Wollerau, Switzerland.

He was 79.

His family said he had died of natural causes.

Dr. Rohrer and his colleague Gerd Binnig introduced the device, the scanning tunneling microscope... - More

Heinrich Rohrer Biography

IMF chief Christine Lagarde questioned, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-23 08:15:02

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, was questioned by a judge Thursday over her role in a $366-million payout to a businessman supporter of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Lagarde appeared in a Paris court to answer questions over her decision in 2007, when she was France's finance minister, to refer a long-running legal dispute between the state and businessman Bernard Tapie to arbitration, which led to the massive out-of-court settlement. - More

Biography Christine Lagarde

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Lois Lerner: I have not done anything wrong, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-22 13:56:18

Lawmakers expressed both anger and bewilderment that IRS leaders had not told Congress sooner about indications that the tax agency had improperly singled out conservatives and Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status.

A highly anticipated hearing by the top investigative committee in the Republican-controlled House delivered on the drama that was expected. - More

Lois Lerner Biography

Immigration Bill Passes Committee

2013-05-22 11:35:41

The Senate committee debating a landmark immigration bill approved the bipartisan measure on Tuesday night, voting 13 to 5 to send the amended package to the floor.

Ten Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee joined with three Republicans, including two of the four GOP authors of the bill... - More

Ibragim Todashev, Shot by FBI

2013-05-22 10:16:47

The man shot dead by an FBI agent in Orlando, Florida early today was "about to sign a statement" admitting to a role, along with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in an unsolved triple murder in Massachusetts in 2011, two people with direct knowledge of the case told ABC News.

Ibragim Todashev "just went crazy," and pulled a knife during his interview with the FBI, said state and federal law enforcement officials briefed on the latest strange twist in the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing. - More

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Oklahoma Officials Wrap Up Search

2013-05-22 10:03:07

Authorities on Wednesday were wrapping up the search for casualties and survivors and preparing to let residents return to their homes here, two days after a massive tornado tore through this city, destroying entire blocks.

The tornado killed 24 people, including 10 children, officials said Wednesday.

Two of the girls were just a few months old, according to a report from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office. Most of the other children were 9 years old. - More

Jurors deliberate: Should Jodi Arias die?

2013-05-21 18:46:34

The jury in the Jodi Arias trial has one decision left to make: Should she live or die?

After months of dramatic testimony full of so many twists and turns that people lined up for seats in the Phoenix courtroom, jurors began deliberations Tuesday to decide whether Arias should get the death penalty or life in prison for murdering her ex-boyfriend. - More

More severe weather

2013-05-21 11:21:16

More severe weather is in the forecast for parts of the central United States already reeling from powerful tornadoes this week.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., says golf ball-sized hail, powerful winds and isolated, strong tornadoes could strike areas of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma on Tuesday. - More

Israeli Defense Forces Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz issued his warning

2013-05-21 10:55:52

Syria's stepped-up targeting of Israeli forces along the border between the two countries will force Israel to take a stronger hand in the conflict if it does not cease, Israel's military warned Tuesday.

Israeli Defense Forces Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz issued his warning to Syria after an Israeli jeep was fired at during a patrol in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a border plateau where both countries have had permanent forces since a 1967 war. - More

51 killed, 40 More Expected

2013-05-21 05:44:38

Even for a city toughened by disaster, Moore has never seen this kind of devastation.

A massive, howling tornado pulverized a vast swath of the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, chewing up homes and businesses, and severely damaging a hospital and two elementary schools.

The official death toll stood at 51 Tuesday morning, but it was sure to rise. A coroner's office official said some 40 bodies have yet to be processed by medical examiners... - More

Senior White House Staff Were Told of IRS Audit Findings Weeks Ago

2013-05-20 17:56:01

The White House's chief lawyer learned weeks ago that an audit of the Internal Revenue Service likely would show that agency employees inappropriately targeted conservative groups, a senior White House official said Sunday. That disclosure has prompted a debate over whether the president should have been notified at that time. - More

Obama to take first major Africa trip in late June

2013-05-20 17:46:18

President Barack Obama will leave on a first African tour next month, visiting Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, but his itinerary bypasses Kenya, an ancestral homeland.

Obama disappointed many Africans by spending only a few hours in sub-Saharan Africa -- in Ghana -- during his first term, but is keen to implement a sweeping new regional strategy, prioritizing democracy and economic reform. - More

Meteorologist Kevin Roth: Tornadoes are possible in all areas

2013-05-20 08:53:27

Another round of dangerous weather is expected to slam the Plains on Monday, after tornadoes that ripped through five states Sunday killed two and left more than 20 injured.

A tornado in Shawnee, Okla., severely damaged a mobile home park and killed a 79-year-old man whose body was found in an open area of the neighborhood. - More

North Korea launches fourth short-range missile

2013-05-19 16:41:39

North Korea fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday, according to South Korea's semiofficial news agency Yonhap, citing a South Korean military official.

On Saturday, North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles into the sea, also known as the East Sea, off the Korean Peninsula's east coast, Yonhap reported. - More

Syrian troops take control of town near Lebanese border

2013-05-19 16:31:24

It says the troops now control the main square and local council building in the town, a few kilometres from the border with Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

The anti-government Observatory for Human Rights says at least 50 people were killed as the troops used planes and artillery to bomb the town, backed by fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militia movement Hezbollah. - More

2 FBI agents killed in training accident

2013-05-19 16:28:23

Two FBI agents have been killed in a training accident in Virginia.

A spokeswoman for the FBI's Norfolk office, Vanessa Torres, said Sunday that the accident happened Friday afternoon off the Virginia Beach coast. - More

Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner arrested by FBI, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-19 16:25:47

Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner has been arrested for extortion by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being held in Pulaski County Jail.

FBI spokeswoman Kimberly Brunell said Shoffner was arrested Saturday at her home in Newport and is scheduled for a federal court hearing Monday. - More

Martha Shoffner Biography

$590.5 million Richer

2013-05-19 05:16:47

It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery officials said Sunday.

The single winner was sold at a supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla., according to Florida Lottery executive Cindy O'Connell. - More

Rep. Dave Camp: The truth is hidden from the American people

2013-05-18 07:28:55

Congressional Republicans, not resting with the Internal Revenue Service scandal, are moving to broaden the matter to an array of tax malfeasances and “intimidation tactics” they hope will ensnare the White House.

Republican charges range from clearly questionable actions to seemingly specious allegations, and they grow by the day. - More

Ken Venturi Dies At 82, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-17 19:30:25

Ken Venturi,rcame dehydration to win the 1964 U.S. Open and spent 35 years in the booth for CBS Sports, died Friday afternoon. He was 82.

His son, Matt Venturi, said he died in a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Venturi had been hospitalized the last two months for a spinal infection, pneumonia, and then an intestinal infection that he could no longer fight. - More

Ken Venturi Biography

2 commuter trains collide, derail in southwestern Connecticut

2013-05-17 16:49:28

Two Metro-North passenger trains heading in opposite directions collided during rush hour Friday evening, a transit service spokeswoman said.

The trains derailed along the system's New Haven line, near Bridgeport, Connecticut, an MTA alert said.

One of the trains derailed around 6:10 p.m., hitting the other train, Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders told CNN. - More

VIDEO: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denies crack cocaine allegations

2013-05-17 11:10:09

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, dogged by fresh allegations that he's the subject of a video in which he reportedly appears to be smoking crack cocaine, dismissed the reports Thursday as "ridiculous."

"Absolutely not true," he said outside his Etobicoke home on Friday morning.

"It's ridiculous. It's another Toronto Star whatever," he said before getting into his Cadillac Escalade.

Later in the day, Ford emerged from his office at city hall to give a brief statement to reporters. - More

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Former IRS Head Steven Miller: Controversy was not politically motivated

2013-05-17 09:58:43

A huge increase in workload, rather than deliberate targeting, led to "foolish mistakes" and the political discrimination in the Internal Revenue Service cited by an inspector general's report, the agency's outgoing commissioner said Friday.

The testimony by Steven Miller, who was forced to announce his resignation this week as acting IRS commissioner, came at the first congressional hearing on the matter that has put President Barack Obama's administration on the defensive. - More

Pope Francis Attacks Cult Of Money

2013-05-16 21:04:31

Pope Francis has hit out at unbridled capitalism and the "cult of money", calling for ethical reform of the financial system to create a more humane society.

In an impassioned appeal, the Argentinian pontiff said politicians needed to be bold in tackling the root causes of the economic crisis, which he said lay in an acceptance of money's "power over ourselves and our society". - More

Toru Hashimoto comfort women remarks condemned

2013-05-16 20:58:32

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has urged Japanese introspection of its own history to gain trust from neighboring countries and the international community following remarks by a Japanese politician that World War II "comfort women" were "necessary."

Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks at a daily press briefing on Thursday in response to a journalist's question about the controversy. On Monday, Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka - More

Dick Trickle dies Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-16 16:27:18

Richard "Dick" Trickle -- who parlayed a legendary reputation as a short-track driver into a full-time career on stock car racing's biggest stages in the 1990s -- died Thursday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, a North Carolina sheriff's office said.

He was 71. A Lincoln County dispatcher received a call -- believed to have been placed by Trickle -- that "there would be a dead body and it would be his," that county's sheriff's office said in a news release. - More

Dick Trickle Biography

Daniel Werfel as acting head of IRS, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-16 14:35:55

President Obama on Thursday appointed senior budget adviser Daniel Werfel as the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, as that agency manages a scandal stemming from its targeting of conservative groups.

The appointment is effective May 22. More changes in the IRS leadership team were announced Thursday as well, with Joseph Grant, Commissioner of Tax Exempt/Government Entities Division... - More

Daniel Werfel Biography

James Carville: The president needs to get ahead of it

2013-05-16 13:28:33

Beset by scandal and mired in criticism, President Obama now searches for a solution to salvage his ambitious second-term agenda and presidential legacy.

In what could be considered a silver lining, however, the 44th president has more than a few predecessors to look to for guidance. Veteran political strategist James Carville, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, was oftentimes unmerciful and candid when lambasting critics over the 42nd president’s legacy. - More

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VIDEO: 6 dead, 7 Missing In Texas Tornadoes

2013-05-16 09:36:47

North Texas residents began to take in the devastation on Thursday wreaked by a series of tornadoes that killed six and injured dozens more in what Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds described as a “nightmare” scenario.

Seven of 14 people who had previously been unaccounted for had checked in by Thursday morning, Deeds said at a press conference on Thursday. About 100 people were reported injured... - More

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: Boston Marathon attack was payback

2013-05-16 09:30:34

Boston Marathon bombing victims were collateral damage in a strike meant as payback for U.S. wars in Muslim lands, the surviving suspect wrote in a message scribbled on the boat where he was found hiding, a law enforcement source told CNN Thursday.

In the message, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also proclaimed that an attack on one Muslim is an attack on all and said he would not miss older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev... - More

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith Lawyer Stanley Cohen Accused of conspiring against Americans

2013-05-15 20:24:28

A judge warned Osama bin Laden's son-in-law Wednesday that a lawyer he hired to represent him on charges he conspired to kill Americans could end up in prison himself.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told Sulaiman Abu Ghaith that he could cause himself problems by choosing attorney Stanley Cohen to defend him against charges that he conspired against Americans in his role as al-Qaida's chief spokesman. - More

Obama: Angry about IRS misconduct

2013-05-15 17:41:51

President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday to hold accountable those at the Internal Revenue Service involved in the targeting of conservative groups applying for federal tax-exempt status, beginning with the resignation of the agency's acting commissioner who was aware of the practice.

In a brief statement delivered to reporters at the East Room of the White House, the president announced that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had requested -- and accepted -- the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller. - More

Benghazi e-mails released

2013-05-15 14:58:53

The White House released more than 100 pages of e-mails on Wednesday in a bid to quell critics who say President Barack Obama and his aides played politics with national security following the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

The exchanges detailing discussions between top Obama administration officials from multiple agencies suggest the CIA took the lead in developing talking points to describe the attack last September 11 that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. - More

Scientists Report First Success in Cloning Human Stem Cells

2013-05-15 11:59:48

It’s been 17 years since Dolly the sheep was cloned from a mammary cell.

And now scientists applied the same technique to make the first embryonic stem cell lines from human skin cells. Ever since Ian Wilmut, an unassuming embryologist working at the Roslin Institute just outside of... - More

Former Heisman Trophy Winner OJ Simpson Could Testify As Early As Wednesday

2013-05-15 08:15:07

Back for a second day of his hearing in Las Vegas, former football great O.J. Simpson entered the courtroom shackled on Tuesday, hoping to prove to a judge that his former lawyer botched the 2008 case that landed him in prison.

The Heisman Trophy winner and one-time Hollywood actor, now graying and stocky at 65 years old, is expected to be in court through Friday for the hearing. - More

Monica Stephens, Ex-Daughter-In-Law Of Ariel Castro

2013-05-15 06:15:37

Ariel Castro's ex-daughter-in-law never felt comfortable around the man who police say kept three young women trapped in a Cleveland home for a decade.

Monica Stephens -- who was once married to Castro's son, Anthony -- said she never developed a close relationship with Castro, primarily because of the stories her ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law had shared with her about him. - More

EU to pledge 520m euros for Mali reconstruction

2013-05-14 18:15:45

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the money would help the West African state become "stable, democratic and prosperous".

The conference is the first since France sent troops to oust Islamist rebels from northern Mali in January.

Mali's government has a 4.3bn-euro plan for "a total relaunch of the country". - More

Russian agency says CIA member tried to recruit Russian

2013-05-14 06:29:47

Russia's FSB counterintelligence agency said Tuesday it had briefly detained a suspected member of the CIA who was trying to recruit a staff member of one of the Russian special services.

The man has been handed over to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, following formal protocol, the FSB said. A photograph of the man's ID card released by the FSB identifies him as Ryan Fogle, third secretary of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. - More

VIDEO: Long lost sisters Jordan Dickerson and Robin Jeter

2013-05-14 05:44:14

Long lost sisters Jordan Dickerson and Robin Jeter had lived in the same city for 17 years, but they never crossed paths until their high schools faced off at a Washington DC track meet.

The two teens began to suspect they had more than sports in common when Dickerson' teammates at Woodrow Wilson High School noticed that a rival runner from Friendship Collegiate Academy bore a striking resemblance to their friend. - More

The Administration Under Siege With IRS, Benghazi and AP Scandals

2013-05-13 17:05:03

An investigation into who leaked information to the AP in May 2012 about a CIA operative who helped prevent an al Qaeda plot has resulted in what the AP calls a “massive unprecedented intrusion” by the Justice Department. NBC’s Tom Costello reports.

In a letter to attorney general holder today the president and CEO of the AP writes there can be no possible justification for such an overboard collection of the telephone communicationses of the AP and its reporters.

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Ben Wizner: Unacceptable abuse of power

2013-05-13 16:57:38

"Obtaining a broad range of telephone records in order to ferret out a government leaker is an unacceptable abuse of power," Ben Wizner, the head of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said in a written statement.

"Freedom of the press is a pillar of our democracy, and that freedom often depends on confidential communications between reporters and their sources." - More

AP President Gary Pruitt: Serious interference with APs constitutional rights

2013-05-13 16:52:23

The Justice Department secretly collected two months of telephone records for reporters and editors at The Associated Press, the news service disclosed Monday in an outraged letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

The records included calls from several AP bureaus and the personal phone lines of several staffers, AP President Gary Pruitt wrote. - More

Dr. Joyce Brothers Dead At 85, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-13 16:46:54

Dr. Joyce Brothers -- once considered the most famous psychologist on the planet -- has died in NYC at the age of 85.

Brothers became famous after winning "The $64,000 Question" game show in 1955 -- the show that triggered the game show scandal in the '50s.

Brothers won by answering a series of questions on the subject of boxing -- and although there was a lot of talk that producers slipped her the answers, it was never proven and Brothers emerged unscathed. - More

Dr. Joyce Brothers Biography

Jordan Dickerson and Robin Jeter, Sisters Meet For the First Time At Track Meet

2013-05-13 12:00:46

For 17 years,two sisters lived in the same city, played the same sportsbut never crossed paths. Jordan Dickerson, a junior at Woodrow Wilson High School here, knew that she had been adopted shortly after her birth.

Robin Jeter, a senior at Friendship Collegiate Academy public charter school, bounced around from her biological mother to foster care to a legal guardian. - More

Obama Welcomes UK PM Cameron to White House

2013-05-13 08:04:25

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron opened wide-ranging talks at the White House Monday on Syria and trade, though brewing domestic controversies were competing for the White House's attention.

Cameron arrived at the White House Monday morning for an Oval Office meeting with Obama. The two leaders were then to hold a joint news conference in the East Room. - More

Barbara Walters to retire next year, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-12 19:57:05

Longtime ABC News personality Barbara Walters will retire from TV journalism in 2014, ABC reported late Sunday.

She is expected to make the announcement Monday on "The View," a daytime talker she created in 1997.

Walters will remain executive producer of that show. - More

Barbara Walters Biography

Philippine vote seen as referendum on Aquino

2013-05-12 16:19:43

The Philippines goes to the polls on Monday to choose thousands of local leaders plus national legislators in what is seen as a referendum on the presidency of reformist Benigno Aquino.

Police and the military have been placed on heightened alert for expected poll-related violence that has already claimed about 60 lives since campaigning began in February. - More

Nigeria: The war within

2013-05-12 16:13:39

In present day Nigeria, no day passes without fresh news of carnages and senseless killing of innocent citizens.

With the increasing spate of attack, Nigerians keep wondering how it will end.

Sulaimon Olanrewaju reports. Living in Nigeria has become a hazardous enterprise as the country is in the throes of war. - More

Industrial Policy For Mexico

2013-05-12 16:02:14

Muguerza Raul Gutierrez, president of the Institute for Industrial Development and Economic Growth (IDIC), urged the federal government in Mexico lay new foundations for a third-generation industrial policy, in the context of a strong globalization.

In the Consultation Forum: "Mexico Prospero" in the context of the last tables intersecretarial for preparing the National Development Plan (NDP) 2013-2018, Gutierrez Muguerza handed the president, Enrique Peña Nieto, the proposal industrial policy. - More

VIDEO: Pedro and Onil Castro Exclusive

2013-05-12 08:52:59

When Ariel Castro was arrested last week on charges of kidnapping and raping three women for more than a decade in his Cleveland home, police also detained his two brothers, showing their mugshots to the world.

Police released Pedro and Onil Castro a few days later, saying neither man had anything to do with the alleged abductions and torture of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. - More

For Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, difficult recovery begins

2013-05-11 10:53:35

Year after year, the clock ticked by and the calendar marched forward, carrying the three women further from the real world and pulling them deeper into an isolated nightmare.

Now, for the women freed from captivity inside a Cleveland house, the ordeal is not over. Next comes recovery - from sexual abuse and their sudden, jarring re-entry into a world much different from the one they were snatched from a decade ago. - More

Republicans Raised No Objections To White House Emails Months Ago

2013-05-11 10:44:08

Republican members of Congress raised no objections when they first saw internal emails detailing the evolution of the administration’s talking points on Benghazi almost two months ago, senior administration officials said in response to a question from Salon today, and House Speaker John Boehner declined to attend or send a representative to that briefing.

Lawyers with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed House and Senate Intelligence Committee members in March about the emails, which ABC News released today to much hullabaloo, after officials said they would make them available to members of Congress in February. - More

The IRS is an agency under siege

2013-05-11 07:25:41

The IRS doesn’t have many friends on a good day.

By Friday evening, the agency seemed to have none at all. A steady stream of criticism directed at the IRS in recent weeks exploded with the disclosure that the agency targeted about 75 conservative groups for extra review because they included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their tax documents. - More

Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton Doesnt Deserve To Be President

2013-05-11 07:20:20

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi should "preclude her from holding higher office," according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Paul told a crowd of supporters in Iowa on Friday that any presidential ambitions Clinton might have in 2016 should be stymied by the administration's response to the Libya attack. - More

Deborah Turness NBC News Chief, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-10 17:11:28

NBC News is on the verge of naming Deborah Turness, the head of ITV News in Britain, as its next president, according to several people with knowledge of the appointment.

Ms. Turness, if appointed, would be the first woman to become president of a network television news division in the United States, succeeding Steve Capus who stepped down from the position in February after nearly eight years.

A spokeswoman for NBC News, a unit of Comcast’s NBCUniversal, declined to comment. ... - More

Deborah Turness Biography

Michelle Knight still refuses to see her mother

2013-05-10 16:40:35

Gina DeJesus' family is planning to 'adopt' Michelle Knight and look after her as their daughter after Michelle rejected a meeting with her own mother, a friend of Felix and Nancy DeJesus has revealed to MailOnline.

Lupe Collins, a neighbor who helped the DeJesus family look for Gina since she disappeared in 2004, said Nancy DeJesus told her in a phone call on Thursday that she and her husband are trying to convince Michelle, now 32, to stay with them. - More

Following tea party complaints, IRS admits mistakes

2013-05-10 15:37:41

Responding to a flurry of complaints from conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue Service admitted Friday it made "mistakes" in the last few years while trying to process those requests.

Multiple tea party groups reported significant delays and excessive questioning from IRS officials while trying to obtain 501(c)(4) status. - More

While the groups and conservative members of Congress cried foul, the agency strongly contests the notion that groups were targeted out of political bias.

Fernando Colon Led Authorities To Castro

2013-05-10 05:08:36

Nearly a decade before being charged with kidnapping, raping and torturing three Cleveland women, Ariel Castro was himself the accuser in a sexual assault case involving his daughters.

The accusations, which resulted in the conviction of his ex-wife’s second husband, now offer a new window into Castro’s tangled family relationships.

The case against Fernando Colon also raises questions about whether FBI agents squandered an opportunity to question Castro about the disappearance of two of the women in the months after their abductions. - More

Bangladesh survivor: Please rescue me

2013-05-10 04:56:33

Crews working through the rubble at the Bangladesh building collapse site found a woman trapped in the wreckage and plucked her to safety Friday.

"I'm alive. Please rescue me," she said. After she was pulled out of the debris, she was rushed to a hospital, an army official said. - More

Ariel Castro charged in Ohio kidnappings; no facts link his brothers to crime, police say.

2013-05-08 14:33:49

Two of the three women rescued from a Cleveland home where they'd been held for about a decade or more returned home Wednesday while police readied charges against the men accused of keeping them captive.

Well-wishers from the neighborhood cheered as a gray van carrying Amanda Berry and the 6-year-old daughter she gave birth to during her captivity pulled up. - More

Air Force Strips 17 Officers Of Nuclear Missile Launch Authority

2013-05-08 12:08:11

Seventeen Air Force officers with control over nuclear missiles have had that authority suspended after receiving poor reviews on their mastery of launch operations, The Associated Press reports in an exclusive.

The suspensions at the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota... - More

Air Force Lt. Col. Jay Folds: We are, in fact, in a crisis right now

2013-05-08 12:04:25

According to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Air Force yanked 17 officers of their authority to control and launch nuclear missiles after a "remarkably dim" review of their unit's launch skills.

An Intercontinental ballistic missile control team at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., demonstrated a poor understanding of missile firing procedures during a March audit, prompting the Air Force to pull 17 personnel from their assignments. - More

Obama on military sexual assaults: Its a crime

2013-05-08 11:23:19

In addition to the challenges of Syria and North Korea, President Obama on Tuesday also condemned a reported rise of sexual assaults within the military.

"Let's start with the principle that sexual assault is an outrage," Obama said at a brief White House news conference.

"It is a crime. - More

31 People Detained in $50M Diamond Heist

2013-05-08 11:13:02

Unlike the brilliant thieves in "Ocean's Eleven," it appears that those behind the clockwork-precision, $50 million diamond heist at Brussels Airport may not get a Hollywood ending.

After three months of virtual silence on the matter, authorities struck this week, detaining at least 31 people in a three-nation sweep and recovering so many diamonds from the loot Antwerp traders lost that they are still figuring out the exact value. - More

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Public Safety Director Martin Flask: No Confirmation About Ropes And Chains

2013-05-08 10:57:20

Ropes and chains have been found inside the Cleveland home where police say three women spent close to a decade in captivity, city officials said Wednesday.

While Public Safety Director Martin Flask said investigators haven't confirmed how the ropes and chains were used, police Chief Michael McGrath told NBC's "Today" that they were used to restrain the missing women. - More

Charles Ramsey 911 Conversation

2013-05-07 16:40:07

Charles Ramsey was eating some dinner Monday night at his home on Cleveland's West Side when he heard screaming.

Soon, he was knocking down a neighbor's door, freeing three women and a girl who police say were held hostage for years.

Within hours the unassuming man, who works as a dishwasher at a local restaurant, was a national hero, a viral video star and the top topic on Twitter. - More

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight Found Alive

2013-05-06 20:12:25

Long-missing Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have been found alive.

Berry called police Monday afternoon and frantically told a dispatcher that she was alive and free after being kidnapped 10 years ago and held captive in a house on Seymour Avenue on the city's West Side.

DeJesus was with her.

A third woman, Michelle Knight, who has been missing since 2002, was also found at the house. - More

Robel Phillipos, 19, to be released

2013-05-06 14:20:34

A magistrate judge on Monday agreed to release a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from federal custody while he awaits trial for allegedly lying to federal investigators probing the bombings.

Robel Phillipos, 19, was charged last week with lying to investigators about visiting Tsarnaev's college dorm room after the bombings. - More

Drone wars hit the states

2013-05-06 13:59:43

Drones could soon be entering the airspace above you — and privacy-minded state lawmakers, banding together in an unusual left-right political alliance, are in a dogfight with law enforcement groups across the country as they move to put protections in place for those on the ground. - More

Clarence Thomas Talks About African American President, Wiki-Bio-Video

2013-05-06 09:32:11

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the high court's only African American jurist, opened up recently about his thoughts on race and the White House.

Asked if he ever expected to see an African American president in his lifetime, the conservative justice said he always knew "it would have to be a black president who was approved by the elites and the media, because anybody that they didn't agree with, they would take apart." - More

Justice Clarence Thomas Biography

Israel Targeted Iranian Missiles in Syrian Attack

2013-05-04 17:18:31

The airstrike that Israeli warplanes carried out in Syria overnight on Thursday was directed at a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Iran that Israel believed was intended for Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese organization, American officials said Saturday.

It was the second time in four months that Israel has carried out an attack in Syria intended to disrupt the pipeline of weapons that runs from there to Hezbollah. More

Sarah Palin: Obama Writes The Book On Exploiting Tragedy

2013-05-04 08:35:29

Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin tells the NRA's annual convention in Texas that recent mass shootings have prompted US leaders to exploit tragedy in order to limit the freedoms of law-abiding people.

Palin made the comments at the National Rifle Association's convention in Houston on Friday afternoon. - More

Israel Bombs Weapons Shipment In Syria

2013-05-04 08:16:12

Israeli forces have carried out an airstrike against a shipment of sophisticated missiles bound for the Lebanese political and military organization Hezbollah, officials in Washington and Israel told reporters Saturday.

Israeli officials described the missiles targeted in the Friday strike as “game-changing” weapons, according to the Associated Press.

They said they were not chemical weapons, but advanced, long-range, ground-to-ground missiles. - More

Israel bombs suspected weapons site in Syria

2013-05-04 00:10:43

New York Times

Israel aircraft bombed a target in Syria overnight Thursday, an Obama administration official said Friday night, as United States officials said they were considering military options, including carrying out their own airstrikes.

American officials did not provide details on the target of the Israeli strike. But in late January, Israel carried out airstrikes against SA-17 antiaircraft weapons, which the Israelis feared were about to be moved to the Hezbollah Shiite militia in Lebanon. - More

The Telegraph

7:58AM BST 04 May 2013

American officials confirmed the bombing to the Associated Press hours after reports of a bombing first surfaced.

However there was confusion over what had been attacked, with an American official suggesting the strike had actually hit a warehouse. The move will raise tensions in the Middle East and comes amid mounting pressure over the alleged use of chemical weapons by president Bashar Assad's regime. - More

Israel eNews References

Syria eNews References

Katherine Russell, wife of Tamerlan Tsarnaev stops cooperating with authorities

2013-05-03 08:09:37

Katherine Russell, the widow of Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has stopped co-operating with authorities as it emerged female DNA found on one of the detonated bombs does not belong to her.

Tsarnaev, who was later killed in a gunfight with authorities, called his wife in the hours after the FBI released surveillance images of him and his younger brother, Dzhokhar.

But only Russell knows what was said in the conversation, as she has stopped cooperating with authorities over recent days, the New York Times reported. - More

Nigeria added to list of most dangerous countries

2013-05-03 05:38:34

Nigeria today joined the list of countries where journalists are routinely murdered and assaulted without any convictions for their attackers.

Amid Islamic militant activity in the North and politically inspired violence across the country, at least five journalists have been murdered due to their work since 2009.

None of the cases have been solved. Many more have been attacked. - More

Nigeria eNews References

VIDEO: Carjacking victim describes terrifying night

2013-05-03 05:04:41

You are about to hear, for the first time, from a man who got caught up in the terror in Boston two weeks ago and helped bring it to an end.

An immigrant from China, he was carjacked by the suspects, but escaped and tipped off the police.

This 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur, who calls himself "Danny," had just pulled over in his new Mercedes on a Boston street to send a text message when a man jumped in. - More

Text Messages Of Dias Kadyrbayev Led To Charges Against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

2013-05-03 05:00:09

Just hours before one of the Boston Marathon suspects and his brother allegedly gunned down a campus police officer, authorities say he exchanged a series of text messages with a friend who'd become suspicious after seeing what looked like a familiar face being flashed on television.

Dias Kadyrbayev, a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, texted his college buddy Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, saying he looked like one of the bombing suspects. - More

Why did Phillipos, Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev cover for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

2013-05-02 03:55:21

A laptop, some empty fireworks and a jar of Vaseline landed three friends of Boston Marathon bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in jail Wednesday, charged with trying to throw investigators off their buddy's trail.

Those are the items federal prosecutors say Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Phillipos took from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the hours after the FBI released photos of Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, the suspects in the marathon bombings. - More

Obama: Give and take on Immigration Bill

2013-05-02 03:42:37

President Barack Obama is warning his liberal base to not disrupt the strategy of Senate leaders who are expecting to win up to 70 votes for the immigration bill.

Critics argue the bill in its current framework makes the pathway to citizenship harder and excludes illegal immigrants.

President Obama has attempted to reassure groups at the White House that the current measure with a larger margin in the Senate would put pressure on the House leadership to accept the legislation.

3 more detained in Boston attack

2013-05-01 08:46:19

Three additional suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing have been taken into custody, Boston police said Wednesday.

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have been accused of carrying out the attack.

Tamerlan died after a shootout with police, and Dzhokhar is in custody. The April 15 attack killed three people and wounded dozens more. - More

Brawl in Venezuelan parliament linked to election dispute

2013-05-01 00:35:48

Political consensus was evidently in short supply on Tuesday when a fight broke out in Venezuela’s parliament.

Punches were thrown when opposition members were denied the right to speak in the National Assembly until they recognised President Maduro’s recent election victory.

Seven opposition members were injured in the affray.One of them, Julio Borges said: “We will continue fighting millimetre by millimetre, advancing, and giving the Venezuela of the future an opportunity.

Precisely for this reason the government has turned to violence because we …are going to triumph.” - More

President Obama's Renewed Push To Close The Guantanamo Bay Prison

2013-04-30 10:15:31

In a renewed push to close the US military prision in Guantanamo Bay President Obama called on Congress to reflect on "why exactly we are doing this," he said.

Republicans have strongly pushed to keep the facility open and that the detainees are too dangerous to hold in the US and a military tribunal is the proper proceedings for suspected terrorists. Obama's words: "I continue to believe we have to close Guantanamo.

I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe.

"It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruiting tool for extremists.

"It needs to be closed," he said. "I don't want these individuals to die.

"Obviously, the Pentagon is trying to manage the situation as best as they can, but I think all of us should reflect on why exactly are we doing this," he said.

Opinion: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and twisted realities of our Justice System

2013-04-29 18:10:37

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is currently awaiting his fate and recovering from an action packed night with local, state and federal police agencies.

In the final analysis, many lives were suddenly altered permanently on that fateful day.

Spectators awaiting their family members at the finish line experienced the most horrific of nightmares that no one could have possibly imagined.

Surgeons describing patients coming in to the emergency room like soldiers from a merciless battlefield.

We're baffled with media analysts describing the size of the Dzhokhar cell and whether or not he'll face the death penalty.

Can they put another friend of Dzhokhar's in front of the camera to state how intelligent, thoughtful and articulate he was?

If Dzhokhar is convicted of the charges against him and he doesn't get the death penalty he could possibly be housed next to a nonviolent drug offender also serving life in prison; a very stark and twisted reality of our justice system.

How could this be so?

The lastest On Dzhokhar Tasarnaev And His Longterm Accomodations

2013-04-29 09:17:13

Dzhokhar Tasarnaev is locked inside a 10-by-10-foot cell with no window.

A slot for food is the only window outside of his cell. Medical staff makes rounds to check on the bomb suspect periodically.

Tasarnaev gun wounds have healed significantly since he was first admitted to Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and transferred to the prison medical facility.

Tasarnaev new accommodations are a far cry from his significantly more spacious dorm room and apartment.

The mother of the two accused bomber suspects, Zubeidat Tasarnaev, is still asserting her son's innocence as reports have indicated that she had conversations with her elder son Tamerlan about Jihad.

Explosion around Prague's National Theater

2013-04-29 08:42:52

An explosion around Prague's National Theater injured thirty-five and at least 2 injuries were serious.

All indications are pointing to a gas explosion, not a terrorist attack several minutes before 10 a.m. in the Czech capital.

“According to all available information it was a gas explosion, it wasn’t a terrorist attack,” Svoboda said at a news conference.

“It was a very powerful explosion that left 35 people injured but there were no fatalities reported.”

Czech Republic Online Newspapers eNews Reference

Israel calls on President Obama to act on the Syrian Question

2013-04-28 23:42:55

Israeli Army Radio reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his ministers to stay silent on the Syria question, but on Sunday Amir Peretz became the first Cabinent member to attack President Obama in public.

"We expect that whoever defines red lines will also do what is needed," Mr Peretz, the Environment Minister, said.

"First and foremost, the US and of course the entire international community." Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin also urged the international community "to take control of the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal".

"American hesitancy on the Syrian issue over the last few days is causing a great deal of worry in Israel," Israeli army radio said on Sunday.

"If Barack Obama does not respect the red lines that he himself set out, and does not intervene when Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons against civilians, it is showing weaknesses that will cost it dearly later in Syria, but also in the Iranian nuclear question."

Israel eNews References

Iraq government revoked the operating license of Al Jazeera

2013-04-28 23:12:50

The Iraq government revoked the operating license of Al Jazeera and nine other television channels. Iraqi authorities claim the stations are inciting sectarian conflict.

Riad Barazanji, the General Manager of Baghdad TV, reportedly instructed station workers, “This is a good chance for you to go home and see your wives and children after so much time covering the uprisings.”

The media commission released a statement alledging the television channels were broadcasting “misinformation, hype and exaggeration.” - More

Iraq eNews References

Obama will nominate Anthony Foxx, Wiki - Bio - Video

2013-04-28 14:50:59

Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx will be nominated to head the Transportation Department according to a White House Official.

If confirmed Foxx will replace outgoing secretary Ray LaHood.

The administration has been under scrutiny for its lack of diversity during President Obama's second term.

Foxx will be the first black nominee among the new Cabinet members.

Anthony Foxx Biography

Charlotte, North Carolina eNews References

The Russians wiretapped Tamerlan and Zubeidat phone conversations

2013-04-27 14:59:09

It seems Russia had more information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev than they cared to disclose.

Russian authorities secretly recored a telephone conversation in 2011 with the dead bomb suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his mother Zubeidat Tamerlan.

If the details of the wiretaps would've been shared with the FBI or CIA it could've triggered a more thorough investigation of the Tsarnaev family.

Russian eNews Links

New Government forms in Italy, Enrico Letta Wiki - Bio - Video

2013-04-27 11:05:01

Enrico Letta, a center-left leader will be sworn in as premier along with a new Cabinet at the presidential Quirinal Palace on Sunday Letta hails as a moderate with a reputation of working with dissenting factions.

Gianni Letta, his nephew, was also Berlusconi's longtime adviser. Berlusconi's top political aide, Angelino Alfano will serve as premier and interior minister.

Enrico Letta Biography

Italian eNews Links

50 Million Users person data exposed on hacked Living Social Site

2013-04-26 23:35:36

The Wasington DC based site, LivingSocial was hacked and reports up to 50 million users' information was hacked.

A hacker has received access to emails, birthdates, and ecrypted passwords of users mainly in the United States. Compan divisions in the Philipines, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand were unaffected since they're on different servers.

LivingSocial CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy wrote,

"We recently experienced a cyberattack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from our servers.

We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue."

UCLA Professor Patrick Harran to be tried

2013-04-26 14:04:12

A district attorney statement says Judge Lisa Lench ordered 43-year-old Patrick Harran to e tried on 3 felony counts of violating workplace safety standards.

Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji was in Harran's organic chemistry lab where she was working with highly flammable material. that spilled and caught fire.

California eNews Links

Sangji survived with severe burn injuries for 18 days. Harran's arraignment is May 9, where he faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev transferred to Devens Federal Medical Center

2013-04-26 10:28:42

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is at the Devens Federal Medical Center.

The location was likely chosen because of his medical needs.

This is Tsarnaev’s new home for the time being.

The younger Boston Marathon Bombing suspect was moved overnight from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he was beating treated for the last week. - More

George Jones, country superstar, dies - Wiki - Bio - Video

2013-04-26 10:19:45

George Jones, whose supple Texas voice conveyed heartbreak so profound that he became perhaps the most imitated singer in country music, died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after being hospitalized April 18 with irregular blood pressure.

He was 81. Hank Williams may have set country music's mythology and Johnny Cash its attitude, but Jones gave the genre its ultimate voice. - More

George Jones Biography

The NFL Draft First Round Grades

2013-04-26 08:33:05

It’s been said that the NFL Draft is the world’s most expensive cattle auction. That description has never been more fitting than it was last night.

This year’s first round was about beef, those big boys upfront who either try to protect the quarterback or try to maim him. - More

Heather Abbott: No devastation since amputation, Video

2013-04-25 19:02:08

At a time when everyone wants to talk about what Heather Abbott has lost, the 38-year-old Boston Marathon bombing victim is so upbeat she seems to surprise herself.

A doctor performed a below-the-knee amputation on her left leg Monday, but the Newport, R.I., woman said Thursday she’s been able to stay positive so far. - More

‘‘I really haven’t had a moment yet of being devastated,’’ she said.

Instead, Abbott said a wave of support from family, friends and others buoyed her as she made a decision that has changed her life.

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva on US Terrorist List

2013-04-25 18:14:11

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was added to the Terrorist Identities datamart Environment (TIDE) database - a collection of more than half a million names kept by the National Counterterrorism Center, CNN reports.

Her son, Tamerlan Tsarnaev who was killed in a gun battle with police, was also on the terrorist list.

Russia raised concerns to US authorities about the mother in 2011 - at the same time they asked the US about Tamerlan, several sources told CNN. - More

First Pick In The 2013 NFL Draft: Eric Fisher

2013-04-25 17:20:49

The Kansas City Chiefs have decided on the left tackle they'll be taking with the No. 1 overall pick—it's just not the man most expected heading into NFL draft week.

According to Charean Williams of Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Chiefs will be taking Central Michigan's Eric Fisher when the draft gets underway at Radio City Music Hall - More

Kansas City Chief Selects...

2013-04-25 17:14:23

Andy Reid sat relaxed in his Hawaian shirt. The Chief's Coach will have the first round draft pick in the 2013 Draft. Coming from the Philadelphia Eagles, with limited success over the last several years, the secret might be to relax with the Chief's gig. More

Senator John McCain: I think it's pretty obvious that red line has been crossed.

2013-04-25 11:03:41

US Intelligence has found a small scale use of chemical weapons on the part of the Syrian government.

The administration laid out its position in a letter to congress, saying it had "varying amounts of confidence" in its determination.

In a letter addressed to Senators Carl Levin and John McCain the administration stated, "Our intelligence community does assess with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin." - More

Hagel says evidence chemical weapons were used in Syria

2013-04-25 10:41:23

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday the U.S. intelligence community believes the Syrian regime used the chemical weapon sarin, a revelation that immediately raised

the question of whether a "red line" had been crossed in the country's civil war.

Hagel confirmed the intelligence assessment, which was detailed in a letter to select members of Congress, while speaking to reporters on a visit to Abu Dhabi. - More

Israeli Air Force Shoots Down Lebanese Drone Off Haifa Coast

2013-04-25 08:28:49

Israel shot down an unmanned Hezbollah aircraft that was approaching its Mediterranean coast, the second drone launched by the militant Lebanese group in less than a year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he views the attempt to breach Israel’s borders “with the utmost gravity” and “will do whatever it takes” to insure the nation’s safety. - More

22-year-old Brown Student, Sunil Tripathi Body found in water

2013-04-25 08:24:12

The Rhode Island medical examiner’s office says a body found in Providence is that of a Brown University student missing since last month.

Health Department spokeswoman Dara Chadwick says the body of 22-year-old Sunil Tripathi was identified Thursday morning through a forensic dental exam.

The cause of death has not been determined. - More

Why Was The CIA Terror Watch Request Ignored After The FBI-Inquiry?

2013-04-24 23:06:38

The CIA pushed to have the suspected mastermind of the marathon bombings on a terror watch list 18 months before the deadly blasts rocked Boylston Street, according to multiple reports yesterday that raised serious questions about how closely Tamerlan Tsarnaev was probed before the attack.

The request by the CIA came six months after Russian officials had asked the FBI to look into the 26-year-old, but agents said they found nothing to suggest he had terrorism ties. The Associated Press reported that the two agencies received nearly identical information, which came to the CIA in September 2011. - More

CIA pushed to add Boston bomber to terror watch list after FBI inquiry

2013-04-24 22:53:40

The CIA pushed to have one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers placed on a U.S. counterterrorism watch list more than a year before the attacks, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Russian authorities contacted the CIA in the fall of 2011 and raised concerns that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed last week in a confrontation with police, was seen as an increasingly radical Islamist who could be planning to travel overseas. - More

Tamerlan Tsarnaev vowed to die for Islam

2013-04-24 21:30:10

Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev sent text messages to his mother as early as 2011 suggesting he was willing to die for Islam, the FBI told lawmakers this week according to two officials with knowledge of the Capitol Hill briefing.

Tsarnaev, who was killed days after the April 15 bombing in a shootout with police, is said to have embraced radical Islam in recent years and recruited his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to carry out the attack that killed three and wounded more than 180 near the finish line of the world's most prestigious road race. - More

Obama's Delicate Task at Bush Library Event

2013-04-24 19:47:01

President Obama has left little mystery about how he views his predecessor.

“The failed policies of George W. Bush” wiped away a budget surplus and “squandered the legacy” of bipartisan foreign policy. Mr. Bush put two wars “on a credit card,” led the country away “from our values” and “crashed the economy.” - More

The Maddow Blog Throwing Dirt On The GW Bush Mystique

2013-04-24 19:15:00

Steve Benen of the Rachel Maddow Blog couldnt let the 'confluence of events' that has inspired several GOP pundits and writers attempt to 'improve Bush's Reputation' go unnoticed.

He brings up something that probably will not be on display at The Bush 43 Museum:

"Bush received an intelligence briefing on Aug. 6, 2001, at which he was handed a memo with an important headline: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.

He goes on to write, Bush, however, was on a month-long vacation at the time. He heard the briefer out and replied, 'All right. You've covered your ass, now.' A month later, al Qaeda killed 3,000 people."

Benen alleges GW Bush's responsibility for the greatest attack on Americans since Pearl Harbor. - More

New Sectarian War In Iraq

2013-04-24 14:00:16

In what appeared to be a new phase in an intensifying conflict that has raised fears of greater bloodshed and a wider sectarian war, Iraqi soldiers opened fire from helicopters on Sunni gunmen hiding in a northern village on Wednesday, officials said.

The air attacks were among clashes throughout the country between forces of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government and Sunni gunmen that left at least 27 people dead and dozens wounded. - More

Thousands attend slain MIT officer's memorial service

2013-04-24 10:49:56

Vice President Joe Biden has told the parents of slain Massachusetts Institute of Technology police Officer Sean Collier that he hopes they find some solace in their extreme grief through a large memorial service in their son's honor.

Biden told thousands of students, faculty and staff, law enforcement officials from across the nation who had gathered Wednesday to pay respects at Briggs Field on campus that no child should predecease their parents. - More

21 dead in Xinjiang terrorist clash

2013-04-24 10:34:06

At least 21 people have been killed in fierce fighting in China's troubled far-west region of Xinjiang.

A confrontation involving knives, axes and a gun ended with a house being burnt down in an act local authorities have blamed on "terrorists" China has

previously accused Islamic separatists who want to establish an independent East Turkestan for carrying out attack in the region...

China eNews Links

Desmond Tutu admitted to hospital, says South Africa group, Wiki - Bio - Video

2013-04-24 08:50:05

A South African foundation says retired archbishop Desmond Tutu has checked into a Cape Town hospital for treatment of a persistent infection.

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate will undergo tests to discover the cause of the infection. - More

Desmond Tutu Biography

April Walton sold two Lock and Load reloadable mortar kits to Tamerlan Tsarnaev

2013-04-23 16:26:57

The older of the two Boston bombing suspects bought two mortar kits from a New Hampshire fireworks store in February, although the amount of gunpowder the kits would have supplied wouldn’t have been enough on its own to detonate the bombs, company officials said Tuesday.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev bought two “Lock and Load” reloadable mortar kits containing 24 shells each on the evening of Feb. 6, said April Walton, the manager of Phantom Fireworks in Seabrook. - More

Phamtom Fireworks in Seabrook, N.H. sold 3 pounds of black powder

2013-04-23 16:23:30

Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev walked into a New Hampshire fireworks store two months before his deadly attack and asked for the “biggest and loudest” kit in the store — then got another set free, the Daily News has learned.

In a chilling twist, the company that sold Tamerlan the fireworks is the same company that sold Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad the firecrackers he used to build his failed car bomb. - More

Israel Brig. Gen. Itai Brun: Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons

2013-04-23 09:16:01

Israel’s senior military intelligence analyst said Tuesday there was evidence the Syrian government had repeatedly used chemical weapons in the last month, and he criticized the international community for failing to respond, intensifying pressure on the Obama administration to intervene.

“The regime has increasingly used chemical weapons,” said Brig. Gen. Itai Brun... - More

Congress raise doubts about FBI Tamerlan Tsarnaev Assessment

2013-04-22 08:50:45

Lawmakers of both parties questioned Sunday whether law-enforcement officials did enough to monitor the activities of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev before last week's terrorist attack, given his apparent extremist beliefs.

Speaking on talk shows, Democrats and Republicans raised doubts about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's handling of the case, especially given that Mr. Tsarnaev traveled to Russia in 2012 for six months. - More

FBI disputes Zubeidat Tsarnaev's claim they tracked Tamerlan Tsarnaev

2013-04-22 08:43:48

The FBI has flatly rejected an assertion by the mother of the two suspected Boston bombers that the bureau had been tracking her oldest son and had spoken with him last week after the deadly marathon bombing.

The chief spokesman for the FBI, Mike Kortan, said he continues to stand by an FBI statement issued Friday that said that the only communication the FBI ever had with Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an interview agents conducted with him in 2011... - More

Authorities: Dzhokhar Is Responding to Questions in Writing

2013-04-21 20:11:12

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is awake and responding sporadically in writing to questions, authorities said.

Investigators are asking about other cell members and other unexploded bombs, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Previously officials said Tsarnaev was in no condition to be interrogated. - More

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Communicates With Police

2013-04-21 20:06:30

The surviving suspect in last week's Boston Marathon bombings began responding to investigators' questions Sunday evening, marking a dramatic turn for law enforcement officials trying to piece together why two brothers born near war-torn Chechnya allegedly carried out an attack on their adopted country.

Investigators had been unable to question Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was badly wounded and unable to talk since he was captured Friday night. - More

Rescuers struggle to reach China quake zone after hundreds killed, thousands injured

2013-04-21 08:17:44

Rescuers struggled to reach a remote corner of southwestern China on Sunday as the toll of the dead and missing from the country's worst earthquake in three years climbed to 203 with more than 11,000 injured.

The 6.6 magnitude quake struck in Lushan county, near the city of Ya'an in the southwestern province of Sichuan, close to where a devastating 7.9 temblor hit in May 2008 killing some 70,000. - More

Update: Celeste Corcoran and daughter Sydney Corcoran, Video

2013-04-21 07:50:38

It will be weeks, at least, before Celeste Corcoran is anywhere near ready to think about artificial limbs.

The 47-year-old Lowell, Mass., hairdresser lost both her legs below the knee in Monday’s deadly bomb blasts in Boston, which also severely injured her 17-year-old daughter, Sydney.

But when Celeste and the 16 others who reportedly lost limbs in the attack are ready, experts say they will find that the options for returning to full and active lives have never been better.

“Without question,” said Dr. Paul Tornetta, a Boston Medical Center orthopedic trauma surgeon... - More

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Gov. Deval Patrick: Suspect in stable but serious condition

2013-04-21 07:33:33

The suspect in Boston's marathon bombing lies in hospital in what the Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick describes as a "stable, but serious condition".

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was shot in the throat and has not yet been able to speak, according to a source close to the investigation Meanwhile, calm has been restored to the streets of Watertown - the Boston suburb where Tsarnaev, 19, was captured on Friday night. - More

FBI seeks motive for Boston bomb attack

2013-04-21 07:30:00

Investigators are trying to establish a motive for the Boston Marathon bombings.

Specialist teams are waiting to interview Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19 year-old suspected of carrying out the attack.

The young man is seriously injured in a Boston hospital, after he was captured late on Friday following a huge manhunt.

His elder brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police. - More

Sierra Schwartz, Classmate Of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

2013-04-20 20:43:25

I'm he was not about either he was a very nice guy -- -- that kind of talk about what any other high -- talk about he never mentioned any sort of religion any sort of politics.

He was just a very you know normally easygoing funny kind of guy just. It seems like something must have happened after after we knew him because this just seems like an absolute. 180.

Switch and a personality it's it's actually shocking.

You know I wish I could say that there were some sort of warning sign and we knew our son wade you know had -- seen -- but they're absolutely -- so it's it's very hard. -- talk a little bit about his behavior in high school for those who are joining us now.

And talk a little bit about he was a team player he was on -- sports yet you say he was an honor classes give us a sense of what he was like and who was involved within. And who his friends work. - More

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Katherine Russell: The Woman Married To Tamerlan Tsarnaev

2013-04-20 15:32:57

Tamerlan Tsarnaev the 26-year-old Boston Marathon bomber who was killed in a shoot out with police, had an American wife and daughter.

Now RadarOnline.com is taking a look at Katherine Russell, the 24-year-old who was raised a Christian, and converted to Islam after marrying Tsarnaev when she was a student. - More

Stepfather of Robert Duffy Watertown Tarpped Boat

2013-04-20 07:01:32

On the heels of Friday evening's dramatic capture of the second suspect wanted in connection with Monday's bombings at the Boston Marathon, Piers Morgan spoke on the phone with Robert Duffy, who supplied vidid detail as to the way in which 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev was discovered, and how authorities were ultimately alerted.

Duffy's mother and stepfather live in Watertown, Mass., - More

Mother Zubeidat K. Tsarnaev and Sister Alina Tsarnaev Speaks to the media

2013-04-20 00:51:54

The bombers' mom has spoken for the first time to media outlets.

"Impossible for both of them to do that... its set up.

He would never hide it from me.

My youngest son was raised in America and my old son never told me he was on the side of jihad." Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva has been named as the mother of Boston Marathon Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev. - More

In an interview with Russia Today Friday, Tsarnaeva said that Tamerlan Tsarnaev got involved in "religious politics" five years ago, and that the FBI had previously contacted her about her son's activities.

"He was controlled by the FBI, like for three, five years," she said.

"They knew what my son was doing, they knew what actions and what sites on the Internet he was going [to], they used to come...and talk to me...they were telling me that he was really a serious leader and they were afraid of him."

"How could this happen?...They were controlling every step of him, and they are telling today that this is a terrorist attack," she added...

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, Captured ALIVE

2013-04-19 23:32:52

The Massachusetts college student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombing was captured wounded, but alive after hiding out in a boat parked in a backyard on Friday evening.

Boston police confirmed that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been apprehended, taking to social media to announce, 'Suspect in custody. Officers sweeping the area.

Stand by for further info.' - More

PHOTO: Family of Katherine Russell Releases Statement of Condolence, Confirms Baby

2013-04-19 22:39:42

"Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child.

We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred.

In the aftermath of the Patriot's Day horror, we know that we never really knew Tamerlane Tsarnaev."

The FBI has given the spelling of Tsarnaev's first name as Tamerlan.

The family statement continued: "Our hearts are sickened by the knowledge of the horror he has inflicted."

They asked to be left alone "in this difficult time."

President Obama responds to the Boston Marathon bombing suspect being taken into custody.

2013-04-19 19:08:50

President Barack Obama said at the conclusion of the Boston Marathon bombing manhunt on Friday night that "we've closed an important chapter in this tragedy," adding that those who carried out the "vicious attack" failed because Americans "refuse to be terrorized." - More

Bombing suspect in custody after standoff in Watertown

2013-04-19 19:00:57

One of the men believed to be responsible for placing the bombs that struck the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing 3 and injuring more than 170, has been taken into custody after a standoff lasting nearly two hours in Watertown.

Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge was apprehended shortly before 8:45 p.m.

“They got him. He’s in custody,” a state trooper told the media gathered in the neighborhood.

A crowd of onlookers broke into applause. - More

Suspects Father Anzor Tsarnaev: They were set up, they were set up!

2013-04-19 14:10:50

The father of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing described his fugitive son as a smart and accomplished "angel" in an anguished interview in which he claimed they were set up.

Anzor Tsarnaev spoke with The Associated Press by telephone in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan after police said one of his sons, 26-year-old Tamerlan, had been killed in a shootout and the other, Dzhokhar, was being intensely pursued.

Bombing suspect on the run became US citizen last year on Sept. 11

2013-04-19 10:34:26

One became an American citizen last year on Sept. 11. The other was a boxer who once said: “I like the USA.”

The two known suspects in the attack on the Boston Marathon — one killed, one on the loose — are brothers with a background in the separatist Russian republic of Chechnya, law enforcement officials told NBC News. - More

Suspect in murder of MIT cop dead, 2nd suspect, tied to Boston bombing, at large, police say

2013-04-19 02:06:47

One of two suspects in the shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer has died and a massive manhunt is underway for another, who is believed to be tied to the Boston Marathon bombing.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said early Friday on Twitter that one of the two suspects in that officer's shooting was killed. - More

Romney on the Boston Marathon Bombing: This is a learning opportunity

2013-04-19 01:20:56

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney praised President Barack Obama's remarks on Thursday at an interfaith service remembering victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

In an interview on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," Romney also stressed the importance of learning from such terror attacks and opened up about how his faith plays a role in times of crisis. - More

Redditors ID The Hat Of One Of The Boston Bombing Suspects

2013-04-18 16:55:53

Just a few minutes ago, the FBI released images of two suspects for Monday's Boston Marathon bombing.

It hopes the community will be able to help identify the two men, who were both wearing baseball caps.

The Reddit community has already gotten to work identifying the suspects. They've identified what looks to be the black cap the first suspect is wearing.

It looks like a black, Bridgestone Golf hat. - More

FBI Releases Images and Video

2013-04-18 14:28:43

The FBI has identified two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, releasing photos and video showing them and asking the public to help locate them.

The suspects, both of whom wore a backwards white ballcap and the other who wore a dark cap,were captured on footage near where one of two explosions killed three and injured 176.

"Through the last day or so, we developed a single person of interest," said FBI Special Agent Rick Deslauriers.

"Indeed though that process we have identified a second suspect. We believe they are associated." More

Obama to Boston: Every one of us stands with you

2013-04-18 13:29:21

"Every one of us stands with you," the president said at an interfaith service inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. "Boston may be your hometown -- but we claim it, too. ... For millions of us what happened on Monday is personal."

"Your resolve is the greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act," the president told those at the service. "If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, to shake us from those values that (Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick) described, the values that make us who we are as Americans, well, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it." - More

Police: Between 5 and 15 people killed and over 160 injured in Waco

2013-04-18 04:08:09

Police say between five to fifteen people were killed and over 160 were injured in a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas on Wednesday night.

The explosion at West Fertilizer in downtown West, a community about 20 miles north of Waco, happened around 7 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, 45 miles to the north. - More

North Korea Sets Conditions for Return to Talks

2013-04-18 03:57:14

North Korea on Thursday demanded the lifting of United Nations sanctions and an end to joint American-South Korean military exercises as preconditions for starting dialogue to defuse tension on the Korean Peninsula.

By making demands that both Washington and Seoul had no intention of accepting, North Korea signaled that it would not stand down anytime soon from a weeks-long military standoff. - More

South Korea Chosun Ilbo Online Newspapers eNews Reference

Obama to visit Boston amid hunt for persons of interest seen in photos

2013-04-18 01:49:03

President Obama plans to visit Boston on Thursday to attend an interfaith service in honor of the three people killed and 170 injured when twin bombs ripped through the crowd Monday at the Boston Marathon.

The president is scheduled to speak at the "Healing Our City" service.

He may also meet with some of those injured, as well as the first responders who rushed toward the blast to help the scores of runners and spectators. - More

Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas

2013-04-18 01:37:58

A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the small Texas town of West left at least two people dead, sent dozens more seeking medical attention and prompted a widescale evacuation in the community of 2,600 people.

Fire officials fear that the number of casualties could rise much higher. - More

Background check compromise falls 6 votes short

2013-04-17 18:16:49

Despite an impassioned push by President Barack Obama and an emotional lobbying effort by the families of mass shooting victims, proponents of a compromise measure to expand gun background checks on Wednesday fell six votes short of passage in the Senate. The vote on the amendment was 54 to 46. Sixty votes were needed for the amendment to be adopted. - More

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Photo: Boston Bomber ID'd

2013-04-17 10:42:53

Boston authorities have identified the prime suspect in the marathon bombing that killed three people and sent terror shockwaves through one of America’s highest-profile sporting events.

CNN reported that investigators spotted the suspect after scouring surveillance footage taken from a department store near the finish line of the tragic race. - More

Boston bomb parts pictured in leaked FBI bulletin

2013-04-16 22:41:26

An intelligence bulletin issued to law enforcement includes a picture of a mangled pressure cooker and a torn black bag that the FBI says were part of a bomb that exploded during the Boston marathon.

The bulletin was obtained by The Associated Press. - More

Boston News Links

Devices made with pressure cookers in Boston Marathon Bombing

2013-04-16 11:31:39

Experts say the two bombs used near the Boston Marathon finish line were built using pressure cookers, and contained black powder or gunpowder as the explosive and ball bearings as shrapnel.

Experts say instructions on how to design such bombs are available on the Internet. - More

Apartment searched, but no suspect yet in Boston Marathon bombings

2013-04-16 06:24:17

Authorities including bomb experts searched an apartment in Revere, Massachusetts, and removed items, after two deadly bombs struck the Boston Marathon.

But investigators remained mum about just how the search may be linked to the bombing investigation.

A law enforcement official said the search was not a suggestion that police may have a suspect. - More

Strong earthquake hits Iran, tremors felt in Delhi, north India

2013-04-16 05:11:30

Strong tremors rocked large parts of north India, including the national capital and its adjoining areas on Tuesday evening.

Tremors were felt in Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Chandigarh.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties. The quake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale at its epicentre on the Pakistan-Iran border. - More

Dr. Alasdair Conn on Boston Marathon Bombing: never seen in 25 years

2013-04-15 19:19:09

"This is something I've never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population," said Dr. Alisdair Conn, chief of emergency services at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"This is what we expect from war".

"The worst ones were traumatic amputations.

To use the vernacular, people coming in by ambulance with their legs blown off," he said. - More

Aftermath to explosion at Boston Marathon

2013-04-15 14:05:48

Two people were killed and 23 injured by a pair of bombs that exploded at the Boston Marathon this afternoon.

The blasts occurred shortly before 3 p.m. near the finish line of the annual race, on Boylston Street, which was crowded with runners and spectators, according to police. - More

God help us if we dont act on gun violence, Manchin says

2013-04-14 17:25:01

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., is "confident," he said Sunday on "Face the Nation," that he and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will be able to muster enough Republican support in the Senate to pass an amendment that would expand background checks for gun purchases.

"We're close," said Toomey said, appearing with Manchin.

"We're discussing with colleagues on both sides. We've got bipartisan support, but there is bipartisan opposition." - More

Enrique Pena Nieto's Teacher Revolt

2013-04-14 10:49:59

Easter vacation was over, but there wasn't a teacher in sight at the boarding school for indigenous children on the edge of this sunbaked southern Mexico hill town.

A 37-year-old cook who hadn't finished high school sat between two little girls on a cement stoop outside the kitchen, peering at their dog-eared notebooks as they struggled with the alphabet and basic multiplication. - More

Tiger plays despite controversy, still in the hunt

2013-04-13 16:20:05

Tiger Woods awoke Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. to a phone call from his agent, Mark Steinberg, informing him he faced a possible penalty for a drop he took the previous day in the second round of the Masters.

Disqualification from the tournament was also a possibility.

It was anything but a normal day thereafter - get coffee, don't get DQ'd, eat, get to course and play in the Masters. - More

Lion Air fight 904 was due to arrive at Denpasar at 3:40pm

2013-04-13 05:51:13

The plane crashed into the water as it came in to land at the airport about 3.50pm local time (5.50pm AEST) today.

Early reports said that all passengers and crew were safe. An Indonesian Transport Ministry official was quoted as saying that there were more than 130 people on the flight. - More

VIDEO: Plane crashes into the sea, Bali

Judge withdraws from Mubarak retrial

2013-04-13 05:40:23

A judge presiding over the retrial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on charges related to the 2011 deaths of protesters withdrew from the case as it started Saturday citing “uneasiness.”

Judge Mustafa Hassan said as the new trial started that he was feeling “uneasiness” about hearing the case and would refer the case back to the Appeals Court so it could name a new judge. - More

Egypt News Links

IMF Recognizes Somalia After 22 Years of Chaos

2013-04-12 19:39:34

The International Monetary Fund announced Friday that it is recognizing Somalia's new government after a 22-year break in relations with the once-chaotic country, part of a general push by the United States, United Nations and the West toward encouraging rehabilitation there. - More

Somali News Links

John Kerry: missile launch would be huge mistake

2013-04-12 11:22:32

Secretary of State John Kerry said a North Korean missile launch would be a “huge mistake" and reiterated that the United States would defend its allies if necessary after arriving in the South Korean capital on Friday.

Kerry also warned Pyongyang that firing a medium-range missile would be a "provocative and unwanted act." - More

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Newtown Mom Francine Wheeler to give Weekly Address, Bio - Wiki - Video

2013-04-12 11:17:20

President Obama has asked the mother of a six-year-old killed in last December’s massacre in Newtown, Conn., to stand in for him in addressing the nation this weekend.

Francine Wheeler, whose son, Ben, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, will deliver the president’s weekly address that is aired on television and radio, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Friday. - More

Francine Wheeler Biography

Francine Wheeler Photos

Pentagon Says Nuclear Missile Is in Reach for North Korea

2013-04-11 19:45:43

A new assessment by the Pentagon’s intelligence arm has concluded for the first time, with “moderate confidence,” that North Korea has learned how to make a nuclear weapon small enough to be delivered by a ballistic missile.

The assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has been distributed to senior administration... - More

North Korea News Links

South Korea News Links

Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad offers resignation

2013-04-11 07:48:15

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has tendered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas.

The move comes amid increasing tensions between the two, as they battle for control and authority, The Associated Press reported. - More

Palestinian News Links

Obama hosts 12 Republican senators for dinner

2013-04-11 07:38:13

Over steaks and greens, President Obama spent 2½ hours Wednesday night with 12 Republican senators talking guns, immigration and deficit reduction.

The dinner at the White House, which was organized by Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson at Obama's request, was Obama's second in as many months in his latest effort to reach across the aisle. - More

U.S. believes North Korea could test fire missiles at any time

2013-04-09 22:06:37

The Obama administration believes North Korea has most likely completed launch preparations and could test fire mobile ballistic missiles at any time based on the most recent intelligence, a U.S. official said.

A test launch of one or both of missiles thought to be loaded into mobile launchers could happen without North Korea issuing a standard warning to commercial aviation and maritime shipping, according to the official. - More

North Korea News Links

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Kenya's new president, Uhuru Kenyatta, the wealthy son

2013-04-09 19:15:11

Kenya's new president, Uhuru Kenyatta, the wealthy son of the nation's independence hero, brushed off international charges of crimes against humanity to present himself as a statesman with the economic skills to help ordinary citizens.

Backed by voters from Kenya's biggest tribe, the Kikuyu, in a nation where ethnic loyalties trump ideology at the ballot box, the 51-year-old listed as Kenya's richest man took the oath of office on Tuesday. - More

Kenya News Links

Navy Deploying Laser Weapon Prototype Near Iran

2013-04-08 23:58:42

A prototype shipboard laser will be deployed on a converted amphibious transport and docking ship in the Persian Gulf, where Iranian fast-attack boats have harassed American warships and where the government in Tehran is building remotely piloted aircraft carrying surveillance pods and, someday potentially, rockets. - More

Budget woes could delay NY trial for bin Laden kin

2013-04-08 13:39:20

A judge in New York says he finds it "stunning" that federal budget woes could delay the start of a terrorism trial for Osama bin Laden's son-in-law.

Judge Lewis Kaplan made the comment Monday as he set deadlines for defense lawyers to submit pre-trial arguments on behalf of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (SOO'-lay-mahn AH'-boo GAYTH). - More

Margaret Thatcher dies, Bio - Wiki

2013-04-08 05:20:16

Margaret Thatcher goaded him continually first from the back benches, and then after 1992 from the Lords, until his own defeat in 1997. She spent her first 10 years out of office touring the world and giving speeches, and raising funds for her Thatcher Foundation, which was designed to spread the gospel of freedom and enterprise. - More

Margaret Thatcher Biography - Wiki

Great Britain News

Pastor Rick Warren son commits suicide

2013-04-06 14:59:05

The youngest son of Pastor Rick Warren, a world-famous Orange County evangelical pastor, has committed suicide, according to a statement sent by Warren and his wife to his congregation.

Matthew Warren, 27, the son of the leader of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, died after battling depression for much of his life, the statement said. - More

Philippines asks U.S. to pay $1.4 million for reef damage

2013-04-06 10:58:50

The Philippines will ask the United States to pay 58 million pesos ($1.4 million) in compensation for damage caused by a U.S. warship to a protected coral reef.

The amount is based on studies by Philippine agencies, including the coast guard, that found the USS Guardian damaged at least 2,345 sq. - More

Americans Killed in Afghan Suicide Attacks

2013-04-06 10:53:32

A Taliban assassination attempt on the governor of Afghanistan's southern Zabul province Saturday failed to kill its target but caused several American and Afghan casualties, Afghan and U.S. officials said.

The U.S.-led military coalition said three service members and two coalition civilians died in the attack. - More

NATO under pressure as allies cut defense costs

2013-04-06 07:32:23

As defense budgets are slashed in dire financial times, governments increasingly rely on alliances and cooperation with their partners. Instead of going solo, militaries pool resources to increase efficiency. - More

Trayvon Martin's parents settle suit with subdivision's HOA

2013-04-05 19:44:53

Trayvon Martin's parents settled a wrongful-death claim Friday against the homeowners association of the Sanford subdivision where their teenage son was killed.

Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin's attorney, Benjamin Crump, filed the suit against the Retreat at Twin Lakes subdivision. - More

Pervez Musharraf nomination papers rejected

2013-04-05 14:14:07

An official in eastern Kasur district made the decision after objections were filed, including charges of violating the constitution and his oath as army chief.

Gen Musharraf has the right to appeal and has also filed nomination papers in three other constituencies. - More

U.S. and Japan unveil plan for returning Okinawa land

2013-04-05 12:57:22

The U.S. and Japan unveiled plans Friday for gradually returning some land on Okinawa now used by the American military, but still intend to relocate a U.S. Marine base elsewhere on the island, an idea fervently opposed by Okinawans.

The island hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, fueling longtime protests among residents who lament worsened noise, pollution and crime. - More

North Korea moves missile to east as nuclear crisis escalates

2013-04-04 09:50:55

North Korea is moving a medium-range missile to a site in the east of the country, a U.S. intelligence official said Thursday as tensions with the nuclear-armed state continued to escalate. The official declined to say where the Musudan missile was headed, but the North has used a site near the Russian border on the coast for its missile tests in the past. - More

North Korea Says It Will Restart Reactor

2013-04-02 07:48:13

North Korea said on Tuesday that it would put all its nuclear facilities — including its operational uranium-enrichment program and its reactors mothballed or under construction — to use in expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal, sharply raising the stakes in the escalating standoff with the United States and its allies. - More

U.S. moving key vessels near North Korea

2013-04-01 15:07:35

The White House says that despite bellicose rhetoric from North Korea the Obama administration has not seen changes in the regime's military posture.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Mondays the U.S. has not detected any military mobilization or repositioning of forces from Pyongyang to back up the threats from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. - More

North Korean secrecy on bomb test fuels speculation

2013-04-01 05:30:00

U.S. officials and independent experts say North Korea appears to have taken unusual steps to conceal details about the nuclear weapon it tested in February, fueling suspicions that its scientists shifted to a bomb design that uses highly enriched uranium as the core.

At least two separate analyses of the Feb. 12 detonation confirmed that the effects of the blast were remarkably well contained, with few radioactive traces escaping into the atmosphere — where they could be detected — according to U.S. officials and weapons experts who have studied the data. - More

Three Dead In Massive Interstate Car Pileup

2013-03-31 19:49:15

Three people were killed and more that 20 injured in a massive series of pile-ups involving 95 cars on Interstate 77 near the Virginia and North Carolina state line Sunday afternoon, according to authorities.

The crashes began around 1 p.m. in the southbound lanes in Carroll County, Virginia, according to Virginia State Police.

Excessive fog in the Fancy Gap Mountain area is being blamed for the massive accident. - More

Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia,

2013-03-31 19:16:45

The killing of a second Kaufman County, Texas, prosecutor in the past two months has prompted authorities in Colorado to renew their investigation into possible links between those murders and the execution-style slaying of Colorado's state prisons chief.

Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found shot to death in their Forney, Texas, home Saturday, Sheriff David Byrnes said today. - More

First family celebrates Easter

2013-03-31 19:03:14

President Barack Obama attended Easter services at an Episcopal church near the White House where past presidents frequently have worshipped.

The President, First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia took the short walk across Lafayette Park to St. John’s Church Sunday morning. - More

North Korea puts rockets on standby

2013-03-29 13:36:26

North Korea put its rocket units on standby Friday to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after repeated threats one day after two American stealth bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula in a military exercise.

A U.S. official warned that the isolated communist state is “not a paper tiger” and its reaction should not be dismissed as “pure bluster.” - More

North Korea readying rockets to aim at U.S.

2013-03-28 22:25:09

North Korea's leader has approved a plan to prepare rockets to be on standby for firing at U.S. targets, including the U.S. mainland and military bases in the Pacific and in South Korea, state media reported.

In a meeting with military leaders early Friday, Kim Jong Un "said he has judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation," the state-run KCNA news agency reported. - More

Supreme Court reconvenes for second gay marriage case

2013-03-27 09:14:35

Midway into a second day of tackling the gay marriage issue, conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court said on Wednesday they were troubled by President Barack Obama's decision in 2011 not to defend in court a ban Congress had approved.

The decision by Obama to abandon the legal defense of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) called into question his willingness to defend other laws passed by Congress and challenged in court, several conservative justices said. - More

McCain, other US senators to tour Mexico border

2013-03-27 08:56:47

A group of U.S. senators who will be influential in shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package is traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona to get a firsthand look at issues affecting the region.

John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona were expected to tour the border Wednesday with Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Michael Bennet of Colorado. - More

Gen. David Petraeus: It can and must go on.

2013-03-27 08:30:08

After a 4-1/2 month silence, following his very public fall from grace, retired Gen. David Petraeus has signaled he’s ready to come back to public life.

But are we ready? Chances are, yes.

The storied general, who resigned as director of the CIA on Nov. 9 after revealing an extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, spoke Tuesday night at a dinner at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for veterans and ROTC students. - More

US army hands over Bagram prison

2013-03-25 10:33:39

A transfer ceremony took place at Bagram jail, now renamed the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan.

The handover came as US Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit for talks with President Karzai.

Mr Kerry told a press conference they were both "on the same page" regarding peace talks with the Taliban. - More

Mike Rogers: Red line has been crossed in Syria

2013-03-24 10:23:24

There's mounting evidence that over the last two years the Assad regime has used "at least a small quantity" of chemical weapons against rebel forces in Syria's raging civil war, House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said today on "Face the Nation," adding that the time is now for U.S. intervention.

Amid debate over an alleged chemical weapons attack out of Syria last week, President Obama during a visit to Israel doubled down on his claim that such an attack would be considered a "game changer"... - More

Kerry Warns Iraq on Iran Flights to Syria

2013-03-24 10:19:52

The U.S. has made clear to Iraq that it shouldn't allow Iran to use its airspace to ship weapons and fighters to Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Sunday during an unannounced trip to Baghdad.

Kerry's comments come as U.S. lawmakers are calling for President Barack Obama to do more to stop the bloodshed in Syria, including possible airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's aircraft fleet. - More

Chinua Achebe, literary icon and author of 'Things Fall Apart', Biography

2013-03-23 20:36:26

Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, a literary icon whose 1958 novel "Things Fall Apart" captured the world's attention, has died, his publisher said. He was 82. An author of more than 20 books, he was celebrated worldwide for telling African stories to a captivated world audience. - More

Biography of Chinua Achebe

$338.3 Million Powerball Jackpot

2013-03-23 20:30:55

No one had come forward by midday Sunday to say they were the buyer of the winning ticket in Ads by Google Saturday night's drawing for the $338.3 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials said.

The single ticket, matching all six numbers in the drawing, was sold in New Jersey, but nothing was known about the winner of the sixth-largest jackpot in history, the officials said. - More

Boris Berezovsky found dead in England

2013-03-23 16:19:51

Boris Berezovsky, a self-exiled and outspoken former Russian oligarch who had a bitter falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead Saturday in southeast England.

He was 67. Thames Valley police said his death was being treated as unexplained.

They would not directly identify him, but when asked about him by name they read a statement saying they were investigating the death of a 67-year-old man at a property in Ascot, a town 40 kilometres west of London. - More

Russia News Links

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Bomb in car defused in Northern Ireland

2013-03-23 10:22:34

A two-day alert ended on Saturday when police confirmed that a viable explosive was inside the car near the County Fermanagh village of Derrylin 6 kilometres from the Irish border.

No group claimed responsibility.

Police said they believed an Irish Republican Army splinter group was trying to attack a police station in the nearby town of Lisnaskea but abandoned the bomb short of its target. - More

White House praises Senate-passed budget

2013-03-23 10:14:15

The White House is praising the $3.7 trillion budget Democrats squeezed through the Senate early Saturday.

But spokesman Jay Carney isn't raising too much hope for compromise with the GOP-led House, which previously passed a competing budget that makes deep cuts to social programs.

Carney says in a statement issued Saturday morning that the House budget — quote— "refuses to ask for a single dime of deficit reduction from closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and well-connected." - More

Syria mosque blast: Pro-Assad cleric among dozens dead

2013-03-21 15:19:44

At least 41 other people were killed alongside Sheikh Mohammed al-Buti at the Iman mosque, said the Sana news agency, calling it "a terrorist" blast. State TV broadcast footage of bodies and injured people at the scene.

The Free Syrian Army, the umbrella group for the rebel forces, said it was not responsible for the attack. - More

Obama urges Israelis to take risks for peace with Palestinians

2013-03-21 11:21:18

President Obama urged Israelis to see the world through the eyes of Palestinians and to “create the change” they want, in order to bring about peace in the region.

Israel News Links

In a 45-minute address to a hall packed with university students, Obama challenged the crowd to take risks to resolve the conflict with Palestinians.

“It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day,” he said. - More

Rockets Hit Israel as Obama Meets Palestinians

2013-03-21 03:46:37

U.S. President Barack Obama is meeting Palestinian officials on the second day of his Mideast tour to emphasize the importance of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, a message underscored Thursday when Palestinian militants in Gaza launched rockets into southern Israel.

After a visit to Israel's national museum — where he inspected the Dead Sea Scrolls, which highlight the Jewish people's ancient connection to the land that is now Israel — Obama headed to the West Bank to tell the Palestinians that the creation of a Palestinian state remains a priority for his administration. - More

Israel News Links

President Obama Makes 1st Presidential Trip to Israel

2013-03-20 19:09:58

U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed an unusual degree of solidarity Wednesday on a set of shared national security concerns that have divided them in the past, signalling either a turn in their vital, if volatile, relationship or a cool tactical display of diplomatic theatre.

The leaders’ joint appearance concluded a tone-setting first day of Obama’s first presidential trip to Israel, a visit celebrated with military ceremony, children’s serenades and a rare personal chemistry with a hard-line Israeli leader with whom he has often bickered publicly. - More

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde Investigation

2013-03-20 18:39:16

A French court said in August 2011 that it was investigating Lagarde's role in intervening in a long-running dispute between businessman Bernard Tapie and a French bank, Credit Lyonnais.

Lagarde was accused of giving Tapie preferential treatment because of his support for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. She has always denied any wrongdoing. - More

Nigeria: 166 Passengers Feared Dead

2013-03-20 18:26:53

A boat travelling from Oron in Akwa Ibom State to Gabon yesterday capsized at the Calabar Waterways with no fewer than 166 passengers feared dead.

Eyewitnesses told cross river watch that the passengers were travelling in a "giant-sized wooden boat" when it capsized 40 nautical miles along the coast of Calabar, off Gabon waterways". - More

Senate approves funding bill to avoid shutdown

2013-03-20 18:14:33

The U.S. Senate approved a $984 billion spending bill Wednesday, ensuring the federal government will not shut down next week but also cementing in place $1.2 trillion in unpopular across-the-board spending cuts affecting most reaches of the federal government.

"We didn't want brinkmanship politics, we didn't want ultimatum politics," said Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who negotiated the bipartisan bill with GOP Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama. - More

Assault weapons ban dropped from gun bill

2013-03-19 16:55:21

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid on Tuesday declared politically dead the effort to ban military-style assault weapons, a setback for President Obama and gun-control advocates who are pushing the Senate to move quickly on bills to limit gun violence.

Reid (D-Nev.) is preparing to move ahead with debate on a series of gun-control proposals when the Senate returns from a two-week Easter recess in early April. - More

Philippine Court Delays Law on Free Contraceptives for Poor

2013-03-19 15:13:25

The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily halted a landmark law that would provide free contraception to poor women.

In a 10-to-5 ruling, the court froze for 120 days when the law could take effect.

It was passed in December after a ferocious national debate that pitted the Roman Catholic Church against the country’s president, Benigno S. Aquino III. - More

Pope Francisco Consider visiting Mexico: Pena Nieto

2013-03-19 14:53:26

The president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, Francisco confirmed that the Pope considered his visit to Mexico after the invitation extended to him, but did not specify a date in particular, and said they both agree on the principles of defending and helping the poor, the needy and children.

In the brief meeting held during the ceremony that the start of his pontificate, the Mexican president said that after convey the congratulations and warm greetings from Mexico, presented the invitation to visit the country, to which the head of the Vatican State responded it would in any consideration. - More

Mexico Out Of Tourism Top 10?

2013-03-19 14:44:18

Mexico's top tourism official says the country may be dropped from the list of the world's top 10 tourist destinations, a spot it has held for years.

Tourism Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu hasn't said why the drop has occurred, but there were declines in 2012 in two areas that have been affected by violence - border tourism and cruise ship stopovers. - More

7 US Marines killed in blast

2013-03-19 09:53:52

Seven Marines were killed and eight wounded late Monday when a 60mm mortar round exploded during a training exercise at the Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada, according to military and defense officials.

The Marines were part of the 2nd Marine Division, a ground combat force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. - More

Bethlehem rioters set fire to pictures of Obama

2013-03-18 15:21:41

Palestinians in Bethlehem on Monday set fire to pictures of US President Barack Obama, saying he was not welcome in their city.

Scores of protesters gathered near Manger Square and threw shoes at a US diplomatic vehicle as it arrived at the scene in the context of preparations for Obama’s visit to the city later this week. - More

Blasts at bus park in north Nigeria's Kano kill 25

2013-03-18 14:53:48

Five explosions at a bus park in northern Nigeria's main city of Kano killed at least 25 people today in an area where Islamist sect Boko Haram is waging an insurgency against the government, a Reuters reporter who counted the bodies said.

The blasts destroyed several buses in the Sabon Gari area of Kano, an area mostly inhabited by immigrants from Nigeria's largely Christian south, the Reuters witness said.

Military and police cordoned off the area after the blasts. - More

David Cameron's Power Game

2013-03-18 14:38:11

Even by the standards of over excitement and speculation normally associated with life in the Westminster Village – think Eastenders but with fewer murders - the announcement by the Prime Minister last week that he was pulling the plug on cross party talks about how to respond to Leveson, speculation about the motives of all concerned went into overdrive.

The deal that has now apparently been agreed on implementing a Royal Charter - agreed late into Sunday night - only adds to the intrigue of who has "won" and who “backed down". - More

City backs growing Steubenville probe

2013-03-18 11:57:33

A city already reeling from the conviction of two high school football players in the rape of a 16-year-old girl will back a wide-ranging probe that could target adults, including coaches, who failed to report the allegation initially, the city's top official said Monday.

Residents of Steubenville want to see justice done and the city will be better off going forward because of the investigation, city manager Cathy Davison said. - More

Grant Heston: Body, Explosives found at UCF Campus

2013-03-18 05:13:05

Authorities found a body and a bag of improvised explosive devices in a dormitory tower at the University of Central Florida early Monday, prompting officials to cancel classes at the Orlando school until at least noon, a school spokesman said.

Police went to the dorm after getting a call about a person with a gun sometime after midnight. - More

Explosives on University of Central Florida campus

2013-03-18 05:04:43

Hundreds of students have been evacuated from a dorm on the University of Central Florida campus in Orlando after explosive devices were found while authorities were investigating a death.

UCF spokesman Grant Heston said a body was found in a bedroom in a dorm. - More

PM Julia Gillard facing landslide loss, new poll shows

2013-03-17 09:50:03

With the Tony Abbott-led coalition unchanged on 47 per cent, it represents electoral oblivion for the government at the September 14 election.

The two-party-preferred split has the government on 44 per cent and the opposition at 56 per cent - a six per cent swing to the coalition from the 50/50 result in 2010 and a landslide victory if carried through to the election. - More

China President Xi Jinping calls for great renaissance

2013-03-16 21:25:47

China's newly-installed President Xi Jinping said on Sunday he would fight for a "great renaissance of the Chinese nation", in his first speech as head of state of the world's most populous country.

Xi called for "arduous efforts for the continued realisation of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation and the Chinese dream", in a speech to delegates at the National People's Congress (NPC) parliament meeting in Beijing. - More

China News Links

Palestinians pin rational hope on Obama's regional visit

2013-03-16 19:30:39

Thought lotting on US President Barack Obama's regional visit to roust up their stalled peace talks with Israel, the Palestinians do not over-raise the ceiling of expectations on America's role to help them achieve their cause this time.

Obama is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday and visit the West Bank the following day.

He will hold separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and officials during his three-day stay. - More

Newt Gingrich's Plea To Republicans

2013-03-16 10:23:17

It's amazing what an election can achieve over the course of five months or so. Newt Gingrich has gone on record characterizing President Obama as the 'most effective food stamp President in American history and continuously launched a verbal assault on the President's initiatives during the GOP debates all over the country. Today at CPAC Gingrich pleaded with the Republican Party to not be 'the anti-Obama movement.'

This is a monumental shift in tactics from a former Presidential candidate who called the President of the United States "pathetically dishonest over and over" and he also said, Obama is "denigrating the work ethic."

Now with a lame duck President and increasingly negative polls directed at GOP policy initiatives, Republicans are suggesting a shift in tactics or as Gingrich called for today by saying, “You’re going to hear a false attack that we don’t need new ideas,” Gingrich said. “I’d like to draw a distinction. We don’t need new principles.”

Obama has spent the last weeks on the phone with leading republicans and even enjoying dinner and lunch with a few. This is indeed a thawing between the two sides on policy differences to find common ground, a welcome change for Americans who want to see government work in Washington, DC.

U.S. to expand missile defense

2013-03-16 00:28:10

The Pentagon announced Friday that it would strengthen the country's defenses against a possible attack by nuclear-equipped North Korea, fielding additional missile systems to protect the West Coast at a time of growing concern about the Stalinist regime.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he would add 14 missile interceptors in Alaska, a roughly 50 percent increase over the current number there and in California.

The estimated $1 billion expansion represents a policy shift for the Obama administration, which had shelved earlier plans to expand the mainland defense system. - More

50 homes threatened in northern Colorado

2013-03-15 20:57:24

A 750 to 1,000-acre wildfire driven by erratic winds was threatening more than 50 homes in northern Colorado on Friday and had prompted hundreds of evacuation orders.

The Galena Fire is five percent contained as of Friday evening.

Firefighters saved two homes and a state park visitors center from flames, authorities said. They said no homes had been destroyed. - More

Ninth Circuit Throws Out Arizona Murder Conviction

2013-03-15 14:05:53

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday threw out the convictions of an Arizona woman sentenced to death in the notorious 1989 killing of her 4-year-old son, ruling that the case was tainted by a detective with a history of lying under oath and other misconduct.

Even under the deferential standard of review required by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote, the failure of the prosecutors to turn over evidence of repeated misconduct by then-Detective Armando Saldate Jr. of the Phoenix Police Department violated Debra Jean Milke’s right to a fair trial. - More

Earthquake, Papua New Guinea

2013-03-15 12:35:49

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 4.8

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-03-16 03:25:47

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-03-15 17:25:47

Depth (Hypocenter) : 56.4 km

Depth and Magnitude updates in the list below.

Share your earthquake experience (I Have Felt It) with our readers.

Click on the “I Felt It” button behind the corresponding earthquake. Your earthquake experience is not only important for science, but also for people in the area as well as our global readership.

Papua New Guinea News Links

Romney re-emerges at CPAC

2013-03-15 12:21:46

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney sought to pass the torch of leadership in the GOP to a new generation of conservatives in his first major public speech since losing last year's election.

Romney, the failed candidate who challenged President Barack Obama in 2012, heralded a handful of Republican governors and his former running mate — Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan — as the next generation of GOP leadership.

And he counseled party activists gathered here at the Conservative Political Action Conference to learn from his campaign's missteps. - More

UN Official: Drones killing innocent Pakistanis

2013-03-15 10:10:06

Farmers are on their way to tend their crops when a missile slams into their midst, thrusting shrapnel in all directions.

A CIA drone, flying so high that the farmers can't see it, has killed most of them. None of them were militants.

Such attacks by U.S. drones are common, the United Nations' special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights said Friday in a statement on strikes in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan. - More

Pope Francis a DIY man

2013-03-15 05:20:36

Pope Francis, who's name honours the simplicity and humility of St Francis of Assisi, began his reign by sharing a bus with cardinals after his election, mingling with worshippers in a church next morning and making an unscheduled stop to pay his hotel bill because ''bishops should set a good example''.

Vatican spokesman Tom Rosica said the new Pope's ''spontaneity indicated a new way of doing things that we will have to get used to'' - as would his security guards.

Mugabe is Zimbabwe's biggest problem: Makoni

2013-03-15 04:57:40

Zimbabwe's biggest problem is President Robert Mugabe and not the Constitution, former Finance minister and ex-Zanu PF politburo member Simba Makoni has said.

Makoni, once tipped to succeed Mugabe but now a fringe opposition leader, said this at a media briefing in Harare ahead of Saturday’s constitutional referendum.

The Mavambo/Dawn/Kusile leader said Mugabe thinks he is bigger than Zimbabwe, hence the need to boot out the 89-year-old at the next election. - More

Russia warns UK against arming Syrian rebels

2013-03-15 04:28:06

Speaking after talks with Hague, however, Lavrov said the supply of lethal weapons to the rebels would be illegal.

"International law doesn't allow, doesn't permit, the supplies of arms to non-governmental actors.

It's a violation of international law," he claimed. Lavrov also raised the spectre of western arms falling into the hands of radical Islamist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra, placed on a terrorist list by the US. Hammond responded:

"We can't rule out anything in future. You can be sure that any action will be legal with a strong basis in international law." - More

Sen. Rob Portman backs same-sex marriage

2013-03-15 04:06:57

Sen. Rob Portman says he now supports same-sex marriage because one of his sons is gay.

The Ohio Republican informed reporters from several newspapers in his home state of his reversal, which The Columbus Dispatch calls "stunning."

Portman told The Cincinnati Enquirer his evolution on the subject began in 2011 when his son, Will, then a freshman at Yale University, told his parents he was gay. - More

New York shooting suspect dead, but questions linger

2013-03-14 11:35:52

An FBI tactical team forced its way into the abandoned, debris-strewn shell of the Glory Days tavern in Herkimer, New York, early Thursday and killed the man who police say fatally shot four people a day earlier.

An FBI dog died, but no officers were wounded in the firefight that left Kurt R. Myers, 64, dead, police said. - More

New Pope a man of the people

2013-03-13 22:16:25

The first non-European Pope in more than 1,200 years will put a renewed focus on social and environmental issues and could prove a thorn in the side of powerful world leaders, a religious commentator says.

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named as Pope Francis this morning, taking his name from St Francis of Assisi, famous for turning his back on worldly wealth and communing with nature.

The 76-year-old becomes the first Jesuit to hold the office and the first non-European Pope since the Syrian-born Gregory III in the eighth century. - More

Xi Jinping Given Formal Title, President of China

2013-03-13 22:00:40

Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping took the official title of president, Thursday, in a formality that completes his rise to power.

Mr. Xi was given the largely symbolic position following an elaborate voting ceremony at a meeting of the National People's Congress.

There were 2,952 votes in favor of Mr. Xi, with only one vote against him.

He already took the more important posts of party secretary-general and head of China's top military body in November. - More

White smoke: Catholic cardinals choose new pope

2013-03-13 11:27:03

White smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Wednesday to roars of joy from the throngs jamming St. Peter's Square.

The new pope, his name not yet revealed, is expected to greet the masses from the balcony of St. Peter's Basillica shortly.

The 115 voting cardinals took four or five votes over two days to reach their decision, which required a two-thirds majority and came after a week of intense meetings. - More

Four killed, schools on lockdown in Herkimer County, New York

2013-03-13 10:05:59

Four people have been killed and at least two others wounded in shootings in Herkimer County, New York, state police trooper Jack Keller said Wednesday.

The shootings were reported Wednesday morning in two separate upstate New York communities, Herkimer and Mohawk, CNN affiliate WKTV reported.

Authorities are looking for the shooter, Keller said. - More

Indian PM warns Italy over marines dead fishermen case

2013-03-13 05:42:03

In unusually strong language, Manmohan Singh said that Italy's refusal to send back the marines was "unacceptable".

India News Links

Rome's decision has come as a huge embarrassment for the Indian government and opposition parties have been demanding their immediate return.

On Tuesday, India summoned the Italian ambassador in Delhi to lodge a protest. - More

Italy News Links

Obama: It may be that the differences are just too wide

2013-03-13 05:19:15

Before meetings with GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate today and Thursday, President Obama signaled pessimism about the prospect of reaching a grand bargain in the ongoing budget negotiations.

He said there is not an “immediate debt” crisis and that, ultimately, there might just be too much space between the two parties to reach a deal.

“Ultimately, it may be that the differences are just too wide. - More

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No new pope after cardinals vote for second and third times

2013-03-13 04:50:45

Black smoke billowed from the Vatican's Sistine Chapel Wednesday, indicating the cardinals had not selected a new pope after their second and third rounds of voting.

Cardinals voted twice Wednesday after failing on their first attempt to elect a Pope Tuesday in a conclave to elect a successor to Benedict XVI, who stunned the Catholic world last month by becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign. - More

Ryan plan Promises $4.6 trillion in cuts

2013-03-12 09:41:12

The House Budget Committee on Tuesday unveiled a federal budget blueprint that Chairman Paul Ryan says would balance the federal budget within 10 years and slow the growth of federal spending by $4.6 trillion over that time.

The 96-page proposal serves as a political document that outlines the tax and spending vision of House Republicans. Lawmakers hope it can be used as a starting point for negotiations with Democrats over a plan to balance the federal budget. - More

Inside the Papal Conclave

2013-03-11 13:34:13

The cardinals who will elect the next pope ended deliberations Monday and are set to begin their conclave Tuesday.

So far, there are no clear frontrunners, but an American cardinal is getting some special attention. Cardinals from around the world gathered for the last congregation meeting ahead of the conclave.

It was the last chance to hear speeches and discuss issues before the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel to choose the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church in secrecy. - More

Video: Kilpatrick court after verdict

2013-03-11 11:43:57

A jury has convicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on corruption charges after a five-month trial that portrayed him as a greedy politician who took bribes, fixed contracts and lived far beyond his salary.

The verdict is another defeat for the man who left office in 2008 amid an unrelated scandal involving sexually explicit text messages and an affair with an aide.

Kilpatrick was convicted Monday. - More

Queen Elizabeth II to make historic televised pledge for gay rights

2013-03-10 20:09:10

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is set to back a pledge to protect gay rights and gender equality Monday “in one of the most controversial acts of her reign,” the Daily Mail reports.

The queen will sign the new Commonwealth Charter and make a speech on live television announcing a pledge to stamp out discrimination against homosexuals and promote the “empowerment” of women. - More

S. Korea braces for unexpected provocations from North Korea

2013-03-10 19:54:08

South Korea's military is preparing against unexpected military provocations by North Korea, a Seoul official said, as the communist country ratcheted up threats of a nuclear war ahead of a joint South Korea-U.S military drill.

"North Korea may possibly provoke at a time in a place we can never expect," like guerrilla attacks in cyberspace, at the sea border or even at the military demarcation line, the military official said. - More

Defense Secretary cancels news conference with President Karzai

2013-03-10 09:05:37

A news conference between Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Afghan President Hamid Karzai was canceled Sunday on the heels of the Afghan leader's accusation that the Taliban and the U.S. are working together to convince Afghans that violence in the country will worsen if foreign troops leave as planned by the end of next year.

U.S. officials say the news conference was canceled due to a security threat, but the two men plan to meet privately. - More

Harvard secretly searched e-mails of 16 resident deans

2013-03-10 07:52:13

Administrators at Harvard University secretly searched the e-mail accounts of 16 resident deans last fall, looking for the source of a leak to the news media about a cheating scandal that was making national headlines at the time, according to reports by The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

Only one of the deans was told of the search shortly after it occurred.

The other 15 deans were left unaware their e-mail accounts had been searched by administrators until the Globe questioned Harvard officials about the incident late last week. - More

Who will be the next pope?

2013-03-10 05:59:51

Cardinals from around the world gather this week in a conclave to elect a new pope following the stunning resignation of Benedict XVI.

The Holy See News Links

In the secretive world of the Vatican, there is no way to know who is in the running, and history has yielded plenty of surprises.

Yet several names have come up repeatedly as strong contenders. - More

Enraged Egyptian soccer fans set fire to police club

2013-03-09 08:50:21

Thousands of members of a Cairo- based soccer fans group broke into a police club and set it on fire, following a court verdict issued Saturday on the 2012 Port Said soccer riots, Egyptian state TV reported.

Members of the group called Utras Ahlawy stormed the police officers' club near the Ahly soccer club in Cairo, and set the complex on fire, the TV said.

State-run al-Ahram Online quoted a security officer as saying that several premises in the club complex were in flames. - More

Egypt News Links

Over 100 sickened on Royal Caribbean cruise ship

2013-03-09 08:09:49

Vision of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, has returned to port after more than 100 people were sickened with a stomach virus believed to be norovirus.

Vision of the Seas reportedly returned to Port Everglades in South Florida on Friday.

The cruise line told ABC News that 105 passengers and three crew members came down with a stomach virus during the 11-night Caribbean cruise. There were a total of 1,991 guests and 772 crew members on board. - More

Challenge thoughts to treat diabetic pain

2013-03-09 08:06:00

Published in the Journal of Pain, a new study is the first to examine cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as treatment for people with type II diabetes mellitus, the most common form of the disease that affects more than 20 million people in the US.

The onset of type II diabetes mellitus is often gradual, occurring when a person is unable to make or use insulin efficiently. As a result, abnormally high levels of sugar accumulate in the blood, resulting in a condition called hyperglycemia. - More

Kenyatta Wins And Faces ICC Charges

2013-03-09 05:47:55

Uhuru Kenyatta, who is preparing for trial at the International Criminal Court, won Kenya’s presidential election as his main rival rejected the vote as flawed and said he would dispute the outcome in court.

The son of Kenya’s first post-independence president, Jomo Kenyatta, took 50.07 percent of votes cast in the March 4 election, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairman Issack Hassan told reporters today in the capital, Nairobi. - More

South Africa officers murder dragging case

2013-03-08 16:58:27

Nine South African police officers pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of killing a man who died after being dragged behind their van, according to news reports.

The police officer driving the vehicle said he was unaware of what was happening to the man when he began pulling away from an agitated crowd, according to Agence France-Presse. - More

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith Pleads Not Guilty

2013-03-08 15:28:11

More than a decade after he warned Muslims not to fly or live in high rises following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden appeared before a federal judge in New York on Friday and pleaded not guilty to plotting to kill Americans.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, described by U.S. officials as a 47-year-old former teacher and preacher, was charged in a one-count indictment made public late Thursday - More

Clinton: Overturn Defense of Marriage Act

2013-03-08 07:23:36

It's not every day you see an ex-president ask the Supreme Court to strike down a law he signed.

That's what Bill Clinton is doing with the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman -- and which the high court will rule on this year in a landmark moment for the gay marriage movement. - More

Disease-Proof Birds to Wipe Out Bird Flu

2013-03-08 07:05:26

Scientists from Victoria have undertaken a project under which they will be modifying chickens genetically to make them resistant to bird flu.

The project is aiming at eliminating the disease from the birds.

The project, dubbed the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) project, is making the application of latest science and technology to make the genetic modification. - More

China appeals for calm

2013-03-08 06:00:32

North Korea has announced it is voiding non-aggression pacts with South Korea and severing its hotline with Seoul, hours after threatening the US with a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

The statement came just hours after the UN Security Council unanimously voted to impose tough sanctions against the rogue nation, mainly aimed at further isolating and financially destabilising the regime.

China's Foreign Ministry has since called for everyone involved to stay calm. - More

John Brennan Confirmed, Biography

2013-03-07 14:24:20

Following an epic, old-school,13-hour filibuster of John Brennan's confirmation to helm the CIA, the Senate nevertheless approved the nominee today by a vote of 63-34, with a number of Republicans breaking ranks to vote in his favor.

Three senators who caucus with Democrats -- Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. -- voted against Brennan's confirmation, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., did not vote. - More

John Brennan Biography

Kim Jong Sun Threatens a Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike on US

2013-03-07 13:01:42

The United Nations security council has voted unanimously to punish North Korea for last month's nuclear test with a toughened sanctions regime, hours after Pyongyang threatened to unleash a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States.

Secretary general Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, said the resolution "sent an unequivocal message to [the North] that the international community will not tolerate its pursuit of nuclear weapons" - More

North Korea Threatens To Launch Pre-emptive Nuclear Strikes Against US

2013-03-07 06:03:56

Accusing the U.S. of starting a nuclear war against the North, an unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said it has every right for pre-emptive nuclear strike against its enemies.

"Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to pre-emptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest," the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, Reuters reported. - More

Obama's Dinner Affair

2013-03-06 21:32:01

As part of his effort to improve relations between the White House and Capitol Hill, President Obama dined with a small group of Republican senators this evening and, according to the White House, he paid for the dinner out of his own pocket.

Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; John Hoeven, R-N.D.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Mike Johanns, R-Neb.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Dan Coats, R-Ind., Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; are among the senators who joined the president for dinner tonight.

The group dined at the Jefferson Hotel a few blocks from the White House. - More

Sen. Rand Paul Filibuster

2013-03-06 14:31:57

Members of the U.S. Senate engage in a debate over the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director. Sen. Rand Paul has already called for the filibuster of Brennan's nomination.

1 Million Syrian Refugees

2013-03-06 11:40:59

Syria’s ongoing civil conflict has officially displaced 1 million people, according to United Nations numbers released today.

The U.N.’s refugee agency, UNHCR, reports that there are 1,000,669 refugees either registered or awaiting registration at camps throughout the region, primarily in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. More than 400,000 people have fled Syria since January alone. - More

Hugo Chavez dead at 58, Biography

2013-03-05 15:27:52

Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro says President Hugo Chavez has died. Chavez died Tuesday afternoon following a series of cancer surgeries.

Venezuelan News Links

He underwent a fourth cancer surgery in December, and was suffering with a "severe" respiratory infection at the time of his passing.

Chavez's death comes just after Venezuelan officials expelled two American officials from that country, early Tuesday afternoon. - More

Biography of Hugo Chavez - Wikipedia

Sanctions Against North Korea For Nuclear Tests And Ballistic Missile Launches

2013-03-04 22:04:52

The U.S. and China have reached a deal on a new set of sanctions against North Korea in response to its test of a nuclear weapon last month, United Nations diplomats said.

China News Links

The resolution, which will enforce some existing sanctions and include new ones, will be introduced at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Tuesday, a diplomat said.

China has already voted for three sets of sanctions against its reclusive neighbor for its past nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, both banned by the Security Council. - More

Malaysia: At Least 26 Dead

2013-03-04 19:44:27

Malaysian police on Tuesday morning raided the northern Borneo village stormed by a band of Filipino rebels in a bid to end a three-week standoff that had already claimed at least 26 lives.

Two Malaysian commandos and a dozen members of the Royal Army of Sulu died in a previous police crackdown on the insurgent-held territory on Friday evening, with a further five Malaysian policemen ambushed and killed nearby the next day. - More

Malaysia News Links

48 Syrian soldiers killed in Iraq

2013-03-04 19:14:59

The deaths of at least 48 Syrian soldiers in Iraq today have raised fears that Syria's civil war may be spreading across the border.

The soldiers were killed in a co-ordinated ambush after seeking refuge in Iraq following clashes with rebels.

Iraqi officials said they were being escorted back to Syria when they were killed near Akashat, by the border. - More

Palestinians-only bus service

2013-03-04 08:23:41

The Israeli government will on Monday begin operating a "Palestinians-only" bus service to ferry Palestinian workers from the West Bank to Israel, encouraging them to use it instead of travelling with Israeli settlers on a similar route.

Officially anyone can use them, but the ministry of transport said that the new lines are meant to improve services for Palestinians. - More

Palestine News Links

Israel News Links

College Of Cardinals In Rome

2013-03-04 06:45:41

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinals from around the world gathered Monday inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, amid scandals inside and out of the Vatican and the continued reverberations of Benedict XVI's decision to retire.

Cardinals were treated like rock stars as they entered the Vatican on Monday morning, with television crews swarming around the red-capped churchmen and their handlers pushing their way through the crowds.

Queen taken to hospital with gastroenteritis

2013-03-03 21:12:56

THE Queen was today admitted to hospital, where she is being treated for a stomach infection, the first time in a decade that she was been hospitalised.

“As a precaution”, the 86-year-old was taken to King Edward VII Hospital in London, where she is being assessed for symptoms of gastroenteritis, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

He said the Queen had been forced to cancel all her engagements for the coming week as she continued to recover from a debilitating bout of illness. - More

Scientist: Baby Born With HIV Cured

2013-03-03 19:26:55

The baby, whose identity has been kept anonymous, began taking a regimen of AIDS drugs about 30 hours after she was born at a rural Mississippi hospital, doctors said today at a medical meeting in Atlanta.

At 18 months, the mother took the child off the medication. - More

Doctors say they have cured an infant born with HIV for the first time by giving her a cocktail of drugs shortly after birth, a result that could point the way toward saving the lives of thousands more infected children. The baby, whose identity has been kept anonymous, began taking a regimen of AIDS drugs about 30 hours after she was born at a rural Mississippi hospital, doctors said today at a medical meeting in Atlanta. At 18 months, the mother took the child off the medication.

Mitt Romney: I believe it was the media's fault

2013-03-03 12:11:19

ANN ROMNEY: The thing that was frustrating to me is that people didn't really get to know Mitt for who he was.

CHRIS WALLACE, HOST: Well, I want to pick up on that because there were reports that you and your oldest son, Tagg, were frustrated with the Romney campaign, that they didn't quote let Mitt be Mitt. That they didn't let him show his more open, compassionate side. True?

ROMNEY: Well, of course. It was, partly, it’s true, but it was not just the campaign's fault. I believe it was the media's fault as well - is that he was not giving, being given a fair shake, that people weren’t allowed to really see him for who he was.

WALLACE: Alright, what about the media?

ROMNEY: [Laughs] I’m happy to blame the media. [Laughter]

WALLACE: Do you think the media was in the tank for Barack Obama?

ROMNEY: [Laughs] I think that it’s, any time you’re running for office, you always think that you’re being portrayed unfairly. And, you know, we of course on our side believe that there’s more bias in favor of the other side. I think that, you know, that’s a pretty universal, universally felt opinion.

NATO Apologizes For Killing 2 Afghan Boys

2013-03-02 14:02:28

The U.S.-led coalition says its forces accidentally killed two Afghan boys during an operation in southern Afghanistan.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, offered his "personal apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed" and said the coalition takes full responsibility for the deaths. - More

Infant Cancer Risk Up In 2011 Japanese Tsunami Victims

2013-03-02 13:36:54

The World Health Organization has said in a report that it has found rises in cancer risks in areas most affected by radiation leaked from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

In the report released Thursday, the WHO assessed health risks associated with the nuclear disaster triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation's northeast in March 2011, while referring to maximum estimated radiation doses.

In the most contaminated area, the lifetime risk of breast cancer for female infants is estimated to be around 6 percent higher than normal levels. - More

Boehner: The President got his tax hikes

2013-03-01 23:49:52

"Let's make it clear that the President got his tax hikes on Jan. 1," Boehner said. "This discussion about revenue, in my view, is over.

It's about taking on the spending problem here in Washington."

Boehner said the House will act on a continuing resolution next week to continue to fund the government.

"I'm hopeful we won't have to deal with the threat of government shutdown while we're dealing with the sequester at the same time."

US: Erdogan's Zionism Comments 'Particularly Offensive'

2013-03-01 06:49:46

The United States is expressing its disapproval with the comments of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who this week said Zionism should be viewed as a crime against humanity.

U.S. officials say Secretary of State John Kerry plans to personally raise the issue with Turkish officials during his visit to the country, which begins Friday.

The officials, speaking anonymously, said the comments were "particularly offensive" and have a "corrosive effect" on relations.- More

Bradley Manning: American public, had access to the information

2013-02-28 19:59:21

Sitting before a military judge, the slightly built 25-year-old soldier read from a 35-page statement through his wire-rimmed glasses for more than an hour. He spoke quickly and evenly, showing little emotion even when he described how troubled he was by what he had seen.

"I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general," Manning said.

Poll: Californians Favor Gay Marriage

2013-02-28 19:52:13

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments over California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, a new poll reports that Californians now favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry by nearly 2 to 1.

The Field Poll, published Thursday, found that 61 percent of a sample of registered voters approved of allowing same-sex couples to wed, 32 percent disapproved and the rest had no opinion. - More

$60 million in new aid to Syrian opposition

2013-02-28 05:22:11

The Obama administration said Thursday that it will provide the Syrian opposition with an additional $60 million in assistance and — in a significant policy shift — will for the first time provide nonlethal aid like food and medical supplies to rebels battling to oust President Bashar Assad.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the new support and the decision to back the rebel fighters on the sidelines of an international conference on Syria in Rome, where European nations were also expected to signal their intention to provide fresh assistance to the opposition, possibly including defensive military hardware. - More

Pope Benedict XVI On Sucessor: unconditional reverence and obedience

2013-02-28 05:13:26

In his final hours as head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Benedict XVI met on Thursday with the cardinals who will elect his successor, urging them to be “like an orchestra” that harmonizes for the good of the Church and pledging that he would behave with “unconditional reverence and obedience” toward his successor. - More

Obama: Because of Rosa Parks's courage, "I stand here today"

2013-02-27 11:53:07

Unveiling a statue of Rosa Parks in the Capitol's Statuary Hall, President Obama paid tribute to the civil rights pioneer and the movement that she started:

"It is because of these men and women that I stand here today; it is because of them that our children grow up in a land more free and more fair, a land truer to its founding creed."

Doubts About Voting Rights Act

2013-02-27 10:39:11

Conservative justices who hold a slim majority on the Supreme Court expressed grave doubts Wednesday that the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement -- remains constitutional nearly a half century later.

The justices who could be the swing votes in an eventual ruling - More

Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker left a legacy

2013-02-27 10:29:56

Even before his sudden death at the hands of a gunman Tuesday, Santa Cruz police Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker had left a legacy.

In addition to being one of the most veteran and respected officers in town, Baker, a 28-year member of the force who was nearing retirement, passed on the love of policing to his son Adam.

The young man was just out of Harbor High School when he started serving as community service officer, a position he still holds.

In 2010, the Sentinel reported Adam Baker had grown up hearing stories from his well-respected father. - More

McCain: The President Understands Border Security

2013-02-27 10:12:16

President Obama understands Republican concerns about the need to link improved border security to changes in immigration law, two key Republicans involved in the effort said Tuesday after a White House meeting with Obama.

Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) said they covered a variety of topics in the unusual meeting with Obama, including a robust discussion of how to reshape the nation’s immigration laws. - More

Secretary of State John Kerry: Terrible Consequences For Iran

2013-02-26 20:49:56

Secretary of State John Kerry said in an ominously worded warning that there could be "terrible consequences" if international negotiations aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program don't show progress in the coming months.

The talks, which resume Tuesday in Kazakhstan, aren't expected to achieve a decisive breakthrough in the decadelong stalemate between the West and Tehran over its nuclear ambitions, U.S. and European officials involved in the diplomacy said. - More

Chuck Hagel 'Bruised And Battered'

2013-02-26 19:36:22

Chuck Hagel's rocky and inauspicious path to leadership of the Pentagon could haunt him if he doesn't watch his step.

"If people feel Hagel makes a mistake in the future, they will come after him even harder than if this ugly process of recent weeks hadn't happened," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a co-author of "Bending History: Barack Obama's Foreign Policy." - More

Italian elections end in impasse

2013-02-26 08:25:53

Italian stocks plunged and borrowing rates jumped after centre-left Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani scraped a razor-thin victory in the lower house of parliament and the Senate ended up with no political force winning a majority.

Bersani warned Italy was in "a very delicate situation" as the political gridlock became clear late on Monday and he was due to address the growing sense of crisis later on Tuesday. - More

Italian News Links

Ron Johnson's Ultimatum To The Speaker

2013-02-25 22:26:11

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would lose his speakership if he agrees to new tax revenues to avert the looming budget sequester.

"I don't quite honestly think that Speaker Boehner would be speaker if that happens," Johnson told Fox News of Boehner caving on taxes.

"I think he would lose his speakership."

Obama Meeting With McCain and Graham Details

2013-02-25 21:53:09

President Barack Obama will meet with two top Republican lawmakers Tuesday to discuss overhauling the nation's immigration laws.

A White House official says Obama will sit down with Arizona Sen. John McCain and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The lawmakers are members of a larger bipartisan Senate group working on a plan to overhaul the nation's broken immigration system.

The White House wouldn't say why Obama is not meeting with the other members of the group, including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. - More

Park Geun-hye Warning To North Korea

2013-02-25 19:39:18

"North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people," Park said outside the national assembly building in the South Korean capital.

"Make no mistake, the biggest victim will be North Korea itself."

"I will not tolerate any action that threatens the lives of our people and the security of our nation," she said. "I urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay and embark on the path to peace and shared development."- More

Pena Nieto enacts major education reform

2013-02-25 16:22:03

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has passed into law a major shake-up of the education system.

For the first time Mexico will have an independent body to oversee teaching and the curriculum, and teachers and schools will now be assessed.

The move comes amid a nationwide teacher's strike.

The main union fears it could lead to massive lay-offs. - More

Kevin McCarthy: Not time for a road-show president

2013-02-25 15:29:29

House Republican leaders on Monday urged President Obama to "stop campaigning" and hunker down with Congress to find an alternative to the bludgeon of spending cuts set to hit Friday, saying now is not the time "for a road-show president."

The plea came as the president prepared to head Tuesday to Newport News, a major military community, to highlight the impact of Pentagon cuts on a shipbuilding facility. - More

Arafat Jaradat's Death

2013-02-25 15:22:05

Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air on Monday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner whose death in an Israeli jail has raised fears in Israel of a new uprising.

Arafat Jaradat’s death on Saturday and a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates have raised tension in the occupied territory after repeated clashes between stone-throwers and Israeli soldiers in recent days.

Israeli troops, on high alert, took up positions outside Jaradat’s home village of Se’eer, in likely earshot of the bursts of automatic fire from the half-dozen masked Palestinians in full battle dress. - More

'Inappropriate Acts' By Top Cardinal

2013-02-25 06:10:47

The BBC is reporting that Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, is stepping down as leader of the Scottish Catholic Church following allegations of inappropriate behavior towards priests dating from the 1980s.

"In a statement, he apologized to those he had offended during his ministry.

The cardinal confirmed he would not take part in the election for a successor to the Pope - leaving Britain unrepresented in the election," said the report. - More

Congressional Leaders Looking To Avert Government Shutdown

2013-02-25 03:58:44

Congressional leaders are quietly considering a deal to avert a government shutdown next month—but at the cost of prolonging across-the-board spending cuts.

Attention is beginning to shift from Friday, when the broad cuts known as the sequester kick in, to the next budget deadline:

Congress must pass a so-called continuing resolution by the end of March to keep funding government operations. - More

Obama: Thousands of teachers...will be laid off

2013-02-24 21:07:19

“Once these cuts take effect, thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off, and tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find child care for their kids,” Obama said in his weekly address.

“Air-traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, causing delays across the country.

Even President Bush’s director of the National Institutes of Health [Elias Zerhouni] says these cuts will set back medical science for a generation,” Obama said. - More

Afghan government: US Special Forces May Be Behind Torture

2013-02-24 11:26:42

The Afghan government says a group of armed people who may be U.S. special forces is carrying out acts of torture and murder.

The U.S. military says it is investigating.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force must stop all special force operations out of Wardak province, where such horrors have been taking place, and all U.S. special forces must be gone from the province within two weeks, Afghanistan's National Security Council demanded. - More

BP Protracted 17 Billion Court Battle Over Oil Spill

2013-02-24 11:22:05

With the ink barely dry on the record-breaking $4-billion check BP wrote to settle criminal charges stemming from its Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, the energy giant now faces a protracted court battle that could cost it billions more.

The civil trial scheduled to begin next week could expose BP to about $17 billion in fines for violating the Clean Water Act. If imposed, the fine would be the largest environmental penalty in U.S. history. - More

United States Condemns Attacks on Aleppo

2013-02-24 09:48:05

The United States Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the series of rocket attacks against Aleppo, most recently the attack using Scud missiles on an eastern district of the city late on Friday, February 22, that killed several dozen people.

The Friday attack follows the assault on Aleppo of Tuesday, February 19, that destroyed several city blocks in the Jabal Badr district of Aleppo and injured hundreds of innocent civilians.

These attacks, as well as other atrocities such as the strike against a field hospital earlier in the week, are only the latest demonstrations of the Syrian regime's ruthlessness and its lack of compassion for the Syrian people it claims to represent. - More

The U.S.-Mexico Border Got Secured. Problem Solved?

2013-02-24 00:45:42

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the Republican Party’s leading voice on immigration, says he and his colleagues will consider allowing some of the 11.1 million undocumented workers living in the U.S. to apply for green cards.

But first, President Obama has to get serious about stopping the influx of new illegal immigrants. - More

Vatican Hits Back On Alleged Dossier Of Homosexual Priests

2013-02-23 18:54:41

The Vatican lashed out Saturday at the media for what it said has been a run of defamatory and false reports before the conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI’s successor,

saying they were an attempt to influence the election.

Italian newspapers have been rife with unsourced reports in recent days about the contents of a secret dossier prepared for the pope by three cardinals who investigated the origins of the

2012 scandal over leaked Vatican documents. - More

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone: Deplorable

2013-02-23 10:36:16

The Vatican sought Saturday to tamp down rumors involving sex, money and gay priests that have been swirling in the Italian media and have been linked by some to Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign.

The strongly-worded denial came on the eve of the pope's last Angelus blessing, expected to draw huge crowds of the faithful, before he stands down on Thursday.

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said it was "deplorable" that as the time for the Roman Catholic cardinals to elect a new pope approaches, a rash of "often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories" has appeared. - More

Vatican News Links

Working Centrifuges At Iran's Fordow Plant - 696

2013-02-22 14:31:10

What safe conclusions can be drawn from the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s nuclear programme?

The new fact that has gained most attention is that Iran has finally begun installing more advanced centrifuges inside its enrichment facility at Natanz.

I say ‘finally’ because the Iranian leadership has been promising to do this for years.

Now, the IAEA’s inspectors have reported that 180 “IR-2” centrifuges have actually appeared. It should be noted, however, that none is actually operational. - More

Fereydoun Abbasi: Focus On "Cooperation"

2013-02-22 14:26:20

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Fereydoun Abbasi has emphasized that the scheduled talks between Tehran and the major powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) should focus on “cooperation.”

The fresh round of talks between Iran and the 5+1 group will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 26. - More

Iran News Links

40 US Troops Deployed to Niger

2013-02-22 10:29:56

US President Barack Obama sent 40 additional soldiers to Niger to help with intelligence efforts as French and African troops battle an Islamist insurgency in neighboring Mali, the White House said in a letter to Congress Friday.

The US troops join another 60 or so already in the West African country, and are tasked with providing "support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners in the region," the president said. - More

Pistorius Out On Bail

2013-02-22 10:21:49

Oscar Pistorius was granted bail Friday pending his trial for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Olympic and Paralympic star Pistorius, dubbed the “Blade Runner,” maintains he did not realize Steenkamp was in the locked bathroom of his home in a suburb of Pretoria, South Africa, and fired through the door in a panic over a possible prowler early on Valentine's Day.

However, prosecutors say the 26-year-old committed the “premeditated murder” of Steenkamp, 29, a model and trained lawyer, who was staying overnight at his house. - More

South African News Links

Philippines Sea Dispute

2013-02-21 13:26:28

The Philippines says it will continue to pursue international arbitration in its territorial dispute in the South China Sea with China, despite Beijing's rejection.

Philippine authorities say they do not need China's consent to take the issue to the United Nations.

Officials with the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs say the 1982 U.N. treaty that both countries signed allows Manila to go into arbitration alone.

DFA Ocean Concerns Assistant Secretary Gilberto Asuque says international arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is compulsory. - More

Sgt. John Sheahan: "Working on finding the genesis of what kicked this off

2013-02-21 13:20:57

Police are searching for a black Range Rover SUV from which gunshots rang out along the city’s famed Strip early Thursday morning, sending a Maserati crashing into a taxi and leaving three dead.

The incident shut down traffic along some of the most famous real estate in the resort city, at Flamingo and Las Vegas boulevards, an intersection surrounded by top casino hotels including the Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Bally's. - More

UPDATE: Congressman Jackson Jr. pleads guilty

2013-02-20 14:33:35

Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi, lived the high life by funnelling campaign funds to pay for more than 3,000 personal purchases, including flat-screen televisions, pricey memorabilia, appliances for their Chicago home, stuffed toys, mounted elk heads, health club dues and luxury vacations, including a five-day holistic retreat on Martha’s Vineyard.

Prosecutors released the new details as Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday morning in federal court in Washington, D.C., to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and false statements. - More

White House: "Growing Concern" About Cyber-Intrusions, Video

2013-02-20 06:42:11

Ties between China and the U.S., strained by military rivalries and maritime disputes, may face an even greater test from the newest front in global conflict: cyberspace.

U.S. military and homeland security officials quietly have long blamed the Chinese military for the most egregious assaults on U.S. computer networks.

Continued hacking and data theft, however, are being met by an increasing willingness by Washington to publicly point the finger at Beijing. - More

Testosterone, needles found at Pistorius' home

2013-02-20 04:16:10

South African police say they found two boxes of testosterone and needles in the bedroom of Oscar Pistorius, who has been charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend.

In the second day of a bail hearing in Pretoria, prosecutors began detailing Wednesday why they are charging Pistorius with premeditated murder in the death of model Reeva Steenkamp. - More

Updates: Brussels Diamond Heist

2013-02-19 07:57:51

Police on Tuersday were looking for eight men who made a hole in a security fence of Brussels' international airport, drove onto the tarmac and robbed tens of millions of dollars worth of diamonds from the hold of a Swiss-bound plane.

Brussels prosecutor's spokeswoman Anja Bijnens said Tuesday the armed and masked men used two vehicles in their daring Monday raid and within minutes made their way to the plane, took the cache of stones and drove off into the darkness.

Police found a burnt-out vehicle close to the airport later Monday night but said it was still looking for clues. - More

Can A President Who Worked On The Streets Of Chicago Fix Urban Violence?

2013-02-16 10:38:24

According to President Barack Obama the gun problem on the streets of Chicago is different than rural America and even downstate Illinois. The NRA's response would be the best weapon on the streets of Illinois is more guns in the hands of good people. This epidemic needs a renewed emphasis on solutions. The most rowdy time during the State of the Union address was when parents stood up after the President mentioned the violence being acted out all across America, on campuses, city streets, places of worship and even movies theaters.

One gun violence activist brought up a great analogy about the emphasis we placed on public cigarette smoking and driving while intoxicated. We've seen a rapid decrease in DUI fatalities and trends will show a decrease in lung cancers attributed to cigarette smoking because of education. Can we use the same methods to combat gun violence? President Obama's trip to Chicago was out of growing chatter about Chicago's unique Newtown problem appearing on city streets on a monthly basis. Too many people are terrified about this crisis.

Obama staked his claim to the Presidency from his work on the streets of Chicago and now the question is can he put the might of his office around easing America's concern about violence? During the fight to enact the Affordable Care Act, when Republicans and Healthcare Exec were rallying against the cause, an adviser pointedly stated the legislation wouldn't happen without a great deal of luck.

Obama turned from looking out the window in the Oval Office and asked, What is my name? And where are we? to send the message that his entire Presidency emerged with a great deal of luck. It will probably take more than luck to end this domestic cruelty. The irony is it seems easier to take out violent foreign terrorists with drones as far away as Pakistan than it is to get rid of guns in our city neighborhoods.

Cornel West Rebukes President Obama on Drone Policy Memo

2013-02-15 13:55:48

The nation's most prominent intellectual, who has been very outspoken about President Obama's policies for the poor, has gone even further on the Tavis Smiley Show.

Professor Cornel West likened the President of the United States to a "war criminal". West stated, " We've been talking about this for a good while, the immorality of drones, dropping bombs on innocent people.

It's been over 200 children so far. These are war crimes."

West also threw both the Nixon and Bush Administrations in the mix as well saying, "Let us not be deceived — Nixon, Bush, Obama, they're war criminals," adding that "They have killed innocent people in the name of the struggle for freedom, but they're suspending the law, very much like Wall Street criminals.

The law is suspended for them, but the law applies for the rest of us."

Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Absurd Claims

2013-02-15 09:45:27

Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky is claiming the meteor shower was actually a man-made new weapons test by the Americans.

"You're like some primitive tribe.

What meteorite?" he said, adding that space is a "universe that has its own laws." Zhirinovsky is a politician well-known for making similar eccentric statements.

"When something falls – it's man-made. People are warmongers and provocateurs," he explained.

Meteor Fireball Screams Across The Sky In Russia

2013-02-15 09:16:51

A huge meteorite flared through the skies over Russia's Chelyabinsk region early Friday, triggering a powerful shock wave that injured hundreds of people, blew out windows and reportedly caused the roof of a factory to collapse.

Multiple amateur videos posted online showed the meteor’s flaring arc – called a bolide by scientists – across the western Siberia sky.

Others from the scene included the sound of a loud boom, followed by a cacophony of car alarms.

One video showed the hurried evacuation of an office building in Chelyabinsk. - More

Obama's proposed voting commission under fire

2013-02-15 08:14:48

President Obama’s proposed commission on electoral reform, which seeks to improve voting efficiency and reduce long wait times for voters, is producing heated criticism from advocates on both the right and the left.

Some conservatives view the initiative as federal overreaching on an issue that is rightly the province of states, while some voting rights advocates say that the president’s proposed commission is a too-timid response to what they see as a huge problem. - More

Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius Weeps In Court

2013-02-15 08:09:52

Olympic Sprinter Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee revered in South Africa for overcoming his disability to compete in the London Games last year, wept in court Friday as he faced a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of his girlfriend.

During the proceedings in Pretoria, Gerrie Nel, one of the National Prosecuting Authority’s most senior advocates, said he would argue the killing of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp was premeditated murder, the most serious category of offense under South African law. - More

Nike bullet ad removed from Pistorius website

2013-02-14 11:57:45

It was removed on Thursday following a shooting at his home in Pretoria.

The advert shows Pistorius dressed in a green lycra body suit coming off the starting blocks wearing his distinctive blades.

The Nike "Swoosh" and its slogan "Just Do It" are shown on the advert. Earlier, the international sportswear brand declined to comment on its future relationship with Pistorius.

"This is a police matter and is under investigation," Nike South Africa spokesperson Seruscka Naidoo said. - More

Rich Heltebrake One On One Encounter With Christopher Dorner

2013-02-13 07:15:47

"I don't wanna hurt you just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog with you," as Rick Heltebrake tells it; this was the last conversation Christopher Dorner had with anyone before he met his fate in the log cabin. Heltebrake also said he immediately heard a volley of gun shots as Dorner met the deputies that were on his trail.

News References Out Of Los Angeles

LAPD to reopen probe into fugitive ex-cop's firing

2013-02-09 20:26:04

Los Angeles police say they will reopen the disciplinary proceedings that led to the firing of a former officer who's wanted in three killings over the past several days.

Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Saturday that the department will reopen the investigation that apparently has led Christopher Dorner to seek revenge against former LAPD colleagues who he believed cost him his law enforcement career.

Dorner alleged in an online manifesto that he was wrongly fired for reporting that his training officer used excessive force. - More

Clint Van Zandt: Christopher Dorner is the most dangerous fugitive

2013-02-09 19:21:52

Police Chief Charlie Beck tells KCBS-TV the department will thoroughly re-examine Dorner's allegation to ensure the public that the LAPD is fair and transparent.

He says if Dorner wants to surrender, the LAPD will "be happy to hear what he has to say."

Meanwhile, a scaled-back search party took advantage of a break from stormy weather Saturday to hunt for Dorner, using heat-sensing helicopters and fanning out in fresh snow as vacationing families and weekend skiers frolicked nearby. - More

Economy To Be Focus of State Of The Union

2013-02-09 17:37:58

President Obama's State of the Union address will sound a lot more like his re-election stump speech and less like his second inaugural address, aides familiar with the process said.

While Mr. Obama will mention the three biggest early areas of emphasis in his second term - gun control, immigration reform and climate change - the references will be condensed and relatively minor next to an emphasis on economic themes such as job creation, wage growth and mobility into the middle class. - More

Assessing Administration's Methods In War On Terror

2013-02-07 18:42:42

PRESIDENT Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, goes before a Senate committee today to answer questions about whether he has the qualifications and the nerve needed to be the nation's next director of the CIA.

What awaits Brennan over the course of the hearings, however, may be pointed questions about other issues, such as the escalation of the government's drone defense program and a leaked memo spelling out the administration's logic for killing Americans allegedly among the top ranks of al-Qaida or its "associated forces." - More

Christopher Dorner Abandoned And Burned Truck

2013-02-07 18:09:20

A truck found abandoned and burning near a Southern California ski area belonged to a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three murders, authorities confirmed Thursday afternoon, as thousands of officers searched for the suspect across three states and into Mexico.

The suspect has been identified as Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, and he is considered extremely dangerous and armed with multiple weapons, authorities say.

He is accused of killing a college basketball coach and her fiance last weekend, then following through on a vow to kill police by opening fire Wednesday night on three officers, killing one. - More

Brennan On Drone Program: Legally Grounded

2013-02-07 13:36:32

President Obama's choice to head the CIA told lawmakers Thursday that the administration's drone strike program is legal and essential to national security.

"The president has insisted that any actions we take will be legally grounded," John Brennan told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Brennan's confirmation hearing was delayed by protesters against drone strikes and other counter-terrorism polices.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who chairs intelligence committee, ordered the hearing room cleared before the nominee could complete his opening statement. - More

CIA nominee John Brennan to face tough questions in Senate

2013-02-06 14:23:04

President Obama's choice to be the next CIA director will face tough questions at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, but it appears unlikely that lawmakers' concerns will derail his nomination.

Some Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, including Mark Udall of Colorado and Ron Wyden of Oregon, were miffed that John Brennan had not read the 300-page executive summary of a Senate report on the CIA's interrogation program before meeting with them recently. - More

Mexico Plans Passenger Rail Revitalization

2013-02-06 14:15:33

Back in his inauguration speech in December 2012, incoming Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) (a socialist party that has increasingly governed as centrist), said that he planned to restore national passenger rail service to Mexico, over a decade after his own party discontinued it, despite passanger rail being an integral part of Mexico's history up until then. - More

(REI) Chief Executive Sally Jewell To Head Interior

2013-02-06 09:27:03

President Obama on Wednesday will nominate Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) chief executive Sally Jewell to head the Interior Department, according to a White House official who asked not to be identified because the public announcement has not yet been made.

The choice of Jewell, who began her career as an engineer for Mobil Oil and worked as a commercial banker before heading a nearly $2 billion outdoors equipment company, represents an unconventional choice for a post usually reserved for career politicians from the West. - More

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe: advancing new approach

2013-02-06 08:09:11

The U.S. Postal Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan aimed at saving about $2 billion annually, the financially struggling agency says.

In an announcement scheduled for today, the service is expected to say the Saturday mail cutback would begin in August.

The move accentuates one of the agency's strong points — package delivery has increased by 14 percent since 2010, officials say, while the delivery of letters and other mail has declined with the increasing use of e-mail and other Internet services. - More

Obama: No Reason Growth Should Be Put In Jeopardy

2013-02-05 13:52:05

President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass a small package of spending cuts and tax increases to delay the major spending cuts set to kick in next month, saying thousands of jobs and the nation's economic recovery hang in the balance.

"There is no reason that the jobs of thousands of Americans...not to mention the growth of the entire economy, should be put in jeopardy just because folks in Washington couldn't come together," Mr. Obama said in televised remarks Tuesday afternoon.

A short-term measure, he said, would give Congress the room to continue work on a way to avoid permanently the cuts scheduled to begin March 1.

Jesse Jackson: 'Ultimate National Seriousness' Needed On Gun Violence

2013-02-04 06:48:40

CHICAGO - Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and relatives of victims of fatal shootings in Chicago urged President Barack Obama on Saturday to come back to his hometown and address the gun violence plaguing the city.

Before a march on the city's South Side, Jackson, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said America's third most populous city needed more help than Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police superintendent Garry McCarthy could offer. - More

Eddie Ray Routh held on a $3 million bond

2013-02-04 06:41:29

The 25-year-old Iraq war veteran and Marine who allegedly shot former SEAL sniper and American hero Chris Kyle and another person during a Saturday charity event is reportedly on suicide watch in his Erath County, Texas, jail.

Eddie Ray Routh is being held on a $3 million bond for two counts of capital murder, according to reports from the Dallas Morning News. On Sunday, he became aggressive with guards and had to be Tasered, the Dallas paper reports. - More

Capt. Jason Upshaw, Dallas Morning News, Chris Kyle, American Sniper, Erath County Sheriff’s Office

8 Killed in California Tour Bus Accident

2013-02-04 06:36:12

At least eight people were killed and 38 injured Sunday when a tour bus careened out of control while traveling down a Southern California mountain road, struck a car, flipped and plowed into a pickup truck, authorities said.

The accident occurred around 6:30 p.m. about 80 miles east of Los Angeles and left State Route 38 littered with debris, the bus sideways across the two lanes and its front end crushed. - More

Scott Brown Won't Run For Senate

2013-02-01 11:54:07

Former Massachusetts Republican senator Scott Brown will not run in the special election for outgoing Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s seat, according to a Republican source familiar with his plans.

Brown’s decision means Kerry’s seat is very likely to remain in Democratic hands. Republicans are now without a top candidate for the seat held by Kerry, who was confirmed by the Senate to be the next secretary of state earlier this week.

On the Democratic side, longtime Rep. Ed Markey is the frontrunner, but he faces a challenge from fellow Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, who is much more conservative. - More

Legacy and Biography of Mayor Ed Koch

2013-02-01 05:31:40

Ed Koch, the brash former New York City mayor who typically greeted constituents with a "How'm I doin'?" died Friday at the age of 88, his spokesman said. Koch died of congestive heart failure, spokesman George Arzt said.

The lawyer-turned-public servant was a U.S. congressman from 1968 until he ran for mayor of the city in 1977 He served three terms until David Dinkins defeated him in a Democratic primary. - More

Biography of Ed Koch

New York City News Links

Immigration Reform

2013-01-28 18:55:11

Immigration reform is in the air. A bipartisan Senate group unveiled its proposals on Monday, and the president is scheduled to announce his own package on Tuesday.

Both contain provisions for legalizing some 11 million undocumented immigrants now in the US. But, just as there promises to be no easy consensus on a final deal, there is little agreement about how much the overall reforms will actually stem the flow of illegal immigration across America’s borders.

Critics of the proposals say a path to citizenship invites more undocumented migrants, while supporters of the move to legalize many who have lived and worked in the US for years say it is not an open invitation to new illegal immigration. - More

Pentagon to Lift Ban on Women in Combat

2013-01-23 14:22:51

The Pentagon on Thursday will announce it is rescinding a rule that excludes women from combat, a move that may allow women to serve for the first time alongside infantry

troops as battlefield medics, pilots and in other dangerous roles. The announcement will mark the largest expansion yet of women in combat roles. But defense officials said

they don't expect the change to result in women being allowed to serve as infantry troops. - More

Pentagon to Allow Women in Combat

2013-01-23 14:20:29

U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyde(WASHINGTON) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will lift a long-standing ban on women serving in combat, according to senior

defense officials. The move was not expected this week, although there has been a concerted effort by the Obama administration to further open up the Armed Forces to women. - More

Senator John McCain on Benghazi

2013-01-23 12:44:13

The majority of the electorate recognized the congressional retardation of most of the President's initiatives in the first term simply on the basis of defeating

the President without any coherent reasoning on its impact on America. An interesting quote from Senator McCain was shot out there from

The Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he 'would have liked to have seen some outreach' in Obama's speech. 'This is the eighth [inauguration] that I've

been to and always there's been a portion of the speech where [the president says], 'I reach out my hand because we need to work together.' That wasn't in

this speech,' McCain said." - More

3 shot at Texas college; Both suspects in custody

2013-01-22 15:20:09

Both suspects in a shooting at Lone Star College in North Harris County are now in custody, according to a law enforcement source. Three people were shot during an

argument between the two suspects. The source said both men pulled out guns during the argument and shot at each other. Two bystanders and at least one of the

suspects were wounded. - More

Inaugural 2.0

2013-01-21 12:00:04

President Barack Obama urged Americans today to reject political "absolutism" and partisan rancor as he kicked off his second term with a call for national unity, setting a pragmatic tone for the daunting challenges he faces over the next four years. - More

Obama sworn in, second term officially begins

2013-01-20 12:25:41

As mandated by the U.S. Constitution, President Obama was sworn in at 11:55 a.m. ET by Chief Justice John Roberts for his second term as president. The president

took the oath during a small, private ceremony in the White House Blue Room, with his hand on a Bible from First Lady Michelle Obama's family, which was

held by her during the oath. - More

Bulgaria politician threatened on stage with gas pistol

2013-01-19 17:19:10

Bulgarian police have detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at an ethnic Turkish party leader delivering a speech at a party caucus in the capital. No shots were fired from the self-defence device, which is not lethal but can cause serious injuries if fired at close range. - More

Bulgarian News Links

Stocks soar 85% in Obama's first term

2013-01-19 17:00:51

Despite critics that brand him as anti-business and anti-Wall Street, President Obama's first term in the White House has been bullish for stocks. The Standard &

Poor's 500-stock index has risen 85% since Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, says S&P Capital IQ. - More

7 hostages dead in Algeria

2013-01-19 08:28:32

Algeria's special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the middle of the Sahara desert in a final assault Saturday, killing 11 militants, but not before they in turn killed seven

hostages, the state news agency reported. The report, quoting a security source, didn't specify if any hostages or militants remained alive or give the nationalities of the dead. - More

Algeria News Links

One American dead in hostage siege in Algeria

2013-01-18 19:42:38

An American worker at a natural gas complex in Algeria has been found dead, U.S. officials said Friday, as the U.S. sought to secure the release of Americans still being

held by Al Qaeda-linked terrorists on the third day of a hostage standoff. - More

Americans still held hostage in Algeria

2013-01-18 13:48:40

The United States confirmed Friday that Americans are still being held hostage by Islamist militants who stormed a natural gas production complex in the Algerian desert,

as military forces from the oil-rich North African nation engaged in talks to secure their release and searched for stray captives and extremists in the sprawling facility. - More

Three-month extension of debt limit

2013-01-18 13:35:36

Republicans will act to push the deadline at which the U.S. government would default on the national debt to mid-April, demanding that Democrats pass a budget in exchange

for a long-term extension in borrowing authority. House Republicans said they will take up legislation next week to temporarily extend the debt limit for three months,

past the mid-February deadline when the government, according to the Treasury, would reach its legal limit on borrowing to finance the government's obligations. - More

Zuckerberg: One of the coolest things we've done in awhile

2013-01-15 16:04:52

Facebook fired a direct shot at Google and its vast search-engine empire on Tuesday with a new search tool for users to sift through piles of pictures, posts and places.

The new Graph Search feature, which will be slowly rolled out over weeks, is designed to keep Facebook's 1 billion users on the site, lure data-obsessed advertisers and

make a dent in Google's multibillion-dollar search machine. - More

Facebook's Graph Search: Big deal or big joke?

2013-01-15 15:58:58

We didn't get a Facebook phone, but Graph Search, the social network's beta tool for instant access to people, photos, places, and interests embedded within 1 trillion connections, has equally significant implications -- or maybe it doesn't. - More

St. Louis Stevens Institute student

2013-01-15 14:51:11

A former student of a St. Louis school shot his financial aid adviser and then himself, according to local reports. The unidentified gunman, believed to

be 21 years old, struck around 3 p.m. inside the Stevens Institute of Business and Arts in downtown St. Louis.... - More

Suspected narco-related killings

2013-01-15 11:30:32

Mexico's capital and its sprawling suburbs in neighboring Mexico state notched at least 32 violent homicides over the weekend, in what authorities described as an atypical

wave of violence for the urban core of the country. Authorities and city political leaders said there were no indications so far that the rash of killings were related to Mexico's

powerful organized-crime cartels, but investigations were ongoing on Monday. - More

Fiscal hawks and small-government conservatives

2013-01-15 11:10:29

Fiscal hawks and small-government conservatives say the White House is setting the bar for fiscal responsibility way too low and just kicking the can down the road again

on hard decisions that will only become more painful as time goes by. But Mr. Obama appeared intent on establishing that he was just one more deal away from putting

the government back on sound footing, if only Republicans would go along. - More

VIDEO: Nadia Eweida wins case

2013-01-15 10:57:06

A British Airways employee suffered discrimination at work over her Christian beliefs, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. Nadia Eweida, a Coptic Christian from

Twickenham in south-west London, said she felt vindicated and it would mean Christians could move around more "freely in their workplace without recriminations

or discrimination". - More

Oprah didn't expect Armstrong doping confession in interview

2013-01-15 07:17:21

Oprah Winfrey has opened up about her yet-to-air interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. In an appearance on “CBS This Morning,” Winfrey said she had no idea Armstrong was going to confess to using performance-enhancing drugs. - More

Armstrong gets emotional before Oprah

2013-01-14 19:09:19

Lance Armstrong was emotional at times during his interview Monday with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, a source familiar with the interview told CNN. The person refused

to discuss the specifics of what Armstrong said, including whether he confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs as some media outlets have reported he would. - More

Tony Zerilli Knows where Hoffa is buried

2013-01-14 19:03:25

For decades now we’ve heard of endless tips about the whereabouts of Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa, who vanished in 1975: a stadium, a freeway, an incinerator. And most recently, a driveway in Roseville. - More

Egypt court grants Mubarak appeal

2013-01-13 19:40:54

A Cairo court on Sunday granted Hosni Mubarak’s appeal of his life sentence, ordering a retrial of the ousted Egyptian president convicted of failing to prevent the killing of hundreds of

protesters during the uprising that toppled his regime. The ruling read out by judge Ahmed Ali Abdel-Rahman during the brief court session also overturned the conviction of Mubarak’s

former security chief, Habib el-Adly, who was convicted on the same charges and also sentenced to life in prison. He too will be retried. - More

Zogby Poll: Obama has highest approval ratings in years!

2013-01-13 19:36:44

A new Zogby Poll shows President Barack Obama with his highest approval ratings in years. The poll of 826 likely voters nationwide, conducted by Zogby Analytics January 10-12,

gives the President a 56% approval rating, while 42% disapprove. Mr. Obama receives majority approval ratings from men (52%) and women (59%), Democrats (91%) and

independents (55%); 18-29 year olds (68%), 30-49 year olds (60%), and 50-64 year olds (53%); Hispanics (65%), African Americans (95%), the Creative Class (57%), and

Weekly Wal-Mart Shoppers (58%). - More

Ram Singh: If the girl survived she would recognise us later

2013-01-13 17:19:10

Ram Singh is one of five men and a juvenile accused of attacking the 23-year-old woman, who later died, in a crime that has rocked India. In

his statement, he said that after the attack the group of six men cleaned blood from the bus with the clothing of their victim, before burning it.

"If the girl survived she would recognise us later," he said in the statement, seen by the Independent newspaper. - More

Mali Anti-Islamist Battle

2013-01-12 12:59:23

France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says a French helicopter pilot has been killed in combat against Islamist rebels in the west African state of Mali. He did not say whether the pilot's helicopter had been shot down. - More

2014 Critical Year for US Troops in Afghanistan

2013-01-12 00:08:10

Newsday - Obama: U.S. to have 'support role' in Afghanistan - President Barack Obama announced Friday that U.S. troops in Afghanistan will assume a "support role" starting this spring, focusing on an advisory and training mission before a withdrawal of most American forces by the end of 2014. - More

Bloomberg Business Week - US may leave no troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 - WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it might leave no troops in Afghanistan after December 2014, an option that defies the Pentagon's view that thousands of troops may be needed to contain al-Qaida and to strengthen Afghan forces. - More

China.org.cn - US speeding up Afghan withdrawal plan - U.S. President Barack Obama and visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai have agreed to speed up the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces this year. - More

The Wall Street Journal - Obama to Speed Troop Exit - WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said he would speed up troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, signaling his intention to accelerate the end of America's longest war. - More

VIDEO: David Plouffe is on his way out

2013-01-10 11:22:50

Susan Page of USA Today asked David Plouffe will he participate in another Presidential political campaign and his reply was, "No, My days in the front lines of politics have problem come to a close."

He went on to state that he'll spend more time with his family and support the President from the outside any way he can. - More

Shooter detained, 2 shot at California High School

2013-01-10 11:04:13

At least two people have been shot Thursday at a high school in Taft, CAlif., KERO-TV reports.

The condition of the victims was not immediately clear.

The shooter was taken into custody at Taft High School around 9 am. local time, says KERO, which reports that it got a tip on the shooting from people hiding in closets inside the school.

- More

Rangle: 'There's no excuse' for Obama's Cabinet Selections

2013-01-10 10:45:51

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) on Thursday called it “embarrassing as hell” that President Barack Obama is facing charges that his White House lacks diversity.

“It’s embarrassing as hell. We’ve been through all of this with 2012 GOP presidential nominee] Mitt Romney. - More

Biden will have questions for the NRA

2013-01-10 04:28:16

As the White House prepares to unveil its recommendations this month to combat gun violence, advocates of reform are already working to generate public pressure for gun control policies that have long been stalled in Congress. - More

Alemu's Final Appeal Rejected

2013-01-09 06:34:11

In a ruling that lasted five minutes, a new judge appointed to the Ethiopian Court of Cassation in the capital, Addis Ababa, rejected on January 8, 2012, an appeal filed on behalf

of award-winning journalist Reeyot Alemu, according to local journalists. - More

Philippines: Explain your ship deployment China

2013-01-09 06:30:30

The Philippines has asked China to explain its deployment of a patrol ship to guard disputed territory it claims in the South China Sea, saying the move has sparked new tensions

over the potentially oil-rich waters, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday. Del Rosario said Chinese diplomats have previously said that Beijing will only assert

its claims, including by possibly intercepting foreign ships, in waters off its southernmost province of Hainan. - More

President Enrique Pena Nieto names foreign policy team

2013-01-09 06:21:57

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is firming up his foreign policy team, naming key players to oversee everything from security cooperation with the Obama administration

to Mexicans living in the United States. Peña Nieto is expected to officially name Eduardo Guerrero Gutiérrez, a security expert and writer whose work appears in top

intellectual magazines, as a top security adviser. - More

Death in Mexico City by Feral Dogs

2013-01-09 06:16:15

The fatal mauling of four people by feral dogs in a Mexico City park set off debate Tuesday about the city’s love/hate relationship with its dog population,

and the guilt or innocence of 25 animals trapped near the scene of the nightmarish killings. More

Chinese envoy summoned over disputed islands in Japan

2013-01-09 05:58:10

The uninhabited outcroppings in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.

Tensions over the tiny islands intensified after Tokyo bought them from their Japanese private owners in September, prompting Chinese to hold demonstrations and

boycott Japanese products. - More

Japan News References

China News References

UPDATE: Syria's Prison Release

2013-01-09 05:07:06

The abductees were set free in a swap deal between the Syrian government and the armed militants. An undisclosed number of Turkish nationals arrested by Syrian security

forces in recent months were among those released by Damascus in the swap deal. - More

News Links from Syria

#Syria

Thrill for second inauguration burns a little weaker

2013-01-07 06:50:45

Four years and one re-election after Barack Obama became America's first black president, some of the thrill is gone. Yes, the inauguration of a U.S. president is still a big deal.

But the ceremony that Washington will stage in a few weeks won't be the heady, historic affair it was in 2009, when nearly 2 million people flocked to the National Mall to see

Obama take the oath of office. - More

Bio, President John Dramani Mahama in Office

2013-01-07 06:22:50

President John Dramani Mahama in his inaugural speech has promised that he will do all within his power to defend and fast track Ghana's development.

He said with the support of Ghanaians, he shall work assiduously to enhance the nation's economic fortunes with the new resources at the country's disposal. - More

Biography of President John Dramani Mahama

Bio of Hagel, Brennan For Top Posts

2013-01-07 05:40:27

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Chuck Hagel as his next defense secretary and presidential counter terrorism adviser John Brennan will reportedly lead the Central Intelligence Agency. - More

Biography of Senator Chuck Hagel

Biography of John Brennan

Assad wants to make peace #Syria

2013-01-06 08:55:15

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday outlined a new peace initiative that included a national reconciliation conference and a new constitution in a rare speech about

the uprising against his rule, which has killed an estimated 60,000 people and brought civil war to the edge of his capital. - More

Sen. McConnell: It's time for the President to actually be President

2013-01-06 08:47:36

In his most scathing rebuke of the President to date Senator McConnell appeared on NBC's Meet The Press and stated, "It's time for the President to actually be President." He also stated, "We know he's a good Campaigner...now it's time for the President to step up to the plate and not be dragged to the table and lead." - More

Ailing Hugo Chavez

2013-01-05 11:17:07

Venezuela’s vice president said Friday that President Hugo Chavez could be sworn in by the Supreme Court later on if he’s not able to take the oath of office next week before lawmakers because of his struggle with cancer. - More

Hugo Chavez's last days

2013-01-04 03:35:12

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is battling a "severe" lung infection that has caused respiratory failure, a top official said. Chavez, 58, has been

hospitalized in Cuba since undergoing cancer surgery more than three weeks ago. - More

Venezuelan News Links

Disney and Ray Lewis

2013-01-03 15:23:36

Back in 2001, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker was the Super Bowl MVP but was passed over by Disney for its postgame theme park commercial, presumably because of his connection to a double murder in Atlanta. - More

Map: Fiscal Cliff Vote by Congressional District

2013-01-03 06:24:53

Tuesday's House vote on the fiscal cliff is one of those rare votes where you don’t get a straight party line vote like most contentious votes, but one

where the House shatters into pieces and the winner is the side that reassembles the most fragments. - More

Inside Scoop: Michelle Obama and Inaugural Gown

2013-01-03 05:27:20

In early 2009, the speculation about what Michelle Obama would wear to the Inaugural Ball became a national obsession among style watchers, with the first lady keeping

her frock top secret until the party started. The gown she chose was a one-shouldered, white chiffon ball gown created by then 26-year-old Taipei-born designer Jason Wu.

Before the big reveal, Obama’s mystery gown was a topic of endless fascination. Even Forbes magazine offered an article on the topic: “Ten Inaugural Gowns Fit for Michelle Obama.” - More

The House voted 257 to 167

2013-01-01 22:52:19

Congress approved a plan to end Washington’s long drama over the “fiscal cliff” late Tuesday after House Republicans surrendered to President Obama’s demand to let taxes rise on the nation’s richest households. - More

Krauthammer: Obama Has Political Success

2013-01-01 22:49:20

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I was really fascinated by the exchange that went on on the floor of the House between Dave Camp (R-Michigan), who is the Republican Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, and Sandy Levin (D-Michigan), the Democrat who is the ranking Democrat on that committee, one of the grand old old timers in the House. - More

On His Way to Hawaii

2013-01-01 22:43:33

Even as he claimed victory and praised leaders for walking back from the edge of economic danger, President Obama looked ahead to his

next round of sparring with Republicans in Congress over deficits, taxes and government spending. - More

The Biden and McConnell Dance

2013-01-01 22:33:34

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell decided it was time to deal directly with the White House when Senate budget talks stalled three days ago -- though not with President Barack Obama.

“I needed a dance partner,” McConnell said. “So I reached out to the vice president.” - More

Cliffs Edge Draws Close

2012-12-31 09:38:56

Talks between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden continued through the night and into Monday morning, as Washington tried to

do what it has promised for months: engineer an alternative to the so-called fiscal cliff.

A White House official said Monday morning the talks made "progress overnight." A spokesman for Mr. McConnell said Monday the two men "will continue to work toward a solution." - More

President Obama to appear on Meet The Press

2012-12-28 18:34:41

This Sunday, David Gregory sits down exclusively with President Barack Obama. This will be Mr. Obama's 11th appearance on the program, his second time as the commander in chief. - More

Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf dies - Bio

2012-12-27 17:48:33

A U.S. official says retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died.

He was 78. The official tells The Associated Press that Schwarzkopf died Thursday in Tampa, Fla. The official wasn't authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on

condition of anonymity. - More

Gen. H. NOrman Schwarzkopf Biography

Mexican Govt Backs Action against Discriminatory Laws in U.S

2012-12-27 17:43:46

Mexico, Dec 27 (Prensa Latina) The government of Mexico filed a Friend of the Court brief in support of a new action brought by a coalition of the U.S. civil society organizations against

Arizona SB 1070. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) announced today that the document was presented in order to maintain suspended the section five of this rule, that

criminalizes immigration and may be applied selectively. - More

President George H.W. Bush and Legacy

2012-12-27 11:20:36

''He's had a series of setbacks now that have landed him in guarded condition in the intensive care unit,'' where he was transferred on Sunday, spokesman Jim McGrath told AFP yesterday.

''Early last week it was really looking good, but then it seemed a couple of dominoes started falling and it was taking us in the wrong direction.'' - More

Christmas Storms Blamed for 3 Deaths in U.S.

2012-12-26 03:11:39

An enormous storm system that dumped snow and sleet on the midsection of the U.S. and unleashed damaging tornadoes around the South has begun punching

its way toward the Northeast. Post-Christmas travelers braced for a second day of flight delays and cancellations, a day after rare winter twisters

damaged numerous homes in Louisiana and Alabama. - More

Barack Obama Time Person of the Year

2012-12-19 15:32:54

Twenty-seven years after driving from New York City to Chicago in a $2,000 Honda Civic for a job that probably wouldn’t amount to much, Barack Obama, in better shape but with grayer hair... - More

Boehner, President Meet on Fiscal Cliff

2012-12-18 06:05:33

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, the two top negotiators of the deficit reduction deal aimed at averting automatic year-end tax increases and across-the-board

spending cuts, continue to move closer to a bargain.

But it remains unclear whether or not the two sides can come together ahead of the December 31st deadline to avoid taking the country over the so-called fiscal cliff. - More

Gunman attended school where he killed 26

2012-12-16 12:02:48

An explanation still hasn't emerged for why a man killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, but it does appear that he attended the school as a youngster,

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy told NBC News on Sunday. Adam Lanza, 20, is believed to have killed his mother in... - More

Slain hero teacher's family: 'She loved those students more than anything'

2012-12-16 11:59:39

Teacher Vicki Soto, 27, died a hero on Friday when she was killed protecting her class of first-graders from alleged school shooter Adam Lanza, 20.

Her family spoke out on Sunday, telling TODAY's Erica Hill about Soto's dedication to the children at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. - More

Obama: right-to-work laws...don't have anything to do with economics

2012-12-10 20:38:35

President Obama visited Detroit Diesel's Redford engine plant to talk about the company's $120 million investment, but he made clear he opposes the right-to-work legislation Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican legislators are expected to finalize Tuesday in Lansing. - More

Radio personalities apologize

2012-12-10 11:03:31

The two Australian radio personalities who made the prank phone call to a British hospital caring for the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge made tearful apologies

Monday for making the call, which may have led to the suicide of a nurse who spoke to the pair. - More

Barack Obama, John Boehner meet

2012-12-09 17:49:54

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met at the White House Sunday in an attempt to break the logjam on the fiscal cliff.

It was their first face-to-face meeting in 23 days. - More

Newark Mayor Booker for NJ Governor?

2012-12-09 17:45:55

Political junkies looking for their next fix, rest easy. There could be a bruising New Jersey governor's race on the horizon.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said Sunday he's "absolutely" considering a run against Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie,

and will decide in the next two weeks. "I am absolutely considering running for governor," Booker, a Democrat, said on CBS' "Face the Nation." - More

SCOTUS, Same-sex marriage issue

2012-12-07 13:38:57

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to take its first serious look at the issue of gay marriage, granting review of California's ban on same-sex marriage and of a federal law that defines marriage as only the legal union of a man and a woman. - More

Hundreds dead in The Philippines from Typhoon Bopha

2012-12-05 07:13:16

Typhoon Bopha barrelled across the island of Mindanao, toppling trees and blowing away homes with 210km an hour gusts yesterday before weakening overnight as it headed towards the South China Sea.

A total of 142 people died and 241 others were missing in the mountainous Mindanao town of New Bataan, Lieutenant Colonel Lyndon Paniza said. - More

Senators gird for Obama nomination of Rice

2012-11-25 16:04:29

Senators continued preparing Sunday for what could be the first big battle of President Obama's second term: The nomination of Susan Rice for secretary of State.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has opposed the prospect of Rice's nomination, said the United Nations ambassador would get the chance to explain her statements

following the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. - More

Mexico violence: 19 bodies found in northern state of Chihuahua

2012-11-25 15:43:00

The bodies of 19 men have been found in the northern state of Chihuahua, which has been hard hit by drug-related violence in recent years.

Eleven of the bodies had been buried two years ago in mass graves near Ciudad Juarez, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, the BBC reported. - More

14 Mexican cops charged in attack on U.S. vehicle

2012-11-10 04:42:58

The Mexican Attorney General's Office on Friday charged 14 federal police officers with first-degree attempted murder in the Aug. 24 ambush of a U.S. Embassy vehicle

and offered new details that make it clear the police were on a mission of slaughter when they opened fire on the vehicle on a mountain road outside the Mexican capital. - More

Who is Paula Broadwell - Bio - Images

2012-11-09 15:39:47

NBC News Reports: CIA Director David Petraeus resigned Friday, citing an extramarital affair and "extremely poor judgment."

As first reported by NBC News, Petraeus disclosed the affair in a letter released to the CIA work force on Friday afternoon, writing:

"Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours." - More

Website All In: The Education of General David Petraeus

Images: Paula Broadwell Pictures

Romney Presidential Transition Website Frontpage

2012-11-08 14:51:04

Romney's transition website mistakenly made its way on to the Internet.

Obama's Kenyan step-grandmother congratulates him on victory

2012-11-07 14:53:10

Congratulations on President Obama’s reelection flooded in from leaders across Africa on Wednesday, but the sweetest words of all came from a 90-year-old Kenyan villager.

Sarah Onyango Obama is the president’s step-grandmother, from the village of Kogelo in western Kenya, where the president’s father grew up.

She said the president had won because of his love for the people. - More

Polls 2012: Barack Obama Leads Mitt Romney With One Day Remaining

2012-11-05 17:41:21

With just one day remaining in the 2012 race for president, the polling picture is now virtually complete. President Barack Obama continues to hold narrow but significant leads over Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in enough battleground states to put him over the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. - More

Romney Avoids Taxes via Loophole Cutting Mormon Donations

2012-11-04 16:03:31

Bloomberg reported that in 1997, Congress cracked down on a popular tax shelter that allowed rich people to take advantage of the exempt status of charities without actually giving away much money.

Individuals who had already set up these vehicles were allowed to keep them. That included Mitt Romney, then the chief executive officer of Bain Capital,

who had just established such an arrangement in June 1996. - More

Polls: Obama stays ahead in Ohio, deadlocked with Romney in Fla.

2012-11-03 12:56:52

Three days until Election Day, President Barack Obama maintains his lead in the key battleground state of Ohio and is locked in a close contest with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Florida, according to new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls. - More

Payrolls in U.S. Climbed More Than Forecast in October

2012-11-02 07:29:51

Hiring in the U.S. increased more than forecast in October as employers looked past slowing global growth and political gridlock at home. In the last jobs report before next week’s election, a net 171,000 workers were added to payrolls after a 148,000 gain in September that was more than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. - More

Obama Ties Romney Among Likely U.S. Voters in Pew Poll

2012-10-30 01:00:26

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are tied among likely voters in a national poll released eight days before Election Day.

The Oct. 24-28 survey by the Pew Research Center found Obama and the former governor of Massachusetts each supported by 47 percent, a slight gain for the president from an Oct. 4-7 Pew poll that showed Romney ahead, 49 percent to 45 percent. - More

Sandy speeds toward coast

2012-10-29 15:48:54

Hurricane Sandy neared an expected evening landfall on Monday, ripping up part of the fabled boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and spawning high winds and torrential rains from North Carolina to Maine. - More

Most White American express prejudices against minorities

2012-10-27 06:33:43

Racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president, an Associated Press poll finds, as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not. - More

Megachurch shooting suspect Floyd Palmer

2012-10-24 18:40:46

A man suspected in Wednesday's fatal shooting at a Georgia megachurch was once committed to a mental health facility in Maryland after facing various criminal charges including attempted murder, according to court records. - More

President Obama and Mitt Romney in battle for battleground states

2012-10-24 16:49:30

President Obama and Mitt Romney barnstormed across the country Tuesday, beginning two weeks of ferocious campaigning in the nine battleground states that will decide the election.

Romney swooped into Colorado and Nevada, while Obama stumped in Florida and Ohio — both men basking in large crowds of enthusiastic supporters energized by their third and final debate Monday night. - More

The Contested Abyei Region

2012-09-26 21:23:21

The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan have reached nine agreements but did work out the issues surrounding the contested Abyei region or the demarcation of their shared border. - More

Mexico unions almost universally opposed the changes

2012-09-26 21:08:30

The Mexican Congress looks set to pass a piece of fast-track labor law “reform” this week that could be devastating for millions of workers’ legal rights and incomes.

The changes both pro-business parties are agreed on would undermine the 44-hour work week by permitting subcontracting and temporary or part-time work for the first time. - More

Rebels move command from Turkey to Syria

2012-09-22 18:45:16

The leaders of the rebel Free Syrian Army said Saturday they moved their command center from Turkey to Syria with the aim of uniting rebels and speeding up the fall of President Bashar Assad's regime. - More

Ahmadinejad In NYC for Last UN Address as President of Iran

2012-09-22 18:42:18

Eternally controversial Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York City and will make his final address as president to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly—a visit that comes at a particularly tense time for US-Middle Eastern relations. - More

Ahmadinejad to Clarify Iran's Position on Int'l Issues at UN Meeting

2012-09-22 18:35:14

Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that an extensive agenda has been drawn up for the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

Talking to reporters at the end of a cabinet meeting, President Ahmadinejad said he is to present Iran's stand on the important global problems

and offer proposals for removing them.

Petroleos Mexicanos and prosecutors combing the burned-out rubble

2012-09-20 22:06:26

An enormous blast that killed 30 workers at a pipeline facility in northern Mexico was a big setback for the state-owned oil company,

which up to this year had been reporting strides in its safety record at once accident-prone plants.

Petroleos Mexicanos and prosecutors were still combing the burned-out rubble and twisted wreckage Thursday at the pipeline metering center near Reynosa,

across the border from McAllen, Texas. - More

Obama: Video Protests an 'Excuse' to Attack US Facility In Libya

2012-09-20 15:37:01

The Obama administration on Thursday called last week’s assault on the U.S. consulate in Libya a terrorist attack.

This is the first time that White House officials have called the incident a deliberate attack, rather than a part of protests against a video that many Muslims consider offensive. - More

Mitt Romney: 'My campaign is about the 100 percent'

2012-09-20 04:17:46

Mitt Romney had no time to warm up Wednesday night before he was asked onstage in Coral Gables about his hidden-video remarks where he suggested

that 47 percent of taxpayers were moochers. - More

Ethiopia Maintains 'Neutral Position' Toward Sudan - South Sudan Dispute

2012-09-20 04:07:04

Ethiopia's acting prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, on Tuesday confirmed that his country's new leadership would maintain its "neutral stance"

and will remain committed to support the peace talks between Sudan and South Sudan. - More

Syrian military helicopter crashes

2012-09-20 03:58:08

A Syrian military helicopter has crashed in a rebellious suburb of Damascus, state-run TV says, but the circumstances in which the aircraft went down were not immediately clear.

The brief Syrian TV report on Thursday said the helicopter crashed southeast of Douma, a suburb that has witnessed repeated military crackdowns to purge fighters seeking to topple

President Bashar Assad. No further details were made available. - More

Jay-Z 40K a plate fundraiser for President Obama

2012-09-19 14:28:07

President Obama told a well-dressed group of donors at Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club on Tuesday night that he isn’t so different from the hip hop power couple hosting his $40,000 per plate

fundraiser. Referring to Jay-Z and Beyonce as “Jay and Bey,”

Obama said they all “remember what it’s like not having anything, and we know people who were just as talented as us that didn’t get the same break, the same chance.” - More

Attorney General Eric Holder was not informed

2012-09-19 14:23:47

Fourteen federal law enforcement officials were recommended for discipline, including the head of the Justice Department's criminal division,

related to their involvement in a botched gun-trafficking operation that allowed about 2,000 weapons to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartel enforcers,

according to an internal Justice Department review. - More

Mitt Romney's View

2012-09-18 03:37:40

At the private fundraiser held May 17 where Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney candidly spoke about political

strategy—noting that he saw half of the American electorate as freeloaders and "victims" who do not believe in personal responsibility—

he discussed various foreign policy positions, sharing views that he does not express in public, including his belief that peace in the Middle East is not possible and a Palestinian state is not

feasible. - More

Ethiopians Will Soon Learn New PM's Identity

2012-09-15 04:03:36

Ethiopians will soon learn the identity of their new prime minister.

The ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF),

is having a council meeting on Friday and Saturday in Addis Ababa. - More

Barack Obama on Friday eulogized four Americans

2012-09-15 03:08:52

On a day mixing somber ceremony with campaign clamor, President Barack Obama on Friday eulogized four Americans killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a diplomatic post overseas while Republicans pledged a tougher foreign policy to confront U.S. enemies. - More

Syria army destroys houses in "collective punishment"

2012-09-04 06:26:51

Syrian army bulldozers razed houses in western Damascus on Monday, pursuing what activists called the first campaign of collective punishment targeting people’s property in areas of the capital hostile to President Bashar al-Assad. - More

Tropical Storm Isaac Casts Wet Blanket Over Tampa RNC

2012-08-28 07:19:23

Tampa - There is a chance the Republican National Convention could be extended through Friday if Tropical Storm Isaac continues to cause problems, according to a National Journal report - More

Hailemariam Desalegn will be the next Prime Minister of Ethiopia

2012-08-22 22:55:37

Government officials say Hailemariam Desalegn will be the next Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs is known as a soft spoken and humble man.

Hailemariam Desalegne is currently the acting prime minister and the foreign minister and will be sworn in as prime minister and run the country until elections in 2015. Ethiopian officials say the constitution will be followed.

Romney's conservative card

2012-08-12 09:55:40

The selection of Paul Ryan as the Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate is a hugely significant moment. It clearly lays out that the US presidential

election is not simply going to be about the economy - we all knew that - this is going to be an ideological battle about the future shape of government in America. - More

'Many killed' in northwest Iran earthquakes

2012-08-11 09:54:33

Two strong earthquakes have hit northwestern Iran, killing at least 40 people and injuring scores more, Iranian officials have told the state news agency.

"According to the latest reports, about 40 to 50 people have been killed in the quakes today ... about 400 have also been injured and were transported to Tabriz and Ardebil,"

Gholamreza Masoumi said, quoted by ISNA. - More

Iranian News and Media Reports

Ryan Boosts Romney's Conservative Credentials, But Also Mobilizes Opponents

2012-08-11 08:28:05

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney discarded his increasingly inert better-safe-than-sorry campaign strategy Saturday when he named budget hawk and Democratic bête noire Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate.

The decision to go with Ryan, 42, the conservative architect of recent GOP budget proposals that would slash federal spending and remake entitlement programs like Medicare (though not cut the deficit for decades) delighted conservatives who had begun loudly and publicly grousing about the trajectory of Romney's campaign, and who had long been suspect of Romney's conservative bona fides. - More

Romney to announce VP Selection

2012-08-10 21:17:18

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will announce his running mate at the beginning of a four-day, four-state bus tour in Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday morning, his campaign announced in a statement late Friday night.

Sikh prayer vigil unites different faiths

2012-08-07 04:13:15

Jack Weisenhorn’s words may have summed up the thoughts of many people learning about the shooting at a Sikh house of worship in Wisconsin.

The St. Michael’s Catholic Church deacon quickly agreed to speak at a candlelight vigil in memory of those who lost their lives when a gunman opened fire on Sikh worshippers, killing six people. - More

Usain Bolt sets Olympic record in men's 100-meter

2012-08-05 14:29:25

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won his second straight Olympic gold medal in the men's 100 meters Sunday, crossing the line in an Olympic-record 9.63 seconds.

Bolt joined Carl Lewis as only the second man to go back-to-back in track's biggest race. Bolt's training partner and fellow Jamaican, Yohan Blake, finished second in 9.75. American Justin Gatlin took bronze in 9.79. - More

Governor Scott Walkers statement on the shootings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, USA

2012-08-05 13:23:18

The following is the statement from Gov. Scott Walker about the shootings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek:

While the situation in Oak Creek continues to develop rapidly, we are working with the FBI and local law enforcement.

I became aware of the situation late this morning and continue to receive updated briefings. - More

Michael Phelps collects 18th gold medal in final race

2012-08-04 21:00:45

As if 22 medal ceremonies over the last three Olympics weren't enough, Michael Phelps was summoned back to the pool deck for one more accolade.

This time, he received a trophy rather than a medal, an award that sought to sum up a career like no other.

"To Michael Phelps," it said, "the greatest Olympic athlete of all time." - More

UN General Assembly to Vote on Syria Resolution

2012-08-03 10:10:54

The United Nations General Assembly is meeting on a Saudi-drafted resolution on Syria, as activists report more violence in the 17-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Kicking off debate on the resolution late Friday morning, U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon said the Syria conflict is now a "proxy war" and urged major powers to end the violence.

He added: "the immediate interests of the Syrian people must be paramount over any larger rivalries of influence." - More

Gabby Douglas brings home the gold in womens all-around Gymnastics competition

2012-08-02 10:34:30

In a moment all about color — gold, silver and bronze —U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas made history winning the most coveted hue of all, Olympic gold. Douglas, 16, became the first African-American, the first woman of color, to win the all-around title.

Douglas led from start to finish, topping Russia's Victoria Komova . The U.S.'s Aly Raisman finished fourth. - More

Russia regrets Annan's decision to quit as Syria mediator

2012-08-02 08:51:14

Russia regrets former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's decision to step down as the UN-Arab League mediator in the 17-month-old Syria conflict at end of the month, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Thursday. - More

Hundreds turn out in Racine to support Chick-fil-A

2012-08-01 12:01:20

Hundreds of people participating in a national effort to support the fast food chain Chick-fil-A are gathered at its only Wisconsin restaurant,

in Racine's Regency Mall, today. Wisconsin Family Council is handing out 200-300 gift cards of appreciation at Chick-fil-A as part of the show of support. - More

Gore Vidal, 1925-2012 Biography

2012-07-31 22:06:31

In his lifetime, Vidal received the National Book Award, wrote many novels, short stories, plays and essays.

He was a political activist, and received the most votes of any Democrat in more than 50 years when he ran as a Democratic candidate for Congress in upstate New York.

Vidal's The City and the Pillar was one of the first American novels to present homosexuality in a direct manner, and outraged many at the time. - More

Wikipedia Biography

South Africa: Modern Humans 44 000 Years Ago

2012-07-31 09:52:26

An international team, including scientists from South Africa's Wits University, has published research that substantially increases the age at which we can trace the emergence of behaviourally modern humans - through direct links to the San people of southern Africa.

The question of when and where anatomically modern humans first emerged (Africa, about 200 000 years ago, the evidence indicates) still leaves open the question: when and where did human cultures similar to ours emerge? - More

More than 620 million people are without power in India

2012-07-31 06:20:16

For a second day in a row India's power grid has suffered a massive failure.

More than 620 million people are without power across the country, one of the largest power outages ever in history.

The massive failure comes a day after a smaller outage left hundreds of millions in the dark.

Extraordinary new information about President Barack Obama Ancestry

2012-07-30 08:36:59

Startling new information about President Barack Obama's ancestry reveals that he is a descendant of early colonial slaves from Colonial Virginia from the 1600's.

Researchers at Ancestry.com discovered the link by accident while conducting routine research on the President Obama's historical lineage.

John Punch, an early Virginian Indentured Servant who was convicted to a life of slavery while attempting to run away fathered children by a white woman whose descendants migrated to Tennessee and eventually Kansas and made up the President Obama's maternal side through Frances Allred, who was born in 1834, moved to Kansas.

Four generations later, in 1942, with the family still in Kansas, Obama's mother was born according to the New York Times.

John Punch was the first recorded indentured slave who lost his any rights to freedom after being caught running away with two other indentured slaves that received four years added on to their indentured servitude.

PBS highlighted this event in its documentary, Slavery And The Making Of America.

Netanyahu: All the diplomacy and sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota.

2012-07-29 07:29:32

Netanyahu emphasizes the importance of a credible military threat against Iran's nuclear program in meeting with US Republican presidential candidate; Romney meets with Peres, still to meet Fayyad, Mofaz.

"I heard some of your remarks and you said that the greatest danger facing the world is the Ayatollah regime possessing nuclear weapons capability," Netanyahu said. "Mitt, I couldn't agree with you more, and I think it is important to do everything in our power to prevent the ayatollahs from possessing that capability. We have to be honest and say that all the diplomacy and sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota."

Syria: Massive Battle In Aleppo As Clashes In Lebanon Resume

2012-07-28 11:16:46

Syrian army helicopters bombed positions held Saturday by insurgents in the center of Aleppo and armored units took up positions to take full control of the biggest city in northern Syria.

Turkey, concerned about the development of the conflict on its borders, has called for new international initiatives to end the fighting.

MEXICO criticised the failure of UN member states to clinch an international treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar arms trade

2012-07-28 10:54:10

MEXICO criticised overnight the failure of UN member states to clinch an international treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar arms trade, saying a minority of countries blocked it.

In a statement, the Mexican foreign ministry highlighted a requirement that a consensus of the 193 members of the United Nations agree to the text.

The rule "makes it impossible to reach agreements when there is broad and clear support, which is nullified by the opposition of a minority of states," it said in the statement. - More

Romney Foreign Policy Tour: Mitt Romney Lands in Israel Amid Potential War With Iran Conflict

2012-07-28 10:42:05

Mitt Romney’s trip has gotten off to a rocky start, and things could get worse.

He will land in Israel this weekend for the second leg of his three-pronged international tour, a tour meant to showcase the candidate’s commitment to “standing with our allies.”

No policy proposal will be put forward. But he is stepping into a smoldering cauldron, which might make Mitt say something of substance—or something that he regrets. - More

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is being treated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota

2012-07-27 18:18:29

The Sun-Times writes that Mr. Jackson flew on Wednesday night to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., after receiving treatment in Tucson, Ariz.

"He was accompanied by his wife, Ald. Sandi Jackson," the Sun-Times writes.

The report comes a few weeks after Mr. Jackson's office said the congressman was being treated for "a mood disorder." - More

Romney stirs Olympic tiff while in London: Olympic Games preparation disconcerting.

2012-07-27 03:50:54

Mitt Romney wanted to highlight U.S.-British bonds -- and show off his diplomatic skills to boot -- but he managed to rankle the Olympic hosts instead, from Prime Minister David Cameron on down.

The Republican presidential candidate, taking a turn on the world stage, called London's problems with Olympic Games preparation "disconcerting."

That prompted Cameron to retort on Thursday that doubters would "see beyond doubt that Britain can deliver." And London Mayor Boris Johnson told tens of thousands gathered in Hyde Park: "There's a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready. Are we ready? Yes we are!" - More

Obama: AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of children

2012-07-25 20:59:06

President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday night to "leave no stone unturned" in seeking to curb violence in American cities, including reasonable restrictions on gun ownership - a sharp break from the position set out earlier in the day by his Republican opponent Mitt Romney.

The president offered his most extensive comments in some time on the issue of gun control in a speech to the National Urban League, which closed a four-day trip that began in Colorado, where he met with victims of the movie theater shooting that claimed a dozen lives.

Anaheim shooting: 2 cops on leave, 1 dead, 24 arrested

2012-07-25 10:49:12

A gunman who opened fire on an officer at the end of a stolen-car pursuit was killed in Anaheim's second fatal officer-involved shooting in two days, authorities said Monday.

The shooting climaxed an incident that began around 11:20 p.m. Sunday, when anti-gang officers spotted a known gang member on probation in what they soon determined was a stolen car, Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said.

They were pursuing the vehicle when the driver lost control on on West Guinida Lane, and two men and a woman bailed. - More

Seoul-based news agency reports Kim Jong-un is married to Ri Sol-ju and may have a child

2012-07-25 10:29:54

State media confirmed that a woman seen accompanying Mr Kim in a series of recently publicised appearances is his wife.

A Seoul-based news agency named his her as Ri Sol-ju.

The pair were photographed yesterday at a ceremony marking the completion of an amusement park on Rungna islet in Pyongyang. - More

Syrian administration responds defiantly to the West

2012-07-23 20:33:12

Despite the tricky security situation on ground with urban fights raging on between armed opposition and government troops in key cities, the Syrian administration on Monday responded defiantly to the West and the Arabs alike, saying it would use its chemical arsenal only in case of foreign aggression and slamming as "flagrant interference" the Arab League calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

James Holmes appears in court

2012-07-23 08:40:00

James Holmes appeared somber during routine court proceeding with his public defender.

James Holmes stockpiled arsenal via unregulated market on the Internet

2012-07-23 02:00:03

In a world where Amazon can track your next book purchase and you must register to buy allergy medicine, James Holmes spent months stockpiling thousands of bullets and head-to-toe ballistic gear without raising any red flags with authorities.

The Gander Mountain store in Aurora, Colo. is shown, Sunday, July 22, 2012.

The is store is where the gunman in Friday's movie theater shooting allegedly purchased one of his weapons. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) The suspect in the mass theater shooting availed himself of an unregulated online marketplace that allows consumers to acquire some of the tools of modern warfare as if they were pieces of a new wardrobe.- More

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in stable condition -The issue of stepping down has not been raised, says Ethiopias Government spokesman

2012-07-21 11:53:27

A report issued by Ethiopia’s government spokesman revealed that the country’s Prime Minister is in stable condition.

Meles Zenawi considered by many as a key regional strongman in the volatile Horn of Africa has been notably missing out from the public domain over what the report now reveals to be as a result of health problem.

Earlier on this week, news went round citing that the Prime Minister was in serious critical condition needing urgent medical intervention. - More

UPDATE: Names of victims in Aurora shooting released

2012-07-21 11:20:33

The names of six of the 12 people who were killed in Aurora’s Century 16 theater early Friday morning have been released.

According to the Aurora Sentinel the victims include: Veronica Moser, 6, Micayla Medek, 23, Alex Sullivan, 27, Jessica Ghawi, 24, John Larimer, 27, and Matt McQuinn, 27

This list will be updated as more names are released.

President Obama suspends campaign in rememberence

2012-07-20 07:56:41

President Barack Obama suspends campaign rally for 'prayer and reflection' on Batman shooting in Aurora Colorado.

Police are continuing to meticulously going through apartment of the alleged shooter, at the University of Colorado.

Shooter was from San Diego who went to Colorado for his PHD. After being reach by the media the mother immediately stated 'you have the right person'.

Obama has cancelled his campaign event and has asked his television has pulled all of his TV ads to think about the victims of the horrible tragedy.

Video: James Holmes (24) named as Denver Batman gun spree suspect

2012-07-20 07:36:12

US President Barack Obama has said he is "shocked and saddened" by the deadly mass shooting at a Colorado cinema screening of the The Dark Knight Rises.

Federal law enforcement officials confirmed the lone suspect being detained by police was 24-year-old James Holmes. Police have cordoned off his apartment - a three block area. - More

YouTube Video

Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama agree to co-operate on Syrian Transition

2012-07-18 17:05:00

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin agreed Wednesday in a phone call with President Barack Obama to work with the United States to find a solution to the crisis in Syria, the White House said.

But the Kremlin stressed that "differences" remain ahead of a UN Security Council vote in which Russia is expected to veto a Western-drafted resolution calling for sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. - More

Obama: We'll help Israel find culprits

2012-07-18 15:25:15

In a statement issued after the terrorist attack in Bulgaria, US President Barack Obama said, "I strongly condemn today’s barbaric terrorist attack on Israelis in Bulgaria. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and injured, and with the people of Israel, Bulgaria, and any other nation whose citizens were harmed in this awful event. - More

Israel News Media

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Bulgaria terror attack: All signs point to Iran

2012-07-18 15:09:26

"All the signs are pointing to Iran.

Only in the past few months we've seen Iran try to target Israelis in Thailand, Indian, Georgia, Cyprus and more, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the deadly terror attack on a bus in carrying Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria.

"The murderous Iranian terror continues to target innocent people. Iranian terror is spreading worldwide... Israel will react to it with force," he said. - More

Israel News Media

Suicide blast kills defence minister during meeting in Damascus, state TV says

2012-07-18 04:10:03

A suicide bomber struck the National Security building in the Syrian capital Wednesday, killing the defence minister and wounding other senior officials in a brazen attack on the seat of government power, state-run TV said.

Navy: US ship fires on boat off Dubai, 1 killed

2012-07-16 11:23:51

A U.S. Navy ship opened fire on a small boat racing toward it Monday near the Gulf city of Dubai, killing one person, according to American officials.

Lt. Greg Raelson, a spokesman for the Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said a security team aboard the USNS Rappahannock issued a series of warnings before resorting to lethal force near Dubai's Jebel Ali port. - More

Syrian capital sees heavy clashes for 2nd day

2012-07-16 04:54:44

Activists say opposition fighters are clashing with Syrian government forces in the capital of Damascus today for a second day.

The fighting in several neighbourhoods is among the heaviest since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime began in March last year, activists and residents say.

Open eNews Topic: How would a President Romneys Cabinet look?

2012-07-16 03:48:25

Beyond the Bain Capital argument, what can we take from Governor Romney's past cabinet selections? http://twitpic.com/a891de

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Governor Romney furnished 23 years of tax returns while being vetted by Senator John McCain

2012-07-15 16:46:45

Both former Chief of Staff to the President, Rahm Emmanuel and Senior Campaign Advisor David Axelrod noted Governor Mitt Romney readily furnished 23 years of tax returns to the John McCain Campaign when Romney was being vetted for the Vice Presidency in 2008. Emmanuel, on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, went as far as speculating that possibly inconsistencies with the returns was the reason Senator McCain went with Governor Sarah Palin.

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AU chooses Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as leader

2012-07-15 16:19:18

The African Union has chosen South African Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as its leader, making her the first woman to hold the post. Ms Dlamini-Zuma beat incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon after a closely fought contest for the chairmanship of the organisation.

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JPMorgan says bad trade has ballooned to $5.8B

2012-07-13 12:44:12

JPMorgan Chase said Friday that a bad trade had cost the bank $5.8 billion this year, almost triple its original estimate, and raised the prospect that traders had improperly tried to conceal the blunder.

"This has shaken our company to the core," CEO Jamie Dimon said.

Drudge: Condi emerges as frontrunner in VP choice

2012-07-13 06:23:32

Late Thursday evening, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign launched a new fundraising drive,

'Meet The VP' -- just as Romney himself has narrowed the field of candidates to a handful, sources reveal.

And a surprise name is now near the top of the list: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice! The timing of the announcement is now set for 'coming weeks'.

Protesters demand Annans removal

2012-07-13 03:48:46

Syrian protesters Friday demanded the removal of international envoy Kofi Annan after government forces shelled a village a day earlier, killing hundreds, opposition activists said.

Annan, a former U.N. chief, is serving as a special envoy to Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League.

Obama: Biggest Mistake as President...

2012-07-13 03:42:36

President Obama, in an interview with CBS News' Charlie Rose, says his biggest mistake as President was not conveying a sense of inspiration to the American people during his first term. President Obama indicated that he would do a better job of telling a story of hope and optimism in a possible second term as President of the United States.

"When I think about what we've done well and what we haven't done well," the president said, "the mistake of my first term - couple of years - was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that's important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times."

Romney says Obama naive when it comes to Chavez

2012-07-11 18:45:19

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says President Barack Obama is "simply naive" if he thinks Venezuela's leader does not pose a threat to the United States.

Romney's comments follow Obama's interview this week with a Miami TV station in which he was asked to assess the relationship between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iran.

Episcopal Church Approves Same-Sex Blessing

2012-07-10 19:01:10

The Episcopal Church approved a proposal Tuesday to allow Episcopal priests to conduct services blessing same-sex relationships.The approval makes the Episcopal Church the largest U.S. denomination to approve a ceremony blessing same-sex unions.

PAN calls for investigating irregularities in campaign Pena Nieto

2012-07-10 09:49:36

The National Executive Committee (CEN) PAN asked election officials to investigate the override funding caps were allegedly in the campaign of PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto and announced they will not support the PRD in the investigation into the Monex.

ICC Jails Congolese Warlord

2012-07-10 09:28:00

Taking into account all the factors… the court sentences Mr Lubanga to 14 years in prison, presiding Judge Adrian Fulford told The Hague-based court.

He said the court has taken into account the time Lubanga has already spent behind bars since March 2006, meaning he will effectively spend eight years in prison.

Obama seeks to shift focus from jobs to taxes

2012-07-10 01:27:16

President Barack Obama is hitting the road to press Congress to extend tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners, framing a debate with Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans over tax fairness.

Romney 's campaign said the president was trying to draw attention from a limp economic recovery.

Indiana drought worst on crop conditions since 1988

2012-07-05 18:00:24

Indiana crop conditions continue to deteriorate daily as the drought worsens to a level not seen since 1988, Purdue Extension corn specialist Bob Nielsen said Thursday.

The state’s corn crop has fallen off such that only 19 percent was rated good to excellent by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nielsen said at a news conference at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

As of July 1, more than 90 percent of the crop acres were rated as short to very short for soil moisture.

Romney undisclosed Bermuda holdings

2012-07-04 20:48:43

President Obama’s re-election campaign pounced on recent reports about Mitt Romney’s offshore holdings as new details emerged about a Bermuda-based company that was omitted from multiple financial disclosure reports.

In a Twitter post, the Obama campaign quoted Vice President Joe Biden as saying last week, We need to choose someone who invests in America, not in a Swiss bank account.

CERN celebrates as Higgs signal reaches significance

2012-07-04 08:36:39

Today, in two seminars held at CERN, the European center for physics, announced evidence that the elusive Higgs particle has finally been discovered.

Physics' Standard Model describes the fundamental particles that make up all matter, like quarks and electrons, as well as the particles that mediate their interactions through forces like electromagnetism and the weak force. Back in the 1960s, theorists extended the model to incorporate what has become known as the Higgs mechanism, which provides many of the particles with mass.

One consequence of the Standard Model's version of the Higgs is that there should be a force-carrying particle, called a boson, associated with the Higgs field. - More

Romney/Murdoch secret meeting

2012-07-02 11:06:26

Obama Campaign adviser David Axelrod took to Twitter this morning to ask why the press let Mitt Romney hold a secret meeting with Fox News magnate Rupert Murdoch.

How long does media let Mitt get away w/out pool coverage, tweeted Axelrod after noting that the "world only learned from Rupert's tweet" about Murdochs meeting with Romney last week.

PRI leader Pena Nieto is apparent winner of Mexican presidential election

2012-07-01 21:55:44

In a turning point for Mexico, the once-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party prepared Sunday night to celebrate what a spokesman called the resounding triumph of its presidential candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto.

Throngs of supporters flocked to the headquarters of the PRI, as the party is known for its Spanish acronym, to celebrate the anticipated return to power of a party that kept a monopolistic grip on Mexico for an uninterrupted seven decades.

Powers Agree Plan For Syrian Transitional Government

2012-06-30 16:00:56

World powers and neighbors of Syria have agreed a road map for political transition to end 16 months of bloodshed but left open the question of whether President Bashar Al-Assad can take part. However, after talks in Geneva, international envoy Kofi Annan said he doubted Syrians would pick individuals with "blood on their hands.

Rasmussen Poll: Obama enjoying bump from High Court Ruling

2012-06-30 15:41:37

The latest Rasmussen poll is indicating a modest bump for President Obama as a result of the Supreme Court Affordable Care Act ruling. The poll also showed Obama leading for the first time in consecutive weeks.

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Formally Charges Armstrong Of Doping

2012-06-29 17:07:15

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said that one of its panels reviewed the evidence against Lance Armstrong and decided to formally charge the seven-time Tour de France winner with doping. The AP reports if Armstrong fights the charges, the case goes to an arbitration panel, which will decide the merits.

House Approves Highway Funding Bill

2012-06-29 11:30:04

House lawmakers approved a $120 billion highway bill Friday that would renew federal funding for transportation projects for the next two and a quarter years.

The vote was 373 to 52 with every Democratic lawmaker who voted supporting the measure. Not as many Republicans as some had predicted voted against the legislation, though many of those who did cited concerns over the cost of the package.

The Senate is expected to take up the bill shortly after which it will be ready for President Barack Obama to sign it into law.

Sarah Palin: Thank God for SCOTUS

2012-06-29 08:41:59

Sarah Palin says Thursdays Supreme Court ruling will be a boon for conservatives because it will get them more fired up to vote in November. Thank you, SCOTUS. This Obamacare ruling fires up the troops as Americas eyes are opened! Thank God, she said in a message posted on Facebook.

Campaign impact: Obama, Romney seize on ruling

2012-06-28 17:44:54

Battling fiercely for the White House, President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney implored voters to see the Supreme Court's health care ruling in different ways Thursday, with Obama appealing for people to move on with him and his challenger promising to rip up the law.

Boehner vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act

2012-06-28 10:46:58

Majority Leader John Boehner took to the airwaves vowing to real health care and stating the American people will display their displeasure with the Affordable Care legislation on Election Day this November. Analyst has speculated the vote will largely be a symbolic measure because it will likely fail in the Senate.

Obama health care law: Supreme Court upholds key part

2012-06-28 08:18:46

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual insurance requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The 5-4 decision is a big win for the president. It rejects opponents' arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty.

The court said the mandate can be construed as a tax, meaning the government can tax people for not having health insurance.

Russia supports Annan unity government plan for Syria

2012-06-28 01:34:38

Russia and other big powers have agreed to back a proposal by UN envoy Kofi Annan for a national unity government to lead political change in Syria.Western diplomats say the proposed cabinet could include members of the opposition and government, but no-one who would undermine its credibility.

Mexican Pena Nieto has big lead

2012-06-27 17:44:30

Mexican presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto goes into Sunday's election with a wide lead over his rivals, opinion polls showed on Wednesday, putting him on track to return to power the party that ruled for much of the last century.

Iran Says Oil Embargo Will Hurt EU Members

2012-06-27 17:40:49

Iran has said that the European Union's decision to impose oil embargo on Tehran will hurt the interests of EU members. EU's "unilateral" and "illogical" behavior of imposing oil sanctions on Iran will damage the positive atmosphere of cooperation between the two sides, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in Tehran on Tuesday.

Such political decisions will also hurt the Europeans' interests, he added.

Taliban video shows 17 beheaded Pakistani soldiers

2012-06-27 17:36:20

The Taliban released a video Wednesday that they say shows the heads of 17 Pakistani soldiers captured in a cross-border raid from Afghanistan this week and beheaded.

Meanwhile, a bomb in a railway station in Pakistan's southwest killed at least five people, police said.

Obama, GOP swap warnings

2012-06-27 12:44:12

President Obama and House Republicans are giving each other political warnings before Thursday's scheduled contempt of Congress vote against Attorney General Eric Holder.

If the Republican-run House does hold Holder in contempt, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, "it will be viewed for what it is ... as political theater, an action taken by Congress that does not respond to the most urgent priorities of the American people."

Wildfires burning Colorado

2012-06-27 01:43:31

The Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs has forced more than 32,000 people out of their homes and destroyed an unknown number of structures.

U.S. Supreme Court issues ruling on SB1070

2012-06-25 09:00:44

In a split opinion, the Supreme Court rejected arguments by the Obama administration that the provision of SB 1070, approved by lawmakers two years ago, illegally intrudes into the exclusive power of the federal government to regulate immigration. The majority said U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton should not have enjoined the law until state courts had an opportunity to review it and see how it would be implemented. - More

Ariz. immigrants group not surprised by ruling

2012-06-25 08:53:57

An Arizona immigrant rights group says it is not surprised by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on a state immigration law. Puente Arizona director Carlos Garcia said Monday the organization expected the high court to uphold part of the law which requires police to check the status of someone suspected to be in the U.S. illegally.

Prepping for Tropical Storm Debby

2012-06-24 21:09:36

Governor Robert Bentley and Emergency Management Agency Director Art Faulkner will be meeting with local leaders Monday to figure out how to prepare for Tropical Storm Debby. Changes in the forecast track for Debby show that people across the state need to be prepared before the storm hits.

Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood wins

2012-06-24 08:39:40

Islamist Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was declared Egypts first democratic president on Sunday by the state election committee, which said he had defeated former general Ahmed Shafik with 51.7 percent of last weekends run-off vote. He succeeds Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown 16 months ago after a popular uprising. The military council which has ruled the biggest Arab nation since then has this month curbed the powers of the presidency, meaning the head of state will have to work closely with the army on a planned democratic constitution.

Turkey to Do What is Required

2012-06-23 16:13:37

Turkish President Gul said regarding a Turkish jet was shot down by Syria on Friday over the southwest of southern province of Hatay that Turkey would do what was required on the incident after everything became clear.

Sandusky Guilty in Sex-Abuse Case

2012-06-22 19:43:05

A jury convicted former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on 45 counts of child-sex-abuse, closing a dark chapter for Penn State that led to the ouster of a university president and icon Joe Paterno and cast a cloud over the rural center of this state.

Syria shoots down warplane from Turkey

2012-06-22 19:20:59

Turkey searched for a missing fighter-jet and held an emergency security summit yesterday, as the prime minister backed off reported comments suggesting Syria had downed the aircraft.

The military plane - reportedly an F-4 Phantom with two pilots aboard - lost radio contact and vanished off radar screens around 0900 GMT over the eastern Mediterranean, near the border with Syria.

Democrats Defy Christie By Delaying Tax Cut in $31.7 Billion Budget

2012-06-22 07:49:32

Defying Governor Christie's veto threats, Senate Democrats took the first steps to approve a $31.7 billion budget that does not include an immediate tax cut and to impose a new millionaire's tax in order to increase property tax credits for senior citizens and low-to-middle-income homeowners.

The Senate Budget Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to approve the budget bill, which sets aside $183 million in a special property tax relief fund that would be used to enable an additional property tax cut next April, but only if the Christie administration is on track to meeting its projected revenue growth of 7.2 percent, said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen). - More

LeBron triple-double, title

2012-06-21 20:51:00

Even NBA Finals co-star Kevin Durant‘s hot, aggressive shooting can’t stop the Heat through three quarters. Miami leads 95-71 with one quarter to play in the game and, perhaps, the season. Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder trail 3-1 in the series and would be eliminated with a loss.

Romney faces Latino group

2012-06-21 19:38:54

Romney told a Hispanic audience that he would end the first-come, first-served green card system. He says he would be more selective as to who can legally come to the United States. And he says he would "staple a green card to your diploma" for immigrants who earn an advanced degree in the United States.

House committee cites Holder for contempt

2012-06-20 20:31:56

A House committee Wednesday voted along partisan lines to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to turn over documents on the Justice Department's handling of Operation Fast and Furious.

Obama Extends Executive Privilege to Holder

2012-06-20 09:05:57

The White House on Wednesday extended executive privilege to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding documents related to the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-walking operation, a move that increases the administration's political stake in an ongoing congressional investigation that may lead to a vote of contempt against the Justice Department's top official.

Holder was scheduled to meet with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, to turn over scores of documents sought for months by the panel, which has been investigating the operation, which has been tied to the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, and the attorney general's role in it. - More

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seeks asylum

2012-06-19 19:05:49

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after failing in his bid to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sex crime allegations. The 40-year-old Australian is said to be inside the building in Knightsbridge, having gone there yesterday afternoon and requested asylum under the United Nations Human Rights Declaration.

Hosni Mubarak clinically dead, his doctors say

2012-06-19 16:20:53

Toppled president Hosni Mubarak has been pronounced clinically dead upon his arrival at a military hospital in the upscale neighbourhood of Maadi, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA.

Medical sources told MENA that Mubarak's heart stopped after efforts to resuscitate him failed.

Thousands rally in Tahrir square

2012-06-19 10:21:44

Cairo on Tuesday braced for protests against the ruling military's bid to grab new powers, with the Muslim Brotherhood set to take part after claiming a win for its candidate in presidential elections.

Russian Warships Going to Syrian Naval Base

2012-06-18 18:45:19

Reports surfaced that Russian ships are headed to a Syrian Naval Base in the wake of what some analyst are calling a possible civil war. Russia is also deploying a detachment of Marines to protect Russian civilians and their military base. Both China and Russia continue to be staunch supporters of Syria even after reports of massacres of both women and children.

Muslim Brotherhood Mursi takes lead

2012-06-17 23:08:33

The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi has taken the lead over his rival Ahmed Shafiq in Egypt's presidential polls, according to initial estimates.

Mursi, a conservative Islamist, has secured 51.51 per cent of a tally of 9.554 million votes counted until 3 a.m. (01 a.m. GMT) in Egypt's first ever free presidential election, added the estimates based on counting across the country's 27 governorates. - More

Rodney King Found Dead at 47

2012-06-17 10:44:08

Rodney King, whose police brutality case in 1991 led to deadly riots in Los Angeles, was found dead in a swimming pool in Rialto, California, police told CNN. - More

Greek Elections Could Decide The Country's Eurozone Future

2012-06-17 06:26:38

World markets and perhaps especially the members of the European monetary union are watching Greece very closely.

The country is voting on a new Parliament today, after a previous election left parliament deadlocked with no clear winner and without a coalition. - More

Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz

2012-06-16 16:28:14

For the second time in less than a year, Saudi Arabia was thrown into the process of naming a new heir to the country's 88-year-old king following the death Saturday of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz. - More

Radiohead stage collapses, one dead

2012-06-16 16:23:05

The collapse of a stage on Saturday hours before a concert by the alternative rock band Radiohead killed one person and seriously injured a second, police and paramedics said. - More

Romney Responds to Immigration Policy Change

2012-06-15 18:01:01

Mitt Romney declined to answer a question of whether he would reverse President Obama's new immigration policy change that was announced Friday.

U.S. will stop deporting young illegal immigrants

2012-06-15 09:22:45

The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. - More

Forest boy Ray identified as Dutch

2012-06-15 06:07:04

The forest boy known previously as 'Ray' has been identified as Robin van Helsum from the town of Hengelo, the Netherlands, Dutch police confirmed on Friday morning. - More

Egypt court orders dissolution of lower parliament

2012-06-14 12:45:50

In blow to Islamists, ruling includes green light for Muslim Brotherhood rival candidate Shafiq to continue presidential bid. - More

Final sendoff for Ngong crash victims

2012-06-14 01:21:22

Burial plans for Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode – both killed in Sunday Ngong, Kenya chopper crash – are complete. Sources reveal their charred remains were identified during a post-mortem on Monday. Close family members were able to pick out their loved ones. Given the state of the bodies it is unlikely there would be any viewing of the body. - More

The President claimed today by the UN Falklands

2012-06-14 01:16:09

Not expected a cordial meeting and much less friendly. A tense but historic meeting will be today at 15 in the Decolonization Committee of the United Nations building in the heart of the island of Manhattan. - More

Lance Armstrong faces new doping charges

2012-06-13 17:01:09

The Post cited a 15-page charging letter by the USADA. It said the agency, which oversees anti-doping in Olympic sports in the United States, was empowered to bring charges that could lead to suspension from competition and the rescinding of awards but did have not authority to bring criminal charges. - More

Chase CEO Dimon to Apologize

2012-06-13 06:37:16

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, will testify before the Senate Banking Committee about his firm's embarrassing trading loss. The bank lost between two and five billion dollars on a risky and complex set of trades. CBS News' Nancy Cordes reports. - More

Shellie Zimmerman arrested on perjury

2012-06-12 14:53:02

Shellie Zimmerman, the wife of the man accused of murdering the Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, was arrested on a perjury charge on Tuesday. - More

Whiteys girlfriend gets 8 years

2012-06-12 12:32:00

Helping mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger elude authorities for 16 years while he was one of the most-wanted fugitives in the world will cost Catherine Greig eight years behind bars, a federal judge said Tuesday. - More

Pictures Of Causeway Cannibal Victim

2012-06-12 10:56:17

Doctors have released photographs of Ronald Poppo, more than two weeks after the homeless man had much of his face chewed off during an attack by so-called Causeway Cannibal Rudy Eugene over the Memorial Day weekend. - More

Feds, Florida in dueling lawsuits over voter purge

2012-06-12 00:59:02

The U.S. Department of Justice will sue Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s administration over the state’s attempts to purge ineligible voters, a U.S. assistant attorney general said Monday, the same day Scott sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for holding up the effort. - More

Commerce Sec. Hit N Run

2012-06-11 05:50:34

U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson was hospitalized today and under investigation for alleged felony hit-and-run in connection with three weekend traffic crashes that occurred in the San Gabriel Valley in the span of a few minutes, authorities said.

The investigation is being conducted by the San Gabriel Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the two agencies said in a joint statement.

Kibaki declares 3 days of mourning

2012-06-10 19:12:26

President Mwai Kibaki has declared three days of national mourning starting Monday following the tragic deaths of the Internal Security Minister George Saitoti his assistant Orwa Ojode and four police officers. - More

China to launch manned spacecraft

2012-06-09 22:07:33

China will launch a manned spacecraft this month, state news agency Xinhua said Saturday, in the latest step in a programme aimed at giving the country a permanent space station by 2020.

The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and its carrier rocket have already been moved to the launch platform at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, Xinhua said, quoting an official with the country's manned space programme. - More

US attorney general investigates high profile leaks

2012-06-08 21:11:14

US Attorney General Eric Holder appointed two prosecutors to lead a criminal investigation of high-profile leaks of classified national security secrets. - More

Romney dishonest about Vietnam War?

2012-06-08 01:53:34

The AP has reported that, over a 5 year period during the height of the Vietnam War, candidate for President Willard Mitt Romney received 4 draft deferments to avoid going to Vietnam. Due to the Wisconsin recall election this story has missed the news cycle with the exception of liberal news shows like Martin Bashir, Rachel Maddow and The Ed Show. Romney received deferments as a student at Standford University and while doing missionary work in France.

At question are earlier statements that Romney made about the War. As a Presidential Candidate in 2007 Romney told the Boston Globe:

"I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam."

And as a Massachusetts US Senate candidate in 1994, he told The Boston Herald,

"I was not planning on signing up for the military. It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft."

John McCain, who staked his election on his experiences in Vietnam and serving in a POW war camp, has fully endorsed Romney's candidacy and lends his brand to attacking President Obama's foreign policy credentials to blunt the successes of the administration. President Obama is the first President of our era who was not eligible for the Vietnam draft, but has enhanced the Bush/Cheney policy of taking the fight to Al Qaeda and killing its leader, Osama bin Laden.

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Hillary Clinton calls for full transfer of power

2012-06-07 03:08:31

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has called for a full transfer of power from Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime, following reports of a fresh massacre in the country. - More

Boston Globe - Reports Heard From Syria of New Massacre

Clacton Gazette - Cameron condemns new Syria massacre

Long View News Journal - U.S., allies start work on Syria transition plan

KBOI - Geithner Calls on World Community to Hit Syria with Harsher Sanctions

hindustan times - Dozens slaughtered in new Syria massacre

6.46 Million Hashed Passwords Leaked?

2012-06-06 08:17:09

A user in a Russian forum is claiming to have hacked LinkedIn to the tune of almost 6.5 million account details. The user uploaded 6,458,020 hashed passwords, but no usernames. It's not clear if they managed to download the usernames, but it's likely that both have been downloaded. - More

Regulator: JP Morgan Changed Risk Strategy

2012-06-05 23:33:39

Starting late last year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced the amount of hedging it was doing to contain potential losses, according to a top federal regulator. - More

Putin: Russia and China Cooperating Well

2012-06-05 10:34:06

Russia-China cooperation on many issues has reached a high level and has facilitated the resolution of international and regional crises in a most effective way, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Tuesday. - More

Top Al-Qaeda Leader Killed In Pakistan

2012-06-04 23:15:34

Reports say a U.S. drone strike has targeted a senior Al-Qaeda leader, but it was unclear whether he was among those hit in the northwestern Pakistan incident.

U.S. and Pakistani government sources said Abu Yahya al Libi was the target of a drone strike early on June 4 in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region. - More

Pakistan News

Canadian Psycho Arrested

2012-06-04 08:55:10

POLICE in Berlin have arrested a man suspected of being the 'Canadian Psycho', who is thought to have killed and chopped up his lover and filmed the attack.

A police spokesman confirmed Luka Rocco Magnotta, a 29-year-old Canadian gay former porn star, was picked up by authorities in an internet cafe in Neukoelln, a working-class district of Berlin, on Monday. - More

President Jonathan 3 days mourning

2012-06-03 16:38:24

A Nigerian official has said there were no survivors from a plane that crashed into a three-storey apartment building in the country's largest city, Lagos. State officials say there were 153 people on board. President Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of mourning. Harold Denuren, head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, said the Dana Air flight was heading from the capital Abuja to Lagos in Nigeria. The Lagos state government said in a statement that 153 people were on the Dana Air flight Sunday while emergency officials have put the figure at 140 to 150.

Over 150 Dead in Nigerian Plane Crash

2012-06-03 09:47:42

The Dana Air flight was taking passengers from Lagos to Abuja, said Harold Denuren, head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

"It was a Dana (airline) flight out of (the capital) Abuja to Lagos with about 153 people on board," he said. "I don't believe there are any survivors." - More

Nigerian News

Annan Warns of Looming War in Syria

2012-06-02 23:37:15

Arab League leaders are trying to increase the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while their envoy to Syria warned "the specter of all-out war" in Syria grows by the day. Arab League members met Saturday in Doha for an emergency session with United Nations and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. - More

More Syrian News

How the British hostages were rescued

2012-06-02 23:32:10

The four women were being held in a cave deep inside the thick Koh-e-Laram Forest within the Shahri Buzurg district of north western Badakshan, a remote region close to the Tajikistan border Six days earlier the four aid workers had been seized by kidnappers as they travelled on horseback from the Yafta to the Yavan districts of Badakshan.

The hostages were believed to be alive and well but worryingly the kidnappers were known to have been in contact with a small pocket of Taliban fighters. - More

Zimmermans Credibility Under Fire

2012-06-02 23:21:26

SANFORD, Fla. — The credibility of Trayvon Martin’s shooter could become an issue at trial after a Florida judge said that George Zimmerman and his wife lied to the court about their finances to obtain a bond, legal experts say. That’s because the case hinges on jurors believing Zimmerman’s account of what happened the night that the 17-year-old Martin was killed.

Zimmerman wasn’t charged in the case until more than a month after the shooting, as the former neighborhood watch volunteer maintained that he shot Martin in self-defense under Florida’s so-called stand your ground law. - More

FactCheck: Romney and Solyndra Claim

2012-06-02 10:36:12

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has revived charges about the failed solar company Solyndra as he assails President Barack Obamas green energy policy. But he didnt get the story completely straight when he accused the administration of favoring "cronies."

Solyndra, the first renewable energy company to receive a federal loan under the 2009 stimulus law, went bankrupt last year and laid off its 1,100 workers, leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than $500 million.

Fighting in Syria

2012-06-02 10:26:21

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) Gun battles between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli left at least 7 people dead and 22 wounded on Saturday, security officials said.

The Syrian conflict has repeatedly spilled over into Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, raising fears of an escalation in sectarian tensions in Lebanon.

Romney clinches Republican 2012 nomination in Texas

2012-05-30 02:04:40

New York TimesRomney clinches Republican 2012 nomination in TexasReutersBy Steve Holland | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday with a resounding victory in Texas and now faces a five-month sprint to convince voters to trust him over Democratic President Barack Obama ...Romney, on Read More...

McCain Condemns Administration on Syrian Crisis

2012-05-29 12:27:49

Washington: Senator John McCain has condemned President Barack Obama''s foreign policy and his handling of the Syrian crisis.

"This administration has a feckless foreign policy that abandons American leadership," Politico quoted McCain as saying. - More

Spain announces new bank reforms

2012-05-29 12:14:15

The Spanish government attempted to calm the financial markets last week, and head off the need to ask for a humiliating bailout, by unveiling a raft of banking reforms.

On Friday, the centre-right Partido Popular (PP) administration demanded that all banks carry out an audit of their assets, begin a ‘fire sale’ of repossessed properties, and that they increase the amount of money they hold in reserve. - More

Romney: U.S. military must remain strongest in the world

2012-05-29 06:29:49

DAWN.comRomney: U.S. military must remain strongest in the worldDetroit Free PressRepublican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney greets veterans after giving a speech Monday at the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center in San Diego. A new Gallup survey found that veterans prefer Romney by a double-digit margin.Romney Finesses Republican Differences With Read More...

Sidebar: Sidebar: A Judges Proposal to Curb Prosecutors Sentencing Power

2012-05-29 05:33:11

Judge John Gleeson says prosecutors are forcing judges to give onerous mandatory sentences for small-time offenses. Read More...

GOP ties Obama to NH student debt, ignores origins

2012-05-29 05:32:47

GOP ties Obama to NH student debt, ignores originsBoston.comIt also ranks first in student-loan debt, and now the winner of the state's Republican presidential primary is seizing on that fact to argue that President Barack Obama has let down students. Coinciding with Vice President Joe Biden's visit last week Read More...

Shots Heard, Pinpointed and Argued Over

2012-05-28 19:27:06

While more police departments are using a system that triangulates the location of gunshots, questions are also being raised about privacy and police surveillance. Read More...

Allison Macfarlane Named to Head Nuclear Agency

2012-05-25 20:57:12

Allison Macfarlane Named to Head Nuclear Agency

Romney camp stands by decision to appear with Trump

2012-05-25 20:57:05

Romney camp stands by decision to appear with Trump

Obama, Romney On Health Care: So Close, Yet So Far

2012-05-25 20:56:57

Obama, Romney On Health Care: So Close, Yet So Far

Bankia, Catalonia pile on Spanish debt worries

2012-05-25 20:56:49

Bankia, Catalonia pile on Spanish debt worries

Senate Backs Bill to Speed Drugs and Avert Shortages

2012-05-25 02:51:28

A measure to prevent drug shortages and to accelerate federal review of new and generic medications won broad support, with a similar bill on a fast track to approval in the House. Read More...

Obama Leaps Into Direct Attacks

2012-05-25 02:51:12

Unlike past presidents at this stage in the campaign, President Obama has not hesitated in directly engaging his opponent. Read More...

In Latest Sign of Print Upheaval, New Orleans Paper Scaling Back

2012-05-25 02:51:08

Circulation and staff reductions at The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and three Alabama newspapers are the latest instances of reorganization in a rapidly changing industry. Read More...

US Launches National Alzheimer's Plan

2012-05-16 12:31:28

Houston Chronicle (blog)US Launches National Alzheimer's PlanTIMEThe Obama administration is funneling millions of dollars toward finding new ways to prevent and treat Alzheimer's debilitating dementia. By Alexandra Sifferlin | @acsifferlin | May 16, 2012 | + More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's ...TexMessage: Obama administration unveils Read More...

Obama Assets Valued Between $2.6M And $8.3M

2012-05-16 12:30:44

USA TODAYObama Assets Valued Between $2.6M And $8.3MHuffington PostBy KEN THOMAS 05/16/12 12:14 AM ET WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hold assets worth between nearly $2.6 million and nearly $8.3 million, according to financial disclosure reports released Tuesday by the White House.Obama has up Read More...