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Talks between UK and Ecuador fail as Assange completes year in embassy

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:37:11 -0400

LONDON - Talks between the United Kingdom and Ecuador have ended without any breakthrough over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's fate with the Andean nation vowing not to succumb to diplomatic pressure and was ready to consider request from Edward Snowden, another whistleblower, for asylum. As the fugitive anti-secrecy advocate marks one year holed up in the London embassy of Ecuador, ...

Group of Eight leaders stop short of calling for Assad ouster

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:28:36 -0400

ENNISKILLEN - The Group of Eight industrialised nations called for a swift end to the bloody civil war in Syria and urgent peace talks but stopped short of calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in its joint statement at the end of talks Tuesday. Despite the lack of consensus among the G8 on the fate of Assad, as well as the use of chemical weapons by his regime, Canadian ...

US Names New Envoy to Africas Great Lakes

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:15:23 -0400

Former Senator Russell Feingold has been named the U.S. special envoy to Africa's troubled Great Lakes region. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who announced the appointment Tuesday, said Feingold will work closely with U.N. envoy Mary Robinson to advance a U.N. framework for peace in the region. The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has endured years of conflict and ...

US Taliban to have direct peace talks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:40:01 -0400

The US has decided to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban, senior White House officials have announced. The first meet is due to take place in the coming days in Qatar's capital, where the Taliban have opened their first official overseas office, BBC reported. US officials told reporters the first formal meeting between the US and Taliban representatives was expected to take place in Doha ...

Man disrupts US flight by screaming about CIA

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:20:02 -0400

A man stood up from his seat during a flight to the US, and screamed about the CIA, security leaks and poison, but was subdued by fellow passengers, a media report said Tuesday. The disruption occurred Monday during the United Airlines Flight 116 from Hong Kong that eventually landed safely at its scheduled destination in Newark, CNN reported. Passengers onboard the Boeing 777 flight said the ...

Putin Obama agree to push for Syria talks in Geneva

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:10:06 -0400

Beijing, June 18 (Xinhua-ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday held here face-to-face talks on Syria on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Lough Erne, Britain. At a press conference after their two-hour talks, the two leaders admitted they had big differences on Syria, but they agreed to push for a summit in Geneva, Switzerland. "Our positions do not ...

Baffled Liverpool to tell Suarez to stop Madrid pronouncements and make transfer request

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:10:02 -0400

Fed up with their controversial striker Luis Suarez's almost daily public pronouncements on his future, Liverpool is reportedly set to lay down the law and demand that Suarez put in an official transfer request if he remains determined to leave for Real Madrid. The Uruguay international, currently playing in the Confederations Cup in Brazil, has turned what promises to be this summer's biggest ...

US Cuba to discuss renewal of direct mail service

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:30:02 -0400

The US and Cuba will discuss this week the possibility of re-establishing direct mail, suspended 50 years ago, a State Department spokesperson told EFE Monday. Talks of a "technical" nature will take place Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington among officials of the State Department, the US Postal Service and the Cuban government, said the spokesperson. "We think that re-establishing a direct ...

NSA whistleblower Snowden denies being Chinese spy

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:20:01 -0400

Beijing, June 18 (Xinhua-ANI): The U.S. whistle-blower Edward Snowden said accusations from American politicians that he is a Chinese spy are a "predictable smear" designed to "distract from the issue of U.S. government misconduct", according to a South China Morning Post report on Tuesday. In the second public comments since he admitted exposing secret U.S. cyberspying programmes, Snowden told ...

18 Ibero-American films to be screened in Shanghai

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:50:01 -0400

Ibero-American films will not compete in the Shanghai International Film Festival, or SIFF, but will be represented with 18 films in Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, Basque and Catalan, among the more than 300 selected for event. Latin presence will therefore show a sharp drop from 2012, up to now the biggest showing by the Ibero-American film industry, when it had two movies competing - Spain's ...

Outrage over online teaching of Quran to Brit students by banned JuD hardliners

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:40:03 -0400

Easy Qu'ran Memorizing, a website which aims at providing online Qu'ran lessons to students from Middle East, Europe and North America has the tutor with a track record of being a member of the political arm of a banned terrorist organization. Mian Shahzib, a hardcore Islamist and long-term follower of the UN proscribed Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD) teaching Qu'ran to British pupils through his website ...

Becks was offered kicker trial by NFL scout while at LA Galaxy

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:10:02 -0400

Football legend David Beckham had reportedly been offered a trial as a kicker for an American football side. According to the Mirror, the offer came in as Beckham contemplated his future at the Los Angeles Galaxy and before he enjoyed his swansong with Paris Saint Germain. A source in Hollywood said that a National Football League (NFL) franchise scout contacted the retired footballer to see if ...

Obama defends surveillance of American communications

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:10:01 -0400

As the US whistleblower accused President Barack Obama of worsening "abusive" practices, Obama defended extensive surveillance of US communications, saying it had disrupted multiple terrorist plots and had adequate checks and balances. Reacting to Edward Snowden's charges that expanded surveillance programmes instead of curtailing them as he promised as a candidate, he asserted that the ...

AP sources 4 US troops killed in Afghanistan

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:52:33 -0400

The attack comes as U.S. and allied forces formally handed over control of the country's security to the Afghan army and police in a ceremony in Kabul. The transition to Afghan-led security means U.S. and other foreign combat troops will not be directly carrying the fight to the insurgency, but will advise and back up the Afghan forces as needed with air support and medical ...

Couple guilty in murder of mother of 2-month-old

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:52:32 -0400

PLANADA, Calif. -; A California couple is facing prison time after juries convicted them of luring an acquaintance to their home and strangling her to kidnap her 2-month-old ...

Suburban NY woman indicted on pot-growing charges

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:52:31 -0400

A woman from the ritzy New York City suburb of Scarsdale who is accused of raising thousands of marijuana plants was compared Tuesday to Colombian cocaine ...

McCaskill backs Hillary Clinton as next Dem Prez nominee

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:49:44 -0400

WASHINGTON – Sen. Claire McCaskill, who once joked she wouldn’t let her daughter near Bill Clinton, today gave Hillary Clinton a glowing endorsement to be the next Democratic Party nominee for president.McCaskill’s support was spelled out in a statement posted by Ready for Hillary, an unofficial pro-Clinton political action committee."Hillary Clinton had to give up her ...

Miami Beach must pay attorneys’ fees in Urban Beach Week shooting

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:48:14 -0400

The city of Miami Beach was ordered Tuesday to pay legal costs for violating a court order requiring it to turn over documents, photographs and recordings in connection to a fatal police-involved shooting on Memorial Day 2011.Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Victoria Sigler stopped short of sanctioning the city’s attorneys, but raised her voice and thoroughly scolded them for using excuses to ...

Maine governor says he wont talk to 3 newspapers

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:48:13 -0400

AUGUSTA, Maine -- A spokeswoman for Maine Gov. Paul LePage says the administration will no longer comment for stories published in three of Maine's daily newspapers.Adrienne Bennett told the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/17Wn2Of ) on Tuesday the administration won't be talking to that publication, the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel. All are owned by MaineToday ...

‘Days of Rambo are over’ Women to enter combat roles

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:37:26 -0400

Physical standards will not be lowered for women, who will be required to do the same tasks as the men they work alongside. Women have already been battle-tested under enemy fire in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some say if women are given the chance, they'll make the cut. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski ...

House passes far-reaching anti-abortion bill

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:37:24 -0400

View Photo Associated Press/Carolyn Kaster - Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, at House Judiciary Committee hearing to discuss the Strengthen and Fortify ...

New York regulators fine Deloitte $10m over StanChart

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:36:42 -0400

Nikhil Kumar is The Independent's New York correspondent. He was formerly assistant editor on the foreign desk and has also done a variety of jobs on the city desk, where he wrote about markets, commodities and other business and economics ...

Officials investigating death of Puerto Rico bank executive

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:30:14 -0400

SAN JUAN (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating allegations that high-ranking bank officials in Puerto Rico conspired to have a former Doral Bank executive killed after he claimed he uncovered fraud, the U.S. attorney for the district of Puerto Rico said on ...

Did senior State Department security officials commit perjury

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:27:21 -0400

Two top officials at the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DS) -- the federal law enforcement agency that protects American diplomats and investigates allegations of criminal misconduct by State Department employees -- gave sworn testimony earlier this year that appears to be evasive at best, and untrue at worst, according to evidence obtained by Fox News. The officials are ...

Trial of accused Fort Hood gunman moved to at least August

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:26:41 -0400

U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan (L) appears before the Fort Hood Chief Circuit Judge Colonel Gregory Gross with a military lawyer (R) during an arraignment as seen in this courtroom sketch, July 20, ...

Jury selection moves to second phase in Trayvon Martin murder case

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:26:39 -0400

1 of 3. George Zimmerman stands as the judge leaves the courtroom as jury selection continues in his second-degree murder trial in Sanford, Florida, June 18, ...

Cancellation of Arab American Film Festival a Troubling Sign

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:26:34 -0400

This is where we are today, as a country and a society. You can't even hold an Arab American film festival in Dearborn, Michigan, a center of the Arab American community in this country. The festival was supposed to run this month, but last month the Arab American Chamber of Commerce pulled the plug on it. What a shame! Young filmmakers from across the US and the world would have come ...

Griffin shipwreck Scientists say timber in Lake Michigan centuries old

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:25:00 -0400

Diver Jim Nowka of Great Lakes Exploration Group inspects a wooden beam extending from the floor of Lake Michigan that experts believe may be part of the Griffin, a ship that sank in ...

Conn. chimpanzee victim appeals lawsuits dismissal

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:25:00 -0400

The state claims commissioner on Friday approved the state's motion to dismiss Charla Nash's claim, saying the law at the time allowed private ownership of chimpanzees and didn't require officials to seize legal animals. The state generally is immune to lawsuits, unless allowed by the claims commissioner. Nash's lawyer, Charles Willinger Jr., told The Associated Press Tuesday ...

Tornado briefly touches down on Denver International Airport runways

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:25:00 -0400

A live-streamed web cam of a construction project at the Denver International Airport Tuesday afternoon shows dark, cloudy skies. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area, forcing passengers to take cover in airport ...

Watch Bronx Principal Accused of Making Bomb Threats

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:24:16 -0400

Shocking claims from teachers at a school in the blocks and they say their principal. Threatened to blow to school with them inside homework and Bronx intermediate school 232 -- -- tight eye ...

U.S. lawmakers urge careful review of American-US Airways deal

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:21:00 -0400

WASHINGTON, June 18 | Tue Jun 18, 2013 7:21pm EDT WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Two U.S. lawmakers with antitrust oversight have urged the Obama administration to carefully review a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways Group to ensure that it will not lead to higher prices for air travelers. US Airways announced on Feb. 14 that it planned to buy American Airlines parent ...

MLB Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Yankees ppd. rain

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:19:15 -0400

Tuesday's game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees has been postponed due to rain in New York. The game will be made up Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT as part of a split doubleheader, with the second game scheduled for 7:05 ...

Feds target contacts of DEA agents killer

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:52:44 -0400

DEA ) agent - prohibiting U.S. residents from conducting financial or commercial transactions with them and freezing any assets they have under U.S. ...

Mississippi leans on Google to crack down on illegal products

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:51:36 -0400

Reuters © An employee rides her bike past a logo next to the main entrance of the Google building in Zurich July 9, 2009. REUTERS/Christian ...

Senators to Obama Arming Syrian rebels not enough

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:12 -0400

WASHINGTON -; A bipartisan trio of key senators is demanding that President Barack Obama take more decisive action to stem the military advance by Syrian President Bashar Assad's ...

Officials Man mauled by bear outside Wis. cabin

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:12 -0400

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says the man was attacked in his yard near Shell Lake on Monday night. DNR carnivore specialist David MacFarland says the man's dog apparently initiated contact with the ...

What it takes to become an Army Ranger

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:11 -0400

There are many different requirements, standards and tests for the wide variety of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and commando units - ranging from infantry and combat engineer to pararescue and special ...

Man pleads guilty to smuggling snakes on planes

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:10 -0400

Prosecutors say the 63-year-old eco-tourism guide bought the seven live snakes in August 2012 in a market in Lima, Peru, and smuggled them in his jacket on flights from Lima to Miami and then to ...

IRS worker No political bias against tea party

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:08 -0400

WASHINGTON -; An Internal Revenue Service manager and self-described conservative Republican said the close scrutiny of tea party groups' tax forms originated in his Cincinnati IRS office and not in Washington, according to a full transcript of his interview by congressional investigators released ...

Lil Wayne steps on American flag during God Bless Amerika video shoot

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:37:27 -0400

Photo credit: Lil Wayne (Getty Images) Lil Wayne insists that he didn't really mean to stomp all over the American flag during a video shoot, despite evidence to the contrary. While filming a music video for the song "God Bless Amerika," the 30-year-old raps in front of an American flag that drops to the ground, at which point he walks all over Old Glory for the better part of a ...

From the Archives Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:34:12 -0400

On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the space shuttle Challenger for a 147-hour mission. NBC's Robert Bazell Reports from Cape Canaveral, ...

Accused Fort Hood gunmans request for a trial delay denied

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:34:02 -0400

Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 31 in a November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, is pictured in an undated Bell County Sheriff's Office photograph. An Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 and wounding nearly three dozen others at a Fort Hood, Texas, military post in 2009 has been denied a trial delay by a judge.Major Nidal Hasan, 42, who has been allowed ...

Manning trial focuses on whether tweets meet evidence standards

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:34:01 -0400

By Medina Roshan, Reuters FORT MEADE, Md. - The court-martial of the U.S. soldier accused of providing reams of classified documents to WikiLeaks in a case illustrating the challenge of keeping secrets in the digital age must decide whether tweets and Web pages can be admitted as evidence.Lawyers for Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, who is accused of providing more than 700,000 files to ...

Worlds oldest manatee gets a check-up

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:34:01 -0400

Veterinarians check the health of the world's oldest manatee and say that studying these sea mammals is a great learning experience for scientists. WFLA's John Rogers ...

Hillary Clinton’s officially unofficial campaign – and 2014 gun control politics

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:34:00 -0400

MSNBC host Toure ("The Cycle"), Buzzfeed's McKay Coppins and The Atlantic's Garance Franke-Ruta debate whether the early steam building behind Hillary Clinton 2016, including an endorsement from Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, is wise - or shades of 2008; then the trio examine Vice President Biden's strong words on gun control and the role the issue may play come ...

Baked Alaska Crazy weather swings from ice to fire

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:59 -0400

By Becky Oskin, LiveScience In Alaska, houses are built to keep warm air in and cold air out, not the other way around. So with a record-setting heat wave scorching the state, residents are sweltering amid temperatures soaring past 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Southcentral Alaska hit four all-time highs yesterday (June 17), ranging between 88 F in Seward to 94 F in Talkeetna, according to the National ...

CBO 8 million to gain legal status in Senate bill

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:59 -0400

Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, adding the bill would push federal deficits lower in each of the next two decades. The eagerly awaited report by Congress' non-partisan scorekeeping agency said the legislation would increase federal spending in the form of benefits for those gaining legal status, but those expenses would be more than offset by a rise in the labor force, increasing ...

Hoffa mystery still fascinates after 4 decades

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:56 -0400

Jimmy Hoffa is an overgrown farm field where the normal calm of chirping crickets is being drowned out by a beeping backhoe, the chop of an overhead news helicopter and the bustle of reporters and onlookers. Over nearly four decades, authorities have pursued multiple leads into Hoffa's death that yielded nothing. Yet the mystery endures, fueled by a public fascination with mobsters and ...

California prosecutors Man threw ex-wife off cruise ship in Italy

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:54 -0400

By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News A man was arraigned on indictment for murder on Monday by a California grand jury for throwing his ex-wife over the side of a cruise ship, according to the Orange County District Attorney.The indictment against Lonnie Loren Kocontes, 55, includes one felony count of murder for financial ...

Report says immigration bill cuts deficit

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:54 -0400

2013. The committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly. (AP Photo/Carolyn ...

Fliers tackle passenger screaming about poison CIA Snowden

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:51 -0400

Peter Jones, of Washington, D.C., an airline passenger arriving from Hong Kong answers a question in the international arrivals area at Newark Liberty Airport, Monday, June 17, 2013, in Newark, N.J. , about a fellow passenger who claimed everyone on the flight was poisoned. The plane landed safely at Newark Liberty Airport, and the man was taken off the plane under a heavy police presence. The ...

Store owners accused of abusing workers

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:50 -0400

Federal agents and police raid more than a dozen convenience stores in New York and Virginia, and arrest owners and managers for allegedly forcing foreign workers to work very long hours, for very little pay in their stores. Jay Gray ...

Surveillance helped stop plots against NYSE and New York subway official says

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:48 -0400

FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce details how the NSA's phone surveillance program foiled a terror plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange. Joyce made the remarks while testifying Tuesday at a House ...

Prosecutor 3 Ohioans enslaved disabled mom child

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:28:42 -0400

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A mentally disabled woman and her young child were enslaved for more than a year, sometimes denied food and threatened with a pet python and pit bulls, and the woman was beaten and forced to get pain medication for her captors, authorities said Tuesday in announcing federal charges against three ...

Mother in upscale New York suburb indicted as marijuana dealer

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:27:02 -0400

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A mother of three in an upscale New York suburb was indicted on Tuesday on charges she ran a sophisticated marijuana operation, federal law enforcement officials ...

Colorado wildfire snuffs over 500 homes California fire a threat

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:23:23 -0400

DENVER/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The number of homes destroyed by a Colorado wildfire rose above 500 on Tuesday as rain dampened the flames and allowed damage assessment teams to enter charred neighborhoods, as another threatening blaze grew in ...

Ohio residents accused of holding disabled woman in slavery

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:23:22 -0400

(From left to right) Jessica Hunt, Jordie Callahan, Daniel Brown, three Ohio residents who are accused of holding a cognitively disabled woman and her daughter against their will, are pictured in this handout photo released to Reuters on June 18, ...

Fitch Rates American Equitys Senior Unsecured Notes BB

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:23:02 -0400

Fitch: Market Moves Bring Bank Interest Rate Risks to Forefront The recent rise in U.S. Treasury yields and speculation surrounding possible changes in the Fed's bond buying program have highlighted the potential risks faced by U.S. banks in a rising rate environment, according to Fitch Ratings. A sustained increase in interest rates, potentially signaling an end to the prolonged low rate ...

Group pushing Clinton bid in 2016 gets key senator’s vote

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:22:47 -0400

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Claire McCaskill endorsed an outside political group encouraging Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president in 2016, saying it was important for Democrats to build a groundswell of support for the former secretary of ...

UN Security Council likely to expand Golan peacekeeping force Fiji sending troops

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:21:36 -0400

The Security Council president says the U.N. is likely to expand its peacekeeping force in the disputed Golan Heights with more troops and heavy weapons. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant says there is "strong support" in the council for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal to expand the 913-member force to 1,250. The force was established in 1974 to monitor the ...

US State Department Screaming passenger who disrupted Hong Kong flight once worked at agency

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:21:22 -0400

NEWARK, N.J. - A U.S. State Department spokeswoman says a man who ranted about national security and screamed "I'm dead" during a flight from Hong Kong once worked at the agency. The spokeswoman said Tuesday that the passenger ended his time at the department in 2006. She gave no details about his job or why he no longer works there. The man started screaming nine hours into a ...

NFL Star to Be Questioned About Murder

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:20:22 -0400

New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez looks on during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field, Dec. 23, 2012, in Jacksonville, ...

Tornado Warning In Denver Sends Chicago Travelers Scrambling

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:19:01 -0400

Several reports of funnel clouds in the area forced them to take cover, CBS Denver reports. Tornado sirens went off all across the city when the tornado was reported and the main road to the airport -- Pena Boulevard -- was closed for a short ...

Feds charge 3 in Ohio slavery case

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:56:00 -0400

>Editor's note: For more information on this story, check out CNN affiliates WKYC, WOIO and WJW.(CNN) -- A mentally disabled woman and her daughter were held in an Ohio apartment crowded with people and animals for more than a year, forced to perform manual labor and threatened with dogs and snakes to keep them compliant, authorities said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said the people accused of ...

Some Aid Programs in Sahel Prefer Cash to Food

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:48:58 -0400

DIOURBEL, SENEGAL -- Humanitarian agencies in Africa's Sahel region are struggling to deal with a cycle of chronic food crisis. Some are moving away from traditional food aid in favor of "cash for work" programs that pay villagers to work on community improvement projects. The U.S. government is considering shifting as much as 45 percent of its $1.4 billion of traditional food aid ...

Feds propose expanding Cary immigration office

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:48:40 -0400

Cary, N.C. - Two years after local opposition scuttled plans for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in a former Cary supermarket, federal officials are looking to expand the existing office in Cary.A closed-door meeting is set for Wednesday as officials begin the pre-application process with Cary to secure more space for the ICE office.The agency uses about 2 acres on Centrewest ...

APNewsBreak Conn. chimp attack victim to appeal

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:44:48 -0400

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -; An attorney for a Connecticut woman disfigured by a friend's pet chimpanzee says he plans to appeal a decision denying her permission to sue the state for $150 million on her claim officials knew the chimp was dangerous but didn't do anything about ...

US military deaths in Afghanistan at 2103

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:44:47 -0400

As of Tuesday, June 18, 2013, at least 2,103 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press ...

NTSB Bad eyesight likely caused Okla. train crash

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:44:45 -0400

TULSA, Okla. -; An engineer killed in a fiery train collision in the Oklahoma Panhandle last year suffered from serious vision problems for much of his life, underwent several corrective procedures in the years leading up to the crash and had even complained that he couldn't distinguish between red and green signals, a doctor told a federal oversight board ...

Tornado spotted near Denver airport terminal

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:44:43 -0400

This photo provided by Mark Sarlo shows damage to a gas station after severe weather passed through the area on Monday, June 17, 2013 in La Junta, Colo. National Weather Service spokeswoman Nezette Rydell said the tornado knocked down power poles in an industrial park near La Junta on Monday, but no injuries have been reported. More storms are expected on Tuesday. La Junta Fire Chief Aaron Eveatt ...

Suit McDonalds wages put on costly debit card

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:44:42 -0400

Single mom Natalie Gunshannon has filed suit over bank fees that allegedly include $1.00 to check her balance, $1.50 to withdraw cash and $15 to replace a lost ...

UPDATE 1-Enroll America sets private outreach for Obamacare sign-up

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:42:23 -0400

Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:42pm EDT By David Morgan WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Enroll America, a nonprofit group at the center of the political fight over President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, launched a multi-state grassroots campaign on Tuesday to help sign up millions of uninsured Americans for health coverage in the coming months. The group, which has strong ties to the Obama ...

We Were Told To Lie Say Bank Of America Employees

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:41:47 -0400

Bank of America 's mortgage servicing unit consistently lied to homeowners, fraudulently denied loan modifications and offered bonuses to staff for intentionally pushing people into foreclosure, according to ...

Miami-Dade unions call for health-insurance account audit

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:40:32 -0400

The heads of three county labor unions fired up their troops outside County Hall on Tuesday afternoon, castigating Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration for carrying a $42 million surplus in the county’s health-insurance account while asking employees to contribute more toward healthcare costs. Police Benevolent Association President John Rivera, Service Employees International Union ...

Bill would honor Buffalo Soldiers role in parks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:40:27 -0400

In the decades after the Civil War, the nation's first black Army regiments guarded Yosemite and Sequoia national parks against poaching and timber thefts, a role that in hindsight made them some of the United States' first park ...

McCaskill Gives Early Endorsement to Hillary Clinton

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:37:54 -0400

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, an early backer of Barack Obama in 2008, on Tuesday announced her backing of Ready for Hillary, a group encouraging the former secretary of state to run for president in 2016. McCaskill, who was re-elected to a second term in 2012, said the group's work was critical if Clinton opts to run in 2016. "Hillary Clinton had to give up her political ...

Sen. Sessions Gang of Eight immigration bill “nowhere close to what the American people really want.”

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:37:24 -0400

Andrea Tantaros radio show to express his reservations about the Gang of Eight immigration bill – which he said was ';nowhere close to what the American people really want'; – and have a little fun with his colleague, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). Noting that Rubio has lately been expressing reservations about the border security provisions of the bill, but has been touting ...

Former New York City Councilman Pedro Gautier Espada Sentenced to Six Months’ Imprisonment

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:36:20 -0400

Earlier today, Pedro Gautier Espada was sentenced before Judge Frederic Block in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, to six months’ imprisonment, to be followed by six months’ home confinement and one year of supervised release, for theft of federal funds from Bronx-based non-profit healthcare clinics, Soundview Healthcare Network ("Soundview") and for failing to file ...

Zimmerman trial attorneys pick 40 potential jurors

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:36:06 -0400

Attorneys trying to pick a jury in George Zimmerman's murder trial have selected a pool of 40 potential jurors who will go on to a second round of ...

Miami to have its own Little Santo Domingo” before year end EFE

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:35:09 -0400

MIAMI. - Adding to Miami neighborhoods such as "Little Havana" or "Little Haiti" that already draw tourists to southern Florida's multicultural city, will be its own "Little Santo Domingo" before year end," EFE reports. "Right now I'm working on a concept to create a "Little Santo Domingo" in District 1 of Miami," the commissioner ...

White House Petition Calls for Ban of Creation Science Intelligent Design From Schools

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:33:50 -0400

The new holographic exhibit at the Creation Museum in Petersburg,, Kentucky. The exhibit was set up as part of the celebration of the five year anniversary of the Creation Museum's founding in ...

House Senate on diverging paths on agency budgets

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:31:58 -0400

FBI agents with jackhammers and shovels were digging Tuesday under a New York City house once occupied by a famed gangster who inspired Robert De Niro's character in the movie ...

Wash. delegation Feds should respect pot law

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:30:02 -0400

OLYMPIA, Wash. — More than half of Washington's congressional delegation is asking the U.S. government to respect the state's marijuana legalization effort. In a letter released Tuesday, seven members of Congress asked the Department of Justice to not pre-empt the new law or prosecute residents acting in compliance with state law. They also asked federal officials to provide ...

US Atty Disabled woman held as slave in Ohio

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:28:38 -0400

The US Attorney for Northern Ohio tells reporters three people are being accused of holding a disabled woman as a slave, and allegedly treating her "worse than the animals in the ...

Grand jury to get charges in Va. mall shooting

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:23:10 -0400

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) -- The case against a man charged with shooting two women at a community college inside a Christiansburg mall is headed to a grand ...

New Hampshire nears approval of medical marijuana law

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:22:46 -0400

By Jason McLure LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire is set to become the final state in New England to allow medical marijuana after negotiators from the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House agreed Tuesday on a bill backed by Governor Maggie Hassan. The law would allow up to four marijuana dispensaries to open as soon as 2015. Patients with cancer, HIV, ...

Gravestone of late Mayor Koch had birth date wrong

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:21:38 -0400

A worker at the Trinity Cemetery in Manhattan noticed last week that the gravestone's inscription shaved 18 years off the mayor's life after a stonecutter transposed two digits in his birth year, a Trinity spokeswoman said on ...

NewsWatch How to trade the Federal Reserve decision

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:19:15 -0400

The main question hanging over financial markets right now is when and how the Federal Open Market Committee may change its monetary policy in coming months. That's why Wednesday is shaping up to be a big markets day and MarketWatch reporters analyzed how various asset classes may react depending on the message the Fed sends to the financial ...

Americas Teacher Training Programs Arent Good Enough

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:18:06 -0400

A new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality finds "fundamental flaws and weaknesses" -- but critics have raised questions about its ...

U.S. says surveillance thwarted NYSE attack Somali funding

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:40 -0400

(Reuters) WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday identified two of the more than 50 classified cases in which they say National Security Agency eavesdropping helped thwart terrorist plots including a planned attack on the New York Stock ...

FBI releases new video of suspect in 2008 Times Square bombing

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:39 -0400

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal authorities announced a $65,000 reward on Tuesday in the unsolved 2008 case of the Times Square bomber who tried to destroy a military recruiting station before escaping on a ...

Illinois pension fix headed to legislative conference committee

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:37 -0400

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Seeking to break a weeks-long impasse in efforts to fix the state's woefully underfunded pension system, Illinois will turn to a rarely used legislative conference committee in hopes of reaching a compromise solution, Governor Pat Quinn's office said on ...

ICRC says opening its Guantanamo files would set dangerous precedent

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:36 -0400

The flag over a war crimes courtroom in Camp Justice at US Naval Base Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in this photo reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense on October 17, 2012, day three of pre-trial hearings for the five Guantanamo prisoners accused of orchestrating the ...

Fla. girl who lost feet in lawnmower accident takes first steps on prosthetic legs

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:16:03 -0400

toddler whose feet were amputated after her father accidentally backed over her with a riding lawnmower took her first steps on her new prosthetic test legs ...

Watch Grandma Grounds Glock Block Neighborhood Watch

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:15:07 -0400

Some residents in an Oregon neighborhood say they are armed and ready and they won't bother to call 911 anymore after some -- -- statue from her yard point Holloman decided. To get a concealed ...

Watch Calif. Family Seeks Sons Killer to Forgive Her

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:15:06 -0400

These two trees are planted along maple -- drive in honor of the two teens killed right here twenty years ago. Well now one of the families who lost their son wants -- Garcia to know they forgive ...

Watch Arizona Police Search Lake for Missing College Student

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:15:05 -0400

Search under way in Arizona for a nineteen year old woman missing after a night out drinking Adrian Salinas was headed to her boyfriend's house and -- -- but never made it. Her car was blown out ...

Judge Admonishes Miami Beach Attorneys In Memorial Day Shooting Probe

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:13:47 -0400

Miami Beach police have confirmed that a gun was found in the car of man who was shot to death in a police involved shooting early Monday ...

Utility Watchdog Wants ComEd To Equalize Rates Between Chicago Suburbs

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:13:41 -0400

The head of the Citizens Utility Board says consumers are charged for the amount of electricity they use but ComEd also has to charge for the amount of power they will have to buy in peak ...

Chicago-Area Native Develops Fan-To Fan Ticket Scalping App

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:13:39 -0400

CHICAGO (CBS) – A 25-year-old Mount Prospect native is one of Chicago’s newest entrepreneurs. Patrick O'Brien, a former Groupon salesman, is the founder of Ticket Scalper. He tells the WBBM Noon Business Hour it is the first mobile fan-to-fan marketplace for last-minute ...

Growing number think White House ordered IRS targeting poll says

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:10:01 -0400

The number of Americans who think the White House ordered the Internal Revenue Service to target conservative political groups is growing, a poll found. The CNN/ORC International survey, released Tuesday, found a majority of respondents think the controversy, related to enhanced IRS scrutiny of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, is very important to the nation. The number of people ...

Cuban dissident Repression forced family to flee

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:04:09 -0400

MIAMI (AP) -- One of several Cuban dissidents recently allowed to visit Europe and the U.S. after Cuba changed its travel laws said Tuesday she decided to seek refuge in Miami after facing continued repression on the ...

US Agriculture Industry Opposes Changes to Food Aid Program

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:42:32 -0400

CAMBRIA, WISCONSIN -- The Food for Peace program costs about $1.5 billion annually and provides U.S.-grown food to countries in need. But President Barack Obama’s proposed 2014 budget includes changes to the 59-year-old program - replacing some commodity shipments with direct cash purchases in foreign countries. While some aid agencies welcome the proposed changes, farmers and millers in ...

NYC to offer free phone-charging stations in parks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:38:25 -0400

The city is teaming up with AT&T to install 25 solar-powered charging stations in parks across the five boroughs. The charges will provide a free boost to dying phones and other mobile ...

Fox News sued over airing suicide of chase suspect

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:38:25 -0400

PHOENIX -; A woman has sued Fox News Network for airing live footage last fall of a suspect in a police chase committing suicide in the Arizona desert and not using a time delay that would have prevented the death from being broadcast on national ...

Boy 6 killed by relatives dog at Calif. home

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:38:24 -0400

Authorities say the attack occurred around 11:30 a.m. Monday at a grandparent's home in Union City. The dog has been described as a pit bull or pit bull ...

Biden vows to `beat the gun lobby and pass laws

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:38:23 -0400

Vice President Joe Biden gestures to members of Congress in the audience as he speaks about gun violence, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. The White House is reporting progress on President Barack Obama's initiatives to reduce gun violence, but says the most important step would be ...

Miami Beach advisory board backs Portman-CMC plan to overhaul convention center

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:34:11 -0400

As Miami Beach moves closer to selecting a development team to execute a $1 billion overhaul of the city’s convention center district, advisory boards are weighing in with their own recommendations. On Tuesday, a slim majority of the Miami Beach Convention Center Advisory Board voted 4-3 to endorse the Portman-CMC plan over South Beach ACE’s. Both teams are finalists for the project, ...

Tribal land buy-back program starting

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:34:00 -0400

Across the nation, Indian tribes cheered when President Barack Obama signed a new Violence Against Women Act last week, expanding the power of tribal courts to try non-Indians for crimes of domestic violence committed on ...

Metals decline as traders wait for Federal Reserve

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:33:58 -0400

Metal prices fell as traders anticipate that the Federal Reserve may start easing its support for the economy.The price of gold for August delivery fell $16.20, or 1.2 percent, to $1,366.90 an ounce. Palladium and silver also declined. Only platinum bucked the trend and edged higher.The central bank will end its two-day policy meeting Wednesday. Until this year, the Fed's bond-buying ...

New York police sued over surveillance of Muslims

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:31:21 -0400

They accused the police of trampling on religious freedoms and constitutional guarantees of equality.The surveillance by the NYPD's intelligence division has extended ...

Chicago Shooting 8 More Victims on Monday Following Deadly Weekend

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:27:51 -0400

June 18, 2013 4:24 pm Chicago's shooting problems have not ended after a bloody weekend of violence, and on Monday at least eight other people were shot on the South and West sides of the city, according to authorities.The latest shootings began at around 1.15 p.m. local time when a 21 year old man was shot in the 11000 block of South Ashland Avenue in the Morgan Park ...

Rich New York City Couple Allowed Their Children To Beat Up Undocumented Nanny Lawsuit Alleges

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:24:48 -0400

Undocumented Chilean nanny Felicitas del Carmen Villanueva Garnica filed a lawsuit this week against a New York City socialite couple who she alleges forced her to work 12-hour days and allowed their children to beat her, according to ...

Treasury chiefs loopy signature evolves into something almost legible

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:49 -0400

By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News Penmanship purists can relax: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has straightened out his signature.When he was nominated for the post earlier this year, Lew was mocked for his John Hancock - an aimless series of loops that was compared to the white icing atop a Hostess cupcake.The top finance official in the federal government was given the humiliating nickname ...

Analysis Why Edward Snowden isnt a whistleblower legally speaking

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:48 -0400

Ever since Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs, he has sometimes been called a whistleblower. But is ...

Kitten survives 1000-mile journey inside car engine

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:47 -0400

By Gillian Spear, NBC News A stray kitten is recuperating after spending two days stuck in the engine of car that made a 1,000-mile drive from Oregon to Southern California.Julia Di Sieno, who has been rescuing animals for 30 years, answered the driver’s call to rescue the kitten in Santa Barbara, Calif.Di Sieno said that the driver heard the stray's cries when she left Oregon, but she ...

At last it’s time for America to talk to the men from the Taliban

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:05 -0400

No more long dinners in Qatari restaurants, or idle afternoons in the capital's many shopping centres. Since they were first secretly delivered by US plane to Doha in 2010, the senior Taliban emissaries whom Washington hoped would eventually agree a peace deal with Kabul have not been rushed off their feet; efforts to kick-start a formal negotiating process to end the war repeatedly ...

September 11 defendants boycott hearing

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:15:09 -0400

THE five defendants accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks have refused to appear at a Guantanamo hearing to lay the groundwork for their eventual ...

Labor Seeks Influence in New York’s Mayoral Race

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:14:40 -0400

In a war room high above Lower Manhattan, leaders of the http://www.uft.org/">United Federation of Teachers are plotting a comeback. After more than a decade of sitting out the fiercest race in town the union is expected on Wednesday to throw its sophisticated political machine behind a candidate for mayor of New York ...

Bob Wheelock Named Senior EP at Al Jazeera America

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:11:58 -0400

, the seasoned network news producer who spent nearly 30 years at ABC News, has been named senior executive producer at Al Jazeera America, the channel set to launch later this summer in place of Current. Wheelock has been with Al Jazeera since February 2012, when he joined the organization as ep of newsgathering for Al Jazeera English. He has been involved in the channels' launch, including ...

Protesters jailed as they decry Republican shift in North Carolina

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:11:40 -0400

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - A conservative shift by North Carolina's first Republican-led government in more than a century is drawing weekly protests to the state capital of Raleigh, but some lawmakers are defiantly standing their ...

Judge refuses 3-month trial delay request for US military shooting suspect

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:12 -0400

FORT HOOD, Texas - A U.S. military judge has refused a three-month trial delay for the Army psychiatrist charged in a deadly 2009 shooting rampage. Maj. Nidal Hasan made the request after the judge allowed him to represent himself. He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted in the attack that left 13 dead on a Texas Army post Hasan had said he needed more time to ...