Poll shows diminishing support for two-state solution
WASHINGTON — Twenty years of the Oslo peace process between Israelis and Palestinians have made a solution more difficult to attain, rather than easier. That was the conclusion of a poll of Israelis and Palestinians released on Friday, Jan. 31.The poll, conducted by Zogby Research Services, showed that barely one-third of Israelis (34...Senate passes long-overdue farm bill, sends to Obama
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval on Tuesday, February 4, to a nearly $1 trillion farm bill that trims food stamps for the poor, expands federal crop insurance and ends direct payments to farmers, and sent it to President Barack Obama for his expected signature.The Senate voted 68-32 to pass the...Lawmakers warn ‘clock is ticking’ on surveillance reforms
WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers warned on Tuesday, Feb 4, that time is running out to make specific reforms to the National Security Agency's telephone surveillance program and promised Congress would act if the Obama administration does not.The House Judiciary Committee examined recommendations for reforms to the U.S....State of the Union: Obama says he will act without Congress for the middle class
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday, Jan. 28, to bypass a divided Congress and take action on his own to bolster America's middle class in a State of the Union address that he used to try to breathe new life into his second term after a troubled year.Standing in the House of Representatives chamber before lawmakers,...U.S. border officials ground fleet of drones after crash at sea
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has indefinitely grounded its remaining fleet of nine drones after operators were forced to crash a pilotless aircraft off the Southern California coast because of a mechanical problem, a spokesman said on Tuesday.The mishap on Monday marked the second crash of one of the agency's drones...House passes bill that cuts food stamps
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a comprehensive farm bill on Wednesday that cuts payments for food stamps by about 1 percent and ends a direct subsidy to farmers, while expanding government-backed crop insurance programs. After months of negotiations and criticism from both sides of the political spectrum the...U.S. Marines will retry sergeant accused of killing Iraqi civilian
LOS ANGELES — A U.S. Marine sergeant who was found guilty of murder in the 2006 death of an Iraqi civilian, only to have his conviction overturned, will face a retrial on the same charges, a Marine spokesman said on Monday.Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins III was arraigned at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in California this week, Lieutenant...Edward Snowden nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
OSLO — Two Norwegian politicians nominated former NSA contractor Edward Snowden for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday, Jan. 29Baard Vegar Solhjell and Snorre Valen of the Socialist Left party said in a joint statement that Snowden has "contributed to a more stable and peaceful world order" by exposing U.S. surveillance practices...55 bodies of mostly black children found near former Florida reform school
TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) — Excavations at a makeshift graveyard near a now-closed reform school in the Florida Panhandle have yielded remains of 55 bodies, almost twice the number official records say are there, the University of South Florida announced on Tuesday, January 28.On a hillside in the rolling, tall-pine forests near the...Israel is often viewed by Washington politicians as the most “stable” ally in the Middle East.
But stability from the American perspective can mean many things. Lead amongst them is that the “ally” must be unconditionally loyal to the diktats of the U.S. administration. This rule has proven to be true since the U.S. claimed a position of ascendancy, if not complete hegemony, over many regions of the world since World War II....Decades of sex abuse by Chicago priests outlined in documents
Chicago — The Chicago Archdiocese had a practice of moving priests accused of sexual abuse to new parishes, where they committed more abuse against children, according to documents released this week by lawyers representing the victims.The latest in a series of such abuse disclosures by Midwest church officials, the documents provided...U.S. safety regulators propose child car seat side-impact test
U.S. safety regulators have proposed upgraded standards for child car seats that will better protect children when the vehicle is struck on the side, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.The regulator said it has determined that the improvement will save five lives a year.Car seat manufacturers will be given three...8-year-old boy dies after saving six family members in fire
Penfield, New York — An 8-year-old boy who saved the lives of six family members by warning them their trailer was on fire died after going back in to try to rescue his disabled uncle, said authorities in western New York state.After the blaze on Monday, January 20, firefighters found the body of Tyler Doohan, in the back bedroom...12-year-old arrested in New Mexico school shooting
NEW MEXICO - New Mexico authorities were working on Wednesday, January 15 to bring charges soon against a 12-year-old boy accused of opening fire at his school and wounding two students before a staff member persuaded him to lay down his shotgun, officials said.The boy, who has not been identified publicly, will be formally charged...DEA admits marijuana legalization ‘scares us’
WASHINGTON - A top official at the Drug Enforcement Administration said legalizing marijuana, a drug that a majority of Americans are now in favor of decriminalizing, is “reckless and irresponsible.”James L. Capra, the chief of operations at the DEA, was responding to a question from a senator Wednesday, Jan. 15, when he admitted......
Washington panel approves decriminalizing marijuana
Washington - The District of Columbia stepped closer to decriminalizing marijuana on Wednesday, January 15, when a city council panel approved a measure that would make smoking a joint in the U.S. capital a violation comparable to a parking ticket.Approved unanimously by the city council's public safety committee, the bill reduces...California’s ‘Octomom’ charged with welfare fraud
Los Angeles - Nadya Suleman, the California single mother of 14 children including octuplets who has been popularly dubbed "Octomom," has been charged with welfare fraud over accusations she lied about her income to authorities.The 38-year-old mother who became a media sensation five years ago after giving birth to octuplets conceived...Friends of accused Boston bomber to face June coverup trial
BOSTON - Three college friends of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will go on trial in June on charges they helped hide his tracks from the FBI, a U.S. judge ruled on Wednesday, January 14.U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock denied a joint request by prosecutors and two of the defendants - Dias Kadyrbayev of Kazakhstan...U.S. courts oppose reform proposals for secret surveillance
WASHINGTON - The U.S. federal court system objects to key proposals by a presidential review panel to reform the secret court that supervises the classified electronic eavesdropping activities of the U.S. National Security Agency, a former chief judge of that court said on Tuesday, January 14.Judge John Bates, the former head of the......
Record freeze hits the U.S., at least nine dead
A deadly blast of arctic air shattered decades-old temperature records as it enveloped the eastern United States this week, snarling air, road and rail travel, driving energy prices higher and overwhelming shelters for homeless people.At least nine deaths have been reported across the country connected with the polar air mass that swept...Gov. Chris Christie ’embarrassed and humiliated’ by traffic scandal
NEW YORK — A contrite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologized Thursday, January 9, saying he was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the actions of his staff that closed busy access lanes of the George Washington Bridge in September, snarling traffic in a town whose mayor did not support the governor's reelection bid."I come out......
80 retired New York cops, firefighters charged in 9/11 disability fraud
New York City — Eighty retired New York police officers and firefighters were charged on Tuesday, January 7, in a suspected disability scam in which authorities said dozens of people falsely claimed to have been traumatized by the September 11 attacks.In all, 106 suspects were charged in a scheme that goes back to the late 1980s,...Snowden has more U.S.-Israel secrets to expose
Washington, D.C. — Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has more secrets to reveal that relate to Israel, the journalist who first brought his leaks to the world's attention said on Monday.Among allegations aired by Snowden last year were that the U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart GCHQ had in 2009......
