| Author: DNA reveals the real Jack the Ripper Posted: 08 Sep 2014 09:43 AM PDT  Serial killer who terrorized London in the 1880s identified by DNA evidence left behind on shawl, new book says.
|
| Why NATO is worried about Scottish independence Posted: 08 Sep 2014 09:40 AM PDT  British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday a number of NATO partners had used last week's summit of the alliance in Wales to raise concerns about Scotland's Sept. 18 vote on independence. Asked by a lawmaker in parliament if he had discussed the implication of potential Scottish secession on both the defense of the United Kingdom and of NATO, Cameron said: "Of course a number of people raised their concerns about the referendum." "The overwhelming view of people who wish our country well is to say of course it is a decision for the people in Scotland but they hope we stay together," Cameron told parliament. Britain has four submarines carrying Trident nuclear warheads operating out of the Faslane naval base in Scotland. The pro-independence Scottish National Party wants nuclear weapons removed from an independent Scotland at the earliest opportunity.
|
| 3 Italian nuns sexually assaulted, murdered in Burundi Posted: 08 Sep 2014 10:22 AM PDT  By Patrick Nduwimana BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Three Italian nuns were found killed, two of them raped and decapitated, over the weekend in the north of Burundi's capital, officials and a priest in the African state said on Monday. Father Mario Pulicini, who is responsible for the parish in a northern suburb of Bujumbura, named two of the nuns as Lucia Pulici, who was 75 and due to celebrate her birthday on Monday, and Olga Raschietti, 82. The third nun, 79-year-old Bernadetta Boggian, was found dead early on Monday morning, he told Reuters. Evidence showed that two of the nuns had been raped before they were killed, police spokesman Hermenegilde Harimenshi said.
|
| As Colombia pursues peace, paramilitary killers walk free from jail Posted: 08 Sep 2014 04:30 AM PDT  When Carlos Mario Ospina joined a rightwing paramilitary group in 1997, Colombia's militias were just beginning to extend their writ in his province. Mr. Ospina, known as "Tomate," rose quickly through the ranks, and by 2004, he led paramilitary activity in Putumayo Province, in southwestern Colombia. His demobilization – along with that of another 30,000 members of the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) – came after negotiations with the government of former President Alvaro Uribe. Paramilitary leaders were originally promised they would do no jail time, but this changed under a 2006 law that established a maximum sentence of eight years, compared to 40 years, the normal upper limit.
|
| Rep. John Dingell, 88, hospitalized Posted: 08 Sep 2014 09:35 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Representative John Dingell of Michigan, the longest serving member of the U.S. Dingell, a Democrat, is 88 years old and earlier this year announced he would not run for re-election in November. His wife, Debbie Dingell, in August won the Democratic Party primary election to run for his seat. If she wins in November she would be the third in an unbroken linen of Dingells in the seat, which began in 1933 when John Dingell Sr. was first elected to Congress.
|
| Iraq violence takes toll on children Posted: 08 Sep 2014 08:47 AM PDT  UN envoy says 700 children killed, maimed, even executed in Iraq since beginning of the year.
|
| 12 dead in 1st jihadist attack in Somalia since al-Shabab leader killed Posted: 08 Sep 2014 10:19 AM PDT  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At least 12 civilians were killed Monday in a suicide attack targeting African Union troops in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, the first serious assault by suspected Islamic extremists after the killing of al-Shabab's top leader in a U.S. airstrike last week, the police and a regional official said.
|
| Pakistan, India floods trap thousands, kill at least 320 Posted: 08 Sep 2014 07:06 AM PDT  NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescue workers in boats and helicopters worked to save thousands of people trapped in homes and on rooftops Monday after floods and landslides killed more than 320 people in the Himalayan region of Kashmir and eastern Pakistan.
|
| Brits in financial lather about possible Scotland independence vote next week Posted: 08 Sep 2014 09:40 AM PDT  By Guy Faulconbridge and Angus MacSwan LONDON/EDINBURGH (Reuters) - British financial markets tumbled on Monday after an opinion poll showed for the first time this year that Scots may vote for independence in a referendum next week, breaking up the United Kingdom. The survey prompted concern bordering on panic among Britain's ruling elite, with Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led government promising proposals this week to grant Scotland greater autonomy if it stays. Cameron's job would be on the line if Scots vote on Sept. ...
|
| Expecting a raise? Don't count on it Posted: 08 Sep 2014 10:25 AM PDT  Employers also are outsourcing work more often, according to the Harvard survey.
|
| On front line of S. Africa's rhino genocide Posted:  Yahoo's Paula Froelich meets the man tasked with stopping poachers.
|
| White House orders review of security at embassies Posted: 08 Sep 2014 08:07 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is directing all U.S. diplomatic posts overseas to review security and the State Department says it will give additional help to embassies and consulates in need.
|
| Yosemite wildfire grows substantially Posted: 08 Sep 2014 10:12 AM PDT  YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Crews battling a wildfire in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park that forced the helicopter evacuation of 85 park visitors were expecting to get some help from the weather on Monday.
|
| Famous George Washington painting to get high-tech facelift Posted: 08 Sep 2014 07:12 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the most famous portraits of George Washington will soon get a high-tech examination and face-lift of sorts with its first major conservation treatment in decades.
|
| Want to renounce your citizenship? It's going to cost—a lot Posted: 08 Sep 2014 02:20 AM PDT  The record numbers of Americans who have renounced their U.S. citizenship since January 2009 did so at the bargain-basement cost of $450, a subsidized fee that the State Department plans to increase sharply this week as more and more people sever ties with the United States.
|
| Jihadists seeking to create 'house of blood' Posted: 08 Sep 2014 03:00 AM PDT  New UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, lashed out at Islamic State's "caliphate" plans, terror actions.
|
| Unidentified respiratory virus likely to spread to kids throughout US Posted: |
| Ceasefire in Ukraine said to be 'shaky,' but holding on Posted: 08 Sep 2014 07:50 AM PDT By Aleksandar Vasovic and Gabriela Baczynska MARIUPOL/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko visited the eastern port of Mariupol on Monday and promised to deal a 'crushing defeat' to pro-Russian rebels massed on the edge of town if they tried to advance in violation of a ceasefire agreement. "I have ordered (the military) to secure the defense of Mariupol with howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, tanks, anti-tank weapons and air cover," Poroshenko told a crowd of steel workers in the port on the Sea of Azov near the Russian border. It has also caused the sharpest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War. The truce was largely holding on Monday, though each side accused the other of sporadic shelling, including in Mariupol, a city of about half a million, shortly after the president's arrival there. |
| UK's Prince William, wife Kate expecting 2nd child Posted: |
| Defense secretary talks Turkey on IS Posted: 08 Sep 2014 07:12 AM PDT  Chuck Hagel wants to know how Turkish leaders might back U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.
|
| Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy dead at 93 Posted: 08 Sep 2014 07:27 AM PDT  By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - S. Truett Cathy, the founder of the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain known for its chicken sandwiches as well as for its president's public opposition to gay marriage, died on Monday at age 93, the company said. Cathy, the billionaire chairman emeritus of the privately held Atlanta-based company known for requiring the chain's restaurants to close on Sundays in keeping with its Christian principles, died peacefully at his home in Clayton County, Georgia, a company spokeswoman said. Cathy opened the first Chick-fil-A in 1967 in his native Georgia, where he is credited with creating the recipe for the company's signature boneless chicken sandwich and helping to pioneer the idea of putting restaurants in shopping malls. "It's a silent witness to the Lord when people go into shopping malls, and everyone is bustling, and you see that Chick-fil-A is closed." The chain made headlines in 2012 when president Dan Cathy - the founder's son - told an online religious newspaper that he supports "the biblical definition of the family unit" and that supporters of gay marriage were "arrogant." His statements ignited a cultural firestorm, triggering protests that included "kiss-ins" by same-sex couples outside some stores and criticism from the mayors of Chicago and Boston.
|
| Summer break over, must-do tasks await Congress Posted: 08 Sep 2014 06:27 AM PDT  Preventing a government shutdown and extending an Internet tax freeze top the agenda.
|
| Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada gay marriage laws in court Posted: 08 Sep 2014 06:48 AM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — For the first time since it declared California's gay marriage ban unconstitutional, the federal appeals court in San Francisco is readying to hear arguments over same-sex weddings in a political and legal climate that's vastly different than when it overturned Proposition 8 in 2012.
|
| 'Chicago Fire' actress dies after being struck by tree Posted: 07 Sep 2014 06:49 PM PDT  CHICAGO (AP) — Molly Glynn, an accomplished Chicago theater actress who also played a recurring role as a doctor on the TV series "Chicago Fire," has died after a tree toppled by a powerful storm struck her as she rode her bike in a forest park. She was 46.
|
| Latinos furious at Obama on immigration delay Posted: 07 Sep 2014 12:30 PM PDT  Hispanic lawmakers and immigration advocates harshly criticize the president's decision.
|
| Nebraska doctors say Ebola patient making progress Posted: 07 Sep 2014 04:16 PM PDT  OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska doctors treating the man who became infected with Ebola while working in Liberia said Sunday that he is making progress, but it's not yet clear if he will recover.
|
| U.S. appeals court to review gay marriage bans in three states Posted: 08 Sep 2014 04:02 AM PDT  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Gay marriage bans in Nevada, Idaho and Hawaii will come under scrutiny on Monday when a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is scheduled to hear arguments on whether judges in Nevada and Hawaii were correct to uphold those states' gay marriage bans. Hawaii's legislature subsequently voted to allow same-sex nuptials, while a federal judge struck down Idaho's gay marriage prohibition.
|
| Yosemite National Park wildfire burns four square miles Posted: 08 Sep 2014 09:58 AM PDT  By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire that prompted the rescue of 185 hikers in Yosemite National Park has blackened four square miles of back country wilderness, officials said Monday, as crews hoped rainy weather would give them a chance to gain some control over the flames. The so-called Meadow Fire, which flared out of control on Sunday afternoon, stranded 85 hikers on top of Half Dome, the park's signature rock formation, requiring them to be flown out by helicopter, Yosemite spokeswoman Ashley Mayer said. Another 100 park visitors were evacuated from Little Yosemite Valley and a number of hiking trails were closed because of the encroaching flames, Mayer said. There were no reports of injuries or damage to structures from the blaze, which was burning in Yosemite's back country away from populated areas and tourist attractions.
|
| Monkey study: Ebola vaccine works, needs booster Posted: 07 Sep 2014 11:24 AM PDT  New studies show one shot of this experimental vaccine can trigger fast protection.
|
| Cease-fire in east Ukraine frays, woman killed by shelling Posted: 07 Sep 2014 02:31 PM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska and Aleksandar Vasovic DONETSK/MARIUPOL Ukraine (Reuters) - A woman died and at least four people were wounded when fighting flared again in eastern Ukraine overnight into Sunday, jeopardizing a ceasefire struck less than two days earlier between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists. The accord, brokered by envoys from Ukraine, the separatist leadership, Russia and Europe's OSCE security watchdog, is part of a peace plan intended to end a five-month conflict that has killed nearly 3,000 people and caused the sharpest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Shelling resumed near the port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov late on Saturday, just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko had agreed in a phone call that the truce was holding. Fighting also broke out early on Sunday on the northern outskirts of rebel-held Donetsk, the region's industrial hub.
|
| Obama says Afghan power-sharing deal needed soon Posted: 07 Sep 2014 12:00 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama has told Afghanistan's two presidential candidates that it's important to complete a power-sharing deal as soon as possible so the country can form a new government.
|
