The battle for Kobane

The battle for Kobane
Ebola patient in Dallas in critical condition
Facebook's $22 billion acquisition
Iconic sunset images on the Hudson River
2 suicide bombs kill 30 Kurdish fighters in Syria
One whale of a surprise appearance
28 bodies found in Mexico mass grave may be missing students
Sir Michael of Bloomberg? A knight but not quite
Court decision makes gay marriage effectively legal in 30 states
The heartbreak of hostage ransom
Muslim haj pilgrimage avoids Ebola, other diseases
'I even started to be afraid of myself,' says woman who defected from IS
Kenya's president temporarily steps down for criminal court hearing
CDC chief says progress being made in Ebola fight
Why some children don't recover from enterovirus
Inside South Florida's swampland politics
FBI warns of possible al-Qaida attack
3 win medicine Nobel for discovering brain's 'inner GPS'
Journalist with Ebola arrives in Nebraska
Typhoon washes 3 U.S. airmen out to sea in Japan
Hitmen admit killing 17 Mexico students, families wary
Supreme Court dodges gay marriage, allowing weddings in five more states
Chicago-area man charged in attempt to join Islamic State in Syria
U.S. military officials feared dead in typhoon
British hostage released in Libya after five months
Journalist with Ebola arrives in U.S.
Egypt jihadist group releases video of beheadings

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 10:44 AM PDT

Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighting them for key border town near Turkey take casualties.

Ebola patient in Dallas in critical condition

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 10:01 AM PDT

By Jon Herskovitz DALLAS (Reuters) - The fifth American to contract Ebola in West Africa arrived in the United States for treatment on Monday as the first patient diagnosed with the deadly virus on U.S. soil was in critical condition at a Dallas hospital, officials said. A private plane carrying Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman for NBC News who contracted Ebola in Liberia, landed in Omaha and was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center. The plane was met by an ambulance staffed by workers in yellow protective suits, NBC video showed. Mukpo, 33, will be treated in a biocontainment center there. ...

Facebook's $22 billion acquisition

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 10:35 AM PDT

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc closed its acquisition of mobile messaging service WhatsApp on Monday, with the final price tag rising an additional $3 billion to roughly $22 billion because of the increased value of Facebook's stock in recent months. WhatsApp founder Jan Koum will receive nearly $2 billion in stock, vesting over a four-year period, as an inducement for him to stay with the company, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. ...

Iconic sunset images on the Hudson River

Posted: 05 Oct 2014 11:00 AM PDT

The Statue of Liberty after sunset. The ship pauses to allow shutterbugs to photograph Lady Liberty. (Yahoo News/Gordon Donovan)

2 suicide bombs kill 30 Kurdish fighters in Syria

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 08:29 AM PDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed in two suicide attacks on two checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakah on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "The attacks targeted checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters on the western entrance of the city, they occurred within minutes from each other," Rami Abdelrahman from the Observatory said. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny; Editing by Toby Chopra)

One whale of a surprise appearance

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 12:52 AM PDT

Joseph Weber and his wife were sailing off the Gulf of Maine in their lobster boat when they experienced a spectacular close encounter with some humpbacked whales. When Weber cut the engine of the boat, the whales lazed around for ten minutes, seemingly enjoying the attention they were receiving. One whale frightened the Webers when he jumped out of the water and landed with a terrific splash that rocked the wooden boat. Credit: YouTube/ AM1690

28 bodies found in Mexico mass grave may be missing students

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 09:53 AM PDT

IGUALA, Mexico (AP) — State officials worked Monday to determine whether 28 bodies found in a clandestine grave are students who were attacked by police suspected of drug gang links in the southern state of Guerrero.

Sir Michael of Bloomberg? A knight but not quite

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 10:02 AM PDT

LONDON (AP) — Michael Bloomberg is a knight — but he won't be Sir Mike.

Court decision makes gay marriage effectively legal in 30 states

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 09:47 AM PDT

Five states sought to prohibit same-sex unions; stage set for more gay, lesbian marriages.

The heartbreak of hostage ransom

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 08:22 AM PDT

Why are some captives given freedom? Reasons complex, but money sometimes plays a role.

Muslim haj pilgrimage avoids Ebola, other diseases

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 09:02 AM PDT

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia's acting health minister said Monday that this year's hajj has been free of Ebola and other contagious diseases because of measures taken by the kingdom to protect more than 2 million pilgrims who took part in the annual Islamic pilgrimage.

'I even started to be afraid of myself,' says woman who defected from IS

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 06:45 AM PDT

A 25-year-old woman who joined the Islamic State during the Syrian uprising says she became disillusioned by the militant group's brutality and defected.

Kenya's president temporarily steps down for criminal court hearing

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 08:52 AM PDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday told the nation in an address before parliament that he would temporarily step down as president while attending a hearing at the International Criminal Court this week.

CDC chief says progress being made in Ebola fight

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 05:13 AM PDT

Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says there are "definite signs of progress" in the fight against Ebola in West Africa, and that efforts to keep Ebola from spreading in the United States appear to be working.

Why some children don't recover from enterovirus

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 07:42 AM PDT

The deaths of four children, possibly linked to their infections with enterovirus D68, are still puzzling to experts.

Inside South Florida's swampland politics

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 05:02 AM PDT

House races are, as a rule, the nastiest type of American election. To run for representative, for all but a few of the best-known senior members, is to be a stand-in for your political party and for the House itself, the least popular brands in our political life. In South Florida, a region known for its dirty politics, Joe Garcia, a junior member in a tossup district, believes that if he is going to survive he has to do more than tout his accomplishments; he has to trash his opponent.

FBI warns of possible al-Qaida attack

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 06:32 AM PDT

Cell in Syria, targeted last month by U.S. airstrikes, could still be working on plan, head of FBI says.

3 win medicine Nobel for discovering brain's 'inner GPS'

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 08:47 AM PDT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A U.S.-British scientist who grew up in the South Bronx and a husband-and-wife research team from Norway won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for discovering the brain's navigation system — the inner GPS that helps us find our way in the world — revelations could lead to advances in diagnosing Alzheimer's.

Journalist with Ebola arrives in Nebraska

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 10:09 AM PDT

An American video journalist who contracted the virus in Liberia begins stateside treatment.

Typhoon washes 3 U.S. airmen out to sea in Japan

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 12:09 AM PDT

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful typhoon that washed three American airmen in Okinawa out to sea, killing at least one, slammed central Japan on Monday, stalling trains and flights and triggering mudslides, before swerving to the Pacific Ocean.

Hitmen admit killing 17 Mexico students, families wary

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 09:50 AM PDT

Iguala (Mexico) (AFP) - Hitmen linked to police have confessed to murdering 17 of 43 missing students in southern Mexico as relatives of the victims refuse to believe they may have been buried in a mass grave.

Supreme Court dodges gay marriage, allowing weddings in five more states

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 09:52 AM PDT

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to decide once and for all whether states can ban gay marriage, a surprising move that will allow gay men and women to get married in five additional states, with more likely to follow quickly. On the first day of its new term, the high court without comment rejected appeals in cases involving five states - Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana - that had prohibited gay marriage, leaving intact lower-court rulings striking down those bans. ...

Chicago-area man charged in attempt to join Islamic State in Syria

Posted: 06 Oct 2014 10:17 AM PDT

By Fiona Ortiz CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Chicago-area man was charged on Monday with attempting to support a foreign terrorist organization after he was arrested on Saturday at O'Hare International Airport allegedly on his way to Syria to join the militant group Islamic State. Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 19, of the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Susan Cox in U.S. District Court in Chicago where he was advised of the federal charges against him. Judge Cox ordered Khan held pending a detention hearing on Thursday. ...

U.S. military officials feared dead in typhoon

Posted: 05 Oct 2014 05:13 PM PDT

Strong typhoon Phanfone slammed into Japan Monday, packing gusting winds and huge waves that swept three US military officials out to sea in another stark reminder of the country's vulnerability to nature.

British hostage released in Libya after five months

Posted: 05 Oct 2014 12:42 PM PDT

London (AFP) - British schoolteacher David Bolam has been released after nearly five months of captivity in Libya, reportedly after payment of a ransom to his Islamist captors.