Beach parties, fireworks: World rings in new year

Beach parties, fireworks: World rings in new year
New laws OK wine shipments, ban tiger selfies
U.S. releases 5 Guantanamo prisoners, sends them to Kazakhstan
9 dead in Canada in 'senseless mass murder'
Lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bomber lose delay bid
U.S. sends five Guantanamo prisoners to Kazakhstan for resettlement
Two dead, more than 100 drivers stranded amid Southern California winter storm
AirAsia crash: Leading theories
Reports: 9 dead from linked homicides in in Canada
Boehner lends support to Whip Steve Scalise over speech scandal

Posted: 31 Dec 2014 09:52 AM PST

After a turbulent year marred by terror woes, Ebola outbreaks and a horrific series of airline disasters, many could be forgiven for saying good riddance to 2014 and gratefully ringing in a new year.

New laws OK wine shipments, ban tiger selfies

Posted: 31 Dec 2014 10:11 AM PST

New state laws taking effect Thursday give livestock in California more living room, approve direct-to-consumer wine shipments in Massachusetts and levy the ultimate punishment on wannabe teen drivers in Nevada by denying them licenses if they skip too much school.

U.S. releases 5 Guantanamo prisoners, sends them to Kazakhstan

Posted: 30 Dec 2014 09:03 PM PST

MIAMI (AP) — Five men who were held for a dozen years without charge at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent to the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan for resettlement, the U.S. government announced.

9 dead in Canada in 'senseless mass murder'

Posted:

Lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bomber lose delay bid

Posted: 31 Dec 2014 11:21 AM PST

By Tim McLaughlin BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday denied defense requests to move and delay the start of the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, whose lawyers say they are overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of pages of documents. Jury selection in the Tsarnaev's case is set to begin on Monday after U.S. District Judge George O'Toole rejected his lawyers' request to push it back until September. The trial will begin 18 months after Tsarnaev was indicted. ...

U.S. sends five Guantanamo prisoners to Kazakhstan for resettlement

Posted: 30 Dec 2014 10:15 PM PST

By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Yemenis and two Tunisians held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo have been flown to Kazakhstan for resettlement, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, the latest in a series of prisoner transfers aimed at closing the facility. The transfer of the five men followed a recent pledge by President Barack Obama for a stepped-up push to shut the internationally condemned detention center at the U.S. naval base in Cuba where most prisoners have been held without being charged or tried. The U.S. ...

Two dead, more than 100 drivers stranded amid Southern California winter storm

Posted: 31 Dec 2014 10:25 AM PST

(Reuters) - Two people, including a harbor patrolman, died on a wind-beaten Southern California coastal island and emergency crews rescued more than 100 drivers trapped in the snow-caked mountains outside Los Angeles as a fierce winter storm crept over the region, officials said on Wednesday. A harbor patrolman was killed in a boating accident in the City of Avalon on wind-battered Catalina Island, off the southern California coast, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. Local broadcast footage showed wind-whipped ocean waters pushing two boats up onto the beach. ...

AirAsia crash: Leading theories

Posted:

Reports: 9 dead from linked homicides in in Canada

Posted: 30 Dec 2014 03:44 PM PST

Nine people have been killed in three related incidents in the western Canadian city of Edmonton, Canadian media reported on Tuesday. CBC TV said seven people were killed in a home in the Albertan city while two others were killed in two separate homes. The Edmonton Journal newspaper said some of the victims are believed to be children. Edmonton police said they were investigating "a multiple homicide scene." Police did not state the number of people killed nor whether the incidents were connected. ...

Boehner lends support to Whip Steve Scalise over speech scandal

Posted: 30 Dec 2014 11:45 AM PST

House Speaker John Boehner issued a statement of support for Rep. Steve Scalise, who appeared at a 2002 convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization.