Police outside cop funeral turn backs on NYC mayor

Police outside cop funeral turn backs on NYC mayor
Death penalty states unmoved by botched execution
AP-Times Square poll: Most feeling good about 2015
Thousands gather for slain New York police officer's funeral
Five people stabbed in Washington restaurant
'Gorillafication' in sight for abandoned baby primate at Ohio zoo
N. Korea blames U.S. for Internet outages, insults Obama
Will 'The Interview' change how Hollywood does business?
Islamic State claims Iraq suicide bombing that killed 38

Posted: 27 Dec 2014 09:20 AM PST

Hundreds of officers standing outside the church where a funeral is being held for a New York City policeman killed in an ambush shooting have turned their backs on the mayor as he spoke during the service.

Death penalty states unmoved by botched execution

Posted: 27 Dec 2014 08:09 AM PST

Oklahoma's last execution went so badly that the state tried to cancel it before it was over. With the inmate writhing while the lethal drugs seeped into his body, his executioners drew the viewing gallery curtains, concealing what the warden later described as "a bloody mess."

AP-Times Square poll: Most feeling good about 2015

Posted: 27 Dec 2014 12:26 AM PST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are closing out 2014 on an optimistic note, according to a new Associated Press-Times Square Alliance poll. Nearly half predict that 2015 will be a better year for them than 2014 was, while only 1 in 10 think it will be worse. There's room for improvement: Americans give the year gone by a resounding 'meh.'

Thousands gather for slain New York police officer's funeral

Posted: 27 Dec 2014 08:42 AM PST

By Jonathan Allen and Sebastien Malo NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of police and other mourners filled a New York City church and nearby streets for the funeral on Saturday of one of two police officers shot dead by a man who said he was avenging the killing of unarmed black men by police. Singled out for their uniforms, the deaths of Rafael Ramos and his patrol partner Wenjian Liu have become a nationwide rallying point for police and supporters, beleaguered by months of street protests accusing police of racist practices. ...

Five people stabbed in Washington restaurant

Posted: 27 Dec 2014 08:25 AM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five people were stabbed early on Saturday in a restaurant in Washington, D.C., police said. The incident occurred around 12:30 a.m. at McFadden's, a popular restaurant and nightclub on Pennsylvania Avenue, eight blocks from the White House in the nation's capital. All five victims were taken to hospital with knife wounds, a police spokesman said Saturday. Their identities have not been released. Police said the stabbing happened inside the bar. Photos posted on Twitter Saturday show a blood-splattered sidewalk. Calls to McFadden's requesting comment were not returned. ...

'Gorillafication' in sight for abandoned baby primate at Ohio zoo

Posted: 27 Dec 2014 09:13 AM PST

By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - Zookeepers wearing gorilla suits have helped rear an endangered abandoned baby gorilla in Ohio so she can join an adult group. The 16 human surrogates have spent three months feeding, nurturing and gently introducing the baby, Kamina, to adult female gorillas, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden said on Saturday. Kamina, a Western lowland gorilla, came to Cincinnati for "gorillafication" after her mother, Ndjole, stopped caring for her shortly after she was born in August in Oklahoma City Zoo. ...

N. Korea blames U.S. for Internet outages, insults Obama

Posted: 26 Dec 2014 08:46 PM PST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea called President Barack Obama "a monkey" and blamed the U.S. on Saturday for shutting down its Internet amid the hacking row over the comedy "The Interview."

Will 'The Interview' change how Hollywood does business?

Posted: 26 Dec 2014 02:54 PM PST

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Interview" was never supposed to be a paradigm-shifting film. But unusual doesn't even begin to describe the series of events that transpired over the past few weeks, culminating in the truly unprecedented move by a major studio to release a film in theaters and on digital platforms simultaneously.

Islamic State claims Iraq suicide bombing that killed 38

Posted: 26 Dec 2014 11:04 AM PST

The Islamic State group on Friday claimed it carried out a suicide bombing south of Baghdad that targeted Sunni fighters who oppose the jihadists, in which 38 people were killed. IS spearheaded a sweeping militant offensive that has overrun much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland since June -- areas that Shiite-led government forces have sought local Sunni help to recapture. The Sahwa, or "Awakening" in Arabic, dates back to the height of the US-led war in Iraq, when Sunni tribesmen joined forces with the Americans to battle insurgents including IS's predecessor organisation, the Islamic State of Iraq. The Sahwa were key to greatly but temporarily reducing the violence, but when Iraq's government took over responsibility for their salaries they were sometimes paid late or not at all.