Obama to cut short India trip to pay call on Saudi Arabia

Obama to cut short India trip to pay call on Saudi Arabia
Nazi camp survivors recall Auschwitz
Baseball legend Ernie Banks dies at 83
Exclusive: USDA Secretary orders update of animal welfare research strategy
Police hunt for man in fatal shooting of three people in New York City home
Kia Motors recalls nearly 87,000 Forte sedans in U.S. due to fire risk
Auschwitz: enduring testament to Nazi horrors
Eyeing 2016 presidential bid, Jeb Bush signals focus on middle class
GOP's Christie brings New Jersey candor to Iowa evangelicals
Army: Fort Hood lacked system to ID threat of 2014 rampage
Denver woman who tried to help IS sentenced

Posted: 24 Jan 2015 11:22 AM PST

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) — President Barack Obama will shorten his trip to India and divert to Saudi Arabia, paying respects after the death of King Abdullah and meeting with the oil-rich nation's new monarch, the White House said Saturday.

Nazi camp survivors recall Auschwitz

Posted: 24 Jan 2015 05:41 AM PST

By Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a little leather book, the kind some men use to list lovers, Holocaust survivor Hy Abrams keeps the names that still haunt him: Auschwitz, Plaszow, Mauthausen, Melk and Ebensee. It has been 70 years since the Soviet army liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where Abrams was taken at age 20 by German Nazi soldiers and separated from his mother, father, brother and three sisters. Abrams, at 90, is among the oldest of a dwindling population of Holocaust survivors who gather each week at a Brooklyn synagogue to share stories, and perhaps lunch and a dance or two. With an average age of 79, they are poor and in need of special help as the result of stress and malnutrition, said the UJA-Federation of New York, which supports the Brooklyn gatherings organized by Selfhelp Community Services.

Baseball legend Ernie Banks dies at 83

Posted:

Exclusive: USDA Secretary orders update of animal welfare research strategy

Posted: 23 Jan 2015 04:54 PM PST

By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has directed agency staff to create and deliver an updated Animal Welfare Strategy plan within 60 days, according to an internal email reviewed by Reuters. The emailed memo from Chavonda Jacobs-Young, head of the agency's Agricultural Research Service, was sent to all Animal Research Service employees on Friday afternoon in response to recent media reports over controversial animal welfare conditions at its U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska. The new strategy will include updated training for government employees and others who work with animals in the service's research labs, according to the email. In addition, an independent panel will be convened to review the group's animal handling protocols, policies and research practices.

Police hunt for man in fatal shooting of three people in New York City home

Posted: 24 Jan 2015 09:36 AM PST

(Reuters) - A New York City man was suspected of shooting four people inside their home on Saturday, killing two women and a 7-year-old girl and badly wounding another child, police said. Police were searching for Jonathon Walker, 34, in connection with the early morning shootings in the borough of Queens, close to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Officers arrived at the home around 5:40 a.m. and found four people shot in an incident a police spokeswoman described as "domestic in nature." Three of the victims, a 62-year-old woman, a 31-year-old woman and the 7-year-old girl, were shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Kia Motors recalls nearly 87,000 Forte sedans in U.S. due to fire risk

Posted: 24 Jan 2015 07:07 AM PST

Kia Motors is recalling 86,880 Forte sedans in the United States because a cooling fan resistor may overheat and melt, increasing the risk of a fire, according to documents filed by U.S. auto safety regulators. The recall involves certain model year 2014 Forte compact sedans and is expected to begin on Feb. 24, according to documents on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. The South Korean automaker reported several incidents of engine fires that could be linked to the resistor but no accidents or injuries, the documents said. A Kia Motors representative was not immediately available for comment.

Auschwitz: enduring testament to Nazi horrors

Posted: 23 Jan 2015 10:31 PM PST

The Auschwitz concentration camp, one of the most haunting symbols of the horrors of Nazism, is today a firm fixture on the tourist trail. Thousands of people, including many school children, visit each year to learn about the gas chambers that were part of the Nazi's "final solution". This despite the fact that from the summer of 1942 "information about the massacres of the Jews in territory occupied by the German army was complete," said French historian Georges Bensoussan. Governments at the time have been accused of turning a blind eye to the Nazi death camps.

Eyeing 2016 presidential bid, Jeb Bush signals focus on middle class

Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:44 PM PST

The former Florida governor calls for overhaul of immigration and education systems.

GOP's Christie brings New Jersey candor to Iowa evangelicals

Posted: 24 Jan 2015 09:07 AM PST

Republican audiences have cheered him in the past, but this will be a tougher test.

Army: Fort Hood lacked system to ID threat of 2014 rampage

Posted: 23 Jan 2015 03:06 PM PST

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The Army's tools for identifying troubled soldiers would not have flagged the man who shot to death three people and wounded 16 others before killing himself at Fort Hood last year, despite previous signs of instability, a U.S. Army report said Friday.