Al-Qaida wanted tried pull off attack like 9/11

Al-Qaida wanted tried pull off attack like 9/11
Obama’s ‘Crusades’ controversy explored
Nancy Pelosi is going to Cuba
Prosecutor asks for Strauss-Kahn acquittal in French sex trial
Minnesota tries softer approach in battling Islamic State
Float accident at Haiti Carnival parade kills at least 16
Judge stalls Obama action on immigration
Icy storm pummels eastern United States, more cold to come
Judge in 'American Sniper' denies request for mistrial
Derailed CSX train in West Virginia hauled newer-model tank cars
New York chief judge calls for grand jury reforms after chokehold case
Bin Laden told of al Qaeda suspect's plot in 'chilling' letter: U.S. prosecutor
Ukraine says some soldiers taken prisoner in Debaltseve
'Stop shooting,' European Union pleads as Ukraine cease-fire teeters
N. Korea threatens strong response to D.C. rights meeting
'It's My Party' singer-songwriter Lesley Gore dies at 68
The land of ice and snow: US blanketed by storm, cold temps

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:16 AM PST

The terror group allegedly wanted recruits to infiltrate Western society and pull off a massive strike.

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:01 AM PST

President Barack Obama describes the so-called Islamic State as a "death cult." But critics want him to label its fighters "Islamist radicals." Ahead of the White House's "Countering Violent Extremism" summit, Yahoo News looks at the rhetorical battles in the war on terrorism.

Nancy Pelosi is going to Cuba

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:07 AM PST

The House Democratic leader joins a delegation of Democrats visiting Cuba 'in friendship.'

Prosecutor asks for Strauss-Kahn acquittal in French sex trial

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 07:57 AM PST

By Pierre Savary LILLE, France (Reuters) - A French prosecutor asked a criminal court on Tuesday to acquit former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of a pimping charge for his role in what investigating magistrates argued was an organized sex ring using prostitutes. Strauss-Kahn was tipped to become French president before being accused of sexual assault by a New York hotel chambermaid in 2011. U.S. criminal charges were subsequently dropped, and the allegations that he participated in a French sex ring centered in the northern French city of Lille emerged later. "Did Dominique Strauss-Kahn pay prostitutes?

Minnesota tries softer approach in battling Islamic State

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:02 AM PST

A new strategy that will be tested out in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota this fall uses a "community intervention team" of religious and business leaders — not law enforcement — to respond to concerns of radicalization.

Float accident at Haiti Carnival parade kills at least 16

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:32 AM PST

Riders on a music group's packed float in Port-au-Prince were killed in a terrible accident.

Judge stalls Obama action on immigration

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 11:01 AM PST

The move gives a 26-state coalition time to pursue a lawsuit aimed at stopping the orders.

Icy storm pummels eastern United States, more cold to come

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:44 AM PST

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A deadly winter storm paralyzed much of the eastern United States on Tuesday, snarling transit and shutting down federal offices in Washington, and forecasters warned of the worst cold in two decades from another arctic front this week. States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the District of Columbia. The federal government shut down after about 5 inches (13 cm) of snow fell in Washington, and schools were canceled throughout the area and in much of North Carolina. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory urged residents to stay off ice-covered roads.

Judge in 'American Sniper' denies request for mistrial

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:57 AM PST

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — A judge on Tuesday denied a request for a mistrial from lawyers for a former Marine accused of killing "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and Kyle's friend.

Derailed CSX train in West Virginia hauled newer-model tank cars

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 11:11 AM PST

(Reuters) - A CSX Corp oil train that derailed and erupted in flames in West Virginia on Monday was hauling newer model tank cars, not the older versions widely criticized for being prone to puncture, the company said. All of the oil tank cars on the 109-car train were CPC 1232 models, CSX said late Monday. The train, which was carrying North Dakota crude to an oil depot in Yorktown, Virginia, derailed in a small town 33 miles (54 km) southeast of Charleston.

New York chief judge calls for grand jury reforms after chokehold case

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:05 AM PST

By Daniel Wiessner ALBANY, N.Y. (Reuters) - Responding to outrage over a grand jury's decision against indicting a New York City police officer for killing an unarmed black man with a chokehold, the state's top judge on Tuesday proposed giving courts unprecedented authority over grand jury proceedings involving police. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals said in his annual address in Albany that the public's trust in the justice system had been shaken by the secretive proceedings that did not lead to indictments in the cases of the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner and an officer in Ferguson, Missouri, who shot and killed an unarmed black teen last year. Lippman said he would soon submit a bill to the state legislature that would require judges to preside over grand jury proceedings in cases involving allegations of homicide or felony assault against police officers. Such oversight, he said, would be a check on the outsized role of prosecutors in grand jury proceedings, giving the public greater confidence in the process.

Bin Laden told of al Qaeda suspect's plot in 'chilling' letter: U.S. prosecutor

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 11:09 AM PST

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. prosecutor told jurors at the terrorism trial of accused al Qaeda operative Abid Naseer that his plan to bomb a shopping center in England in 2009 was described in a "chilling" letter recovered during the military raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In an opening statement at trial in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, prosecutor Celia Cohen said the letter from al Qaeda's head of Western operations updated bin Laden on plans by Naseer and others to carry out attacks in New York, Copenhagen and Manchester, England. "You will see that chilling reminder in the letter to Osama bin Laden that al Qaeda's goal was to attack infidels in their home territories," Cohen said.

Ukraine says some soldiers taken prisoner in Debaltseve

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 07:22 AM PST

LUHANSKE, Ukraine (AP) — Several Ukrainian government soldiers have been ambushed and taken prisoners in Debaltseve, the defense ministry said Tuesday, but denied rebel claims that they have seized control of the key transportation hub.

'Stop shooting,' European Union pleads as Ukraine cease-fire teeters

Posted: 16 Feb 2015 03:51 PM PST

Fighting rages around a strategic railway hub.

N. Korea threatens strong response to D.C. rights meeting

Posted: 16 Feb 2015 06:07 PM PST

Pyongyang gets defensive before a conference about its human rights abuses.

'It's My Party' singer-songwriter Lesley Gore dies at 68

Posted: 16 Feb 2015 06:54 PM PST

NEW YORK (AP) — Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore, who topped the charts in 1963 at age 16 with her epic song of teenage angst, "It's My Party," and followed it up with the hits "Judy's Turn to Cry," and the feminist anthem "You Don't Own Me," died Monday. She was 68.

The land of ice and snow: US blanketed by storm, cold temps

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 10:49 AM PST

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A powerful winter storm dumped snow from Nashville to Nantucket, and artic-like temperatures gripped much of the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of people were without power in the South.