| Rand Paul: Presidential announcement likely in March, April Posted: 20 Feb 2015 08:38 AM PST  The senator from Kentucky dropped a big hint about his 2016 ambitions.
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| Rebels pledge prisoner exchange as Ukraine ceasefire teeters Posted: 20 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST  Germany and France demanded Friday that a crumbling Ukraine truce be "fully respected" even as pro-Russian rebels celebrated a battlefield victory in a strategic town and exchanged artillery fire elsewhere with government troops. "The ceasefire has been violated several times," French President Francois Hollande said in a joint Paris media conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. French officials said the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France would meet in Paris next Tuesday to discuss the conflict.
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| Police: Victim knew suspect in Vegas road-rage killing Posted: 20 Feb 2015 06:31 AM PST  Police arrest a 19-year-old who lived a block away from the victim and her family.
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| Greek PM 'certain' euro zone will accept loan deal Posted: 20 Feb 2015 10:11 AM PST  By Jan Strupczewski and Renee Maltezou BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers drafted an outline agreement on Friday that could form the basis for extending Greece's financial rescue package, officials on both sides said. European Union paymaster Germany, Greece's biggest creditor, had demanded "significant improvements" in reform commitments by the new leftist government in Athens before it would accept a six-month extension of euro zone funding. "There is an initial agreement on a joint draft text among the institutional partners, which is now being presented to all of the ministers," a Greek government official said following preparatory talks involving the Greek and German ministers, as well as the managing director of the IMF. "I feel certain that the Greek letter for a six-month extension of the loan agreement with the conditionalities that accompany it will be accepted," Tsipras said in a statement to Reuters hours before the crucial Brussels meeting.
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| Lawyer: Teen infected by 'superbug' struggling to survive Posted: 20 Feb 2015 06:19 AM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — An 18-year-old student is struggling to survive after he was infected by a "superbug" outbreak tied to contaminated medical instruments at a Los Angeles hospital, his attorney said.
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| Refugees in Niger live under shadow of Boko Haram Posted: 20 Feb 2015 03:50 AM PST  Aboubacar, usually a worker for a non-governmental organisation, has now taken on another, more ominous role: watching out for suicide bombers. "We watch everyone," he said in Niger's second-largest city of Zinder. His fears reflect the shifting threat of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has in recent weeks carried out attacks across the border from its base in northeastern Nigeria as regional forces pursue them. In the southern city of Zinder, the hot, dusty streets have seen a trail of refugees from Niger's Diffa, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) to the east.
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| Warnings after blizzards sweep across Middle East Posted: 20 Feb 2015 03:12 AM PST  Snow blanketed much of Israel, Jordan and Lebanon early on Friday, with many residents urged to stay in their homes because of blocked or icy roads. People in Jerusalem woke up to around 25 centimetres of snow after the second major blizzard of winter swept across the hilltop Holy City. The two main highways into Jerusalem, which climb to around 795 metres (2,600 feet) above sea level, were closed in both directions for several hours but reopened at around midday, police said. "There's heavy snow falling in Jerusalem, about 25 centimetres (10 inches) so far and it will continue to fall throughout the day," Israel Meteorological Service forecaster Rinat Rehamim told public radio.
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| 'Parks and Recreation' producer Harris Wittels found dead Posted: 19 Feb 2015 10:25 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harris Wittels, who worked as a writer and executive producer on the NBC comedy "Parks and Recreation," was found dead Thursday of a possible drug overdose at his Los Angeles home, police said. He was 30.
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| Accused in U.S. sniper's murder faked schizophrenia: psychologist Posted: 20 Feb 2015 09:29 AM PST  A psychologist testified in court on Friday that the man charged with murdering U.S. Navy sniper Chris Kyle and another man on a Texas shooting range two years ago has been faking schizophrenia and knew what he did was wrong, media reports said. Eddie Ray Routh, 27, is accused of shooting Kyle, whose best-selling autobiography was turned into the hit movie "American Sniper, and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield at the range about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Fort Worth. Defense attorneys, who have not disputed that Routh repeatedly shot the two men in February 2013, are seeking to have Routh declared innocent by reason of insanity. On Friday, psychologist Randall Price testified for the prosecution in a rural court in Stephenville, a day after a forensic psychiatrist for the defense told the jury that he found Routh had paranoid schizophrenia and showed signs of psychosis that could not be faked.
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| Eastern U.S. bitter cold snap brings pain, grimaces and wonder Posted: 20 Feb 2015 10:13 AM PST  By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Millions of people awoke to painfully cold weather in the eastern United States on Friday, with temperatures frigid enough in New York City and Washington to break decades-old record lows for Feb. 20. At his small grocery store in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood, Mohammad Islam, 30, anticipated selling a lot of hot coffee as the temperature outside hovered around 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15.6 degrees Celsius), beating the record low of 7 degrees set in 1950 according to National Weather Service records. "I've never seen cold like this," he said unhappily, noting he had moved to New York from Bangladesh in 2003. "All I got to do is dress warm," Ludlow Chamberlain, a 76-year-old custodian at a nearby concert hall, said before counting off his layers on two hands.
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| N.Y. Governor Cuomo sets date for special congressional election Posted: 20 Feb 2015 09:12 AM PST  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday ordered a special election to be held in May to fill the seat vacated by a Staten Island congressman who pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion, hours before a deadline set by a federal judge. The election to replace former Rep. Michael Grimm is scheduled for May 5, according to an order issued by Cuomo's office. New York's 11th Congressional District includes the New York City borough of Staten Island and parts of the borough of Brooklyn. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn ordered Cuomo to set an election date by noon Friday in a lawsuit filed by district residents who said they had been disenfranchised by the vacancy.
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| Prosecution expert says 'American Sniper' suspect not insane Posted: 20 Feb 2015 09:29 AM PST  STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — The ex-Marine charged with shooting "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and another man was not legally insane, a prosecution expert said, suggesting the man may have gotten some of his ideas from the television show "Seinfeld."
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| Obama's new communications director a target of Russian media Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:59 PM PST  A new "Daily Show"-style TV show mocking Jen Psaki is just the latest manifestation of the Russian media's obsession with the new White House communications director.
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| Destruction as massive cyclones hit Australia Posted: 20 Feb 2015 12:56 AM PST  Two powerful cyclones pounded Australia Friday, leaving a trail of destruction with houses ripped apart, trees uprooted and electricity cut to thousands of people, but authorities expressed relief there were no fatalities. Tropical Cyclone Marcia, a top-rating category five storm, slammed into the Queensland coast just after 2200 GMT Thursday with its landfall coming just hours after Cyclone Lam hit further north. The category four Lam caused extensive damage to remote Aboriginal communities near Elcho Island, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of the Northern Territory capital Darwin, including Milingimbi, Ramingining, and Gapuwiyak. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said while there had been "a lot of structural damage" in the towns of Yeppoon and Rockhampton as the storm passed through, "thankfully to date there is no loss of life".
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| Doctor: 'American Sniper' defendant was schizophrenic Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:57 PM PST  A psychiatrist told a Texas court on Thursday that the man accused of murdering U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle had paranoid schizophrenia and showed signs of psychosis that could not be faked, media reports said. Eddie Ray Routh, 27, has been charged with killing Kyle, whose autobiography was turned into the hit movie "American Sniper," and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield at a gun range about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Fort Worth in February 2013. Dr. Mitchell Dunn, a forensic psychiatrist who spent more than six hours interviewing Routh and was called by the defense, testified Routh believed that Kyle and Littlefield were going to kill him, the Dallas Morning News reported from the court in Stephenville.
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| Defense rests in 'American Sniper' murder trial Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:31 PM PST STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — Attorneys mounting an insanity defense rested their case Thursday in the trial of the ex-Marine charged with gunning down "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and another man. |
| Bostonians look for fun ways to deal with aggravating snow storms Posted: 19 Feb 2015 08:43 AM PST  Bostonians are thinking up new ways to have fun as their city deals with the fast-accumulating snow throughout the streets.
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| U.S. Embassy: Turkey, U.S. sign deal to train, arm Syrian rebels Posted: 19 Feb 2015 12:14 PM PST  ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey and the United States signed an agreement Thursday to train and arm Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group, said the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
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