Prosecutors to seek death penalty for N.C. man in Muslims' killings

Prosecutors to seek death penalty for N.C. man in Muslims' killings
Democratic Sen. Mikulski to retire after 5 terms
Twist in Obamacare Supreme Court case: Weak plaintiffs
Exclusive: Spy freed by U.S. awaits 'next order' from Castro
At 20, Yahoo celebrates and looks ahead
Video shows fatal shooting of homeless man by Los Angeles police
Accused Boston bomber's slain older brother to loom over trial
Florida group to sue FBI in death of friend of Boston bombing suspect
Texas nurse sues Dallas hospital over Ebola infection
Iraq launches operation to retake Tikrit from Islamic State
Netanyahu says ties with US solid despite duel over Iran
North Korea test fires short-range missiles
Netanyahu arrives in U.S., signs of easing of tensions over Iran speech
Boehner defends his U.S. House leadership amid conservative unrest
Australia says hunt for missing MH370 jet may be called off soon
Brrr! February brought record cold, snow to Northeast
'Jihadi John' part of network linked to failed London bombers - court papers

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:49 AM PST

Craig Hicks, 46, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Democratic Sen. Mikulski to retire after 5 terms

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 11:36 AM PST

The longest serving woman in the history of Congress is ready to leave Washington.

Twist in Obamacare Supreme Court case: Weak plaintiffs

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 08:19 AM PST

New revelations about the four plaintiffs fighting the Affordable Care Act may put their case on shaky ground and dramatically shift the course of the case Wednesday, when the Supreme Court will hear both sides present their arguments for the first time.

Exclusive: Spy freed by U.S. awaits 'next order' from Castro

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 01:26 AM PST

A top Cuban spy tells Yahoo's Michael Isikoff he is eager to serve his country again.

At 20, Yahoo celebrates and looks ahead

Posted: 01 Mar 2015 06:53 PM PST

A daylong celebration of Yahoo's 20th birthday honors its 1 billion-plus global users and highlights the Internet giant's rich history, which in many ways mirrors the history of the Internet itself.

Video shows fatal shooting of homeless man by Los Angeles police

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 10:37 AM PST

By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles police officers trying to subdue a robbery suspect in the city's skid row section shot and killed the man as he tried to grab an officer's gun during a scuffle that was captured on video, police said on Monday. The dead man was reported by the Los Angeles Times to have been a homeless man known by his street name, Africa, who according to witnesses at the scene had been living in a tent for a few months after a period in a mental health facility. Local civil rights activists called on the Los Angeles Police Commission to hold a special hearing on the exercise of force by police on skid row, a 50-block area of the city that ranks as one of the largest concentrations of homeless people in United States. The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that the man in question was a suspect in a robbery who began fighting with officers as they tried to take into custody.

Accused Boston bomber's slain older brother to loom over trial

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:02 AM PST

By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect sparred with federal prosecutors on Monday over how early in the trial they may discuss his older brother's role in the attack, suggesting the defendant's life may well hang on that question. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, is charged with killing three people and injuring 264 in the April 15, 2013, attack as well as shooting dead a university police officer as he and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, prepared to flee the city three days later. Tamerlan died that night following a gunbattle with police but defense attorneys described him as the driving force behind the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. "The lead conspirator, the person who started all this and without whom the Boston Marathon bombing would never have occurred, the older brother, is dead ... That presents a problem for the government's request for the death penalty," defense attorney David Bruck told U.S. District Judge George O'Toole.

Florida group to sue FBI in death of friend of Boston bombing suspect

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 10:21 AM PST

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida Islamic group announced on Monday it has filed a formal notice with the FBI that it plans to sue the agency for $30 million in the death of Ibragim Todashev, a friend of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Todashev, 27, a Muslim Chechen immigrant, was killed in an Orlando apartment in May 2013 during FBI questioning about his links with the Boston suspects. The FBI said the agent shot Todashev after he attacked him. The notice was filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida (CAIR-Florida), a civil rights group, on behalf of Todashev's parents who accused the FBI in a statement on Monday of killing their son "in cold blood." Thania Diaz Clevenger, civil rights director for CAIR Florida, said the group was "seeking answers and justice for someone who was shot seven times by an FBI agent in his own home after hours of interrogation." An FBI spokesman said Monday the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Texas nurse sues Dallas hospital over Ebola infection

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 11:09 AM PST

DALLAS (Reuters) - A nurse filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Texas hospital where she worked, saying it did not do enough to prevent her from being infected with Ebola and invaded her privacy after she was diagnosed with the virus. In the suit, Nina Pham brought against Texas Health Resources in Dallas County Court, she claims the hospital did not initially provide nurses with proper protective equipment or properly train staff on how to treat the disease. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Bill Trott)

Iraq launches operation to retake Tikrit from Islamic State

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 05:48 AM PST

Iraqi forces launch a major offensive against Islamic State extremists.

Netanyahu says ties with US solid despite duel over Iran

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:26 AM PST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Washington on Monday that an emerging nuclear deal with Iran could threaten his country's very survival, but insisted Israel-US relations remain solid. "You are here to tell the world that reports of the demise of the US relationship is not only premature, but it is wrong," the Israeli leader told delegates to a packed pro-Israel conference in Washington. Netanyahu goes to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to address a joint meeting of Congress on the perils of President Barack Obama's ongoing efforts to reach agreement with Iran to curtail its nuclear program. "My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the office that he holds.

North Korea test fires short-range missiles

Posted: 01 Mar 2015 09:00 PM PST

Pyongyang vows "merciless strikes" against the U.S. and South Korea.

Netanyahu arrives in U.S., signs of easing of tensions over Iran speech

Posted: 02 Mar 2015 03:33 AM PST

By Matt Spetalnick and Dan Williams WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Israel showed signs of seeking to defuse tensions on Sunday ahead of a speech in Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he will warn against a possible nuclear deal with Iran. Policy differences over the negotiations with Iran remained firm, however, as Netanyahu arrived in the United States on Sunday afternoon for a speech to Congress, which has imperiled ties between the two allies.

Boehner defends his U.S. House leadership amid conservative unrest

Posted: 01 Mar 2015 12:20 PM PST

The House speaker says disagreements with fellow Republicans were merely over strategy.

Australia says hunt for missing MH370 jet may be called off soon

Posted: 01 Mar 2015 02:39 PM PST

By Matt Siegel CANBERRA (Reuters) - The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 cannot go on forever, Australia's deputy prime minister said, and discussions are already under way between Australia, China and Malaysia as to whether to call off the hunt within weeks. No trace has been found of the Boeing 777 aircraft, which disappeared a year ago this week carrying 239 passengers and crew, in what has become one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history. The search of a rugged 60,000 sq km (23,000 sq mile) patch of sea floor some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) west of the Australian city of Perth, which experts believe is the plane's most likely resting place, will likely be finished by May. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told Reuters that a decision would have to be taken well before then as to whether to continue into the vast 1.1 million sq km area around the primary search zone if nothing has been found.

Brrr! February brought record cold, snow to Northeast

Posted: 01 Mar 2015 01:05 PM PST

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Hardy souls who shivered and shoveled their way through February in the Northeast now have evidence of just how brutal the weather was, with record cold in at least eight cities and record snowfall in Boston.

'Jihadi John' part of network linked to failed London bombers - court papers

Posted: 01 Mar 2015 11:56 AM PST

By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Islamist militant Mohammed Emwazi, identified as 'Jihadi John', was a member of a network in contact with one of the men convicted of trying to bomb the British capital's underground railway in 2005, according to the government. U.S. security sources last week identified the man, who appeared clad in black and brandishing a knife, as Mohammed Emwazi. The British government's view is set out in court papers, reviewed by Reuters and publicly available on the Internet, which refer to 2011 and 2013 British legal hearings concerning two of Emwazi's London associates, known only as Iranian-born "CE" and Ethiopian-born "J1." The court papers reported in the Observer and Sunday Telegraph newspapers, offer a fleeting glimpse of Emwazi's life in London before he left for Syria. One of the same network's members, "J1", spoke on the phone with Hussain Osman, one of the men convicted in connection with an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the London underground in 2005, on the day of the failed attack itself, the papers show.