Obama says trade deal lets U.S. write the rules, not China

Obama says trade deal lets U.S. write the rules, not China
DOJ to investigate Baltimore police for civil rights violations
Military raises security status at U.S. bases because of ISIS threat
Nine months in, Congress mute on Obama’s war against the Islamic State
Tom Brady says Super Bowl win not tainted
Stowaway's cigarette started Virginia bus fire: police
U.S. Justice Dept. opens civil rights probe into Baltimore police
Pentagon says security at bases in U.S. highest in four years
Bernie Sanders to Obama on Nike trip: Just don’t do it!
Cameron's Conservatives win in surprise UK election
Cameron wins stunning victory in watershed UK vote
Senate OKs bill giving Congress review of Iran nuclear deal
Charlie Hebdo responds to PEN Freedom of Expression critics in latest issue

Posted: 08 May 2015 10:49 AM PDT

President Barack Obama argued forcefully Friday for a pending international trade agreement, saying the U.S. must write the rules for global commerce now, while it's in a position of economic strength, ...

DOJ to investigate Baltimore police for civil rights violations

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U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Friday that the Justice Department will launch a civil rights investigation into the Baltimore Police Department.

Military raises security status at U.S. bases because of ISIS threat

Posted: 08 May 2015 10:00 AM PDT

Military bases and installations in the United States have been ordered to raise their force protection condition status to Bravo (FPCON Bravo), due to general concerns about ISIS related threats, but not because of any specific threat or plot. U.S. Northern Command's Admiral William Gortney ordered the increase in the force protection condition from FPCON Alpha Plus, which is the standard for U.S. military bases. The Pentagon has been on a higher force protection status than Alpha Plus for years. The last time the force protection status was raised to the Bravo level was on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Nine months in, Congress mute on Obama’s war against the Islamic State

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Nine months after American bombs first rocked Islamic State targets in the Middle East, a small group of U.S. lawmakers is making what may be their last...

Tom Brady says Super Bowl win not tainted

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Stowaway's cigarette started Virginia bus fire: police

Posted: 08 May 2015 11:43 AM PDT

By John Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A stowaway smoking in the baggage compartment of a Greyhound bus caused a vehicle fire in Virginia that snarled traffic and left the man in critical condition, police said on Friday. The southbound bus was in Stafford, about 45 miles south of Washington, on a trip from New York to Atlanta on Thursday when the driver saw and smelled smoke inside the bus, Virginia State Police said in a statement. Fire crews and state police discovered the fire coming from the baggage compartment.

U.S. Justice Dept. opens civil rights probe into Baltimore police

Posted: 08 May 2015 10:14 AM PDT

By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Friday launched an investigation into the Baltimore police department's use of force and whether there are patterns of discriminatory policing. The probe, announced by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, was requested by Baltimore's mayor in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who sustained fatal injuries while in police custody, and the outrage it sparked in Maryland's largest city. The Justice Department has conducted similar reviews of U.S. police departments. An investigation of police in Ferguson, Missouri, where a white officer shot dead an unarmed black teenager last year, concluded in March that the department routinely engaged in racially biased practices.

Pentagon says security at bases in U.S. highest in four years

Posted: 08 May 2015 11:39 AM PDT

The U.S. military has ordered security at its bases around the United States to the highest level in nearly four years, Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday. The heightened security level covered everything from recruiting stations to National Guard posts and military bases and camps in the continental United States, Alaska and U.S. territory in the Caribbean. Social media postings indicate the Garland, Texas, gunmen had contact shortly before the attack with at least two militants, including a British man linked to Syria-based Islamic State rebels, officials said. Investigators believe the Garland attackers principally radicalized themselves through Internet contacts, and were not directly ordered or encouraged to carry out the attack by Islamic State leaders.

Bernie Sanders to Obama on Nike trip: Just don’t do it!

Posted: 07 May 2015 01:48 PM PDT

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is urging President Barack Obama to cancel a planned visit to Nike's headquarters over the low wages it pays foreign workers

Cameron's Conservatives win in surprise UK election

Posted: 08 May 2015 07:59 AM PDT

The Conservative Party surged to a commanding lead in Britain's parliamentary election.

Cameron wins stunning victory in watershed UK vote

Posted: 08 May 2015 10:29 AM PDT

Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives won a stunning victory in Britain's election on Friday, which cut short the careers of his top three rivals and put the country's European Union future in doubt. Widespread predictions of a close contest with the opposition Labour party turned out to be wide of the mark, as Cameron won 331 out of 650 parliament seats and a new term as head of a majority Tory government. North of the border, the pro-independence Scottish National Party won a historic landslide, just seven months after losing a referendum on breaking away from the rest of the United Kingdom. In another dramatic result, the leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) all stepped down over their parties' electoral drubbing.

Senate OKs bill giving Congress review of Iran nuclear deal

Posted: 07 May 2015 01:24 PM PDT

The legislation gives Congress the right to potentially reject any nuclear deal with Tehran.

Charlie Hebdo responds to PEN Freedom of Expression critics in latest issue

Posted: 07 May 2015 10:14 AM PDT

Provocative left-wing magazine Charlie Hebdo responded to critics who were offended by its satire on Islam and argued that it should not have been honored by PEN American Center.