| Tornadoes, severe storms threaten country’s midsection Posted:  Below are continuing updates tracking the severe weather battering parts of the Midwest. Forecasters have cautioned that Saturday could be a day of "life-threatening" storms, according to the Associated Press. The area at risk stretches from Texas to Minnesota. All times are Central Standard. 5:05 p.m. (CST): Tornado Watch issued until 12 a.m. for central Iowa [...]
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| Secret Service scandal widens to U.S. military Posted:  An embarrassing scandal involving prostitutes and Secret Service agents widened Saturday when the U.S. military confirmed five service members staying at the same hotel in Colombia may have been involved in misconduct as well. The allegations overshadowed President Barack Obama's diplomacy in Latin America and threatened to bruise America's image.
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| U.S. says Syria shelling of Homs violates ceasefire Posted:  U.S. envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Saturday that Syria's shelling of the city of Homs had violated a fragile ceasefire in the 13-month-long conflict that has brought the country to the brink of civil war. Activists reported the first shelling on Saturday in Homs by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since the U.N.-Arab League-brokered ceasefire took effect on Thursday. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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| Events around the world mark Titanic centenary Posted:  In the birthplace of the Titanic, residents will gather for a choral requiem. In the North Atlantic, above the ship's final resting place, passengers will pray as a band strikes up a hymn and three floral wreaths are cast onto the waves.
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| Obama pledges immigration reform early in second term Posted:  In his most specific pledge yet to U.S. Hispanics, President Barack Obama said Saturday he would seek to tackle immigration policy in the first year of a second term. But he cautioned that he would need an amenable Congress to succeed.
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| Iran agrees to keep negotiating on nuclear program Posted:  After a year of sanctions and saber-rattling over Iran's nuclear program, negotiators from Tehran and six world powers finally resumed talks and found at least enough common ground to agree to meet again next month. With threats of war hanging over an already unsettled Middle East, U.S. and other Western diplomats welcomed their Iranian counterparts willingness in Istanbul on Saturday to discuss their nuclear activities - something they had refused since early last year. But though they will meet again, in Baghdad on May 23, they remained poles apart. ...
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| U.S. says China making progress on currency Posted:  A senior White House aide said on Saturday that China had made some progress toward easing restrictions on its currency but stressed the United States wanted to see more actions taken. At a briefing with reporters in Colombia, where President Barack Obama is attending a summit with Latin American leaders, White House adviser Ben Rhodes said the Obama administration was closely reviewing Beijing's announcement that it was doubling the size of its yuan's trading band against the dollar. ...
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| Debate rages over 'stand your ground' law Posted:  The fatal encounter between a 17-year-old black teenager and a mixed-race neighborhood watch volunteer has created a furor over "stand your ground" laws, which have been enacted in more than 20 states; legislation is pending in others. That Florida, the epicenter of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case, was the first to pass the law in [...]
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| Soccer player dies after having heart attack on field Posted:  Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini collapsed on the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest in the 31st minute of a Serie B match against Pescara. Medical workers attempted to resuscitate the 25-year-old on the pitch, but according to the AP, a cardiologist at the hospital to which Morosini was taken reported that he was dead upon arrival and never regained consciousness. The match was abandoned as players left the pitch in tears.
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| Best Buy announces locations for store closings Posted:  Best Buy on Saturday announced the locations of 50 stores that it is closing this year, including seven in California, six in Illinois and six in the company's home state of Minnesota.
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| Reports: Singer Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees in coma Posted:  Singer Robin Gibb, a founding member of the disco-era hit machine the Bee Gees, is in a coma surrounded by members of his family in a London hospital, British media reported on Saturday. A spokesman for the 62-year-old, who has been battling cancer and recently contracted pneumonia, was not immediately available to comment on the reports. "Our prayers are with Robin," an unnamed family friend told the Sun newspaper, which first reported the news. "He has kept so positive and always believed he could beat this. ...
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| North Korea expected to press ahead with another test Posted:  North Korea said its much hyped long-range rocket launch failed on Friday, in a very rare and embarrassing public admission of failure by the hermit state and a blow for its new young leader who faces international outrage over the attempt. The isolated North, using the launch to celebrate the 100th birthday of the dead founding president Kim Il-sung and to mark the rise to power of his grandson Kim Jong-un, is now widely expected to press ahead with its third nuclear test to show its military strength. ...
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| Magnitude 6.5 earthquake shakes Pacific island nation of Vanuatu Posted: NEW YORK, N.Y. - A magnitude-6.5 earthquake rattled the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. |
| With new heart, Cheney speaks over an hour in Wyoming Posted:  Former Vice President Dick Cheney walked onstage without any assistance and spoke for an hour and 15 minutes without seeming to tire in his first public engagement since he underwent a heart transplant three weeks ago.
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| Egypt disqualifies top Islamists from election Posted:  The body overseeing Egypt's presidential election disqualified 10 candidates from the race on Saturday, including the Muslim Brotherhood's Khairat al-Shater, former spy chief Omar Suleiman and ultra orthodox Salafi sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. Farouk Sultan, head of the presidential election commission, told Reuters the disqualified candidates had 48 hours to appeal against its decision. He declined to give details on the reasons for their disqualification. ...
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| Woman who died in N.H. standoff had dated gunman Posted:  The woman who died during a standoff in New Hampshire that also killed a police chief was a 26-year-old cosmetologist who had dated the gunman on and off and had gone to him in recent days to help him sort through issues that were upsetting him, her mother said Saturday.
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| Ohio girl shot by dad in restaurant still in critical condition Posted:  A 10-year-old girl who survived a shooting by her father that killed her sister and mother remains in critical condition in a Cleveland hospital.
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| N.J. couple sue landlord over 'haunted house' Posted: A New Jersey couple is suing their landlord for a refund after they said paranormal activity caused them to flee their rental home. Michele Callan and her fiance, Josue Chinchilla, moved into the home in Toms River, N.J., with Callan's two children on March 1... |
| Airlines cancel Palestinian activists' flights to Israel Posted:  A Palestinian activist said Saturday that a number of international airlines canceled flights for at least 100 people scheduled to arrive in Israel's main airport for a mass fly-in of pro-Palestinian activists, while Israel said those activists who manage to make it to the airport would be deported.
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| Rock Hall in Cleveland ready to induct new class Posted:  The speeches are written. The guitars are tuned. The amplifiers are plugged in.
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| Vehicle smashes into Florida. supermarket; 8 hurt Posted: Authorities say a vehicle smashed through the entrance of a Florida supermarket, injuring eight customers. |
| Dog braves traffic to stick by fatally struck pal Posted:  Los Angeles county animal control officials are heralding the loyalty of a black Labrador retriever that braved traffic to stay by another dog that was fatally struck by a car.
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