| Keystone XL bill passes in Senate, faces Obama veto Posted: 29 Jan 2015 01:29 PM PST  The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Thursday to approve the long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite the White House saying earlier in the day that President Barack Obama would veto the measure. The Republican-led Senate passed the bill that would approve TransCanada Corp's project to carry 800,000 barrels per day of heavy Canadian crude to Nebraska on the way to Gulf Coast refineries and ports. The House has passed its own pipeline bill and will work with the Senate to send the bill to the Obama's desk. After the potential veto, Obama is expected to make his own decision on the pipeline after the State Department finishes a review in coming weeks.
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| Senate panel approves Iran sanctions bill Posted: 29 Jan 2015 11:39 AM PST  The measure would levy a tougher penalty on Tehran if it fails to curb its nuclear program.
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| Lindsey Graham to test 2016 Republican presidential waters Posted: 29 Jan 2015 09:21 AM PST  By Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Thursday formed a political organization to explore a potential run for his party's presidential nomination, the latest high-profile politician to test the 2016 waters. Graham would attempt to use his South Carolina home base to his advantage for any potential run, since the Southern state is typically the third to hold a nominating contest in presidential election years, after Iowa and New Hampshire. "What I'm looking at is, is there a pathway forward on the ground in Iowa and New Hampshire for a guy like me?
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| Gas blast at Mexico City children's hospital Posted: 29 Jan 2015 04:15 PM PST  At least three people are dead and dozens are injured.
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| Boy Scouts settle California suit over abuse Posted: 29 Jan 2015 02:31 PM PST  The case involved a man who was molested by a Scout volunteer in 2007.
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| Islamic State purportedly sets new deadline for hostage swap Posted: 29 Jan 2015 09:17 AM PST  A voice claiming to be a Japanese hostage relays the group's latest threat.
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| U.S. jobless claims plunge 14% Posted: 29 Jan 2015 06:03 AM PST  New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits plunged to the lowest level in nearly 15 years last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial jobless claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, dropped to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 in the week ending January 24, a hefty decline of 43,000 from the prior week's slightly upwardly revised level of 308,000. It was the lowest level for initial claims since mid-April 2000. The Labor Department said there was no particular factor influencing the week's claims data, which is often volatile.
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| Weekly Ebola cases below 100 Posted: 29 Jan 2015 06:04 AM PST  By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of new confirmed Ebola cases totaled 99 in the week to Jan. 25, the lowest tally since June 2014, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, signaling the tide might have turned against the epidemic. "The response to the EVD (Ebola virus disease) epidemic has now moved to a second phase, as the focus shifts from slowing transmission to ending the epidemic," the WHO said. "To achieve this goal as quickly as possible, efforts have moved from rapidly building infrastructure to ensuring that capacity for case finding, case management, safe burials, and community engagement is used as effectively as possible." The outbreak has killed 8,810 people out of 22,092 known cases, almost all of them in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Cases and deaths have fallen rapidly in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the past few weeks, with just 20 deaths recorded in Liberia in the 21 days to Jan. 25.
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| Matt Bai: Jeb and the myth of the Sister Souljah moment Posted: 29 Jan 2015 01:12 AM PST  Contrary to what people say, there's really no such thing as a "Sister Souljah moment" unless a political candidate has spent a good bit of time making the argument that underlies it first.
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| Malaysia declares MH370 an 'accident', airline to proceed with compensation Posted: 29 Jan 2015 04:30 AM PST  Malaysia declared on Thursday the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 an accident, clearing the way for the airline to pay compensation to victims' relatives while the search for the plane goes on. "We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident ... and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives," Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a statement. The announcement is in accordance with standards of annexes 12 and 13 in the International Civil Aviation, said Azharuddin. It will allow families of the passengers to obtain assistance through compensation, he said.
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| U.S. funding impasse blocks Secret Service hires: Homeland Security chief Posted: 29 Jan 2015 03:20 PM PST  By Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service cannot hire new agents for the next presidential election or make improvements at the agency until Congress settles a dispute over funding, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Thursday. Johnson said in a speech in Washington that uncertainty over the budget for the Department of Homeland Security, which secures U.S. borders, airports and coastal waters and protects the president, had put security initiatives on hold. These included recommendations made in December by a review panel on the Secret Service, which has been plagued with a series of security lapses, among them a White House intruder and a drone that landed on the mansion's lawn early Monday. Secret Service protection extends to major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within four months of a presidential election.
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| Survivalist pleads not guilty in Pennsylvania trooper murder Posted: 29 Jan 2015 01:13 PM PST  By Joe McDonald MILFORD, Pa. (Reuters) - The Pennsylvania survivalist who eluded a 48-day manhunt after a sniper attack that killed one state trooper and wounded another pleaded not guilty on Thursday to murder charges. Eric Frein, 31, appeared at his arraignment through a video conference from Pike County Correctional Facility, where he is being held without bail. He was asked by Judge Greg Chelak in the Pike County Courthouse whether he wanted to plead not guilty to fatally shooting Corporal Bryon Dickson and wounding Trooper Alex Douglass on Sept. 12, 2014 during a late night shift change at the Blooming Grove state police barracks.
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| Convicted Fort Hood killer faces military hearing in Kansas Posted: 29 Jan 2015 12:38 PM PST  (Reuters) - Former U.S. Army major Nidal Hasan appeared in a military court on Thursday for a procedural hearing related to his capital punishment conviction for the 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood in Texas that killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. The hearing at a military post in Kansas addressed two administrative matters. Hasan, 44, is being confined in the death sentence inmate housing unit at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where the hearing took place. He was sent to a military prison on the post after being sentenced to death for the killings.
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| AirAsia co-pilot at controls when plane crashed Posted: 28 Jan 2015 04:57 PM PST  The French co-pilot was at the controls of an AirAsia plane before it crashed into the sea last month after flying through an area of towering clouds, killing all 162 people on board, investigators said Thursday. The announcement came as fishermen found two more bodies from the crash in waters off Sulawesi island in central Indonesia, around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from where the plane crashed, a search and rescue official said. On Thursday, Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, which has been analysing the plane's black boxes, said that prior to the crash, the aircraft had climbed fast in an area packed with huge storm clouds, and the stall alarms started going off. They also revealed that the Airbus A320-200's less experienced French co-pilot, Remi Plesel, was flying the plane before it went down, rather than Captain Iriyanto, a former fighter pilot who had around 20,000 hours of flying time.
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| Unlikely bedfellows unite on criminal justice reform Posted: 28 Jan 2015 03:07 PM PST  From the Koch brothers to Al Franken, momentum builds to reduce prison population.
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