| Netanyahu speech exposes bitter divisions Posted: 03 Mar 2015 10:05 AM PST  Tthe optics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on Tuesday were just as important as the speech itself.
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| GOP’s net neutrality point man says fight is not over Posted: 03 Mar 2015 03:28 PM PST  The Republican Party's point man in Congress on net neutrality admitted Tuesday that the GOP has been slow to act on the issue but insisted that Congress must be the body setting the rules for how the Internet will be regulated.
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| Ex-CIA chief admits sharing military secrets with mistress Posted: 03 Mar 2015 03:46 PM PST  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an affair with his biographer, has agreed to plead guilty to charges he gave her classified material — including information on war strategy and identities of covert operatives — while she was working on the book.
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| Justice Department finds racial bias in Ferguson police practices Posted: 03 Mar 2015 03:04 PM PST  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has concluded that the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices, a law enforcement official familiar with the department's findings said on Tuesday. The investigation into the police department began in August after the shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson sparked national protests. Analysis of more than 35,000 pages of police records found racist comments from officers as well as statistics that showed African-Americans make up 93 percent of arrests while accounting for only 67 percent of the population in Ferguson, the official said.
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| Fugitive ex-NSA contractor Snowden seeks to come home: lawyer Posted: 03 Mar 2015 01:29 PM PST  A Russian lawyer for Edward Snowden said on Tuesday the fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor who leaked details of the government's mass surveillance programs was working with American and German lawyers to return home. In Washington, U.S. officials said they would welcome Snowden's return to the United States but he would have to face criminal charges which have been filed against him. Snowden's lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, who has links to the Kremlin, was speaking at a news conference to present a book he has written about his client. There is a group of U.S. lawyers, there is also a group of German lawyers and I'm dealing with it on the Russian side." The United States wants Snowden to stand trial for leaking extensive secrets of electronic surveillance programs by the National Security Agency (NSA).
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| New U.S. defense chief presses lawmakers for boost in funding Posted: 03 Mar 2015 03:08 PM PST  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned lawmakers on Tuesday that continuing cuts to U.S. defense spending were causing "corrosive damage to our national security" and he urged them to back the president's request for a big boost in military funding in 2016. Testifying for the first time as secretary before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carter said military modernization by rivals such as Russia and China threatened to erode the Pentagon's technological advantage over other forces. He said President Barack Obama's request for a $534 billion Pentagon base budget plus $51 billion for overseas military operations would help the department repair equipment, restore training levels and invest in new weapons for the future, factors put on hold because of budget cuts and ongoing wars.
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| Thousands evacuated as Chile volcano erupts Posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:52 AM PST  Fiery plumes of lava have forced thousands to flee.
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| UN moves to slap sanctions on South Sudan Posted: 03 Mar 2015 10:34 AM PST  The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution to slap sanctions on South Sudan's warring factions, ratcheting up pressure as a deadline loomed to reach a peace deal. Drafted by the United States, the resolution sets up a sanctions committee which would submit to the council the names of those responsible for blocking peace efforts, and who should be punished with a global travel ban and assets freeze. Regional mediators have given South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar until Thursday to reach a final deal to end 14 months of war that have killed tens of thousands of people.
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| Jailed Ukrainian pilot 'may be transferred to hospital' Posted: 03 Mar 2015 08:58 AM PST  A Ukrainian airforce pilot who has been on hunger strike in a Russian jail for 81 days might be transferred to a civilian hospital if her health deteriorates, the prison service said Tuesday. The statement by Russia's prison service raised the possibility of Nadia Savchenko, who is also a member of the Ukraine parliament, being transferred from the hospital of a Moscow prison where she has been held for nearly nine months. Speaking later in the day, one of her lawyers said she may stop the hunger strike if her health sharply worsens. She denies the charges, saying she was kidnapped and brought to Russia.
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| O'Malley rules out Senate as decision over White House bid looms Posted: 03 Mar 2015 06:00 AM PST Former Maryland Governor and possible Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley said on Tuesday he will not seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski. O'Malley, who left office in January and has said he is considering a run for the White House, told reporters in an email he hoped other candidates would step up to represent the mid-Atlantic state, but "I will not be one of them." The move allows O'Malley, 52, to keep the door open for a potential presidential campaign. Despite winning two terms as governor in the heavily Democratic State, his future is somewhat complicated by his successor's surprise loss to a Republican in the November election. O'Malley is popular among Democrats and spent much of the last year actively campaigning for fellow liberals across the country, especially in New Hampshire and Iowa, the first two states with presidential nominating contests. |
| LAPD killing lays bare enduring horror of Skid Row Posted: 02 Mar 2015 03:26 PM PST  A fatal police shooting raises broader questions about mass homelessness in L.A.
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| Netanyahu goes to Congress Posted: 03 Mar 2015 02:02 PM PST  the Israeli PM will warn of the danger of trusting Iran curb its nuclear ambitions.
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| Democrats scramble to defend Hillary Clinton over email flap Posted: 03 Mar 2015 03:24 PM PST  By Steve Holland and Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats scrambled on Tuesday to contain the fallout for Hillary Clinton, their favored 2016 presidential candidate, after allegations she inappropriately used her personal email for work while secretary of state. The Clinton camp quickly sought to discredit a New York Times report published late Monday that said her exclusive use of a personal email account from 2009 through 2013 and a lack of email preservation may have run afoul of the Federal Records Act. The report got wide play, largely because it fuels a political narrative from Republicans that Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are obsessed with secrecy and seek to play by a different set of rules. Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill, however, said Clinton had followed both the "letter and spirit of the rules" while she was secretary of state.
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| Documents: Georgia officials indecisive about execution Posted: 03 Mar 2015 04:47 PM PST  ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia officials were indecisive about whether to proceed with a cloudy lethal injection drug, at one point saying they weren't sure whether they checked "this week's or last week's" batch, according to a court filing.
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| Video: Friend of murdered Putin enemy describes grisly shooting Posted:  Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga talks to pro-democracy leader and human rights activist Garry Kasparov about the death of his close friend Boris Nemtsov.
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| Obama says Iran must halt key nuclear work for at least a decade Posted: 02 Mar 2015 03:36 PM PST  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran must commit to a verifiable freeze of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear activity for a landmark atomic deal to be reached, but the odds are still against sealing a final agreement, U.S. President Barack Obama told Reuters on Monday. Interviewed at the White House, Obama moved to dial back tensions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech to Congress on Tuesday opposing the Iran deal, saying it was a distraction that would not be "permanently destructive" to U.S. Israeli ties. Talks between major powers and Iran to restrict Tehran's nuclear capabilities in exchange for an easing of sanctions have reached a critical stage ahead of an end of March deadline for a framework deal and a June 30 date for a final agreement.
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