Washington state expected to enact college aid for undocumented immigrants
WASHINGTON — Washington is set to become the fifth state to offer college financial aid to students brought into the country illegally by their parents.Democratic Governor Jay Inslee is expected on Wednesday to sign legislation that provides grants to students whose families meet income and residency guidelines. California, Illinois,...U.S. hate groups in decline as radical ideas go mainstream
The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual Year in Hate and Extremism report, which tallied 939 active hate groups and 1,096 patriot groups in 2013, for a total of 2,035, which the organization said remained a relatively high number historically. It represented a 14 percent decline over the 2,367 groups counted in...Elderly nun sentenced to nearly three years for Tennessee nuclear break-in
TENNESSEE — A U.S. judge sentenced an 84-year-old nun, Sister Megan Rice, on Tuesday to 35 months in prison for breaking into a Tennessee military facility used to store enriched uranium for nuclear bombs.Two others accused in the case, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed, were sentenced to 62 months in prison. The three were convicted...Washington state lawmakers pass measure giving immigrants college aid
Washington — Washington state lawmakers have voted to make students brought to the United States illegally by their parents eligible for need-based college financial aid.Passage of the measure, which supporters have labeled the Dream Act, after failed U.S. legislation of 2010, marks a victory for immigrant-rights advocates and a shift...Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock, as the world's largest social network looks for ways to boost its popularity, especially among a younger crowd.The acquisition of the hot messaging service with more than 450 million users around the world...U.S. moves to revive stalled Afghan peace talks
Washington — The Obama administration is taking steps it hopes could lead to a resumption of peace talks to end the Afghan conflict, including reviving a proposed swap of Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in return for a U.S. prisoner of war.According to Western officials familiar with the matter, President Barack Obama's senior...
U.S. soldier convicted of Iraq rape, murders found hanged in prison
February 21st, 20140 Tucson, Arizona — A former U.S. Army soldier sentenced to life in prison for the 2006 rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing of her parents and sister, was found hanged in his cell, The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday, citing prison officials.The death on Saturday of Steven Dale Green, 28, at the United States...Judge sets November trial for accused Boston bomber
BOSTON - A judge on Wednesday, February 12, ordered the accused Boston Marathon bomber to face trial in November, denying his attorneys the extra time they had sought to prepare his defense on charges involving the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, a native of Russia's restive...CIA ordered to destroy photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse
WASHINGTON - Less than two weeks after the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a top Pentagon official ordered all photos of bin Laden's corpse be destroyed or turned over to the CIA, according to a newly released document.In an e-mail dated May 13, 2011, Adm. William McRaven, the U.S. Special Operations commander, wrote: "One...U.S. Justice Department to expand rights of same-sex couples
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder plans widespread changes within the U.S. Justice Department to benefit same-sex married couples, such as recognizing a legal right for them not to testify against each other in civil and criminal cases.The changes, being unveiled by Holder in a speech on Saturday in New York, are designed to keep...Obama defends latest delay to healthcare law
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama this week defended the latest delay in his healthcare law's employer mandate, saying it follows similar relief his administration has already given to certain individuals.In an apparent response to heightened Republican criticism, the president also asserted that the law known as Obamacare will be...The dangers of stereotyping
In 1922, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee held hearings on a joint resolution in support of the Balfour Declaration, a letter published five years earlier from the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expressing support for a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine but vowing to avoid injuring non-Jewish...The high cost of a ‘War on Terror’
Retired Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper, Jr., the Director of National Intelligence, recently gave testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on his annual assessment of the threats facing the United States. What little attention was paid by the media — always seeking drama and conflict to get more viewers and readers in order to...NYC schools will get Islamic holidays, and Lunar New Year off
NEW YORK CITY — This week New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to implement a policy that would close schools for Muslim holidays and the Chinese New Year. The two Muslim holidays include, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Bill de Blasio didn’t discuss whether Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which is very popular...Poll shows diminishing support for two-state solution
WASHINGTON — Twenty years of the Oslo peace process between Israelis and Palestinians have made a solution more difficult to attain, rather than easier. That was the conclusion of a poll of Israelis and Palestinians released on Friday, Jan. 31.The poll, conducted by Zogby Research Services, showed that barely one-third of Israelis (34......
Senate passes long-overdue farm bill, sends to Obama
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval on Tuesday, February 4, to a nearly $1 trillion farm bill that trims food stamps for the poor, expands federal crop insurance and ends direct payments to farmers, and sent it to President Barack Obama for his expected signature.The Senate voted 68-32 to pass the...Lawmakers warn ‘clock is ticking’ on surveillance reforms
WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers warned on Tuesday, Feb 4, that time is running out to make specific reforms to the National Security Agency's telephone surveillance program and promised Congress would act if the Obama administration does not.The House Judiciary Committee examined recommendations for reforms to the U.S.......
State of the Union: Obama says he will act without Congress for the middle class
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday, Jan. 28, to bypass a divided Congress and take action on his own to bolster America's middle class in a State of the Union address that he used to try to breathe new life into his second term after a troubled year.Standing in the House of Representatives chamber before lawmakers,...U.S. border officials ground fleet of drones after crash at sea
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has indefinitely grounded its remaining fleet of nine drones after operators were forced to crash a pilotless aircraft off the Southern California coast because of a mechanical problem, a spokesman said on Tuesday.The mishap on Monday marked the second crash of one of the agency's drones...House passes bill that cuts food stamps
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a comprehensive farm bill on Wednesday that cuts payments for food stamps by about 1 percent and ends a direct subsidy to farmers, while expanding government-backed crop insurance programs. After months of negotiations and criticism from both sides of the political spectrum the...U.S. Marines will retry sergeant accused of killing Iraqi civilian
LOS ANGELES — A U.S. Marine sergeant who was found guilty of murder in the 2006 death of an Iraqi civilian, only to have his conviction overturned, will face a retrial on the same charges, a Marine spokesman said on Monday.Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins III was arraigned at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in California this week, Lieutenant......
Edward Snowden nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
OSLO — Two Norwegian politicians nominated former NSA contractor Edward Snowden for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday, Jan. 29Baard Vegar Solhjell and Snorre Valen of the Socialist Left party said in a joint statement that Snowden has "contributed to a more stable and peaceful world order" by exposing U.S. surveillance practices...55 bodies of mostly black children found near former Florida reform school
TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) — Excavations at a makeshift graveyard near a now-closed reform school in the Florida Panhandle have yielded remains of 55 bodies, almost twice the number official records say are there, the University of South Florida announced on Tuesday, January 28.On a hillside in the rolling, tall-pine forests near the......
Israel is often viewed by Washington politicians as the most “stable” ally in the Middle East.
But stability from the American perspective can mean many things. Lead amongst them is that the “ally” must be unconditionally loyal to the diktats of the U.S. administration. This rule has proven to be true since the U.S. claimed a position of ascendancy, if not complete hegemony, over many regions of the world since World War II....Decades of sex abuse by Chicago priests outlined in documents
Chicago — The Chicago Archdiocese had a practice of moving priests accused of sexual abuse to new parishes, where they committed more abuse against children, according to documents released this week by lawyers representing the victims.The latest in a series of such abuse disclosures by Midwest church officials, the documents provided......