News For Wednesday Nov 19, 2008 News For Wednesday Nov 19, 2008

U.S. U.S.

Rice, Iraqi diplomat see progress on security deal - Added 7 weeks ago

Iraq and the United States are getting closer to completing an agreement that would govern the presence of U.S. troops in the country, the two nation's top diplomats said Saturday. Less than a week after the resumption...

Trial key: Did Sen. Stevens know about freebies? - Added 7 weeks ago

In the corruption trial of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, prosecutors want jurors to ask themselves this question: Wouldn't you realize it if your home-improvement contractor gave you tons of free stuff? The answer to that...

Conservative judges fault Scalia opinion on guns - Added 7 weeks ago

!!-- pobj:WX201-0407081126 -->Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is no stranger to criticism. He gives as good as he gets. But two recent critiques of his opinion in the landmark decision guaranteeing people the...

Kennedy home after brief hospital visit - Added 7 weeks ago

Sen. Edward Kennedy, who has brain cancer, has returned home after being taken to a hospital by ambulance because he had suffered a seizure, his staff says. A statement issued by his office attributed the "minor...

Japanese man can't be tried in LA for murder - Added 7 weeks ago

A Japanese businessman cannot be tried for murder in the 1981 shooting death of his wife, but prosecutors may proceed with a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, a judge ruled Friday. The ruling in the case of...

Freight brakeman in deadly LA train collision sues - Added 7 weeks ago

The brakeman on the freight train involved in a deadly collision with a commuter train filed a lawsuit Friday against the commuter railroad and the companies that provide its engineers. The lawsuit, filed by Dominick...

Obituaries in the news - Added 7 weeks ago

Connie Haines CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) _ Big-band singer Connie Haines, who performed with Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in the 1940s, has died. She was 87. Haines died Monday of a neuromuscular disease,...

Maine study weighs impact of more wood heating - Added 7 weeks ago

Burning more wood for heat could save homeowners money in oil-dependent Maine, but a task force in the nation's most forested state cautioned that care is needed to avoid health problems and damage to the wood products...

4 special-needs students die in Indiana bus crash - Added 7 weeks ago

Two dump trucks struck a school bus carrying special-needs students, leaving the bus in a ditch along a rural highway _ its front end and roof crushed _ and four young children dead. The bus driver was also injured in...

US watching Belarus elections for signs of opening - Added 7 weeks ago

The United States is looking to the conduct of parliamentary elections in Belarus this weekend for signs that a government it has denounced as a dictatorship wants improved relations. The two countries have been...

China farmer sentenced for faked rare tiger photos - Added 7 weeks ago

A Chinese farmer who claimed to have taken photos of a rare tiger was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Saturday for faking the pictures, a court official and state media said. Zhou Zhenglong was tried for...

Texas residents of ravaged peninsula head home - Added 7 weeks ago

Terrie Robbins expected to find storm damage when she and other residents were allowed to return home on Bolivar Peninsula for the first time Friday since fleeing Hurricane Ike. But she didn't expect to find her home...

Schwarzenegger focuses on McCain at GOP meeting - Added 7 weeks ago

California Republican leaders say they have a lot to feel good about these days. They got a boost this month from the national GOP convention in Minnesota _ both to their egos and the party's coffers. Some are even...

Man accused of posing as Dodger on field - Added 7 weeks ago

A man faces criminal charges for allegedly stealing a uniform from Dodger Stadium and posing as one of the team's players. Ronald Higgins pleaded not guilty to several charges Friday, including burglary and...

Neb. lawmakers consider revising 'safe-haven' law - Added 7 weeks ago

When Nebraska lawmakers passed a unique "safe-haven" law that allowed parents to abandon children as old as 19, they never seriously thought such dropoffs would become common. But their worst fears have come true: At...

Detroit police sergeant found hanged in park - Added 7 weeks ago

A Detroit police sergeant whose wife was shot to death in a suspected contract killing has been found hanged in a suburban park. Police tell the Detroit Free Press that 38-year-old Sgt. David Cobb was found dead Friday...

Today in History - Sept. 27 - Added 7 weeks ago

Today is Saturday, Sept. 27, the 271st day of 2008. There are 95 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Sept. 27, 1964, the government publicly released the report of the Warren Commission, which...

Judge nixes Orlando ban on group homeless feeding - Added 7 weeks ago

A federal judge on Friday struck down an Orlando ordinance that barred large group feedings for homeless at downtown area parks. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell said the city ordinance violates...

Star witness: O.J. asked me to bring gun to hotel - Added 7 weeks ago

The man who is expected to be the prosecution's final witness in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery and kidnapping case testified Friday that the former football star asked him to bring a gun to a hotel room confrontation...

2008 National Book Festival launched with laughter - Added 7 weeks ago

Children's book author Jon Scieszka enlightened a National Book Festival audience Friday night with stories about how he learned to read funny books by Dr. Seuss and strange books at school about an "alien" family. ...

Last defendant pleads guilty in W.Va. torture case - Added 7 weeks ago

A final defendant pleaded guilty on Friday to his role in the kidnapping and torture of a young black woman in West Virginia, a prosecutor said. Danny J. Combs, 21, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping or...

Hurricane hotelier in Texas sentenced for fraud - Added 7 weeks ago

The principal owner of a company that runs a hotel in Texas damaged by Hurricane Ike is going to prison for committing fraud during two other hurricanes. The U.S. attorney's office in Houston says 55-year-old Daniel...

Cops: Teen wanted mom dead to pay for breast work - Added 7 weeks ago

A Colorado teenager hired men to kill his mother so he could use her money to get breast implants for his girlfriend, police said. Nikita Lee Weis, 18, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit first-degree...

Man gets nearly 130 years in SoCal Ponzi scheme - Added 7 weeks ago

A businessman was sentenced Friday to 127 years in prison for running an investment scam in Southern California that bilked 1,800 people. Daniel W. Heath, 51, was found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme that funneled...

US-India nuclear deal faces setback in US Congress - Added 7 weeks ago

The House took up a landmark U.S.-Indian nuclear cooperation accord on Friday, a deal that faces a major obstacle in the Senate regardless of what the House does. Supporters warned that while Congress argued over the...

FDA says changes coming in wake of critical report - Added 7 weeks ago

The nation's fresh produce would be safer if U.S. farmers were required to adopt strict standards for growing leafy greens similar to industry-written ones devised for California growers, a Food and Drug Administration...

Japanese man can't be tried in LA for murder - Added 7 weeks ago

A Japanese businessman cannot be tried for murder in the 1981 shooting death of his wife, but prosecutors may proceed with a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, a judge ruled Friday. The ruling in the case of...

Sen. Kennedy back home after brief hospital trip - Added 7 weeks ago

Sen. Edward Kennedy, who has brain cancer, was taken by ambulance to a hospital Friday near his Cape Cod vacation home after complaining of feeling ill but returned home a few hours later. A statement issued by the...

Obituaries in the news - Added 7 weeks ago

Connie Haines CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) _ Big-band singer Connie Haines, who performed with Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in the 1940s, has died. She was 87. Haines was born Yvonne Marie Antoinette JaMais...

Judge bars SoCal paper from covering its own trial - Added 7 weeks ago

The Orange County Register ended up in the headlines this week after a judge barred the newspaper from covering testimony in a $100 million lawsuit filed against it by newspaper deliverers. The ruling, which is being...

House approves tougher sanctions on Iran - Added 7 weeks ago

Asserting the need to force Iran's hand on its nuclear weapons program and its support of international terrorism, the House on Friday moved to reinforce sanctions against the Tehran government. The House legislation,...

Hospital tells grandfather, 71, that he's pregnant - Added 7 weeks ago

A patient treated for agonizing abdominal pain received this surprising news in the hospital's paperwork: "Based on your visit today, we know you are pregnant." Surprising indeed for 71-year-old John Grady Pippen. The...

Bear relocated for stealing honey in Montana - Added 7 weeks ago

Far from the Hundred Acre Wood, a Montana grizzly bear was relocated for soothing the 'rumbly in his tumbly' by stealing honey from commercial hives. State bear management specialist Mike Madel says it was surprising...

Evangelist Tony Alamo agrees to return to Arkansas - Added 7 weeks ago

Evangelist and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo waived his right to fight extradition to Arkansas after his arrest on charges that he took minors across state lines for sexual purposes. Alamo appeared briefly Friday in...

Homeowner, friends tie suspect Old West-style - Added 7 weeks ago

A homeowner and his friends tied up a suspected burglar Old West-style until Memphis police arrived. Antonio Perez and the others used rope to tie up the man after overpowering him in the driveway at the Perez home...

'No paper trail' ordered for Stevens home remodel - Added 7 weeks ago

While reviewing expense reports for a 2000 construction project, a bookkeeper for Alaska oil services giant VECO Corp. asked for an explanation. Who was this work for, she asked? Why was it performed? The cryptic note...

Texas residents of ravaged peninsula head home - Added 7 weeks ago

Terrie Robbins expected to find storm damage when she and other residents were allowed to return home on Bolivar Peninsula for the first time Friday since fleeing Hurricane Ike. But she didn't expect to find her home...

Schwarzenegger to convene global climate summit - Added 7 weeks ago

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has challenged many members of his party to take climate change seriously, said Friday that he plans to invite lawmakers and governmental executives from around the globe to...

Atheist soldier alleges discrimination by military - Added 7 weeks ago

An atheist soldier says in a federal lawsuit that his superiors required him to be present for Christian prayers, and that the military allows fundamentalist Christians to proselytize. Spc. Dustin Chalker, a combat...

House roll call on economic stimulus bill - Added 7 weeks ago

The 264-158 roll call Friday by which the House passed a bill to pump $61 billion in government spending into the economy A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the bill. Voting yes were 223 Democrats and 41 Republicans. ...

'Clark Rockefeller' indicted on kidnapping charges - Added 7 weeks ago

A German who calls himself Clark Rockefeller has been indicted on kidnapping charges for the alleged snatching of his 7-year-old daughter from a Boston street during a supervised visit in July. Investigators say...

Economic stimulus bills pass House, die in Senate - Added 7 weeks ago

The House on Friday passed a plan by Democrats to pump $61 billion in government spending into the economy through public works projects, help for the jobless and money for states struggling with their Medicaid bills. ...

Product recalls - Added 7 weeks ago

The following recalls have been announced: _ Lion Pavilion Ltd. is recalling Yulanpian Brand Dried Slices of Tender Bamboo Shoots because the product contains undeclared sulfites, which could cause a severe or...

Contractor says immune from Iraq torture lawsuits - Added 7 weeks ago

Defense contractor CACI (KA'-kee) claims it should be immune from lawsuits alleging torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, saying it was doing the U.S. government's work as a supplier of interrogators. The...

Cops nab motorist who owes $1.9M in traffic fines - Added 7 weeks ago

Brazilian police reportedly have caught up with a motorist who owes the equivalent of nearly $2 million in unpaid traffic fines. Folha OnLine said police stopped a 36-year-old man on Wednesday night and discovered he...

Firefighter accused of taking crash victim's foot - Added 7 weeks ago

St. Lucie County officials are investigating whether a firefighter took a man's severed foot from the scene of a traffic accident. On Sept. 19, a crash on I-95 caused a man's foot to be sheared off; the man survived and...

Threat empties plane in Detroit; no bomb found - Added 7 weeks ago

Authorities say no bomb was found after a threat forced nearly 100 passengers from a Northwest Airlines jet waiting for takeoff from Detroit. Transportation Safety Administration spokesman Christopher White says dogs...

And now a word from Gov. Mike Hucka... er, Beebe - Added 7 weeks ago

Arkansas' governor needs a name tag. Mike Beebe has been in office nearly two years, but that hasn't stopped officials in his state from confusing him with his similarly named predecessor, Mike Huckabee. Even the chief...

Bush, Britain's Brown meet amid economic woes - Added 7 weeks ago

Faced with a mushrooming economic crisis, President Bush dealt Friday not only with a Congress fractured over how to respond but world leaders worriedly watching the U.S. meltdown spread into their economies. The...

Prosecutors: 10 Israelis cheated US elderly of $2M - Added 7 weeks ago

Prosecutors in New York have charged 10 residents of Israel with operating a lottery telemarketing fraud that cheated hundreds of elderly U.S. residents out of about $2 million. Federal prosecutors said Friday that...