Convicted UK pot dealer Terry Bennett, 32, was just sentenced to the grown-up version of writing “I will not chew gum in class” on the chalkboard 100 times. He must pen a 5,000-word essay about the dangers of cannabis by April 4—or spend a year in jail. “It was a shock to be given such an unusual punishment. It’s been ages since I last wrote an essay,” Bennett, who was caught with just over two pounds of marijuana and admitted his intent to sell it, told the UK newspaper the Mirror. Read more at Yahoo News: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/pot-dealer-in-uk-gets-sentenced-to-write-10-page-essay--161750168.html
The increasingly well known hacker group Anonymous has struck again. This time at the equally if not better known Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) Facebook page. The WBC has become somewhat of a rallying point for both conservatives and democrats for their derogatory and demeaning statements, rallies, and protests given at funerals, weddings, and other public/private events. They often target those groups that hold beliefs differing than theirs and use biblical reasoning as justification for the sometimes outrageous demonstrations. The group is most well-known perhaps for it's recent successes in testing the bounds of first amendment rights granted by the United States Constitution.
While it's not confirmed as of yet at what time Anonymous took over the WBC page already changes can be seen. The "cover photo" that appears when you first go to their page now shows an Anonymous catchphrase and logo reading: "We are legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget. Expect us!" Beneath that, as the new profile picture for the page, there is a rainbow colored fist underneath the words "Defend Equality Love Unites"
No word yet on if/when the WBC will take note and how long the hack will go on.
The United States Army is worried that if the victims of the Fort Hood shooting receive Purple Hearts that Major Nadal Hassan won't get a fair trial.
The Army, in a position paper said that awarding the medal to those wounded and posthumously to those killed in the November 2009 attack would set the stage for a formal declaration that Major Hassan is a terrorist because the medal is presented to military members who are wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.
James Holmes To Plead Guilty -- Ashley Judd's Senate Outlook -- Microsoft Looks Past Windows 8 -- Casualties In Joint Nato-Afghan Operation -- Pakistani Girl Seals Book Deal -- Newtown Investigation Details Coming -- Loughner Details Released -- SCOTUS's Reluctance On Gay Marriage -- N. Korea Cuts Communications With South -- Obama Charm Offensive
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — James E. Holmes, accused of unleashing the Aurora movie theater massacre in July, has offered to plead guilty to killing 12 people and injuring 70 if prosecutors do not seek the death penalty.
In an unusual court filing, defense lawyers revealed Wednesday that they had made the standing offer weeks ago for Holmes to serve life in prison without possibility of parole for the July 20 mass shooting.
So far the prosecution has declined the offer, the document said.
Dist. Atty. George Brauchler of Colorado's 18th Judicial District is to announce Monday whether he will seek the death penalty. Capital punishment is rare in Colorado, with only three people on death row.
ABC News’ Michael Falcone and Shushannah Walshe report:
After months of flirtation, actress Ashley Judd announced on Wednesday that she will not pursue a Senate bid against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family. Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate. I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people & new leader. While that won’t be me at this time, I will continue to work as hard as I can to ensure the needs of Kentucky families are met by returning this Senate seat to whom it rightfully belongs: the people & their needs, dreams, and great potential. Thanks for even considering me as that person & know how much I love our Commonwealth. Thank you!”
A source familiar with Judd’s decision-making process said the news that Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes has also been considering a Senate run “gave her the space to really make a decision and decide what was best for her.”
Microsoft has finally broken its silence about Blue, a code name that not only refers to a Windows 8 operating system update, but also encompasses a large swath of the software giant's product and services portfolio.
Apart from some fleeting job ads or casual mentions like the ones in a TechFest 2013 presentation featuring an upcoming version of the Fresh Paint app, Microsoft has largely remained mum on the topic of Blue. Lately, however, the company has been opening up a little.
After recounting some recent company milestones and accomplishments in a blog post, Microsoft's vice president of corporate communications, Frank X. Shaw, made one of the first official mentions of Blue. Just don't expect the code name to survive the journey to a commercial launch, he warned.
The 15-year-old Pakistani activist was shot in the head at point-blank range by the Taliban for advocating girls' education. After a miraculous recovery, she returned to school in Britain last week, and today it was announced she will publish her life story in the memoir, I Am Malala.
The Guardian reported the deal was inked for around $3 million, though a spokesman for the publisher, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, would not confirm reports about the value of the deal.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Search warrants used in the investigation of the Newtown school shooting are being released along with a statement from prosecutors about their work to unravel the motives of the 20-year-old gunman.
The warrants, which were to be released on Thursday, are related to searches of gunman Adam Lanza's home and car. They have been sealed under an order that expired Wednesday, and prosecutors have made few details available, despite pressure to do so.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has expressed concern about leaked information appearing in the news, and state lawmakers have requested a more complete accounting of the case as they address gun control and other issues raised by the shooting.
TUCSON — In hindsight, the red flags seem to be everywhere.
By the time Jared Lee Loughner shot and killed six people, wounding 13 — including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — his parents had already taken away his shotgun, tested him for drugs and forbade him from using the family vehicle after dusk. Months earlier, officials at his community college had refused to allow him to return to campus until he passed a mental evaluation. Hours before he went on a shooting rampage, a Wal-Mart clerk had declined to sell him ammunition.
These details emerged Wednesday when authorities released nearly 3,000 pages of investigative reports, painting a picture of a man who had become unhinged and the people who had tried to intervene, worried he was a danger to himself and others.
WASHINGTON—Two days of arguments on same-sex marriage revealed a Supreme Court uneasy about making sweeping moves on gay rights and holding doubts about whether the cases belonged before the justices at all.
The arguments also brought to life more familiar fissures between the court's liberal and conservative wings. On Wednesday, liberal justices suggested that a 1996 federal law denying benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples was motivated by animus against gays, while Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, challenged assertions that gays and lesbians need judicial protection from repressive majorities.
The Obama administration on Wednesday slammed North Korea's pugnacious rants toward South Korea and the West and a U.S. intelligence official called the strident remarks worrisome.
"The ratcheting up of rhetoric is of concern to us," the official said.
The question is whether this is "just rhetoric," he said. Or, "are things happening behind the scenes indicating the blustering has something to it."
Another U.S. official said there is a lot of uncertainty about North Korea's intentions.
"North Korea is not a paper tiger so it wouldn't be smart to dismiss its provocative behavior as pure bluster," that official said.
Senate Republicans and President Obama plan a second dinner next month to talk about such legislative items as the budget, immigration and gun control, officials said.
An aide to Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Obama called Isakson this month and asked him to line up another dozen or so GOP senators who were not able to attend a similar dinner on March 6.
The purpose of the get-together now scheduled for April 10 is "to build on the first dinner," said Joan Kirchner, Isakson's deputy chief of staff.
SCOTUS Reconvenes For Second Gay Marriage Case -- Group Balks At Paying $1.3 Million Reward -- Obama Appoints First Female Director Of Secret Service -- C.R. Keeps Washington At Work, More Work Needed -- Patraeus Apologizes For Affair -- Earthquake Hits Taiwan -- T-Mobile Gets iPhone 5
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court today again will confront the issue of gay marriage, hearing arguments on a U.S. law that denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
Almost two hours of oral argument before the court will focus on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), just a day after the nine justices considered the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage.
The Obama administration's lawyers agree that DOMA is unconstitutional, and U.S. Solicitor Gen. Donald B. Verrilli Jr. will urge justices to invalidate it.
When ex-cop Christopher Dorner was hunting down Los Angeles police and their families, more than$1 million in reward money was raised for help in his capture and conviction.
Now that there are two sets of claims to the reward money, the groups that pledged the money are balking at paying because Dorner wasn’t captured or convicted. He died Feb. 12 when he shot himself in the head after being cornered by police and the subsequent gunbattle set fire to the house where he was barricaded.
The $1 million reward was offered by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after Dorner had killed two officers, the daughter of an officer and her fiance, and wounded two other cops. It is unclear how many groups and individuals pledged the $1 million, however, the Peace Officers Research Association of California along with police unions, civil organizations and private citizens all contributed to the reward.
President Barack Obama signed the new continuing resolution on Tuesday to keep the government running through the end of the fiscal year. The new CR doesn't eliminate sequestration but does provide some spending flexibility in various departments.
The measure sets spending at $984 billion and keeps sequestration's $85 billion cuts in place. The previous CR expires today. The new one freezes federal worker civilian pay and Congressional salaries for a third consecutive year but breaks out separate appropriation bills dealing with Agriculture; Commerce; Justice and Science; Defense; Homeland Security; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.
Former CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) director David Petraeus has publicly apologized for the extramarital affair that led to his resignation and damaged his once-sterling reputation.
Petraeus offered the apology during a speech Tuesday night in Los Angeles before a group of military veterans and students in the Reserve Officer Training Corps . He said he was "keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey" were caused by his affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A strong earthquake has struck rural central Taiwan. Transport was suspended and at least 20 people have been injured. The island’s earthquake authority says the magnitude-6.1 tremor jolted Nantou County just after 10 A-M, at a depth of 15 kilometers.
At least 20 people were injured, mostly by falling ceilings. The quake was felt 250 kilometers away in the capital Taipei.
Now that the iPhone 5 is finally available on T-Mobile, it's time to figure out where you can get it the cheapest. We've compared prices in the chart below to help you figure out which carrier is right for you. Note that the prices listed here are for the iPhone 5, but should apply to just about any smartphone on each of these carriers.
It turns out that, even though T-Mobile is charging you for the full price of your phone, you're still paying the least amount of money in the long run (the amount you see in the chart includes your monthly $20 phone payment). Additionally, now that T-Mobile is contract-free, you're able to leave at any point you please. You'll either need to give up your phone or pay for the remainder, but you're not tethered to the carrier in any other way. Of course, you can still get out of your contract on AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon, but it's going to cost you.
As the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in two high-profile cases this week - California's Proposition 8 and the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act - 60 percent of Americans think the federal government should legally recognize existing same-sex marriages and provide them the same federal benefits the government provides to heterosexual married couples. Just 35 percent do not think the government should do this.
The legality of same-sex marriage varies by state. When it comes to who should decide this issue, most Americans- 62 percent - think the decision should be left up to each individual state government, while just 26 percent think it should be up to the federal government.
Meanwhile, a slight majority of Americans (53 percent) thinks it should be legal for same-sex couples to marry.
Thomas Young has suffered deteriorating health since losing control of his body from the chest down when he was shot in Sadr City, Iraq, in April 2004. He had been in the country less than a week.
Mr Young, 33, is receiving hospice care in Kansas City, in the USstate of Missouri. He has had his colon removed while also struggling through a pulmonary embolism and several bouts of depression.
He estimates that he is forced to take between 35 and 45 pills per day.
After being taken off blood thinning medication he suffered a brain injury that he blames for a loss of speech and use of his arms.
He announced this week that he plans to soon begin refusing nourishment and crucial medication, condemning himself to death. "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired," he told his local newspaper.
Three Democratic senators have reversed their stance on the Defense of Marriage Act in the past three days before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the law that limits marriage to one man and one woman.
Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., John “Jay” Rockefeller, D-W.V., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said today and Sunday that they no longer support a federal law banning gay marriage. The Supreme Court plans to hear oral arguments in a case challenging that law Wednesday, after it considers a law banning same-sex marriage in California Tuesday.
McCaskill made the announcement on her Tumblr blog Sunday.
“I have come to the conclusion that our government should not limit the right to marry based on who you love. While churches should never be required to conduct marriages outside of their religious beliefs, neither should the government tell people who they have a right to marry,” McCaskill wrote. “Good people disagree with me. On the other hand, my children have a hard time understanding why this is even controversial. I think history will agree with my children.”
The 10 year anniversary of the Iraq War has just passed. There's been a lot of reflection on the part of U.S. officials and former supporters of the war on the measure of success achieved since the invasion. To be sure it's easy to list accomplishments (Saddam Hussein toppled, Democracy, etc) but what about the issues the Iraqi people face?
The United States may be finished dropping bombs on Iraq, but Iraqi bodies will be dealing with the consequences for generations to come in the form of birth defects, mysterious illnesses and skyrocketing cancer rates.
Al Jazeera’s Dahr Jamail reports that contamination from U.S. weapons, particularly Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, has led to an Iraqi health crisis of epic proportions. “[C]hildren being born with two heads, children born with only one eye, multiple tumours, disfiguring facial and body deformities, and complex nervous system problems,” are just some of the congenital birth defects being linked to military-related pollution.
In certain Iraqi cities, the health consequences are significantly worse than those seen in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of WWII.
(Dr Samira Alani/Al Jazeera])
The highest rates are in the city of Fallujah, which underwent two massive US bombing campaigns in 2004. Though the U.S. initially denied it, officials later admitted using white phosphorous. In addition, U.S. and British forces unleashed an estimated 2,000 tons of depleted uranium ammunitions in populated Iraqi cities in 2003.
DU, a chemically toxic heavy metal produced in nuclear waste, is used in weapons due to its ability to pierce through armor. That’s why the US and UK were among a handful of nations (France and Israel) who in December refused to sign an international agreement to limit its use, insisting DU is not harmful, science be damned. Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s refusal to release details about where DU munitions were fired has made it difficult to clean up.
Today, 14.7 percent of Fallujah’s babies are born with a birth defect, 14 times the documented rate in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fallujah’s babies have also experienced heart defects 13 times the European rate and nervous system defects 33 times that of Europe. That comes on top of a 12-fold rise in childhood cancer rates since 2004. Furthermore, the male-to-female birth ratio is now 86 boys for every 100 girls, indicating genetic damage that affects males more than females.
(Dr Samira Alani/Al Jazeera)
(On a side note, these pictures are rather sanitized compared to other even more difficult to look at images. See here if you can bear it.)
If Fallujah is the Iraqi Hiroshima, then Basra is its Nagasaki.
According to a study published in the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, a professional journal based in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg, there was a sevenfold increase in the number of birth defects in Basra between 1994 and 2003.
According to the Heidelberg study, the concentration of lead in the milk teeth of sick children from Basra was almost three times as high as comparable values in areas where there was no fighting.
In addition, never before has such a high rate of neural tube defects (“open back”) been recorded in babies as in Basra, and the rate continues to rise. According to the study, the number of hydrocephalus (“water on the brain”) cases among new-borns is six times as high in Basra as it is in the United States.
This isn’t isolated to Fallujah and Basra. The overall Iraqi cancer rate has also skyrocketed:
Official Iraqi government statistics show that, prior to the outbreak of the First Gulf War in 1991, the rate of cancer cases in Iraq was 40 out of 100,000 people. By 1995, it had increased to 800 out of 100,000 people, and, by 2005, it had doubled to at least 1,600 out of 100,000 people. Current estimates show the increasing trend continuing.
As Grist’s Susie Cagle points out, “That’s potentially a more than 4,000 percent increase in the cancer rate, making it more than 500 percent higher than the cancer rate in the U.S.“
Dr. Mozghan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, told Jamail that “These observations collectively suggest an extraordinary public health emergency in Iraq. Such a crisis requires urgent multifaceted international action to prevent further damage to public health.”
(Dr. Samira Alani/Al Jazeera)
Instead, the international community, including the nation most responsible for the health crisis (hint: it starts with a “U” and ends with an “S”), is mostly ignoring the problem.
To make matters worse, Iraq’s healthcare system, which was once the envy of the region, is virtually nonexistent due to the mass exodus of Iraq’s medical doctors since 2003. According to recent estimates, there are currently fewer than 100 psychiatrists and 20,0000 physiciansserving a population of 31 million Iraqis.
Dahr Jamail was on Democracy Now this morning discussing the horrific effects of military-related pollution in Iraq:
Yanar Mohammad, President of the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq was also on Democracy Now and addressed the toxic legacy of birth defects in Iraq. (I interviewed Mohammed for a piece I wrote for Muftah about the deterioration of Iraqi women’s rights since the invasion, which you can read here.)
GOOD MORNING! TODAY IS FRIDAY MARCH 22, 2013. HERE ARE TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES AND MOST INTERESTING STORIES FROM ACN:
Colorado Shooting Suspect Shot -- U.S. Pediatricians And Gay Marriage -- New York Budget Deal Could Set Mold For Nation -- Pro Assad Preacher Killed -- Shooting At Virginia Base -- NRA Joins Lawsuit Challenging NY Gun Law -- Colorado Legalizes Civil Unions
DENVER — A paroled Colorado inmate grievously wounded after a gun battle and high-speed chase with Texas law-enforcement officers on Thursday is suspected of being tied to the killing of the head of Colorado’s prison system.
Sheriff David Walker of Wise County, Tex., said the authorities had tentatively identified the suspect as Evan Spencer Ebel, 28. Court records in Colorado show that Mr. Ebel has a criminal history dating to 2003, including convictions for robbery, weapons charges and assault. He was on parole in the Denver area.
(Reuters) - Gay and lesbian couples should be able to get married for the health and well-being of their children and families, the nation's leading group for pediatricians said on Thursday in a policy statement that also backs adoption rights.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, in calling on the legal right for same-sex couples to marry, said children's well-being is affected far more by other factors such as their parents' health and economic security than their sexual orientation.
(Reuters) - New York state's leaders have agreed to a tentative $135 billion budget deal that raises the minimum wage, gives tax breaks to middle-class families and businesses, and extends a tax on high earners.
The deal for fiscal year 2013-14 was announced in Albany, the state capital, late Wednesday after days of closed-door wrangling as lawmakers sought to reconcile three separate proposals.
A suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in the heart of the Syrian capital Thursday, killing a top Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of President Bashar Assad in one of the most stunning assassinations of Syria's 2-year-old civil war.
The slaying of Sheikh Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Buti removes one of the few remaining pillars of support for Assad among the majority Sunni sect that has risen up against him.
The Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., was on lockdown early Friday after an isolated shooting at the Officer Candidate School, the base said. The gunman was at large but surrounded.
Base residents were ordered to stay inside and lock their doors. The threat level was boosted to FPCON Delta, the base said on its website and Facebook page. That threat level can describe an active shooter or a terrorist attack.
The suspect, believed to be a male Marine, had barricaded himself at the base and was surrounded by police, the Marines said. Prince William County and military police had responded.
First Lt. Agustin Solivan told local TV station WUSA9 that the shooting happened about 11 p.m. The victim's condition was not known.
ALBANY, N.Y. – The National Rifle Association on Thursday joined the the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, other sportsmen's groups, firearms businesses and individual gun owners in a lawsuit challenging the state's strict new gun control law.
The federal suit, filed in Buffalo, said the law violates the constitutional rights of "law-abiding citizens to keep commonly possessed firearms in the home for defense of self and family and for other lawful purposes."
Governor John Hickenlooper made same-sex civil unions legal in Colorado, where two decades ago voters passed a constitutional amendment banning local ordinances to protect gay rights.
The Colorado Civil Union Act, which the Democrat-controlled legislature moved to Hickenlooper earlier this month, provides gays with rights similar to those of married couples. Applications for the licenses can be filed starting May 1.
“The gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual community is part of all of us,” Hickenlooper, 61, told scores of cheering same- sex couples after he signed the bill at History Colorado, a museum in Denver. “There’s no excuse that people shouldn’t have the same rights,” the first-term Democrat said.
It's official: Elizabeth Colbert Busch is the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's open House seat. Colbert Busch, a businesswoman and the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, defeated token opposition on Tuesday to win the nomination. The Associated Press has called the race.
She faces an uphill race in the GOP-leaning district, though former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) personal troubles give Democrats an opening to pick up the seat and House special elections are notoriously hard to predict. Sanford advanced to a runoff in the GOP primary, though his second-round opponent has not yet been decided.
Both parties were quick to comment, though who her opponent will be is still an open question.
"Congratulations to Elizabeth Colbert Busch on her victory. Elizabeth is an accomplished professional in education and business who has a record of problem solving and bringing diverse groups together to create jobs,"
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said in a statement after she won. "The people of South Carolina are tired of this Congress's extreme ideology and dysfunction. Elizabeth Colbert Busch offers a breath of fresh air, standing on the side of sensible solutions that strengthen the middle class."
The GOP fired back.
"Elizabeth Colbert Busch and her liberal-Obama policies are dramatically out-of-step with South Carolina values," National Republican Congressional Commitee spokeswoman Katie Prill said in a statement. "Her support for pushing the will of unions over South Carolina jobs proves she will be a rubber stamp for President Obama's job-destroying agenda. Republicans can rest assured that our nominee will champion pro-growth policies that will bring jobs back to South Carolina."
Baghdad (CNN) -- At least 55 people were killed and scores more wounded when bombs exploded across Iraq on Tuesday, a stark reminder of the violence and instability that grips the country 10 years after the start of the U.S.-led war.
The attacks -- 17 car bombs, seven roadside bombs, and two shootings -- ripped mostly through Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, but also struck Sunni communities in other towns. At least 187 people were wounded.
Thomas Lane wore a T-shirt with KILLER scrawled in black ink during his sentencing Tuesday in an Ohio courtroom for shooting and killing three students in a high school cafeteria and wounding two others last year.
Mr. Lane, 18, was sentenced to three life sentences without parole. He pleaded guilty last month to opening fire on the morning of Feb. 27, 2012, with a .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol at Chardon High School while waiting for a bus to attend an alternative high school.
Three months after the mass shooting of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school outraged the nation, Senate Democratic leaders are dropping an assault-weapon ban from gun legislation.
While public opinion polls show most Americans support an assault-weapon ban, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday the proposal has fewer than 40 votes in the 100-member chamber. Its sponsor, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, will be given a chance to offer the measure as an amendment to gun legislation that Democrats will introduce, second-ranking Democrat Dick Durbin told reporters.
(Reuters) - The euro was pinned near four-month lows against the U.S. dollar in Asia on Wednesday after Cyprus' rejection of bailout terms seemed to threaten default or even expulsion from the euro zone.
The general assumption in markets is that the European Union, as so often before, will hash out a last minute deal that keeps Cyprus in the single currency.
HAWTHORNE, Nev. (AP) - A mortar shell explosion killed at least seven Marines and injured several more during mountain warfare training in Nevada's high desert, prompting the Pentagon to immediately halt the use of the weapons until an investigation can determine their safety, officials said Tuesday. The explosion occurred Monday night at the Hawthorne Army Depot, a sprawling facility used by troops heading overseas, during an exercise involving the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Several Marines from the unit were injured in the blast, authorities said.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that several NATO countries are working on contingency plans for possible military action to end the two-year civil war in Syria as President Bashar Assad's regime accused U.S.-backed Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons.
GOOD MORNING! TODAY IS TUESDAY MARCH 19TH 2013. HERE ARE TODAY'S MOST INTERESTING AND TOP STORIES FROM ACN:
Pope Francis Inauguration Mass -- Chemical Weapons In Syria? -- 10th Anniversary Of Iraq War -- Fl. Student Plotted Attack -- Hillary Clinton Comes Out On Gay Marriage -- Cyprus To Vote On Taxing Deposits -- The Bernanke Buzzkill -- NASA Curiosity Rover Suffers Glitch -- NYC Plan To "Hide" Tobacco
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria's information minister says a chemical weapon fired by rebels on a village in the north of the country is the "first act" by the opposition interim government announced in Istanbul.
Omran al-Zoubi says the missile containing "poisonous gases" was fired from Nairab district in Aleppo into Khan al-Assal village on Tuesday.
He says 16 people were killed and 86 wounded in the attack. He spoke to the pro-government Al-Ikhbariya TV station.
BAGHDAD, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Up to 20 people were killed and more than 97 wounded in a series of bombings and shootings in central Iraq on Tuesday morning, the police said.
In Baghdad, eight car bombs ripped through crowded areas mainly in Shiite districts across the capital, killing a total of 15 people and wounding 73 others, an interior ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Also in the capital, two people were killed when two sticky bombs attached to their cars detonated in western and eastern Baghdad, while a third shot dead by gunmen in the southern part of Baghdad, the source said.
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden truck into the entrance of an Iraqi army base in the town of Iskandariyah, some 50 km south of Baghdad, killing at least two people and wounding more than 10 others, a local police source anonymously told Xinhua.
Authorities say a University of Central Florida student who pulled a dorm fire alarm in the middle of the night had a more sinister plan than sending students scurrying out into the night.
Campus police said Monday that 30-year-old James Oliver Seevakumaran was armed with two guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a backpack filled with explosives and a plan to attack other students as they fled the seven-story dorm where he lived.
His plans were thrown off by campus police officers' quick response to the fire alarm and a 911 call from Seevakumaran's roommate who had holed himself in a bathroom after Seevakumaran pointed a gun at him.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may not have declared whether she’s running for president in 2016, but her public declaration supporting gay marriage on Monday puts her on the same page with other potential Democratic candidates should she decide to run.
Clinton made the announcement in an online video released by the Human Rights Campaign. “LGBT Americans are our colleagues, our teachers, our soldiers, our friends, our loved ones, and they are full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship. That includes marriage. That’s why I support marriage for lesbian and gay couples. I support it personally and as a matter of policy and law,” she said. Clinton acknowledged her evolving position on the issue. “Like so many others, my views have been shaped over time by people I have known and loved, by my experience representing our nation on the world stage, my devotion to law and human rights, and the guiding principles of my faith.”
A number of members of Cyprus's parliament have told CNBC that the legislation to tax bank deposits is unlikely to pass, a move that could potentially put the country into default.
Parliament is due to convene at 4 p.m. London time on Tuesday and despite the ruling party saying they will approve the proposal, several parties have said they will reject the levy. No single party has a majority in the 56-member chamber to push through the vote.
Stocks are rallying, job growth is strengthening and a housing recovery is well underway -- but don't expect the Federal Reserve to back away from its stimulative policies just yet.
If anything, the Fed is likely to deliver a buzzkill after its two-day meeting wraps up Wednesday. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will also address the state of the economy in a press conference following the release of the Fed's latest statement on interest rates and new economic forecasts.
Computerworld - After a computer glitch sidelined NASA's Mars rover Curiosity late last month, another problem has it down again.
NASA reported that Curiosity put itself into safe mode on Saturday after a software bug caused a command file to fail a size-check.
"This is a very straightforward matter to deal with," said Richard Cook, Curiosity's project manager. "We can just delete that file, which we don't need any more, and we know how to keep this from occurring in the future."
NASA said late on Monday that bringing Curiosity out of safe mode is expected to take a couple of days.
NEW YORK (AP) — Cigarettes would have to be kept out of sight in New York City stores under a first-in-the-nation plan unveiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday, igniting complaints from retailers and smokers who said they've had enough with the city’s crackdowns.
Shops from corner stores to supermarkets would have to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in other concealed spots. Officials also want to stop shops from taking cigarette coupons and honoring discounts, and are proposing a minimum price for cigarettes, below what the going rate is in much of the city now, to discourage black market sales.
changes can be seen. The "cover photo" that appears when you first go to their page now shows an Anonymous catchphrase and logo reading: "We are legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget. Expect us!" Beneath that, as the new profile picture for the page, there is a rainbow colored fist underneath the words "Defend Equality Love Unites"
![(Dr Samira Alani/Al Jazeera])](http://raniakhalek.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/iraq-birth-defects.jpg?w=408&h=270)
Up to 200,000 people attended the Mass in St Peter's Square.
