ASSAD SEEKS HEZBOLLAH SUPPORT -- BANGLADESH BUILDING COLLAPSE DEATH TOLL RISES -- NORTH KOREA LAYS OUT CASE AGAINST JAILED AMERICAN -- U.S. NOT SEEKING PERMANENT BASES IN AFGHANISTAN -- OHIO SUSPECT'S RELATIVES SAY HE BEAT THEM -- 7 YEAR OLD BOSTON BOMBING VICTIM HAS 11TH SURGERY -- RAND PAUL, JEB BUSH, MARCO RUBIO AND PAUL RYAN -- GAY MARRIAGE BILL HEADS TO MINN. SENATE -- 3D PRINTED LIBERATOR GUN ATTRACTS TENS OF THOUSANDS
AFTER SYRIA, ASSAD SEEKS HEZBOLLAH SUPPORT
 |
| Screenshot Photo |
Israel’s alleged attack against Syria seems to have led President Bashar Assad to hunker down and more fully align his regime with the Iran-Hezbollah axis. As he fights for his regime’s survival, holding on to what some analysts say could become an Alawite ministate, he is publicly moving to a more hostile position vis-à-vis Israel and the West.
Assad told a local Lebanese paper that Syria was becoming a resistance state similar to the one Hezbollah has created in Lebanon.
DEATH TOLL FROM BANGLADESH BUILDING COLLAPSE TOPS 1,000
 |
| CNN |
Dhaka, Bangladesh (CNN) -- More than two weeks after a building in Bangladesh housing factories full of garment workers caved in, the death toll from the South Asian nation's deadliest industrial disaster has surpassed 1,000, authorities said Friday.
For the 17th day, rescue and recovery workers are searching through the nine-story building's tangled wreckage in Savar, a suburb of the capital, Dhaka. During the first several days of dangerous and painstaking work, they got more than 2,400 people out of the rubble alive.
NORTH KOREA DETAILS CHARGES AGAINST JAILED AMERICAN
 |
| Reuters |
North Korea provided more detail on the alleged activities of jailed American Kenneth Bae early Friday, accusing him of a multiyear effort to foment opposition to the regime that appears to darken prospects for his release.
One thing that wasn’t a surprise was apparent confirmation of his involvement in missionary work, something that has seen other Korean-Americans detained in North Korea in recent years.
SPOKESMAN: U.S. NOT SEEKING PERMANENT BASES IN AFGHANISTAN
WASHINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States is not seeking permanent military bases in Afghanistan, and any future American presence in the country will be possible only at the invitation of the Afghan government, White House spokesman Jay Carney said here on Thursday.
The spokesman echoed what U.S. President Barack Obama said in response to a statement made by Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier in the day about Washington's intention to set up nine military bases across the Asian nation after the exit of most U.S. and NATO combat troops by the end of 2014.
OHIO MAN'S EX-RELATIVES SAY HE BEAT THEM, KEPT MANNEQUIN IN HOME
 |
| AP |
CLEVELAND – The man accused of holding three women captive for a decade in his Cleveland home terrorized the mother of his children, frequently beating her, playing twisted psychological games and locking her indoors in the years before their relationship disintegrated, her relatives say.
Several relatives of Grimilda Figueroa, who left Ariel Castro years ago and died after a long illness last year, painted a nightmarish portrait of Castro's family life as authorities made public horrifying details of the abuse endured by the imprisoned women.
SISTER OF BOSTON BOY KILLED IN BOMBING HAS 11TH SURGERY
 |
| AP |
Jane Richard, the wounded 7-year-old sister of the boy killed in the Boston Marathon bombings, had a crucial 11th surgery Wednesday night but faces more operations to prepare her for an artificial leg, the family said Thursday.
Doctors at Boston Children's Hospital finally closed the wound where one bomb tore off her left leg below the knee April 15, the Richard family wrote on its Tumblr page. She will eventually be fitted with a prosthetic device.
GOP'S RAND PAUL STEPS TOWARD 2016 RUN, JOINS GROWING FIELD
 |
| AP |
DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen. Rand Paul says he’s only “considering” running for president. But he’s doing much more than mull it over.
The Kentucky Republican is unabashedly clearing a path to seek the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, with a series of early voting state visits, a beefed-up political operation and a deliberate plan to appeal to mainstream voters and raise his national profile.
MINNESOTA SENATE NEXT STOP FOR GAY MARRIAGE BILL
 |
| Photo: Jim Mone |
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gay marriage supporters in Minnesota are already in celebration mode after the state House's passage of the bill to legalize it, but there are a few more steps before it gets to the desk of Gov. Mark Dayton.
"It's not time to uncork the champagne yet. But it's chilling," said Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-Hopkins, at a spirited rally in the Capitol rotunda a few minutes after the House voted 75-59 to let same-sex couples start getting married in Minnesota come Aug. 1.
DOWNLOADS FOR 3D PRINTED LIBERATOR GUN REACHES 100,000
The blueprint used to produce a 3D-printed plastic gun has been downloaded about 100,000 times since going online earlier this week, according to Forbes.
Defense Distributed told the news site it was surprised by the amount of interest its Liberator gun had generated.
Earlier in the week, the company demonstrated the firearm being fired
But even before any more guns come off the DIY printing presses, there are moves afoot to ban it.
