Domestic Glance
The Secret Service sent three agents home from the Netherlands just before President Barack Obama’s arrival after one agent was found inebriated in an Amsterdam hotel.
The three agents were benched Sunday for “disciplinary reasons,” said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan, declining to elaborate. Donovan said the incident was prior to Obama’s arrival Monday in the country and did not compromise the president’s security in any way.
Still, the incident represents a fresh blemish for an elite agency struggling to rehabilitate its reputation following a high-profile prostitution scandal and other allegations of misconduct. An inspector general’s report in December concluded there was no evidence of widespread misconduct, in line with the service’s longstanding assertion that it has no tolerance for inappropriate behavior.
Secret Service agent drunk, sent home with two others
Wash. mudslide kills 3: searchers seek survivors
Rescue crews searched into the night for survivors from a massive mudslide in Washington state that killed at least three people, after hearing voices from the debris field pleading for help.
The slide of mud, trees and rocks happened about 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Several people — including an infant — were critically injured and at least six houses were destroyed. Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said at a news briefing late Saturday that searchers weren't giving up on finding more people.
"We have people who are yelling for our help, and we are going to take extreme risks," Hots said.
US tech giants knew of NSA data collection
The senior lawyer for the National Security Agency stated unequivocally on Wednesday that US technology companies were fully aware of the surveillance agency’s widespread collection of data, contradicting months of angry denials from the firms.
Rajesh De, the NSA general counsel, said all communications content and associated metadata harvested by the NSA under a 2008 surveillance law occurred with the knowledge of the companies – both for the internet collection program known as Prism and for the so-called “upstream” collection of communications moving across the internet.
Earthquake strongly felt across Los Angeles
A pre-dawn earthquake rolled across the Los Angeles basin on Monday, rattling residents from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach.
The quake's magnitude was 4.4 and it was centered 15 miles west-northwest of the downtown civic center, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Los Angeles police and fire officials said there were no immediate reports of damage.
"It rocked and rolled for about 10 or 12 seconds. I'm surprised nothing fell off the walls or broke — and nothing did — but it was quite a shaker," said Brian Bland, a retired AP Radio correspondent who lives in suburban Santa Monica.
6.9 earthquake shakes Northern California
A very strong earthquake rattled the Northern California coast and was widely felt across the region, but authorities said early Monday that there were no reports of any injuries or damages.
The magnitude-6.9 quake struck at 10:18 p.m. PDT Sunday and was centered 50 miles west of Eureka and about four miles beneath the Pacific seabed, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed by about a half-dozen aftershocks, including one of magnitude 4.6.
Barbie, remove that Girl Scout tie, ad group says
It's one thing for Barbie to strut her stuff on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in a sexy one-piece. But it's another thing entirely for world's most famous doll to show up on a Girl Scout patch.
A consumer advocacy group wants the patch — and the commercial tie-in with Girl Scouts — nixed. While the patch does not show a Barbie doll, it shows the familiar Barbie logo.
"Holding Barbie, the quintessential fashion doll, up as a role model for Girl Scouts simultaneously sexualizes young girls, idealizes an impossible body type and undermines the Girl Scouts' vital mission," says Susan Linn, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
D.C. Council Votes to Decriminalize Small Amounts of Marijuana
The D.C. Council voted Tuesday in favor of a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.
Mayor Gray is expected to sign the bill into law. Then it will have to wait for the standard congressional review period before going into effect. Congress has rarely used its veto powers over D.C. laws.
The vote was little more than a formality. The council had already approved decriminalization by an 11-to-1 vote. But before that initial vote, the council watered down the bill by maintaining criminal penalties for smoking pot in public.
More Articles...
Page 91 of 228
