By Arden Dier
Matt Sandusky appears to want no association with the adoptive father he says sexually abused him , including one by name. The son of Jerry Sandusky has asked the Centre County Court in Pennsylvania to change his name, along with those of his wife and four children, the AP reports. No… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
Netflix is officially a player in the original TV game: Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and both House of Cards and Arrested Development scored nods. Cards was nominated for nine awards including Best Drama Series (the first top Emmy nod for an online series, the AP reports), and cast… …read more
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By Matt Cantor
A Senate deal is set to lower interest rates on student loans for the next two academic years—but rates could climb after 2015, the AP reports after speaking to aides. Still, in the deal—set for a vote as soon as today—Democrats ensured that undergraduates would never face… …read more
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Ashaninka Indians armed with shotguns killed eight men who encroached on their ancestral lands in an Amazon jungle region of Peru plagued by illegal logging and cocaine trafficking, relatives of the slain men said Wednesday.
The eight were attempting to settle in a community called Centro Tsomanevi in the San Martin de Pangoa district and were killed last week, said Marco Velasquez, the father of one of the dead men.
“I had to retrieve my own son’s body,” Velasquez told The Associated Press by phone from the region. He said 42 relatives of the slain men had made the trip to recover their loved ones’ corpses without assistance of police or soldiers.
Drug-trafficking remnants of Shining Path rebels who dominated the region in the 1980s and early 1990s remain active in the area. Peru’s government gave shotguns to Ashaninka communities in those days to battle the Shining Path.
Velasquez said he did not know whether the slain men were involved in illegal logging or the planting of coca, the basis for cocaine, as Peruvian media speculated. He said two other men had survived and reached the town of Pichari after two days on foot.
Esperanza Ambrosio, the sister-in-law of a settler who disappeared in the attack, complained that police and soldiers spurned her pleas to search for him.
Local prosecutor Ida Romero told the AP that authorities were investigating the case.
Paula Acevedo, a spokeswoman for a group that seeks to protect Ashaninka communities in the region, said such killings could not be justified and called for an immediate investigation.
She said the Ashaninka in the Ene river area “have historically been forgotten by the state and live in communities transited by members of the last battalions of the Shining Path.” She said there are also major problems with land tenure and a lack of property delineation.
The region is also a major cocaine cultivation and transit point.
A truth commission convened to study Peru’s 1980-2000 conflict found that the Tsomanevi region was one of the worst affected by Shining Path violence. It said rebels had destroyed schools, killed community leaders and enslaved part of the population.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By The Huffington Post News Editors
INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue University President Mitch Daniels says he never tried to quash academic freedom while serving as Indiana’s governor and is criticizing an Associated Press report citing emails in which he opposed use of a book by antiwar activist Howard Zinn.
Emails published Tuesday by the AP show Daniels tried to ensure Zinn’s book was not used in Indiana’s K-12 and college classrooms and that he worked to “disqualify the propaganda” he said was being taught to teachers in training at Indiana’s colleges.
Read More…
More on Mitch Daniels
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Rik Stevens, a veteran reporter and editor for The Associated Press in upstate New York, has been named to the news cooperative’s newly created position of administrative correspondent for Northern New England.
The appointment was announced Tuesday by Karen Testa, the AP’s editor for the East region of the U.S.
As correspondent, Stevens will work with staff in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont to aggressively pursue spot and enterprise stories, set the news agenda and provide robust multi-format reporting. He also will contribute original reporting for the state, regional and national reports.
Stevens, 48, will report to Cara Rubinsky, AP’s news editor for New England, and will be based in Concord, N.H.
Stevens has been news editor for upstate New York since 2001. During that time, he has led coverage of a plane crash into a home near Buffalo that killed 50 people; the debate and passage of the state’s gay marriage law; a rampage at a civic association office in Binghamton that killed 13 people; and the downfall of a governor because of a prostitution scandal.
“Rik is a smart, energetic news leader who brings a wealth of experience as editor and reporter,” Testa said. “His work in pressing for accountability reporting and distinctive enterprise will help to build on the strength of our reports across New England.”
Before joining the AP, Stevens worked as a reporter for The Saratogian and The Gazette company.
He’ll begin his new role in mid-August.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Edward Snowden, the leaker of documents that revealed National Security Agency surveillance programs, has submitted a request for temporary asylum in Russia and could be granted a decision within several weeks, according to news reports.
Snowden’s request was submitted Tuesday in an effort to evade persecution from the U.S. government that could bring with it torture or death, said Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden’s attorney, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press. Russia’s Federal Migration Service is required by law to consider the application within three months, but a decision in Snowden’s case could be made in as soon as two to three weeks, the Journal said.
The request is being made for “temporary asylum,” not permanent political asylum, because the latter takes longer to consider, the AP said. Under Russian law, political asylum is granted by presidential decree and is not granted often, whereas temporary asylum is akin to refugee status and usually lasts for a renewable period of one year, reports said.
WikiLeaks, the nonprofit news-spilling organization that has been advising Snowden, could not be immediately reached to confirm the reports. Officials at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., as well as the Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco, also could not be reached.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld
By Matt Cantor
Economic struggles following the Soviet Union’s collapse hit Russia’s military hard—but today, its power was on full display in the country’s biggest war games since the Soviet era. Some 160,000 troops and 5,000 tanks were deployed in Siberia and far eastern Russia, the AP reports, while 130… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
A senior U.S. diplomat has dismissed accusations Washington backs any one side in Egypt, saying the administration supports a balanced and inclusive democratic process.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is making highest level visit to Egypt by an American official since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown by the military on July 3 following days of mass protests.
Burns held talks Monday with Egypt’s interim leaders and the head of the military.
Washington has been sharply criticized by both Morsi’s supporters and opponents for what each side perceives as support for their rival’s position.
Burns told reporters Washington backs those siding with the aspirations of Egyptians who went out during the 2011 uprising against longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
A senior U.S. diplomat held talks Monday with Egypt’s interim leaders as well as the head of the military in the highest level visit by an American official since the Egyptian army ousted the country’s first democratically elected leader.
The two-day visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns to Cairo comes nearly two weeks after Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown by the military following days of mass protests. Washington has been sharply criticized by both Morsi’s supporters and opponents for what each side perceives as support for their rival’s position.
Burns met with the military-backed administration led by interim President Adly Manour and Prime Minister-designate Hazem el-Beblawi, as well as army chief and Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
There was no immediate word on the discussions with the interim civilian leaders. But the military said in a statement posted on the army spokesman’s Facebook page that Burns and el-Sissi discussed “the recent political developments in Egypt … and ways to reinforce cooperation” between the two countries.
Burns, the No. 2 American diplomat, is also expected to meet with civil society groups and business leaders during his trip.
Ahead of the visit, the State Department said Burns would stress in his talks in Cairo U.S. support for the Egyptian people and an inclusive democratic process in which all …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By Matt Cantor
Amid protests and a push from the NAACP , the Justice Department is looking into the prosecution of George Zimmerman on criminal civil rights grounds—but that would be a genuinely tough case to win, the AP explains. Says a former US attorney: “They’d have to show not only that the… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
By Ruth Brown
The final day of Spain’s running of the bulls has, not exactly surprisingly, ended in even more injuries. Most seriously: a 23-year-old Australian woman is in “very grave” condition in hospital after being gored in the back by a huge Miura bull outside the bull ring entrance, the AP reports…. …read more
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This morning marked the penultimate running of the bulls in Spain’s storied San Fermin Festival, and it turned bloody quickly, with 21 revelers in Pamplona injured in a pileup of bulls and humans outside the bull ring. As the AP reports, dozens of falling runners clogged the ring’s narrow entrance,… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
By Ruth Brown
The death toll in the San Francisco plane crash has risen to three, with another passenger dying due to injuries in San Francisco General Hospital today, the AP reports. The hospital’s chief of surgery says the victim was a female child, but her identity and age have been withheld at… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
Iraqi officials say a bomb has exploded inside a crowded coffee shop in the ethnically disputed northern city of Kirkuk, killing 19 and wounding 26.
A police official who provided the casualty toll says the blast happened around 10 p.m. Friday in the Classico Cafe in the south of the city as patrons were enjoying tea and water pipes hours after the sunset meal that breaks the daylong Ramadan fast.
A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information to reporters.
It is the latest in a string of attacks that has left more than 2,600 Iraqis dead since the start of April.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
New attacks on Iraqi Shiites killed at least 24 people while assaults Friday against policemen killed five, officials said, as insurgents press their campaign to exacerbate the country’s renewed sectarian tensions.
In one of the attacks on Shiites, a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden motorcycle into a funeral tent for a Shiite family in the town of in Muqdadiyah, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, officials said.
The late Thursday evening explosion killed 13 people and wounded 24, the officials said.
In the northern town of Dujail, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Baghdad, a parked car bomb went off outside a Shiite mosque late on Thursday. As people gathered around the blast site, another bomb went off.
The twin bombing killed at least 11 people and wounded 25, said the town mayor, Nayif al-Khazrachi. Two medical officials confirmed the casualty figures.
The two attacks raised the overall death toll Thursday from a series of attacks, which included assaults on police stations in the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah west of Baghdad, to 40.
Sunni cleric Salah al-Nuaimi urged calm among Iraqis during a joint Sunni-Shiite Friday sermon in Baghdad aimed at easing sectarian tensions.
“Enough is enough,” al-Nuaimi told worshippers at a Baghdad mosque. “We all love Iraq, …read more
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An intercity train carrying at least 350 passengers from Paris to Limoges derailed at 5:15pm local time today, killing at least eight people, reports the BBC . (France‘s interior minister says at least seven were killed, the AP reports.) Passengers were said to be trapped inside. A rep for… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
Richard Nieuwenhuizen was doing what he loved: Watching his son play football and helping out his local club by running the touchline as a volunteer linesman.
On Monday, the 41-year-old father’s passion for football cost him his life.
Prosecutors announced Tuesday they are charging three players, two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old, with manslaughter, assault and public violence for alleged involvement in a vicious attack on Nieuwenhuizen after a youth match between two local clubs, Buitenboys and Nieuw Sloten. The players, whose identities have not been released, will be arraigned Thursday at a closed-door hearing.
Prosecutors have released no details of a possible motive and Buitenboys club chairman Marcel Oost said the reason for the attack was not certain.
“We still don’t have a clear picture yet,” prosecution spokeswoman Brigit Haan told The Associated Press.
The deadly assault sent shock waves through the football-mad Netherlands, with the sports minister, football association and coach of the country’s most storied club, Ajax, expressing disbelief and discontent.
The Royal Netherlands Football Association on Tuesday said it was canceling all amateur football matches for the coming weekend as a mark of respect for Nieuwenhuizen. Professional matches will go ahead, but players and officials will wear black armbands and observe a minute’s silence before kickoff.
The attack hit at one of the foundations of Dutch youth sport — the participation of parents.
“It is unbelievable that something like this could happen on a football pitch,” said Bert van Oostveen, the association’s director of professional football. “These are the volunteers on which our sport is built, without them we cannot go on.”
On any given weekend, at thousands of sports grounds across the Netherlands, parents are the engine that powers youth sport. They volunteer for everything from brewing tea to marking out lines on fields and wielding whistles and flags as referees and linesmen.
In the overwhelming majority of matches, players and parents enjoy the sport and then have a drink together in the clubhouse.
But sometimes frustrations boil over into violence after the final whistle.
Amsterdam alderman Eric van der Burg, whose portfolio in the city covers sports, said the team from Nieuw Sloten had been in trouble twice before, once for verbally abusing a referee and once when a player got into a fight with a spectator. The player involved in the fight was suspended by the club, Van der Burg told the AP in an e-mail.
He said the city already has an agreement from four-time European champion Ajax at the top all the way down to small local clubs to prevent aggression on and around fields.
“It’s important that parents but also the professional players give good examples how to behave,” Van der Burg said. “Sports should be fun.”
Even FIFA President Sepp Blatter weighed in on the national debate about how such an attack could happen.
“Football is a mirror of society and sadly, the same ills that afflict society — in this case violence — also manifest themselves in our game,” Blatter said Tuesday in a statement. “Nevertheless, I remain convinced that football — through the example set by the tireless efforts of people like Mr. Nieuwenhuizen — is a force for good, and we must continue to use its positive example to educate people against these wrongs.”
Prosecutors say a group of Nieuw Sloten players surrounded Nieuwenhuizen after the match Sunday, kicking and punching him.
Nieuwenhuizen initially appeared to have recovered from the assault at the club whose fields are squeezed into an industrial neighborhood of Almere, a fast-growing commuter city just outside Amsterdam. He went home and lay down, but returned later to watch another game. It was then that he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
A day later, with his family surrounding his hospital bed, he died.
A few hours later, decorations marking Wednesday’s St. Nicholas day — a national celebration similar to Christmas — were still hanging at the Buitenboys clubhouse as team members wept and consoled one another.
Nieuw Sloten immediately banned the players involved and scrapped their team from the league as well as canceling all matches for the coming weekend.
As a wave of grief swept over the football community, another Amsterdam club, TOS-Actief, said on its website it was canceling all matches for the weekend.
“By doing this, TOS-Actief is taking a clear stance against excesses in football,” the club said. “We say stop violence on and around the pitch.”
Van der Burg proposed canceling all amateur matches nationwide for the coming weekend.
A delegation from the Royal Netherlands Football Association visited Buitenboys on Tuesday to discuss “a fitting way to pay tribute” to Nieuwenhuizen and express support for the club.
Nieuwenhuizen’s death came almost exactly a year after a Dutch amateur footballer fatally kicked a 77-year-old supporter following a match.
Amsterdam District Court last week sentenced the player, identified only as Silvester M. in line with Dutch privacy law, to three years imprisonment for kicking the supporter so hard in the chest that his spleen ruptured. He died of his injuries a month later.
Source: Fox World News
By Matt Cantor A tiny Northern California town was shut down over the weekend amid a manhunt for the murderer of an 8-year-old. Residents of Valley Springs—population 2,500—were told to lock their doors and watch for a man accused of stabbing Leila Fowler on Saturday afternoon, the AP reports. Police…
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
By Rob Quinn A powerful blast shook central Prague this morning, shattering windows in building hundreds of feet away and causing the evacuation of a large area. Up to 40 people were injured in the blast, which police say was probably the result of a gas leak, the AP reports. The explosion badly…
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
The angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects insists that her sons are innocent and that she’s no terrorist.
But Zubeidat Tsarnaeva is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son. In another, she was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, U.S. officials said.
In photos of her as a younger woman, Tsarnaeva wears a low-cut blouse and has her hair teased like a 1980s rock star. After she arrived in the U.S. from Russia in 2002, she went to beauty school and did facials at a suburban day spa.
But in recent years, people noticed a change. She began wearing a hijab and cited conspiracy theories about 9/11 being a plot against Muslims.
Tsarnaeva insists there is no mystery and that she’s just someone who found a deeper spirituality. She fiercely defends her sons — Tamerlan, who was killed in a gunfight with police, and Dzhokhar, who was wounded and captured.
“It’s all lies and hypocrisy,” she told The Associated Press in Dagestan. “I’m sick and tired of all this nonsense that they make up about me and my children. People know me as a regular person, and I’ve never been mixed up in any criminal intentions, especially any linked to terrorism.”
At a news conference in Dagestan with her ex-husband Anzor Tsarnaev last week, Tsarnaeva appeared overwhelmed with grief one moment, defiant the next. “They already are talking about that we are terrorists, I am terrorist,” she said. “They already want me, him and all of us to look (like) terrorists.”
Amid the scrutiny, Tsarnaeva and Anzor say they have put off the idea of any trip to the U.S. to reclaim their elder son’s body or try to visit Dzhokhar in jail. Tsarnaev told the AP on Sunday he was too ill to travel to the U.S. Tsarnaeva faces a 2012 shoplifting charge in a Boston suburb, though it was unclear whether that was a deterrent.
Tsarnaeva arrived in the U.S. in 2002, settling in a working-class section of Cambridge, Mass. With four children, Anzor and Zubeidat qualified for food stamps and were on and off public assistance benefits for years. The large family squeezed itself into a third-floor apartment.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Residents of about 200 homes in Monrovia have been forced to evacuate after a brush fire erupted in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills east of Los Angeles.
City officials say the blaze was sparked by equipment used by a gardener working the backyard. Flames spread to the hillside behind the residence, scorching 170 acres.
The fire is 10 percent contained. It is not immediately threatening homes, but authorities ordered the evacuations as a precaution.
As the Monrovia fire burned, a four-acre grass fire ignited across town near Interstate 405, forcing the closure of southbound lanes for about an hour and causing traffic to back up for miles. That fire has been contained.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP‘s earlier story is below.
Residents of about 100 homes were forced to evacuate Saturday after a brush fire erupted in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills east of Los Angeles, authorities said.
The fire was sparked by a gardener working the backyard, said Jennifer McLain, a city spokeswoman. Flames spread to the hillside behind the residence, scorching 150 acres.
The fire was not immediately threatening homes, but authorities ordered evacuations as a precaution, fire Chief Chris Donovan told KABC-TV.
The blaze was 10 percent contained.
Donovan said dry, thick brush and the hilly terrain were making the fire difficult to contain.
Helicopters dropped water and firefighters called in two fixed-wing aircraft.
“We got a lot of fire resources protecting homes, but we’re nowhere near out of the woods,” Donovan said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
As the Monrovia fire burned, a four-acre brush fire ignited across town near Interstate 405, forcing the closure of southbound lanes for at least an hour.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/uFxREASgQXI/