Nation & World

You call this normal?
Nation & World

You call this normal?

February 13, 2014

Ice in the Mississippi River flows past the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. For a chilly and snowbound East, here’s a dose of cold reality: The nation’s temperature in January…

World Briefs
Nation & World

World Briefs

February 13, 2014

MEXICO CITY – A group of leftist Mexico City lawmakers have introduced a bill to legalize the sale of marijuana in the nation’s capital. The initiative proposed by members of…

Nation Briefs
Nation & World

Nation Briefs

February 13, 2014

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California would become the first state to require warning labels on sodas and other sugary drinks under a proposal in the state Legislature. Democratic Sen. William Monning…

U.S. may wait for Afghan pact
Nation & World

U.S. may wait for Afghan pact

February 13, 2014

The Obama administration is beginning to suggest that it may be willing to wait until after a new Afghan leader is elected to decide if it will keep troops in…

Egypt military chief heads to Moscow in rare visit
Nation & World

Egypt military chief heads to Moscow in rare visit

February 12, 2014

In this image released on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian Military Spokesman of the Armed Forces, Egyptian army chief Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, second right, and Egypt’s Foreign…

US budget deficit totals $10.4 billion in January
Nation & World

US budget deficit totals $10.4 billion in January

February 12, 2014

The Treasury reports how much of a budget deficit the U.S. government ran in January 2014. It is down 36.6 percent from a year ago, signaling further improvement in the…

Ice storm encases parts of the South
Nation & World

Ice storm encases parts of the South

February 12, 2014

Lillian Webb Park in Historic Norcross was an icy field Wednesday in Norcross, Ga. Across the South, winter-weary residents woke up Wednesday to a region encased in ice, snow and…

Congress clears bill ending military pension cuts
Nation & World

Congress clears bill ending military pension cuts

February 11, 2014

Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, supreme allied commander of NATO forces, walks Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind. on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congress has sent President Barack Obama legislation restoring…

Afghanistan frees detainees U.S. calls ‘dangerous’
Nation & World

Afghanistan frees detainees U.S. calls ‘dangerous’

February 11, 2014

A U.S. military guard walks down a corridor between detainee cells at the Parwan detention facility near Bagram, Afghanistan. An Afghan official says the government has freed 65 accused militants…

Health insurance sign-ups gaining steam
Nation & World

Health insurance sign-ups gaining steam

February 11, 2014

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is calling the increase in health-care insurance signups “encouraging.” Her department released new figures on signups Wednesday showing about 1 million Americans registered…

Euthanasia for kids?
Nation & World

Euthanasia for kids?

February 11, 2014

Belgian politicians debate the bill on child euthanasia at the Belgian federal parliament in Brussels Wednesday. Belgium, one of the very few countries where euthanasia is legal, is expected to…

Nation/World Briefs
Nation & World

Nation/World Briefs

February 11, 2014

WASHINGTON – Legislation to raise the federal debt limit and prevent a crippling government default cleared Congress on Wednesday with an awkward assist from top Senate Republican leaders who were…

Nuke reform drive features ideas tried 5 years ago
Nation & World

Nuke reform drive features ideas tried 5 years ago

February 11, 2014

The new effort is more far-reaching, on a tighter timetable and backed by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. So it appears to hold more promise for an Air Force under scrutiny…

Rival Koreas hold senior-level meeting
Nation & World

Rival Koreas hold senior-level meeting

February 11, 2014

U.S. Army tanks and fighting vehicles are unloaded to replace the U.S. Forces Korea’s 2nd Infantry Division’s existing ones at a pier in Busan, South Korea, Friday.Jo Jung-ho/Associated Press Seoul…

College really does pay off
Nation & World

College really does pay off

February 11, 2014

Young adults with just a high-school diploma earned 62 percent of the typical salary of college graduates. That’s down from 81 percent in 1965, the earliest year for which comparable…

Nation Briefs
Nation & World

Nation Briefs

February 11, 2014

WASHINGTON – Unwilling to spook the markets and divided among themselves, House Republicans backed away from a battle over the government’s debt limit Tuesday and permitted President Barack Obama’s Democratic…

Let ex-felons vote, Holder asks states
Nation & World

Let ex-felons vote, Holder asks states

February 11, 2014

Attorney General Eric Holder plans to work with tea party conservative Sen. Rand Paul to reform federal policies on mandatory sentencing that can send low-level drug offenders to prison for…

World Briefs
Nation & World

World Briefs

February 11, 2014

TEHRAN, Iran – President Hassan Rouhani called Tuesday for “fair and constructive” nuclear talks with world powers as Iran marked the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution with massive rallies…

Americans back Cuba ties
Nation & World

Americans back Cuba ties

February 11, 2014

The poll by the nonpartisan Atlantic Council found 56 percent of Americans and 63 percent of Floridians support engaging more directly with the communist island. In Miami-Dade County, home to…

Be happy you aren’t in Atlanta
Nation & World

Be happy you aren’t in Atlanta

February 11, 2014

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal extended a state of emergency Tuesday to more than half of the state’s counties as National Weather Service forecasters were predicting a “catastropic” winter storm will…

Syrian peace talks hit another impasse
Nation & World

Syrian peace talks hit another impasse

February 11, 2014

U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says Syrian peace talks appear to be bogged down with opposition leaders and Syrian government officials each blaming the other side for the stalled peace…

To err is all too human in the air
Nation & World

To err is all too human in the air

February 10, 2014

Southwest Airlines Flight 4013 sits at the M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport in Hollister, Mo. It was one of nearly 150 flights that landed at or started to land at…

Midsize employers get another reprieve
Nation & World

Midsize employers get another reprieve

February 10, 2014

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the Obama administration is not doing enough by delaying for one year a mandate that employers with 50 to 99 workers need to provide…

North Korea withdraws invite to discuss detainee
Nation & World

North Korea withdraws invite to discuss detainee

February 10, 2014

The cancellation comes only days after detained American missionary Kenneth Bae told a pro-Pyongyang newspaper that he expected to meet this month with the envoy. It signals an apparent protest…

Vote spurs EU review of ties to Switzerland
Nation & World

Vote spurs EU review of ties to Switzerland

February 10, 2014

Most Swiss business groups are warning that restricting immigration will hurt Switzerland’s export-based economy. Swiss voters Sunday approved a referendum to limit immigration into the country.Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press “We’re going…

First lady praises construction industry hiring
Nation & World

First lady praises construction industry hiring

February 10, 2014

First lady Michelle Obama says the construction industry is pledging to hire 100,000 servicemembers by 2019 not because it’s the patriotic thing to do but because it is “the smart…