Thirteen years after he stood on the podium in Sydney, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics because of doping. By STEPHEN WILSONAP Sports WriterLONDON The International Olympic Committee sent a letter to Armstrong on
(AP) Obama to nominate Jones as head of ATFBy AMY FORLITIAssociated PressMINNEAPOLISA federal prosecutor who worked to get the most violent criminals off the streets is expected to be named director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Australia’s unemployment rate jumped to 5.4 percent in December, according to the latest official data, with a net 5,500 jobs lost as the mining-powered economy slows and manufacturing struggles. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday the seasonally-adjusted jobless
Jews of European origin are a mix of ancestries, with many hailing from tribes in the Caucasus who converted to Judaism and created an empire that lasted half a millennium, according to a gene study published on Thursday. The investigation,
By AMY TEIBELAssociated PressJERUSALEMIsrael’s premier on Wednesday dismissed President Barack Obama’s reported displeasure with his hard-line policies toward the Palestinians, a sign that the two could be headed for a showdown. Polls suggest Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win Israel’s
Dogs, cats, parrots and other pets, some dressed in their finest winter coats, entered churches across Spain on Thursday to be blessed on the feast day of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. Animal lovers lined up outside the
(AP) ATHENS, GreeceGreek doctors and workers at the Athens metro system have walked off the job, striking to protest salary cuts that are part of harsh austerity measures the country is taking to get its hands on bailout cash it
Around 600 cats stuffed into wooden crates and destined for dinner plates in southern China were rescued by animal protection volunteers after a truck crash, a volunteer said on Thursday. Volunteers hauled the felines from the lorry on Monday after
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Islamist militants have told a Mauritanian news outlet that Algerian military helicopters strafed the gas complex where they are holding hostages, killing 35 of the foreigners and 15 of the kidnappers. The spokesman for the Masked
LeBron James has become the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 points. By: The Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. James eclipsed the milestone Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors when he made a short jumper with 2:45 left
Al Pacino and Brian De Palma made cult movie history when they joined forces for the 1983 gangster epic “Scarface.” Their latest collaboration finds them examining a far different character, someone beloved by many until his supporting role in a
We’ve already heard Constitutional scholar Matthew Modine opine on the Second Amendment this week. Now, it’s film critic Roger Ebert’s turn. And the Thumbs Up pioneer offers an even daffier version of U.S history than the “Vision Quest” star. Ebert
Today, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) ripped into President Obama over his gun control plans, suggesting that Obama was intent on violating the Second Amendment. “I will actively fight any attempt by this Administration to undermine our Constitution and infringe upon
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) blasted President Obama’s plans for heavy gun legislation that would do nothing to prevent another Sandy Hook. “The recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School is heartbreaking and beyond words,” wrote Graham. “However, the gun control
By AOMAR OUALI and PAUL SCHEMMAssociated PressALGIERS, AlgeriaIn what could be the first spillover from France’s intervention in Mali, Islamist militants attacked and occupied a natural gas complex partly operated by energy company BP in southern Algeria on Wednesday. Two
Director Kathryn Bigelow, whose film Zero Dark Thirty stands at the eye of a cultural storm involving harsh interrogation tactics, offers a vibrant defense of the First Amendment in a new op-ed. It’s the kind of patriotic message we don’t
When director Steven Spielberg set out to make “Lincoln,” he had plenty of financial support to tell his tale. The folks behind “Saving Lincoln,” an independent film telling a side of the president’s life story not explored in Spielberg’s film,
(AP) AP source: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar leavingBy JULIE PACE and MATTHEW DALYAssociated PressWASHINGTONInterior Secretary Ken Salazar, who oversaw a moratorium on offshore drilling after the BP oil spill, will leave the Obama administration in March, Obama administration officials said
(AP) – More than 54,000 Mexicans have signed a petition calling on the United States to take further steps to combat weapons trafficking. Mexico says the majority of guns used by the country’s violent drug cartels are smuggled over the
(Reuters) – Oil major BP said on Wednesday it had experienced a “security incident” at a gas field in Algeria, following reports that Islamist militants had seized five Japanese nationals and a French citizen from the facility on Wednesday. Read
(AP) – Japan’s two biggest airlines grounded all their Boeing 787 aircraft for safety checks Wednesday after one was forced to make an emergency landing in the latest blow for the new jet. All Nippon Airways said a cockpit message
(AP) – Six militants wearing suicide vests — including one driving a car packed with explosives — attacked the gate of the Afghan intelligence in Kabul on Wednesday, setting off a blast that reportedly caused several deaths and wounded at
(AP) – French troops pressed northward in Mali toward territory occupied by radical Islamists on Wednesday, military officials said, announcing the start of a land assault that will put soldiers in direct combat “within hours.” French ground operations began overnight
The US government stopped investing in a federal employee pension fund Tuesday to avoid breaching the nation’s legal borrowing limit, the Treasury Department said. The action is among the extraordinary bookkeeping measures the Treasury announced on December 31 to keep
By DAVID ESPOAP Special CorrespondentWASHINGTONMore than 10 weeks after Superstorm Sandy brutalized parts of the heavily populated Northeast, the House approved $50.7 billion in emergency relief for the victims Tuesday night as Republican leaders struggled to close out an episode
