(AP) Election hits $2B mark amid last-minute donationsBy JACK GILLUM and STEPHEN BRAUNAssociated PressWASHINGTONRemarkable for its last-minute surge of contributions, the U.S. presidential election witnessed unprecedented sums of cash boosting two men in their quest for the White House. It
Our country is currently saddled with $86 trillion in unfunded mandates, a $16 trillion deficit, and annual deficits of over $1 trillion. Most of this is the result of pure selfishness at the hands of a Baby Boom generation under
(AP) Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuanaBy GENE JOHNSONAssociated PressSEATTLEThe crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle’s Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state
(AP) Illegal immigration drops after decade-long riseBy HOPE YENAssociated PressWASHINGTONNew census data released Thursday affirm a clear and sustained drop in illegal immigration, ending more than a decade of increases. The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. dropped to
(AP) Guatemalan police arrest software guru McAfeeBy SONIA PEREZ-DIAZAssociated PressGUATEMALA CITYSoftware company founder John McAfee was arrested by Guatemalan police for entering the country illegally, ending his bizarre weeks long journey as a blogging fugitive claiming to be persecuted by
(AP) Poll shows support for raising taxes on the richBy ALAN FRAM and JENNIFER AGIESTAAssociated PressWASHINGTONAmericans prefer letting tax cuts expire for the country’s top earners, as President Barack Obama insists, while support has declined for cutting government services to
By PAT EATON-ROBBAssociated PressHARTFORD, Conn.Jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck, whose pioneering style in pieces such as “Take Five” caught listeners’ ears with exotic, challenging rhythms, has died. He was 91. Brubeck died Wednesday morning at Norwalk Hospital of heart
(AP) Bush says immigrants fill gap in labor marketBy JAMIE STENGLEAssociated PressDALLASAs the U.S. debates immigration policy, former President George W. Bush says it should “do so with a benevolent spirit and keep in mind the contribution of immigrants.” The
(AP) Islamist sect in Nigeria grows more deadlyBy JON GAMBRELLAssociated PressJOHANNESBURGThe radical Islamist fighters gather around piles of weapons and ammunition they’ve stolen and shout praises to God as they shoot into the expanse of the African desert. Those depicted
By JACK GILLUM and STEPHEN BRAUNAssociated PressWASHINGTONEased out with an $8 million payout provided by an influential GOP fundraiser, former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey says he has left a conservative Tea Party group, FreedomWorks, because of an internal
By JEFF BARNARDAssociated PressGRANTS PASS, Ore.David Oliver Relin, co-author of the best-selling book “Three Cups of Tea,” said in legal filings about a year before his recent suicide that his career suffered from allegations of lies in the story of
By REEM KHALIFAAssociated PressMANAMA, BahrainJust hours after reality TV star Kim Kardashian gushed about her impressions of Bahrain, riot police fired tear gas to disperse more than 50 hardline Islamic protesters denouncing her presence in the Gulf kingdom. The clashes
(AP) Lone Chinese home destroyed; farmer accepts dealBy GILLIAN WONGAssociated PressBEIJINGAuthorities have demolished a five-story home that stood incongruously in the middle of a new main road and had become the latest symbol of resistance by Chinese homeowners against officials
(AP) Kuwait election boycott shifts drama to streetsBy HUSSAIN AL-QATARIAssociated PressKUWAIT CITYThe drama of Kuwait’s parliamentary elections has nothing to do with the ballot count. It’s what may come afterward that has the country on edge as a broad coalition
(AP) BEIJINGChinese regulators suspended a broadcaster Friday after an unaired segment of a TV game show was leaked online showing a raucous shouting match about nudity between spectators and a woman who calls her daughter the next Lady Gaga. The suspension
(AP) Egypt draft constitution sparks mass protestBy AYA BATRAWY and MAGGIE MICHAELAssociated PressCAIROMore than 100,000 protesters took the streets in Egypt vowing to stop a draft constitution that Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi approved early Friday in a rushed,
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH and KARIN LAUBAssociated PressRAMALLAH, West BankEuphoric Palestinians erupted in cheers, honked car horns and chanted “God is great” after the United Nations endorsed an independent state of Palestine, giving sweeping international backing to their demands for sovereignty
By GILLIAN WONGAssociated PressBEIJINGA Chinese court sentenced the nephew of legal activist Chen Guangcheng to more than three years in jail for assault in a hurried, suddenly announced trial Friday that his parents were barred from attending. The punishment against
By HAMZA HENDAWI and MAGGIE MICHAELAssociated PressCAIROIslamists approved a draft constitution for Egypt early Friday without the participation of liberal and Christian members, seeking to pre-empt a court ruling that could dissolve their panel with a rushed, marathon vote that
By EDITH M. LEDERERAssociated PressUNITED NATIONSThe United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States. The resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status to a nonmember
Today’s UN General Assembly resolution granting Palestine official status as a “non-member state” is absurd. It would be more accurate to call Palestine a “non-state member,” since (by its own doing) it does not possess the basic territorial or political
(AP) Ex-President George H.W. Bush in Texas hospitalBy MICHAEL GRACZYKAssociated PressHOUSTONFormer President George H.W. Bush was in a Houston hospital Thursday for treatment of a lingering cough. Bush, 88, has been in and out of the hospital recently for complications
(AP) Wave of attacks in Iraq kills at least 43 peopleBy SINAN SALAHEDDINAssociated PressBAGHDADBack-to-back explosions tore through tents housing Shiite pilgrims in southern Iraq Thursday, the deadliest in a wave of bombings that killed at least 43 people nationwide, officials
In a November 28 article, the Associated Press tried to give cover to Democrats by insisting that they are somehow divided over cuts in entitlements to help solve the “fiscal cliff” problem. But the truth is that Democrats are virtually
By SARAH EL DEEBAssociated PressCAIROAn Egyptian court convicted in absentia Wednesday seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor, sentencing them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim
