Riots over Egyptian death sentences kill at least 32

PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, violence that compounds a political crisis facing Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said, where gunshots rang out and protesters burned...

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Major floods hammer northern Australia

SYDNEY: A man was missing in raging floodwaters and hundreds of homes were evacuated in northeastern Australia as storms pelted Queensland state on Sunday, with the army put on standby as the weather worsened.Towns and cities devastated by floods in Queensland two years ago which claimed 35 lives were bracing for another devastating inundation as ex-tropical cyclone Oswald hammered the...

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The ultimate gall of a heartless iPhone thief

An object of desire?(Credit:CNET)One should never expect justice in life.The best one can hope for is poetry. And yet, just once or twice, both manage to collide with a deliciousness that moves the soul.Here is the tale of a teenage girl who had her iPhone stolen.As The New York Times composes it, the girl had her iPhone 4S ripped from her by a teenage boy in Brooklyn's notoriously difficult Prospect...

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1 officer killed, 2 wounded near La. casino

Updated 8:50 PM ET NEW ORLEANS Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after allegedly setting fire to a mobile home in south Louisiana, where an elderly man's body was found. A Chitimacha tribal officer was pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings in Charenton, while two St. Mary Parish sheriff's deputies...

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Newtown Families March for Gun Control in DC

Jan 26, 2013 4:59pm (YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, D.C. — Near-freezing temperatures didn’t stop several thousand gun-control activists from bearing their pickets today, carrying signs emblazoned with “Ban Assault Weapons Now” and the names of gun violence victims in a demonstration organized as a response to the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. last month.Walking...

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Egypt deploys troops in Suez after 9 killed on anniversary of uprising

CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's armed forces deployed troops in the city of Suez early on Saturday after nine people were shot dead during nationwide protests against President Mohamed Mursi, underlining the country's deep divisions as it marked the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Eight of the dead, including a policeman, were shot dead in Suez,...

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Obama, Hollande hold phone talks on Mali offensive

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama voiced support Friday for France's military intervention in Mali and vowed to work with French counterpart Francois Hollande to tackle extremism across North Africa.The two presidents discussed other "shared security concerns," including Algeria, Libya and Syria, during telephone talks, the White House said in a statement."The president expressed his...

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BlackRock seeks $80M Twitter stake, at $9B valuation--reports

A fund overseen by global investment manager BlackRock has offered to buy $80 million in stock from early Twitter employees, according to reports, in a deal that values Twitter at more than $9 billion. The valuation figure is a jump of more than 10 percent from the social network's most recent fund-raising, in 2011, the Financial Times said in its report (subscription required), which cites unnamed...

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Notre Dame president defends handling of Te'o case

SOUTH BEND, Ind. Top administrators at Notre Dame decided within hours of hearing about the Manti Te'o dead girlfriend hoax that it did not involve a crime and within two days had concluded there was no NCAA violation, according to a letter sent by the university president to board of trustee members on Friday. The Rev. John Jenkins told trustees that despite "the unrelenting scrutiny of hundreds...

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WH, Senators to Begin Push on Immigration Reform

The White House and a bipartisan group of senators next week plan to begin their efforts to push for comprehensive immigration reform.President Barack Obama will make an announcement on immigration during a Tuesday trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, the White House said on Friday. The Senate group is expected make their plans public around the same time, the Associated Press reported.See...

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North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy". The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North...

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N.Korea threatens South over UN sanctions

SEOUL: North Korea on Friday threatened "physical counter-measures" against rival South Korea over a tightening of UN sanctions against Pyongyang following its recent rocket launch."If the South Korean puppet regime of traitors directly participates in the so-called UN 'sanctions', strong physical countermeasures would be taken," the North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Fatherland...

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Dancing baby vs. YouTube-Prince case set to go to trial

The woman who posted a video of her children dancing to the Prince tune "Let's Go Crazy" and has since waged nearly a six-year legal fight with Universal Music Group over the clip, may see her day in court. US District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled today that a summary judgment will not decide this case, which means that if the two parties don't settle, this lawsuit will proceed to a jury trial. The whole...

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Battery expert: "I would not fly in a Dreamliner"

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - Investigators say they still don't know what caused batteries to burn in two Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and until they figure that out and how to fix the problem, none of the planes will be allowed to fly. More than any other plane, the Dreamliner relies on lithium ion batteries to help power its advanced electrical system. They're lighter and more powerful than older battery...

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Feds Bust Man in Alleged Bombs-for-Drugs Sting

Jan 24, 2013 7:07pm Ryan Budnick/KMGHA Colorado man who claimed to be a former demolition expert in the U.S. Marines was arrested Thursday after he allegedly tried to trade guns and homemade bombs with a 20-meter “kill zone” for cocaine.Richard Lawrence Sandberg, 35, was taken into custody Thursday at his Morrison, Colo. home, ATF spokesman Bradley Beyersdorf told...

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North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "enemy". The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the United Nations Security Council agreed a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction the...

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Taiwanese activists head for Japan-controlled isles

TOKYO: A boatload of Taiwanese activists protected by the island's coastguard was on Thursday heading for Japanese-held islands at the centre of a bitter international wrangle involving Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei.The seven activists left port in Taiwan on a fishing vessel in the early hours and were expected to arrive in the area around the uninhabited islands about noon (0400 GMT), Taiwanese...

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Windows 8 to mainstream solid-state drives, says analyst

New Windows 8 touchscreen ultrabooks like Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire S7 come standard with solid-state drives. (Credit:Acer)This could be the year of the solid-state drive. Newfangled uber-thin Windows 8 devices and falling flash memory prices could double the size of the solid-state drive market, according to a research note today from IHS iSuppli. "The newest wave of ultrabooks loaded with Windows...

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Romney to be honored Friday at D.C. luncheon

Mitt Romney will make it to Washington, D.C. for inauguration week after all. The 2012 GOP presidential nominee and his wife Ann are scheduled to attend a luncheon in their honor Friday at Washington's J.W. Marriott hotel, National Journal reported this afternoon. The reception will be hosted by two of Romney's biggest campaign fundraisers: Virginia philanthropist Catherine Reynolds and hotel...

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Clinton on Benghazi: Afghanistan Diverted Resources

House Republicans slammed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today for her lack of awareness of State Department cables warning of security threats in Benghazi, Libya, prior to the Sept. 11 attack that killed four Americans, including Amb. Chris Stevens.In the second congressional hearing of the day reviewing a report by the Accountability Review Board on the State Department's...

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Netanyahu turns to Iran after narrow election win

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's parliamentary election, shrugging off surprise losses to centre-left challengers and vowing on Wednesday to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. However, Tuesday's vote, which also disappointed religiously inspired hardliners, may deflect the premier's focus on confronting Tehran and resisting...

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US urges Bangladesh to hold free, fair trials

WASHINGTON: The United States urged Bangladesh to hold free and fair trials after a war crimes court sentenced a fugitive TV preacher to death Monday amid allegations the tribunal is politically motivated.The International Crimes Tribunal, a domestic body with no international oversight, ordered Maolana Abul Kalam Azad to be hanged for genocide and murder during the bloody 1971 liberation...

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'Big Bang Theory' star creates TV show about real prodigies

"Big Bang Theory" star Jim Parsons.(Credit:Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)It's looking like the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" may become a reality series, of sorts. Jim Parsons, one of the show's geek protagonists, is working on creating a television series that profiles real-life young geniuses, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series will be based on a YouTube show by the THNKR channel...

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Indian Kashmir officials publish nuke prep warning

SRINAGAR, India Officials in Indian-controlled Kashmir are warning residents to be prepared for a possible nuclear war by building build bomb-proof basements and collecting two weeks' worth of food and water. Local officials said the advisory was routine, though it was the first time it had been published in a newspaper. They said it did not signal new concerns about a nuclear attack in the region,...

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