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| Big changes ahead for frequent fliers on Delta Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:07 PM PST  ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines is changing its frequent-flier program to favor passengers who buy the priciest tickets instead of those who fly the most miles. Full Story | Top |
| Obama embraces a lifelong cause: Helping minority boys succeed Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 08:40 AM PST In the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, the president asked his team to help give the nation's young black men a better chance. Full Story | Top |
| Democrats really, really want Hillary Clinton to run for president, poll shows Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:13 AM PST  An overwhelming majority of Democrats want Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016, a New York Times/CBS News poll finds. Full Story | Top |
| Arizona governor vetoes controversial anti-gay, ‘religious freedom’ bill Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 05:10 PM PST Arizona Governor Jan Brewer announced that she has vetoed a bill that would have allowed state businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian customers. Full Story | Top |
| Tiny houses help address nation's homeless problem Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 05:59 AM PST  MADISON, Wis. (AP) — While tiny houses have been attractive for those wanting to downsize or simplify their lives for financial or environmental reasons, there's another population benefiting from the small-dwelling movement: the homeless. Full Story | Top |
| NASA photo shows North Korea is in the dark Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:22 AM PST  A recent image taken from the International Space Station shows the mysterious, dictator-ruled country almost completely in the dark. Full Story | Top |
| Vice President Biden decries 'hatred' behind state voter ID laws Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:16 AM PST  U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he hopes Congress will pass new legislation to modernize the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 and counter what he called the "hatred" behind voter identification laws in states such as North Carolina, Alabama and Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court gutted a core part of the act in June, and said Congress needed a new plan to protect blacks and other minorities in places where discrimination still persists rather than target former slaveholding states in the South. At a reception at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., in honor of African-American History Month, Biden criticized voting rules in North Carolina, Alabama and Texas. Full Story | Top |
| Federal judge strikes down Texas gay marriage ban Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 11:45 AM PST  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge has struck down Texas' ban on gay marriage, but is leaving it in place pending a ruling by an appeals court later this year. Full Story | Top |
| Majority of Americans now support gay marriage, survey finds Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:02 AM PST Support for gay marriage has surged in the United States in the decade since it first became legal in Massachusetts, with just over half of Americans now supporting the idea, according to a survey released on Wednesday. Some 53 percent of the 4,509 Americans surveyed by the Public Religion Research Institute said they supported gay marriage, up from 32 percent in 2003, when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize it. PRRI Chief Executive Robert Jones said the poll joined a raft of other surveys showing that a majority of Americans back gay marriage. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia recognize gay marriage, with bans overturned in several states after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that legally married same-sex couples were eligible for federal benefits. Full Story | Top |
| Population of Known Alien Planets Nearly Doubles as NASA Discovers 715 New Worlds Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 11:12 AM PST  NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered more than 700 new exoplanets, nearly doubling the current number of confirmed alien worlds. The Kepler space telescope is responsible for more than half of these finds, hauling in 961 exoplanets to date, with thousands more candidates awaiting confirmation by follow-up investigations. "This is the largest windfall of planets — not exoplanet candidates, mind you, but actually validated exoplanets — that's ever been announced at one time," Douglas Hudgins, exoplanet exploration program scientist at NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington, told reporters today.[Gallery: A World of Kepler Planets] About 94 percent of the new alien worlds are smaller than Neptune, researchers said, further bolstering earlier Kepler observations that suggested the Milky Way galaxy abounds with rocky planets like Earth. Full Story | Top |
| Putin puts troops in western Russia on alert in drill Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:56 AM PST By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin ordered an urgent drill to test the combat readiness of his armed forces across western Russia on Wednesday, flexing Moscow's military muscle amid tension with the West over Ukraine. Russia said the exercises were not linked to events in Ukraine, where the ouster of a president who turned his back on the European Union and sought closer ties with Moscow has raised worries in the West over possibility of military intervention. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry slams N. Korea as 'an evil, evil place' Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:53 AM PST  US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday called for global attention on North Korea, denouncing the isolated Asian nation as "an evil, evil place." "North Korea is one of the most closed and cruel places on earth. The top US diplomat said he had had serious talks in China about North Korea including the challenge of the dealing with its suspect nuclear program. "But in the meantime, there is no question that the level of depravity, the level of human rights violations, they have conducted executions, using 122-millimeter aircraft guns to obliterate people and force people to watch these kinds of executions. Full Story | Top |
| Why Obama Will Throw U.S. Immigration Laws Overboard Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:45 AM PST A prediction: President Obama is about to unilaterally change the law…again. Just as Mr. Obama ordered the Justice Department to stop enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act when public opinion began to favor same-sex marriage, the president is surely poised to topple our immigration laws. The pressure on President Obama is intense – especially from those whose favor he curried heading into the 2012 election. Young immigrants, members of United We Dream (UWD), are demanding that the president stop deportations of illegals. Full Story | Top |
| Behaviorists: Dogs feel no shame despite the look Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:18 AM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — The next time you start shaking your finger and shouting "Shame on you!" because your dog chewed up your favorite fuzzy slippers, just remember that no matter how guilty your dog looks, it doesn't know what your rant is about. Full Story | Top |
| Exotic 4-Foot Lizards Invading Florida Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 04:28 AM PST  Pythons and boa constrictors in the wilds of Florida have another reptilian invader in their midst. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has confirmed more than 100 sightings of the tegu lizard throughout Hillsborough County, according to ABC's Tampa Bay affiliate WFTS-TV. The Argentine... Full Story | Top |
| Thief steals car, goes shopping, returns car Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 08:03 AM PST Police in Denver are searching for an unusual thief who they say stole a car, went on a shopping spree using a stolen credit card and then returned the vehicle to the same parking spot. Full Story | Top |
| Campaigner-in-Chief Bill Clinton pulls out Southern charm in Kentucky Senate race Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:59 AM PST Clinton stumps for Sen. McConnell's Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes Full Story | Top |
| Dempsey worries about effects of withdrawal talk Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:04 PM PST BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AP) — Depicting a grim future for Afghanistan without U.S. help, the top U.S. military officer said Wednesday that Afghanistan's refusal to sign a security agreement with the United States may make the fight more difficult this year, embolden the enemy and prompt some Afghan security forces to cooperate with the Taliban to "hedge their bets." Full Story | Top |
| Verizon customers beware: This crazy new scam could steal control of your account Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:15 AM PST New scams looking to swindle people out of their hard-earned money are devised every day, and one particularly devious scheme targeting Verizon Wireless subscribers is now gaining notoriety. Droid Life recently posted about the new scam, which lures Verizon customers in by offering "a special reward" of $54 to subscribers who visit a new website set up for the promotion. According to the report, the phishing scam starts out with a phone call that appears on caller ID as "Technical Support 1-800-922-0204," which just so happens to be the actual number for Verizon Wireless' customer support line. The call plays a recording that asks Verizon subscribers to visit www.verizon54.com in order to claim a $54 bonus. When users visit the aforementioned Full Story | Top |
| Russian spy ship docked in Havana Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:40 PM PST  Havana (AFP) - A Russian warship was docked in Havana Wednesday, without explanation from Communist Cuba or its state media. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senate leader Reid blasts Koch brothers over Obamacare ads Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:18 PM PST  By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused the billionaire Koch brothers on Wednesday of being 'un-American" for spreading headline-grabbing "lies" about President Barack Obama's healthcare law. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, the Nevada Democrat blasted ads by Americans for Prosperity, a political advocacy group backed by David and Charles Koch. Koch Industries Inc, the brothers' oil and gas conglomerate, fired back, saying the Kochs were not responsible for the ad by Americans for Prosperity and calling Reid's remarks "disgraceful." In its statement, Koch Industries said: "It is disgraceful that Senator Reid and his fellow Democrats are attacking a cancer victim as part of their campaign against Charles Koch and David Koch." Americans for Prosperity also struck back at Reid, saying in a statement: "Instead of admitting that the health care law is a bad deal for Americans, Senator Reid has chosen to attack the brave men and women who are sharing their personal stories about ObamaCare." The ad scored "two Pinocchios" out of a possible four by the Washington Post's fact checker Glenn Kessler, who said the commercial did not give a full accounting comparing the patient's old plan with a new one. Full Story | Top |
| Number of hate groups in U.S. declined in 2013: Study Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:00 AM PST For the first time in several years, the number of far-right hate and anti-government groups in the United States is on a downswing, according to a newly released study from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Full Story | Top |
| Ex pope Benedict denies he was forced to resign Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:43 AM PST  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Former Pope Benedict, in one of the few times he has broken his silence since stepping down nearly a year ago, has branded as "absurd" fresh media speculation that he was forced to quit. "There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry," Benedict, 86, who now has the title "pope emeritus," said in a letter to the Italian website Vatican Insider published on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Army removes 588 troops from sensitive jobs Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 05:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army removed 588 soldiers from sensitive jobs such as sexual assault counselors and recruiters after finding they had committed infractions such as sexual assault, child abuse and drunken driving, officials said Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| US warns Russia on Ukraine, nudges Georgia to West Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:07 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday warned Russia against a military intervention in Ukraine as it renewed demands that Moscow withdraw troops from disputed enclaves in another former Soviet republic, Georgia. The U.S. also urged Georgia to further integrate with Europe and NATO in calls that come amid growing tensions between Russia and the West over the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president. Full Story | Top |
| Google ordered to remove anti-Islamic film from YouTube Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:25 PM PST  A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ordered Google Inc to remove from its YouTube video-sharing website an anti-Islamic film that had sparked protests across the Muslim world. By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Google's assertion that the removal of the film "Innocence of Muslims" amounted to a prior restraint of speech that violated the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiff, Cindy Lee Garcia, had objected to the film after learning that it incorporated a clip she had made for a different movie, which had been partially dubbed and in which she appeared to be asking: "Is your Mohammed a child molester?" In a statement, Google said: "We strongly disagree with this ruling and will fight it." Cris Armenta, a lawyer for Garcia, said she is delighted with the decision. "Ordering YouTube and Google to take down the film was the right thing to do," Armenta said in an email. Full Story | Top |
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