U.S. officials say there have been about 20 airstrikes against Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan in the past three weeks, as the U.S. expands its fight against the insurgent group beyond Iraq and Syria. The strikes come in the wake of a decision by the Obama administration to give… Read More
Deadly Mexican prison gang riot kills 52
A brawl between rival drug gangs at an overcrowded penitentiary in northern Mexico turned into a riot Thursday, leaving 52 inmates dead and 12 injured in the country’s deadliest prison melee in years. No escapes were reported in the clash at the Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, said Nuevo Leo… Read More
States seek to block second trimester abortion
Abortion opponents in Mississippi, West Virginia and several other states are filing bills to ban an abortion procedure commonly used in the second trimester that opponents describe as dismembering a fetus. Courts have already blocked similar laws that Kansas and Oklahoma enacted in 2015. The New York-based Center for Reproductive… Read More
Mr. Congeniality? Trump’s beauty pageant suit comes to peaceful end
Donald Trump and Univision said Thursday they have resolved the lawsuit that the Republican presidential contender filed after the company decided last summer not to broadcast the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. Trump owned the pageants at the time, but has since sold them. Univision dropped plans to televise… Read More
Congress votes for tax-free internet
Congress voted Thursday to permanently bar state and local governments from taxing access to the Internet, as lawmakers leapt at an election-year chance to demonstrate their opposition to imposing levies on online service. On a vote of 75-20, the Senate gave final congressional approval to the wide-ranging bill, which would… Read More
“Cruz Crew” app – campaign genius, or politics gone too far?
Protecting the privacy of law-abiding citizens from the government is a pillar of Ted Cruz’s Republican presidential candidacy, but his campaign is testing the limits of siphoning personal data from supporters. His “Cruz Crew” mobile app is designed to gather detailed information from its users’ phones — tracking their physical… Read More
170 fall sick to mystery illness at PA college
The number of students sickened by a mystery illness at Ursinus College in eastern Pennsylvania has risen to over 170. College spokeswoman Esme Artz says 174 students have shown signs of a stomach infection. Overnight, two students went to the emergency room, and two others were taken to a hospital… Read More
With the markets crashing, how will Yellen and the Fed react?
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen cautioned Thursday that global economic pressures pose risks to the U.S. economy but said it’s too soon to know whether those risks are severe enough to alter the Fed’s interest-rate policies. Yellen said the Fed will determine at its next meeting in March how much… Read More
Science breakthrough confirms it — Einstein was right!
In an announcement that electrified the world of astronomy, scientists said Thursday that they have finally detected gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago. Astronomers hailed the finding as achievement of historic proportions, one that opens the door to a new way… Read More
Trump: It’s time to kill Kim Jong Un
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is known for his no-nonsense attitude. And it was on full display Thursday night, when Trump suggested that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would “disappear” during his presidency. And the billionaire businessman named an unexpected trigger man for the job — the Chinese military. “I… Read More