Wed, 22 May 2013 08:23:32 -0400

Danielle Stephan holds boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause between salvaging through the remains of a family member's home one day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, OklahomaBy Ian Simpson and Alice Mannette MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Rescue workers with sniffer dogs and searchlights picked through the wreckage of a massive tornado to ensure no survivors remained buried in the rubble of primary schools, houses and buildings in an Oklahoma City suburb. The massive tornado on Monday afternoon flattened entire blocks of the town, killed at least 24 people and injured about 240 in Moore, Oklahoma. ...


Wed, 22 May 2013 08:49:50 -0400
MIAMI (Reuters) - An FBI agent shot and killed a Florida man with suspected links to the Boston Marathon bombings early on Wednesday, NBC News reported. NBC said the suspect was being questioned and was originally cooperative, but was fatally shot after attacking the agent. The Orlando Sentinel said a friend had identified the dead man as 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev of Orlando. The newspaper quoted the friend, Khusn Taramiv, as saying Todashev was being investigated as part of the Boston bombings and knew bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev because both were mixed martial-arts fighters. ...
Wed, 22 May 2013 06:25:18 -0400

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner pauses as he announces that he will resign from the United States House of Representatives during a news conference in Brooklyn, New YorkBy Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two years after resigning from Congress in a lewd photo scandal, former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner announced in a video message early on Wednesday he is running for New York City mayor. "I made some big mistakes and I know I let a lot of people down, but I also learned some tough lessons," Weiner said in the video. "I'm running because I've been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life. ...


Tue, 21 May 2013 19:36:00 -0400
[Updated at 2:30 p.m. CT] MOORE, Okla. –As a hailstorm bore down on the devastated region Tuesday afternoon, first responders continued to sift through debris to try to find survivors and figure out how many people died in the massive tornado that ripped through southern Oklahoma City and other towns a day earlier. Twenty four [...]
Tue, 21 May 2013 16:58:37 -0400
OKLAHOMA CITY—Anthony Connel was sitting in traffic off of South 149th Street, about a mile from his home, when he saw it happen: A dark black cloud, so ominous and wide that it didn’t even look like a tornado, dropped to the ground—and headed straight for his house. Connel, a sales manager at Anheuser-Busch, had [...]
Tue, 21 May 2013 16:05:45 -0400
Susan and Bob Njoo's destroyed home. They managed to escape from the rubble with minor injuries. (Photo courtesy of Larry Ong) Yahoo News invited Oklahoma City area residents to share their firsthand experiences and observations from Monday’s tornadoes and rescue efforts, and the cleanup that began Tuesday. Below are excerpts from what they’ve written. *** [...]
Tue, 21 May 2013 13:02:00 -0400
An Oklahoma man captured on video what appears to be the formation of Monday's deadly tornado. The incredible footage, posted to YouTube, shows a swirling funnel cloud forming over a field near Newcastle, Okla. The man, identified as Charles Cook, shot the cell phone video from a parking lot while sitting in his car. "The [...]
Tue, 21 May 2013 12:35:34 -0400
Soldiers wounded in the Fort Hood shooting spree in November 2009 have a new problem on their hands: getting the shooting's classification changed from "workplace violence" to "combat related." As reported by Dallas-Fort Worth's NBC 5 Investigates, the injured soldiers are struggling to pay their bills. Because the government doesn't classify the shooting as an [...]
Wed, 22 May 2013 09:31:13 -0400

Several dozen tea party activists and other concerned citizens, wave signs and small American flags as they march outside the main Internal Revenue Service office on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Phoenix. The rally was one of many around the country after IRS officials acknowledged that some conservative groups received inappropriate attention and questioning. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department's No. 2 official is telling Congress that his agency played no role in the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.


Wed, 22 May 2013 09:24:22 -0400
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — More than a thousand people have evacuated their homes in northeastern North Dakota as rain-fed floodwaters threaten a dam on the Tongue River.
Wed, 22 May 2013 09:10:07 -0400
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles voters have approved a proposition limiting the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Wed, 22 May 2013 09:03:35 -0400

Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti votes early Tuesday morning, May 21, 2013, in Los Angeles. Garcetti faces Wendy Greuel in a mayoral runoff. After months of buildup and millions of dollars spent on a blizzard of television ads and mailers, Los Angeles voters went to the polls Tuesday to choose between Garcetti and Wendy Greuel. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)LOS ANGELES (AP) — City Councilman Eric Garcetti defeated Controller Wendy Greuel to become next mayor of Los Angeles after a campaign in which he depicted his rival a pawn of powerful labor bosses.


Wed, 22 May 2013 08:48:57 -0400
BOSTON (AP) — The administrator of the Boston Marathon victims' compensation fund says so far just five people have filed applications for a portion of the $30 million the One Fund has already collected.
Wed, 22 May 2013 08:35:36 -0400
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has ruled that a New Yorker who rented his apartment on a popular traveler site broke the law.
Wed, 22 May 2013 08:26:38 -0400

File-This June 16, 2011 file photo shows Anthony Weiner speaking to the media during a news conference in New York. The ex-congressman who resigned over raunchy tweets said late Tuesday may 21, 2013, that he's in the New York City mayoral race. He had said last month he was considering it. The Democrat is jumping into a crowded field for September's primary. He's arriving with some significant advantages, including a $4.8 million campaign war chest, polls showing him ahead of all but one other Democrat, and no end of name recognition. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig,File)NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Weiner's run for a renaissance is officially on.


Wed, 22 May 2013 08:18:36 -0400

Coalition for Life of Iowa president Sue Martinek holds a sign in her home, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When the Coalition applied for tax-exempt status in 2008, the tiny group thought getting IRS approval would be easy. But the group faced months of delay, was ordered to provide details about its prayer events outside the local Planned Parenthood clinic, and even directed to sign a sworn statement pledging it would not organize protests there. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — When a small anti-abortion group in Iowa sought nonprofit status, the Internal Revenue Service asked its board to promise not to organize protests outside Planned Parenthood and demanded to know how its prayer meetings and protest signs were educational.


Wed, 22 May 2013 08:03:59 -0400
CLEVELAND (AP) — The three women rescued after being held captive in a Cleveland house for about a decade say they are doing fine.
Wed, 22 May 2013 07:56:25 -0400
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) — Three sisters say they were kicked out of a suburban Philadelphia mall after refusing to remove profanity-laden hats expressing their hatred of breast cancer.
Wed, 22 May 2013 07:52:39 -0400
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says U.S. officials are "going neighborhood to neighborhood" to make sure Oklahoma gets the help it needs.
Wed, 22 May 2013 07:51:30 -0400

FILE - Clockwise from left, Boy Scouts Eric Kusterer, Jacob Sorah, James Sorah, Micah Brownlee and Cub Scout John Sorah hold signs at the "Save Our Scouts" Prayer Vigil and Rally in front of the Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters in Irving, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units. The proposal to be put before the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at a meeting in Grapevine, Texas, would retain the Scouts' long-standing ban on gays serving in adult leadership positions. (AP Photo/Richard Rodriguez)GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America will convene a two-day meeting of 1,400 local leaders to consider changing its long-standing ban openly gay boys belonging to the scouting movement.


Wed, 22 May 2013 07:50:28 -0400
OTTAWA, Ohio (AP) — A 17-year-old boy charged with killing two teenage brothers in northwest Ohio has pleaded not guilty.
Wed, 22 May 2013 07:49:43 -0400

Rick and Mary Todd speak to Reuters during an interview at their temporary place of residence in SingaporeBy Kevin Lim and Pedja Stanisic SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The parents of an American engineer found dead in Singapore last year said on Wednesday they will not take part in the rest of a coroner's inquiry into his death, which they say was linked to a project involving the transfer of sensitive technology to China. In a statement, Rick and Mary Todd said they had lost confidence in the system investigating the death of their 31-year-old son, Shane, who was found hanging from a door in his Singapore apartment last June. ...


Wed, 22 May 2013 07:42:32 -0400
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A man was fatally shot when a team of FBI agents swarmed an apartment complex near Universal Studios in Orlando.
Wed, 22 May 2013 07:40:36 -0400

In this image made from video, Amy Sharp, right, hugs daughter Jenna Dunn, 10, a day after she picked up her children from Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., which was leveled by a tornado packing winds of up to 200 mph. on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. (AP Photo/P. Solomon Banda)MOORE, Okla. (AP) — With an ominous storm approaching, the Moore Public School District flashed a text alert to parents: "We are currently holding all students until the current storm danger is over. Students are being released to parents only at this time."


Wed, 22 May 2013 07:39:51 -0400
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) — The State Highway Patrol says 29 people have been injured in a crash between a commercial bus and a car on Interstate 75 in northwest Ohio.
Wed, 22 May 2013 07:31:37 -0400

Candles, flowers and messages sit in a makeshift memorial for the late Mark Carson on the sidewalk at the site of his murder in New York CityBy Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City is seeing a spike in anti-gay attacks, with two assaults coming within days of the fatal shooting of a gay man over the weekend, the city's police commissioner said on Tuesday. Two men in their early 40s were attacked on a street in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood early on Tuesday morning by two men who shouted anti-gay slurs in Spanish and English and left one victim with a minor eye injury, police said. ...


Wed, 22 May 2013 07:29:26 -0400

Metro North employees, in orange vests, help transfer westbound commuters at the transportation center in Bridgeport, Ct., to buses Monday, May 20, 2012, after a train collision on Friday injured 72 people and disrupted rail service into New York City. The commuters had arrived from New Haven by train and were being bused to Stamford, Ct., where rail service to New York was available. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Regular train service returned to Connecticut on Wednesday, five days after a derailment injured scores of commuters and damaged tracks.


Wed, 22 May 2013 07:02:13 -0400

Jodi Arias addresses the jury during the penalty phase of her murder trial in PhoenixBy Tim Gaynor PHOENIX (Reuters) - A jury weighing the fate of murderer Jodi Arias is set to resume deliberations on Wednesday on whether she should be sentenced to death or spend her life in prison for the brutal slaying of her ex-boyfriend. Arias, 32, was found guilty earlier this month in the murder of Travis Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home in June 2008. He had been stabbed 27 times, had his throat slashed and been shot in the face. The murder trial, which featured graphic testimony and photographs, became a sensation on U.S. ...


Wed, 22 May 2013 07:01:05 -0400
By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago Board of Education is due to vote on Wednesday on a controversial proposal to close 54 schools in the country's third-largest public school district in what would be the largest mass school closing in the nation. The district's plans to close 53 elementary schools and a high school this year, mainly in Hispanic and African-American neighborhoods, has been met with protests by parents and union leaders who say the closings will disrupt communities and put children in danger with longer walks through troubled areas. ...
Wed, 22 May 2013 06:22:44 -0400
SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — The homes on either side of the Tampa area house where a sinkhole opened under a man's bedroom are being demolished.
Wed, 22 May 2013 06:06:11 -0400

FILE - In a Monday, Jan. 17, 2011 file photo, gun violence protesters participate in a lie-in during an anti-gun rally at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. Nearly six in 10 Americans want stricter gun laws in the aftermath of last month's deadly school shooting in Connecticut, with majorities favoring a nationwide ban on military-style, rapid-fire weapons and limits on gun violence depicted in video games and movies and on TV, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. A lopsided 84 percent of adults would like to see the establishment of a federal standard for background checks for people buying guns at gun shows, the poll showed. President Barack Obama was set Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 to unveil a wide-ranging package of steps for reducing gun violence expected to include a proposed ban on assault weapons, limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines and universal background checks for gun sales. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:


Wed, 22 May 2013 06:04:04 -0400

Convicted killer Jodi Arias speaks during an interview at the Maricopa County Estrella Jail on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Phoenix. Arias was convicted recently of killing her former boyfriend Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home back in 2008, made a plea in court on Tuesday for life in prison, instead of execution, saying she can contribute to society if allowed to live. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)PHOENIX (AP) — In a surprise jailhouse interview just hours after a jury began deliberating her fate, Jodi Arias spoke out Tuesday about her murder trial, her many fights with her legal team and her belief that she "deserves a second chance at freedom someday."


Wed, 22 May 2013 05:37:59 -0400

Jenny Reese of Orem, Utah, center, joins Tea Party supporters outside the IRS headquarter in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A few dozen tea party activists and their supporters have gathered outside the IRS headquarters in Washington to protest extra scrutiny of their organizations. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)CINCINNATI (AP) — Tea party activists waving flags and signs, singing patriotic songs and chanting anti-IRS slogans held rallies outside federal buildings across the country to protest the agency's extra scrutiny of conservative groups.


Wed, 22 May 2013 05:12:33 -0400

This Monday, May 20, 2013 photo shows Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, Ariz. After a particularly ugly TV experience, Amy's is fighting back and trying to raise awareness for cyber-bullying. They are doing this after they cursed out critics of their TV experience on their Facebook page. The restaurant temporarily closed down their Scottsdale restaurant after the “Kitchen Nightmares” episode aired. (AP Photo/Matt York)PHOENIX (AP) — It was the customer service disaster heard around the Internet.


Wed, 22 May 2013 04:58:31 -0400

A group of visiting journalists try out the improved motion-detecting capabilities of the new Kinect controller for Microsoft's next-generation Xbox One entertainment and gaming console system, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Redmond, Wash. The new Kinect, which will come standard with the Xbox One can also see users in total darkness and has a wider field of view than the previous Kinect device in use with the Xbox 360. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Will gamers want One?


Wed, 22 May 2013 04:41:31 -0400

FILE - In this Tuesday Jan. 31, 2006 file photo, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, gestures as he practices the Democratic response to the State of the Union in the Governor's Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — An embezzling case that began with a chef being accused of stealing food from Virginia's Executive Mansion and morphed into a political scandal involving two of the state's most powerful politicians has some people wondering: What goes on behind the wide double doors of the governor's house?


Wed, 22 May 2013 04:23:41 -0400

File-This file combo shows a Feb. 20, 2013 file photo of Los Angeles mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti speaking to media in Los Angeles, left, and undated image provided by the Wendy Greuel Campaign of mayoral candidate Greuel meeting with voters. Despite the high stakes, the race has been a mostly low-drama affair between two government regulars. In a city known to yawn at local politics, turnout is expected to be sparse, perhaps only one in four voters will go to the polls. (AP Photo,File)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Councilman Eric Garcetti, who jammed with pop star Moby and fashioned himself as a voice for a new generation of city leaders, has opened a growing lead in the race for Los Angeles mayor with the pool of uncounted ballots steadily shrinking.