North America News

For Reid, Dodd, clout on big issues cuts both ways

AP - Tuesday, November 24

WASHINGTON - Two Senate leaders trying to steer a pair of President Barack Obama's high-stakes initiatives through Congress are being dogged by re-election worries, and it's not clear whether their legislative prominence will help or hurt them. More »

  • Police: RI teen skipped school, robbed bank

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    WARWICK, R.I. - Police say a 17-year-old Warwick boy who skipped school to rob a bank has been arrested after leaving fingerprints on the threatening note he passed to the teller.

  • Me-OW! Cat survives Illinois outage-causing run-in

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    CARROLLTON, Ill. - A cat went from meow to ow when officials say it accidentally made contact with a substation's fuse, causing an outage to about 1,500 homes and businesses in southwestern Illinois.

  • Tavern owner says he'll unveil 100-proof turkey

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    NEW YORK - You'll need to be 21 to take a bite out of this Thanksgiving turkey.

  • Ga. high court rules mower isn't a motor vehicle

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    ATLANTA - A riding lawn mower may have four wheels, a powerful engine and can cost as much as a used car.

  • Brynwood Partners VI buys Balance Bar from Kraft

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    GREENWICH, Conn. - Brynwood Partners VI LP, a private investment firm in Greenwich, Conn., said Monday it bought energy bar company Balance Bar Co. from Kraft Foods for an undisclosed sum.

  • Trying last-ditch lung bypass for worst swine flu

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    WASHINGTON - A technology originally developed for premature babies may be helping to save some of the sickest swine flu patients by rerouting their blood so their lungs can rest.

  • Ex-prosecutor pleads not guilty to bribery charges

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    NEWARK, N.J. - A former federal prosecutor and prominent New Jersey defense attorney whose past clients have included Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim has pleaded not guilty to bribery, drug and prostitution charges.

  • IED riddle tougher in Afghanistan

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    WASHINGTON - A senior Pentagon official says that preventing roadside bombs from killing troops has proven to be tougher in Afghanistan than in Iraq because of the austere conditions there.

  • Police: Elevator call led to Mo. building lockdown

    AP - Tuesday, November 24

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Police say an unfounded report of a hostage situation in a building near the Missouri governor's mansion was caused by someone calling an elevator phone to warn of a hostage-taking.

  • The Senate's health care reform bill sits on the podium following a news conference by Republican Senators on Capitol Hill on November 21, in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, remaking US health care, cleared a major Senate hurdle but strong opposition Sunday to key parts of the proposals augured a tough battle ahead.

    Key senators seek changes on US health care bill

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Key Democratic allies in the US health care battle warned that a Senate bill required major changes if it was to earn their support and give President Barack Obama a crucial victory on his top domestic priority.

  • Healthcare bill passes first U.S. Senate test

    Reuters - Sunday, November 22

    By John Whitesides

  • A Cuban soldier takes part in a parade at Revolution Square in Havana in 2006. Nearly 50 years after a botched US-directed invasion of Cuba, the communist nation said Saturday it is holding a military exercise next week to boost preparedness against any future US attack.

    Cuba: military exercise braces island for US attack

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    HAVANA (AFP) - - Nearly 50 years after a botched US-directed invasion of Cuba, the communist nation said Saturday it is holding a military exercise next week to boost preparedness against any future US attack.

  • Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban.

    Setting Afghan exit date defeatist: defense panel

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    HALIFAX, Canada (AFP) - - Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts on Saturday decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban.

  • Assistant US Attorney Gordon Michael Harvey (centre) argues against the release ofWalter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71 at a detention hearing. An elderly US couple charged with spying for Cuba for almost 30 years has pleaded guilty in the conspiracy, with the husband agreeing to serve a life sentence

    Elderly US couple pleads guilty in Cuba spy case

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - - An elderly US couple charged with spying for Cuba for almost 30 years has pleaded guilty in the conspiracy, with the husband agreeing to serve a life sentence, the US Justice Department said.

  • US student Amanda Knox, accused of taking part in the killing of British roommate Meredith Kercher two years ago, attends her trial in Perugia. Italian prosecutors have demanded life imprisonment for Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher.

    Emotion as life term sought for US student in Italy

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    PERUGIA, Italy (AFP) - - Italian prosecutors on Saturday demanded life imprisonment for American student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of Briton Meredith Kercher.

  • Obama Afghan decision to come after Thanksgiving

    AFP - Sunday, November 22

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - - US President Barack Obama has put off a decision on whether to send reinforcements to Afghanistan until after next week's Thanksgiving holiday amid resistance to a troop buildup among key Democrats and criticism from the right.

  • Honduras de facto leader says will step aside

    Reuters - Saturday, November 21

    TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras's post-coup de facto leader said on Friday he would give up his presidential duties for a week, a step Washington welcomed as a way to help ease a five-month-old political crisis.

  • Mourners attend the funeral of one of the Fort Hood shooting victims. US Army Major Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people earlier this month at Fort Hood, Texas, intensified his communications with a radical Yemeni American cleric just months before the shootings and began discussing with him surreptitious financial transfers, The Washington Post reported Saturday

    Fort Hood shooter talked with radical cleric: report

    AFP - Saturday, November 21

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - - US Army Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, intensified contacts with a radical Yemeni American cleric just months before the shootings and began discussing surreptitious financial transfers, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

  • A bar of Cadbury's milk chocolate. A charitable trust controlling US chocolate maker Hershey is backing a bid of 17 billion dollars for Britain's Cadbury, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

    Hershey Trust backs bid for Cadbury: report

    AFP - Saturday, November 21

    NEW YORK (AFP) - - A charitable trust controlling US chocolate maker Hershey is backing a bid of 17 billion dollars for Britain's Cadbury, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.