President Barack Obama on Thursday promoted his new proposal to guarantee high quality preschool for every 4-year-old in the United States citing a need to bring low-income and minority children up to speed with higher-income children-- a move he says will translate into an economic boost. "Every dollar we invest in high quality early education [...] More »Obama pushes universal preschool proposal
LOS ANGELES (AP) — He styled himself as a Rambo-like guerrilla, someone trained to outwit and outshoot the police at every turn, and while Christopher Dorner left no doubt he could be unforgivingly violent, when it came to keeping ahead of the law during his deadly rampage, he made one gaffe after another. More »Mistakes ultimately halted suspected killer's rampage
CHICAGO (AP) — For the first time since Prohibition, Chicago has a new Public Enemy No. 1 — a drug kingpin in Mexico deemed so menacing that he's been assigned the famous label created for Al Capone. More »Cartel kingpin Chicago's new Public Enemy No. 1
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a citywide ban on plastic-foam packaging used for coffee cups and food containers as part of a sweeping new recycling effort he hopes to implement before he leaves office. Bloomberg made the proposal in his annual State of the City address on Thursday, his 12th and final [...] More »Bloomberg calls for ban on plastic-foam packaging, vows more Sandy recovery in final State of the City address
Bowing to pressure from Senate Republicans, the White House disclosed on Thursday that President Barack Obama did not personally ask the Libyan government for help during September's deadly terrorist attack on the American compound in Benghazi. Instead, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached out on his behalf, according to a letter from Obama’s official government [...] More »Obama did not talk to Libyans during Benghazi attack
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — The long, slow journey back to port for a crippled Carnival cruise ship and its miserable passengers suffered another setback Thursday when a tow line snapped, setting the vessel adrift once again. More »Coast Guard: Cruise ship stopped; towline broken
From the very beginning, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has kept a sense of humor about his now infamous reach-and-sip moment during the official Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Now, he's cashing in on it. In exchange for a $25 donation to Rubio's political action committee, the Reclaim America PAC [...] More »Rubio fundraises off State of the Union response by selling water bottles
VIENNA (AP) — Adding weight to its announcement of a nuclear upgrade, Tehran has shown high-level U.N. officials high-tech equipment positioned at its main uranium enrichment site meant to vastly accelerate output of material that can be used for both reactor fuel and atomic arms, a senior diplomat said Thursday. More »Diplomat confirms Iran nuclear upgrade
A restaurant in Japan is fining customers who don't finish their meals. We first saw the story over at Gawker. RocketNews reports that Hachikyo, a seafood restaurant in Sapporo, charges customers who don't finish every last bit of food on their plates. The experience is kind of like being a kid again. But instead of [...] More »Japanese restaurant fines customers for not finishing meal
Striking a blow at President Barack Obama, Senate Republicans on Thursday delayed former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as defense secretary in a mostly party-line procedural vote. Obama led a Democratic chorus denouncing the move as an unheard-of partisan play on national security. In an online chat organized by Google, Obama scolded Republicans for their “unprecedented” [...] More »Republicans block Hagel defense secretary vote
By Anne Laurent: A young Mexican girl who gave birth to a daughter two weeks ago is 12 or 13 years old, not 9 years old as her parents initially claimed, authorities say. The girl, identified as Dafne, was impregnated by her 44-year-old step-father, according... More »Officials: 9-Year-Old Mom Is 12 or 13
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two celebrity passengers - reported by newspapers to be Kanye West and Kim Kardashian - were allowed to bypass airport security to catch a flight at New York's JFK International Airport, but were later given a private screening, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said on Wednesday. An airline employee escorted two unnamed celebrity travelers on Tuesday through a non-public area "in order to provide expedited access to their domestic flight," TSA said in a statement. It did not say whether the two entered the plane. ... More »West, Kardashian in security screening flap at JFK: reports
Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day and in a romantic tribute to couples everywhere, it’s time to turn back the pages to remember three unusual White House romances. More »Three stories of love in the White House
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — Officials said Thursday that the burned remains found in a California mountain cabin have been positively identified as fugitive former police officer Christopher Dorner. More »Burned remains ID'd as fugitive ex-cop Dorner
DECATUR, Ga. – On this Valentine’s Day, it’s date night at the White House. And, apparently, President and Mrs. Obama aren’t the only ones in the family with a special sweetheart. On a stop here to push his education agenda, President Obama hinted that one... More »White House Love? Obama Hints That Daughter Is Dating
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — After a week at sea, the disabled cruise ship Carnival Triumph is in sight of shore off Alabama. More »After days stranded at sea, now comes the bus ride
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — This is not at all how it looked in the brochure: Pulled by a tugboat at a maddeningly slow pace, the cruise ship Carnival Triumph finally drew nearer to port Thursday as miserable passengers told stories of overflowing toilets, food shortages, foul odors and dangerously dark passageways. More »Crippled cruise ship slowly makes its way to land
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — After a week at sea, much of it in conditions described as filthy and not at all the luxury cruise touted in brochures, most passengers aboard the crippled Carnival Triumph will make it to shore Thursday night — only to then face an hours-long bus ride or other travel hassles to finally get back home. More »Crippled cruise makes its way to Alabama shore
The mother of an Alabama boy held for days in an underground bunker said in an interview broadcast Wednesday that she forgave her son's captor early in the standoff and asked authorities not to harm him. More »Mother says she forgave man who held boy in bunker
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour and tying future increases to inflation will boost the incomes of millions living in poverty and spur job growth by pouring more money into the economy. But business groups are not so sure. More »Obama, business groups differ on minimum wage plan