Cheryl K. Chumley

Venezuelan health care system collapsing; doctors call it a crisis

Venezuela's government-run health care system is in shambles, with doctors sending cancer patients home and ill citizens suffering everything from tumors to glaucoma.

November 8, 2013

Swedish movies to rate gender bias: So long, ‘Lord of the Rings’

Swedish movie mavens, ever mindful of gender-related sensitivities, are putting a new rating system in place for film-goers that alerts to bias against females.

November 8, 2013

Tehran TV documentary tells how to attack Israel

Note to Iran: If you’re trying to assure world leaders that the new president brings messages of peace and compromise, you might not want to broadcast a lengthy documentary about attacking Israel with missiles.

November 8, 2013

iPad explodes, setting Australian store customers fleeing

A brand new iPad Air that was supposed to be used for a demonstration model for customers exploded and burst into flames, forcing the Australian store to close so firefighters could clear the scene.

November 8, 2013

Obama has ‘head handed to him’ in secret Iran sanction deal amid nuclear talks

For all the tough talk on the international front the United States has quietly been easing some of the financial restrictions on Iran, a new investigation reveals. But, as one source suggested, the talks may have backfired — and now the White House is feeling vulnerable.

November 8, 2013

Obama, White House earn top liar labels from Obamacare fact checkers

Add two popular fact-checking sites to the growing list of individuals and organizations that say President Obama outright lied about his promises to the American people — that Obamacare wouldn't take away their existing health care plans.

November 8, 2013

Dad dubbed unfit parent for refusing son’s pleas for McDonald’s meals

A Manhattan father going through court proceedings with his estranged wife is coming out swinging after a court-appointed counselor, tasked with helping to decide custody, labeled the dad unfit for refusing to take his son to McDonald's for dinner.

November 8, 2013

Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor in video tirade: ‘He dies, or I die’

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, already facing a public relations nightmare from recent admissions of smoking crack, has a new hit to deal with — a video that's making the media rounds that shows him in a drunken rage, threatening to kill an unknown individual.

November 8, 2013

76-foot Connecticut Christmas tree heads to NYC’s Rockefeller Center

A 76-foot Norway spruce, the chosen Christmas tree from a Connecticut grower to grace Rockefeller Center, headed to midtown Manhattan on Friday.

November 8, 2013

Pope Francis poised to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin to bolster church ties

Pope Francis is going to meet with President Vladimir Putin in hopes of bolstering relations and tamping down accusations that the Catholic Church proselytizes in Russia.

November 8, 2013

U.S. loses voting rights at key U.N. body, UNESCO

Beginning Friday, the United States will no longer be able to cast a ballot in key global matters vetted through the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, due to a dispute over dues.

November 8, 2013

Cruz bill offers $5M reward for Benghazi info

Sen. Ted Cruz just brought forward a bill that would award $5 million to anyone who could provide information that leads to the capture of a suspect in the Benghazi, Libya, terrorist attack that left four Americans dead.

November 8, 2013

Philippines battered by typhoon: ‘We just have to pray’

Philippines is under massive storm attack, and millions of people Friday were fleeing winds that were hitting upwards of 200 miles per hour.

November 8, 2013

California lawmakers get $5K raise, to $95,291

Call it an early Christmas gift. Lawmakers in California — already the highest paid of all state legislatures — have just received a pay boost of $5,000.

November 7, 2013

Al Gore: NSA guilty of ‘crimes against the U.S. Constitution’

Al Gore, the former vice president and famous climate-change believer, said in a speech this week that he's sure glad for Edward Snowden and the fugitive's National Security Agency leaks.

November 7, 2013

ESPN panelist decries pre-game national anthem as ‘war anthem’

A panelist who appeared on a segment of ESPN’s “Around the Horn” discussion said sports games would be a lot better if they didn’t open with the National Anthem.

November 7, 2013

Google ordered by court to remove prostitute party pics of ex-Formula 1 head

In what’s shaping to become a crucial test of Internet freedom, a French court has ordered the world’s best-known search engine, Google, to remove all links and evidence of images of a former British Formula 1 boss partying with prostitutes.

November 7, 2013

CIA pays AT&T $10 million a year for phone data: report

The Central Intelligence Agency has been paying communications giant $10 million annually for access to the company’s massive database of telephone records, which contains international and domestic calls, government sources said.

November 7, 2013

Rep. Ted Yoho tells town hall: GOP working to impeach Eric Holder

A Republican lawmaker told his Florida constituents at a town hall meeting in his district this week that moves are afoot by the GOP on Capitol Hill to impeach Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for the Fast and Furious debacle that left a border patrol agent — and hundreds of Mexican civilians and innocents — dead.

November 7, 2013

Pope Francis calls for ‘courage’ and blesses disfigured man

A photograph of Pope Francis laying tender hands on the head of a man with horrific disfigurations has gone viral — and no wonder: To many, the shot is the epitome of what some regard as true Christianity and the display of grace, humility, compassion and the like.

November 7, 2013