Cheryl K. Chumley

Dallas zoo welcomes baby cheetahs with gift — a puppy

Two baby cheetahs that just joined the animal population at the Dallas Zoo were welcomed aboard with smiles, a new pen and a gift — an 8-week-old black Labrador retriever puppy.

September 6, 2013

EU tosses out sanctions on Iranian banks with suspected ties to nuclear program

The highest court in the European Union on Friday threw out sanctions against a handful of Iranian businesses — including banks — that were suspected of maintaining ties to the nation's nuclear program.

September 6, 2013

Author of best-seller that criticized Taliban shot by Taliban outside home

An Indian-born woman who penned one of India's best-selling books, "A Kabuliwala's Bengali Wife," about the challenges of marrying an Afghan man and escaping the clutches of the terrorist group in the 1990s, was shot multiple times outside of her husband's home in Afghanistan.

September 6, 2013

Rush Limbaugh’s new book: ‘True story on Thanksgiving … no politics in this’

Rush Limbaugh announced Thursday during his radio broadcast that he’s releasing a new book aimed at telling his version of the very American holiday, Thanksgiving, in a way that’s meaningful for children, absent political tampering.

September 6, 2013

Moderate? Syrian rebels post image of selves by burning U.S. Capitol on Facebook page

A Facebook image of a team of Syrian rebel fighters called the al-Aqsa Islamic Brigades that shows them masked, armed and marching from a burning U.S. Capitol leads intelligence analysts to ponder: Perhaps the anti-Bashar Assad forces are also anti-American.

September 6, 2013

U.S. drone kills 6 in Pakistan, fueling anger

An American drone killed at least six people in Pakistan early Friday morning, in a northwestern region known as a hideout for Taliban and al Qaeda militants.

September 6, 2013

Mexico City mulls marijuana clubs as answer to cartel violence

Mexico City council members are mulling whether or not to legalize marijuana sales and smoking — as long as the activity takes place in specially created smoking clubs — as a means of tamping down violence in the nation from drug cartels and traffickers.

September 5, 2013

Comic Dave Chappelle decries ‘evil,’ ‘white’ hecklers at Hartford show

Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle said his show in Connecticut on Aug. 29 didn't go over so well because "young, white alcoholics" heckled him to the point that he wished North Korea — should it ever unleash a bomb on America — would hit the Hartford venue.

September 5, 2013

Wal-Mart fires worker for Facebook post that mocked Muslims

A Wal-Mart employee a New York store was sent packing after his bosses noticed comments he posted on his Facebook page that were deemed derogatory to Muslims.

September 5, 2013

California college in shock as dean dies in elephant stampede

A 58-year-old dean at the University of California was killed during a luxury safari in Tanzania after he fell in the path of stampeding elephants – 50 of them – and grieving colleagues at the college say they’re shocked, to say the least.

September 5, 2013

Pope Francis to G-20: Military action in Syria ‘futile’

Pope Francis said in a letter sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that the Group of 20 should set aside talks of entering Syria with military force.

September 5, 2013

For sale: 118-carat diamond, ‘greatest white diamond ever’

A 118-carat flawless-colored diamond has hit the display shelf at Sotheby’s auction house in New York, and interested buyers will have a chance to cast their bids in October.

September 5, 2013

Californian in Syria on video: ‘What America hates, I love’

A video that shows a heavily bearded, sunglasses-wearing man, reportedly from California but in Syria to help the rebels fight, is making the media rounds — an upsetting commentary on America at a time of high tensions and political crossroads.

September 5, 2013

Christian baker hounded by gays to close shop: My faith in God ‘has grown’

An Oregon baker with Christian beliefs who was forced to shut down operations after refusing to make a cake for a planned same-sex wedding says her faith in God has not wavered — and in fact, has grown stronger because of the ordeal.

September 5, 2013

Minneapolis mayor scopes out Chicago for gay marriage business

The mayor of Minneapolis is on a mission, heading on Thursday to Chicago to hit up the city’s notoriously gay neighborhoods and persuade those wishing to marry to go north for their ceremonies.

September 5, 2013

Terrorists tout new encryption technology that thwarts U.S. intelligence

Terrorists and jihadists say they have a new tool to undercut American and Western intelligence — a mobile encryption software system that operates cell phone-to-cell phone, and works on even those devices that aren't equipped with the technology.

September 5, 2013

Boeing: China to triple aircraft fleet in next two decades

China's airline industry is blooming, and the nation expects to add three times the number of planes it now has to its ranks over the next 20 years, Boeing Co. spokespeople said Thursday.

September 5, 2013

Ariel Castro victims stay silent on captor’s suicide

The three Cincinnati women who were held hostage by Ohio's Ariel Castro for about a decade stayed silent on their captor's suicide this week, leaving trial watchers and sympathizers wondering how the news hit them emotionally and whether they considered the news good or bad.

September 5, 2013

Boston’s Mayor Menino causes stir for Detroit comment: ‘Blow up the place’

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino raised hackles this week when he told a national newspaper that Detroit should really reevaluate its politics and policy and enact some major reforms.

September 5, 2013

Egypt’s interior minister survives car bombing in Nasr City

Egypt's interior minister was the target of a car bombing in the Nasr City district of Cairo Thursday, but he survived, the nation's security authorities said.

September 5, 2013