Cheryl K. Chumley

Russia’s Putin warns U.S. to wait, calls claim of Syrian chemical attack ‘absurd’

President Vladimir Putin said the Russia isn't completely ruling out intervention in Syria, if it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that President Bashar Assad unleashed chemical weapons on rebel fighters — but that notion is just ridiculous, he said.

September 4, 2013

England poised to shutter jails as super-prison site revealed

The prison system in England is poised for big change, as authorities are planning to shutter four individual jails and concentrate the inmate population at one massive facility, a super-prison in northern Wales.

September 4, 2013

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange trips investigation of U.S. intelligence in Europe

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange filed a formal complaint with Swedish authorities, asking for an investigation into U.S. intelligence operations in Europe and alleging his background was wrongfully vetted by FBI agents.

September 3, 2013

Obama poised to pressure President Putin on gay rights at G-20

President Obama is setting out to the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg this week to discuss more than Syria or Egypt. At the pressing of human rights activists, he is expected to take up the issue of gay rights, in what is sure to prove a tension-tightening moment with President Vladimir Putin.

September 3, 2013

Comedy film ‘The Muslims Are Coming!’ tackles Islamophobia — and trashes conservatives

Comedians and film co-directors Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah are taking on one of present-day politics' most sensitive subjects head-on, hoping laughter really can overcome all — including Islamophobia. But then they take potshots at key conservatives and Fox News, characterizing those with dissenting views of radical Islam as ignorant.

September 3, 2013

New York pot-grower killed by own booby trap: Trip wire nearly cuts off head

A New York marijuana grower attempting to protect his crop from intruders was caught in his own booby trap, riding beneath a trip wire he strung around his plants and nearly cutting off his head.

September 3, 2013

Saul Alinsky lives: Anti-war protesters bang outside John Kerry’s Boston home

A la Saul Alinsky in his famous "Rules for Radicals" training manual for effective activism, swarms of anti-war protesters took to the streets and descended upon Secretary of State John F. Kerry's Boston town house, shouting through bullhorns, "Hands off Syria!"

September 3, 2013

Firefighters injured in fall during Atlanta airport blaze

Two firefighters were injured while battling a blaze at an Atlanta airport terminal on Tuesday that filled the area with heavy smoke.

September 3, 2013

Germany mulls prosecution of 30 ex-Auschwitz camp guards

Germany may go after dozens of former Auschwitz death camp guards in court, including an Israeli citizen, as justice ministers announced on Tuesday they’re mulling prosecutions.

September 3, 2013

Obamacare casualty: Longshoremen cut ties with AFL-CIO, citing health plan

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and its 40,000 members said good-bye to the AFL-CIO, cutting long-time ties in part because of Obamacare.

September 3, 2013

Syrian President Bashar Assad taunts: ‘Obama is weak’

Syria’s beleaguered president, Bashar Assad, said in a published interview with a France newspaper the Middle East was ready to blow, but that President Obama was too weak to do anything about it.

September 3, 2013

New North Carolina law bans cops from destroying guns

Police in North Carolina can’t destroy weapons they receive in gun buyback programs any more, thanks to a new law that takes effect this week.

September 3, 2013

Lightning strike in Miami kills 1, injures 2

A lighting storm in a semi-rural southwest region of Miami left one man dead and two more injured late Monday afternoon.

September 3, 2013

Egypt’s judges call for Muslim Brotherhood to be disbanded

A panel of judges in Egypt suggested that the Muslim Brotherhood be stripped of its non-governmental organization status, a move that would officially dissolve the group, at least in the eyes of the military-backed leadership.

September 3, 2013

‘N-word’ on trial: Federal jury says it’s not a term of endearment

A federal jury ruled that saying the "N-word" in the workplace — no matter the ethnicity of the person who uses it — is hostile and discriminatory, and not a term of endearment. The ruling clarifies what some have called a confusing double standard for years — that blacks can say the N-word with impunity, but if other races do, it's blatant discrimination.

September 3, 2013

Pro-Bashar Assad hackers breach Marine website: Fight ‘alongside our army’

Computer hackers working in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad broke into the website of the U.S. Marine Corps and left a message aimed at discouraging U.S. entry into the two-plus year conflict on the side of the rebels: President Obama is needlessly endangering your life.

September 3, 2013

Dennis Rodman visits North Korea to ‘have a good time’ with Kim Jong-un

Former basketball star Dennis Rodman touched down in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Tuesday, prepared for a second meeting with the dictator he dubs his friend, Kim Jong-un.

September 3, 2013

Singapore ‘toy nerd’ amasses 6,000 Barbie dolls

A 33-year-old Singapore man is aware he has doll fetish, but he says he can’t help it. His 6,000 Barbie dolls make him happy.

September 2, 2013

Christian bakers who refused cake order for gay wedding forced to close shop

A husband-and-wife bakery shop team in Oregon were forced to close their shop doors and move to cheaper digs — their home — after gay-rights activists hounded them and drove away contract business because they refused for Christian reasons to bake for a same-sex wedding.

September 2, 2013

NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen: ‘Convinced’ Syria used chemical weapons

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that he was "convinced" President Bashar Assad's forces had unleashed chemical weapons on rebel fighters and that the international community should respond with a strong message.

September 2, 2013