Cheryl K. Chumley

California greenies push lead bullet ban to save scavenger birds from poison

Environmentalists in California are pushing for a new state law that prohibits lead ammunition because scavengers — like buzzards — that eat the carcasses that hunters leave behind are being poisoned.

March 12, 2013

Colo. shooting suspect James Holmes must be drugged to claim insanity, judge says

If defense attorneys want to claim use an insanity defense for Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes, they must first agree to drug him for a psychiatric examination, a judge ruled.

March 12, 2013

CIA ratchets covert operations in Iraq to fight al Qaeda

Central Intelligence Agency officials have ramped up covert missions in Iraq to root out al Qaeda operatives who are providing assistance to militant fighters in Syria.

March 12, 2013

Picking the pope: Smoke signaling to declare papal decision is complicated business

Catholic cardinals are under media lockdown, with communications to the outside world cut by an electronic shield, and the first indication they have made a decision on the replacement for Pope Benedict XVI will come old-world style: A smoke signal in the skies above the Vatican.

March 12, 2013

South Korea to North: You can’t scrap the armistice

South Korea told its northern neighbor Tuesday that they can't toss out the armistice that's been in place since 1953 and advised the North to soften its rhetoric.

March 12, 2013

Five U.S. soldiers, 2 Israeli airmen killed in separate chopper crashes

Five U.S. military members have been killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, bringing the total of American troop fatalities on Monday to seven.

March 12, 2013

Former Sen. Scott Brown heads to law firm, as polls give high marks for governor run

Former Sen. Scott Brown is making the move from politics to law. The Massachusetts politico who rose to national prominence by beating the odds and snagging Democrat Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in 2010 is now taking a position with Nixon Peabody law firm.

March 11, 2013

Openly gay Christine Quinn launches bid for NYC mayor

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is openly gay, has officially thrown her hat in the ring to become the next mayor.

March 11, 2013

EU bans all sales of cosmetics tested on animals

It was years in the making, but European Union leaders finally banned the sale of all cosmetics that rely on animal testing during development. The ban is total: No cosmetic products from any market in the world can enter the EU for sale if they violate the new rules.

March 11, 2013

Homemade alcohol in Libya kills dozens, sickens hundreds

Since Saturday, 38 have died and hundreds more are ill from drinking homemade alcohol in Tripoli, the nation's health minister said.

March 11, 2013

NYC soda inspectors get 17-ounce cups to ensure size compliance

New York City restaurant inspectors have a new piece of equipment — special cups that can hold up to 17 ounces — in order to ensure compliance with the mayor's ban on supersize drinks.

March 11, 2013

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick convicted of corruption

Jurors convicted former Democratic Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on a range of corruption charges Monday, practically guaranteeing a prison sentence that surpasses 20 years.

March 11, 2013

Pro-2nd Amendment demonstrators bring their guns to Wash. state Capitol

Nearly 200 protesters — many of whom carried and brandished guns — turned out for a rally on the grounds of the Washington state Capitol in support of Second Amendment rights.

March 11, 2013

U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice ‘far and away’ Obama’s choice for security adviser

Susan E. Rice, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is President Obama's top choice for national security adviser, political insiders say.

March 11, 2013

Saudi swordsmen struggle to keep pace with beheading demand

Saudi Arabian swordsmen are working double time to keep pace with the country's justice demands for beheadings.

March 11, 2013

Speed cited in Ohio crash that killed 6 teens

Police say speed, not alcohol or drugs, was a key factor in a crash that killed six of eight teenagers in an SUV headed down an Ohio roadway on Sunday.

March 11, 2013

Bionic suit to help paraplegics walk could be ‘Obamacare’ casualty

It's the stuff of science-fiction books — or, at least, of television "bionic man" fare. But researchers say they now have the technology to let paraplegics walk. The only problem is, they're not sure how market-friendly they can make it because of "Obamacare" mandates.

March 11, 2013

Stonehenge solved? It’s a community graveyard, researchers say

Researchers in Britain think they've stumbled on a solution to a decades-long mystery: What is Stonehenge?

March 11, 2013

Top U.S. admiral cites climate change, not China, as biggest Pacific security threat

Navy Admiral Samuel Locklear III is in charge of keeping an eye on North Korea, on the progression of tensions between China and Japan, and on cybersecurity threats from China. But he still thinks the biggest security threat in the Pacific is climate change.

March 11, 2013

Rep. Jan Schakowsky: More crackdowns coming, as ‘I’m against handguns’

Rep. Jan Schakowsky said at a women's rights rally that a Democratic-backed push to ban so-called assault weapons and to mandate background checks for private gun sales were just the beginning of a larger agenda to clamp down on Second Amendment rights.

March 11, 2013