The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that normalizes trade relations with Russia, but also imposes sanctions on Russian human rights violators. Lawmakers voted Thursday to lift trade restrictions on Russia that date back to the Cold War era. The bill would also normalize U.S. trade with Moldova. President Barack Obama has pledged to sign the […]
US Senate Votes to Normalize Trade With Russia
Posted December 6th, 2012 at 6:30 pm (UTC-5)
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Hundreds Light Up as Marijuana Becomes Legal in Washington State
Posted December 6th, 2012 at 4:45 pm (UTC-5)
Pot smokers in Washington state celebrated Thursday by lighting up under the appropriately-named Space Needle in Seattle as a voter-approved referendum legalizing recreational marijuana took effect. Hundreds of smokers puffed joints and gleefully blew the smoke into the air as police stood by. Under the new state law, people over 21 years old can not […]
Nominees for US Grammy Awards Announced
Posted December 6th, 2012 at 6:30 am (UTC-5)
The indie-pop band fun. and rapper-singer Frank Ocean dominated the major categories during Thursday’s announcement of the 2013 Grammy Award nominations. fun. was nominated for record of the year and song of the year for producing and writing the single “We Are Young,” which they performed with singer Janelle Monae. The band was also nominated […]
NASA to Send Second Rover to Mars
Posted December 5th, 2012 at 5:35 pm (UTC-5)
The U.S. space agency, NASA, has announced plans to launch another robotic rover to Mars in 2020. The Opportunity rover would be part of NASA’s ambitious program to explore the Martian surface and atmosphere, ahead of its goal to send a manned mission to the red planet in about 20 years. The Curiosity rover landed […]
World’s Oldest Person Dies at 116
Posted December 5th, 2012 at 7:05 am (UTC-5)
The woman listed as the world’s oldest person has died at the age of 116. Besse Cooper was one of only a handful of people recognized by the Guiness World Records to have ever lived to that age. She died Tuesday about 70 kilometers outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Her son Sidney Cooper said she was […]
US Senate Rejects UN Disabilities Treaty
Posted December 4th, 2012 at 10:25 pm (UTC-5)
Opposition Republicans in the U.S. Senate have blocked passage of a United Nations treaty protecting people with disabilities from discrimination. Most lawmakers voted in favor of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Tuesday. But a two-thirds’ majority was required for passage, and the final was five votes short . The treaty failed […]
Labor Dispute at Key US Cargo Port Turns One Week Old
Posted December 4th, 2012 at 9:00 am (UTC-5)
Negotiations to end a strike at the biggest cargo port complex in the United States continued Monday, as the dispute enters its second week. Unionized clerical workers at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in California walked off the job last Tuesday, claiming that shippers who operate out of the twin ports want to […]
Obama: Terrorists Doing All They Can to Get Nuclear Materials
Posted December 3rd, 2012 at 7:55 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. President Barack Obama says nuclear terrorism is still one of the world’s greatest security threats, despite success in cutting U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles. Mr. Obama said Monday that terrorists and criminal gangs are doing everything to get their hands on nuclear, biological and chemical materials. He said these materials are being stored without […]
Pentagon Plans to Expand Intelligence Gathering
Posted December 2nd, 2012 at 4:55 am (UTC-5)
A leading U.S. newspaper says the Defense Department has an “ambitious” plan to assemble an espionage network, rivaling the Central Intelligence Agency in size. The Washington Post reported late Saturday the project is aimed at transforming the Defense Intelligence Agency into a spy service focused on emerging threats and more closely aligned with the CIA […]
Obama Campaigns for Plan to Avoid Fiscal Cliff
Posted November 30th, 2012 at 3:05 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. President Barack Obama made a campaign-style trip Friday aimed at winning public support for his plan to avert a year-end crisis over government spending and tax policies. Mr. Obama, newly re-elected, told toy factory workers in Pennsylvania that he thinks he and congressional lawmakers can reach a compromise to avoid $600 billion in spending […]
