colombia
Ending a years-long manhunt, troops in Colombia have found the corpse of Pedro "the Knife" Guerrero, one of the country's top right-wing paramilitary leaders and drug traffickers, President Juan Manuel Santos said yesterday. Guerrero, nicknamed after the weapon he favored while terrifying peasants whom he suspected of aiding leftist rebels, was believed to have been mortally wounded…
December 30, 2010
Ask an American about the connection between love and politics, and he'll probably conjure up heartbreaking images of Elizabeth Edwards, of embarrassed philanderers from both sides of the aisle or of the parade of long-suffering, dutiful political wives who, in the famous words of Hillary Rodham Clinton, "stand by their men." The truth is that we don't generally associate politics…
December 29, 2010
Iran yesterday executed a man accused of spying for Israel and another for allegedly distributing CDs and leaflets promoting an outlawed opposition group. The hangings come amid a crackdown on activists that has coincided with unpopular economic austerity measures. Ali Akbar Siadat was accused of peddling military secrets to Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel. Ali…
December 29, 2010
Afghanistan
The government of President Hamid Karzai yesterday denounced a NATO-led night raid on a compound in Kabul that killed two men, accusing Western forces of violating agreements governing security in the Afghan capital. The quarrel highlighted long-standing disagreements between the Afghan government and the U.S. military, which makes up the majority of the foreign force, over the…
December 27, 2010
Egypt
A tour bus heading to an archaeological site in southern Egypt crashed yesterday, killing eight Americans, Egyptian and American officials said. At least 23 others were injured in the accident, Egyptian official sources said. U.S. officials said they were trying to confirm the number of injured and the extent of their wounds. The bus was carrying 37 American tourists near the…
December 27, 2010
Of all the reasons why we read, the one that binds us most is empathy. Literature offers a means of imagining ourselves inside the other, of feeling their stories and inhabiting their narratives. Such an other might be your next-door neighbor or might be someone a world away. What matters is that once we've made that interior connection, we can never see them solely as the other…
December 26, 2010
Vice President Joe Biden, increasingly visible as a key presidential adviser on domestic issues, says the country is moving toward a growing acceptance of gay marriage. Speaking on ABC's Good Morning America on Friday, Biden compared the nation's changing views on gay marriage to the same changes he has seen on the military's acceptance of gays. "I think the country is evolving,…
December 26, 2010
California
California's largest health insurers, fearing they'll lose new customers in the state's lucrative individual insurance market, have canceled controversial decisions last fall to stop selling policies for children. The insurance companies abruptly halted the sale of individual policies for children in September rather than comply with provisions of the nation's new health care law…
December 23, 2010
Democratic Rep. Jane Harman of California is known as one of the most serious members of Congress. Yet if you search for Harman's name on the Library of Congress's website, you come up with, amid substantive legislative proposals, these resolutions the congresswoman is cosponsoring: H.CON.RES.64: Urging the president to designate 2009 as the "Year of the Military Family." H.CON.RES.109:…
December 22, 2010
Young female chimps carry sticks as a form of "play-mothering," much in the same way girls cradle their dolls, scientists said yesterday. The findings, published online in the journal Current Biology, imply that gender roles might be more biologically rooted than some people think, the authors said - and that might hold for human beings, too. Lead author Sonya Kahlenberg, a biological…
December 21, 2010
Thank Stephenie Meyer or the casting director who made Taylor Lautner a household name. Werewolves are big in teen fiction, especially if they're brooding, sexy and hot-tempered. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer is no exception. At least the debut young adult novel from Lish McBride adds wizards, some lesser-known creatures and comedy to the mix. Take Samhain Corvus LaCroix - skateboarder,…
December 19, 2010
Okay, so apart from those genuinely saintly souls sent by Providence as examples to the rest of us, is there anyone with a pulse in this country who wouldn't like to see Osama bin Laden dead? Should he yet fall into our hands, even this writer - an implacable opponent of capital punishment - sees no reason to take the evil SOB alive.
December 19, 2010
Tempers flared yesterday as North Korea warned South Korea to cancel artillery drills planned for the same island the North shelled in November, pledging it would answer any provocation with a strike even harsher than last month's deadly attack. Sometime between today and Tuesday, Seoul plans a live-ammunition drill on Yeonpyeong Island, where similar drills on Nov. 23 prompted…
December 18, 2010
Say what you will about Larry King - that he's a shameless softballer, that he's a selective listener, that he may not always understand who he's talking to and what they're saying - you have to admit the man has stamina. Even as his body seems to shrivel and his concentration appears to wane, he's been showing up for Larry King Live, his five-nights-a-week, hourlong CNN interview…
December 18, 2010
