Cheryl K. Chumley

Saudi Arabia accused of giving Egypt $1B to oust Morsi

A Saudi Arabian activist said his government provided Egypt's military with $1 billion to stage a coup against former president Mohammed Morsi and install interim leadership.

July 30, 2013

U.S. extends olive branch to Taliban, releases 5 Gitmo detainees: Report

The United States released five inmates at Guantanamo Bay recently — a quiet attempt at jump-starting peace talks with members of the Taliban, an Israeli news outlet reported.

July 30, 2013

San Diego press admits: We knew ‘what Bob Filner is’ but did nothing

At least one reporter in San Diego said members of the media have been fully aware of the sexual harassment allegations circling Mayor Bob Filner for some time — but chose to ignore it in their reports.

July 30, 2013

Kevin Spacey: Actor says Americans don’t appreciate Obama’s greatness

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey — whose most recent work includes the psychological thriller, "House of Cards," about an unethical congressman — said in a recent interview that most Americans just aren't grasping President Obama's greatness.

July 30, 2013

Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas vows not one Israeli ‘on our lands’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said to a group of reporters in Egypt on Tuesday that any peace plan with Israel would have to include this concession: Israelis would be forever banned from Palestinian properties.

July 30, 2013

Saudi court sends activist to 7 years in jail, with 600 lashes

A Saudi court on Monday sentenced a human rights activist to jail and to hundreds of lashes for creating what judges deemed a "liberal" network and for insulting Islam.

July 30, 2013

‘Dream Defenders’ dig in at Florida Capitol, demand justice for Trayvon Martin

A core group of about 15 "Dream Defenders" — so-dubbed for their stated belief in the need for legislative justice for slain 17-year-old Trayvon Martin — have dug in Tuesday outside the Florida Capitol building, refusing to leave until lawmakers pass a bill to moot the state's "stand your ground" gun laws.

July 30, 2013

Arkansas teachers to carry 9 mm guns on campus come fall

Teachers and staff at Clarksville High School in Arkansas have undergone 53 hours of intensive weapons training in recent weeks, and they stand ready for school doors to open this fall — locked and loaded, ready to fend off the type of disaster that rocked a Connecticut community in December and left 20 children dead.

July 30, 2013

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner wants city dollars for sexual harassment defense

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, the Democrat facing fire from at least seven women who've come forward and accused him of sexual harassment, said in a letter to the city that taxpayers should rightly pick up the costs for his legal defense.

July 30, 2013

Eliot Spitzer on Anthony Weiner: I wouldn’t vote for him

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who left his office in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal, said on Monday that even he wouldn't vote for sexting scandal-plagued Anthony Weiner, who's trying to mount a political comeback to the mayor's office.

July 30, 2013

Taliban storm Pakistani jail, freeing 250

Pakistani's Taliban claimed members stormed a prison in the South Waziristan tribal area around midnight on Monday with rocket grenades and suicide bombers, freeing 250 inmates, including several top militants.

July 30, 2013

EU’s Catherine Ashton meets with Mohammed Morsi: ‘He is well’

The head of the European Union's foreign policy unit, Catherine Ashton, met with Egypt's Mohammed Morsi late Monday, the first time the former president has been granted a meeting with any diplomat since the military threw him from office on July 3.

July 30, 2013

Florida school under fire for pro-Islam, anti-Christian history book

Advanced Placement history students at one Florida school have plenty of course materials on Islam, including 36 pages in the textbook devoted to the religion. But not so much on Christianity or Judaism — and that has one state lawmaker in an uproar.

July 29, 2013

Ariel Castro’s son says his father should be imprisoned for life

The son of Ariel Castro — the Ohio man who confessed to kidnapping and holding three Cleveland-area women for nearly 10 years — said Monday his father rightly belongs in jail for the rest of his life.

July 29, 2013

Birther alert: Venezuela President Maduro born in Colombia, opposition says

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was born in Colombia and is therefore ineligible to hold the high office, said members of a political party that opposes his presidency.

July 29, 2013

FBI arrests 150 in 76-city child prostitution ring

Federal Bureau of Investigations agents arrested 150 suspects on Monday on charges related to a child prostitution ring that wove through 76 cities around the nation

July 29, 2013

Eric Holder prodded by ethics group to probe Clapper claims

A government watchdog group demanded Monday in a letter that Attorney General Eric Holder investigate James Clapper, accusing the intelligence head of lying about NSA intelligence collection practices during recent congressional testimony.

July 29, 2013

Anthony Weiner to New Yorkers: ‘You’re stuck with me’

Embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner said he doesn't care what people say or how critics respond — he's not leaving the race.

July 29, 2013

Colo. town on alert as ‘Islamist jihadist’ threatens Catholics, Mormons

Police in Fort Collins, Colo., have asked religious groups to watch for a self-proclaimed "Islamist jihadist" who threatened to kill area Catholics and Mormons in the next two weeks.

July 29, 2013

Obama’s economy sends 4 of 5 Americans near poverty: poll

Four out of five Americans are near poverty, walking the line between joblessness and welfare application, and the American dream under the current Obama administration is slowly dying, a new survey shows.

July 29, 2013