Cheryl K. Chumley

Tea party T-shirted students turned away from Obama speech

Ten student ticket-holders heading into a University of Central Missouri forum to hear President Obama speak on Wednesday were turned away at the door for what staffers at the event described as security reasons.

July 26, 2013

U.N. launches pro-gay campaign to world platform

The United Nations' human rights office on Friday launched its first-ever gay outreach campaign, Free & Equal, to pressure nations around the world to enact laws that benefit gays and the transgendered.

July 26, 2013

Murder suspect says court’s ‘In God We Trust’ sign violates Cherokee beliefs

Just one day after a courthouse in Tennessee erected a sign saying "In God We Trust" — the same motto inscribed on U.S. currency — an Indian defendant charged with attempted murder petitioned for case dismissal, claiming his religion follows the spiritual way known as the "Red Road."

July 26, 2013

Ex-IMF’s Strauss-Kahn to face pimping charges in France

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, will have to face charges of pimping in a French court, after prosecutors were unable to convince the court to drop the case.

July 26, 2013

Desmond Tutu: I’d pick hell over an anti-gay heaven

South Africa's iconic retired archbishop, Desmond Tutu, said on Friday that if he had his pick, he'd go to hell before heading to a heaven that condemned homosexuality as sin.

July 26, 2013

O.J. Simpson pleads for parole board to cut prison time

O.J. Simpson, 66, told a parole board on Thursday that he's spent long enough in jail and should be allowed a reduced sentence.

July 26, 2013

Secretary John Kerry makes waves with reference to Palestine as country

Secretary of State John Kerry sparked a furor at the United Nations on Thursday, making a mistaken reference to the country of Palestine.

July 26, 2013

Ariel Castro’s fate: Ohio kidnapper accepts plea, gets 1,000 years, no parole

Ariel Castro, the Ohio man accused of atrocities related to his alleged abduction and detainment of three Cleveland-area women for nearly a decade, accepted a plea on Friday and will serve 1,000 years in jail with no parole.

July 26, 2013

Spain train driver warned to slow down just seconds before crash

The driver of the train that flew off the tracks in the northwest region of Spain earlier this week was arrested late Thursday evening, authorities confirming he was warned to slow just seconds before the crash that killed 78 and injured dozens.

July 26, 2013

FBI tells Sen. Rand Paul: We’ve used drones on U.S. soil 10 times

The Federal Bureau of Investigations told Sen. Rand Paul in a recent unclassified letter that agents have flown drones over U.S. airspace a total of 10 times in the past seven years.

July 26, 2013

Hezbollah to EU: Label Israel’s IDF a terror group

Just two days after the European Union voted to label the military wing of Hezbollah as a terror organization, the leader of the Shiite group asked the EU — why isn't Israel's military classified similarly?

July 26, 2013

Ohio firearms group sends George Zimmerman $12K to buy guns, security system

The Buckeye Firearms Foundation said its members have raised more than $12,000 to help defend George Zimmerman, who's been the subject of widespread threats after his acquittal of murder and manslaughter charges in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

July 26, 2013

Indonesia demands U.S. pay for pulling clove cigarettes from shelves

An angry Indonesia said the United States ought to compensate the country for pulling clove cigarettes from store shelves, because the action violates World Trade Organization agreements.

July 26, 2013

Pope Francis tells youth: Be rebellious and ‘mess’ with dioceses

Go ahead — be a rebel. That was the latest message of Pope Francis to Catholic youth, rendered during his visit to Brazil for the church-backed World Youth Day event that gathers thousands of faithful from around the world.

July 26, 2013

Eliot Spitzer’s wife, Silda, to divorce him after election: report

Silda Spitzer, the wife of Eliot Spitzer — whose political career was tainted by a prostitution scandal but who now seeks a career comeback as New York City comptroller — is going to file for divorce as soon as the election ends, friends quietly tell The New York Post.

July 26, 2013

Lincoln Memorial vandalized with green paint

U.S. Park Police say green paint was thrown on portions of the Lincoln Memorial in downtown Washington, D.C., either late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

July 26, 2013

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie slams Sen. Rand Paul, calls libertarianism a ‘very dangerous thought’

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had blunt words of criticism for those in the Republican party who take a turn to the libertarian way of thinking: That's dangerous.

July 26, 2013

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning ‘not a naive soldier,’ prosecution says

U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, on trial and facing court-martial for his role in releasing sensitive military and intelligence documents to WikiLeaks, is hardly a naive soldier who simply stumbled into his legal quagmire, prosecuting attorneys says Thursday.

July 26, 2013

Egypt’s Mohammed Morsi ordered held over Hamas ties

Ousted President Mohammed Morsi has been arrested and detained for the last 15 days for allegedly contacting Hamas to help with his 2011 jail break, Egypt's state-run media reported Friday.

July 26, 2013

Japan demands California town halts memorial to WWII ‘comfort women’

Japan's consulate general in Los Angeles is demanding that government officials in one California community put a stop to plans to erect a monument to World War II-era South Koreans who were forcibly used as "comfort women" to Japanese troops.

July 25, 2013