Cheryl K. Chumley

Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai gives go-ahead for Taliban leader to seek presidency

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has given his stamp of approval for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar to seek the presidency in next year's elections.

April 3, 2013

Islamic cleric decrees it OK for Syrian rebels to rape women

An Islamic cleric has cleared the path for rebels in Syria, who are trying to oust President Bashar Assad, to rape women, so long as they're non-Sunni.

April 3, 2013

Hillary Clinton returns to stage: White House run in works?

Political watchers see Hillary Rodham Clinton's return to the public arena Tuesday evening — and to a very large Kennedy Center stage, at that — as a strategic stepping stone to the White House in 2016.

April 3, 2013

Dozens injured as brawl breaks out at Los Angeles jail

A racially charged brawl broke out at a Los Angeles jail, sending guards for their pepper spray and a handful of inmates to the hospital.

April 3, 2013

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel volunteers to give back part of his pay

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he's sending a message of solidarity to his furloughed workers and giving back part of his salary.

April 3, 2013

China spokesman meets with U.S., Koreas to express ‘serious concerns’

A spokesman from China met Wednesday with ambassadors from the United States and North and South Koreas to express "serious concern" over the escalating tensions.

April 3, 2013

Magic Johnson responds to photo of gay son: ‘Very proud’ of him

Basketball legend Magic Johnson said a recent photograph of his son walking the Sunset Strip, dressed in fur coat and swinging a handbag — and holding hands with his boyfriend — doesn't bother him.

April 2, 2013

Georgia city approves law requiring gun ownership

A small north Georgia town with a population of about 1,300 has passed a law that requires homeowners to own guns.

April 2, 2013

Fire kills 13 children in Burma orphanage

Thirteen children were killed during a fire at a mosque in Yangon, Burma that serves as an orphanage.

April 2, 2013

Amsterdam taxed, fined Holocaust Jews in hiding — and in Nazi camps

Apparently, in Amsterdam, fleeing Nazi persecution and hiding from German troops to avoid forced placement in a concentration camp is no excuse not to pay taxes.

April 2, 2013

Columbia U. hires ex-Weather Underground member convicted in armed robbery

Kathy Boudin, an ex-Weather Underground radical who spent time in prison for a dramatic armed-car robbery that left two police officers and security guard dead, has a new gig: adjunct professor at Columbia University.

April 2, 2013

Sacramento man dies in failed vandalism attempt; second in weeks

A man accidentally hung himself in what police said was an attempt to vandalize the exterior of an 18-story office building in Sacramento, Calif. — the second graffiti-related death in the city in the past three weeks.

April 2, 2013

First lady’s frustration: Reading at egg roll promoted junk food

First lady Michelle Obama's plans to push healthy food choices on participants in the White House's annual Easter Egg Roll went awry, as children — fueled by the pro-spaghetti book she read them — voiced scant preference for peas.

April 2, 2013

Colorado courts face review after mistakenly setting Evan Ebel free

Colorado's court system is reviewing its own rules after it was found that a clerical mistake was to blame for the wrongful release of the prisoner now suspected of killing the state's corrections head.

April 2, 2013

Attorney General Eric Holder named top ‘facilitator of porn’ in ‘Dirty Dozen List’

A group against pornography has put Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in its cross hairs, placing him at the top of a list of national offenders at fault for furthering the X-rated industry.

April 2, 2013

Holy cow! Katmandu cops crack down on the roaming incarnations

Police in Katmandu, the Nepal capital, say cows may be sacred, but enough is enough: They're blocking too much traffic and have to go.

April 2, 2013

Nearly 500 Egyptian students sent to the hospital with food poisoning

Almost 500 college students in Cairo were sent to the hospital with food poisoning, a senior health official said on Tuesday.

April 2, 2013

FCC mulls relaxing rules on indecency, obscenity

The Federal Communications Commission is mulling a change to a policy that, in effect, would open the doors to more obscenity on television and radio.

April 2, 2013

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon ‘deeply troubled’ over rising rhetoric from North Korea

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is "deeply troubled" by North Korea's recent statements and actions and wants world powers to help calm the situation.

April 2, 2013

Rupert Murdoch slams Australia as ‘racist’ for tightening visa laws

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has taken to task his homeland of Australia for new rules that tighten visa requirements on skilled alien workers.

April 2, 2013