Cheryl K. Chumley

Help wanted: Al-Jazeera marks expansion to U.S. with hiring spree

It's been years in making, but Al-Jazeera has finally joined the ranks of Washington, D.C.-based cable news operations.

February 19, 2013

Diamond heist at Brussels airport nets thieves a $50M bounty

It's the stuff of movies. Thieves cut through a hole in a security fence at Brussels' international airport, drove down the tarmac and stole $50 million worth of diamonds that were stored on a plane headed for Switzerland.

February 19, 2013

Germany’s highest court strengthens gay adoption rights

Germany's highest court ruled Tuesday that one gay member of a couple could adopt his or her partner's stepchild or adopted child — a significant judicial boost to the nation's same-sex adoption law

February 19, 2013

Meet China’s super-secret military hacking unit

Cyberattacks on dozens of U.S. firms have been traced back to a small, nondescript Chinese military unit quietly working in a similarly unimpressive setting — a dull office building just outside Shanghai.

February 19, 2013

Nancy Pelosi says drone strikes on Americans can stay secret

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the White House doesn't necessarily have to confess to killing American citizens by unarmed drones.

February 18, 2013

NYC taxpayers tapped for $20M in costs over union strike

New York City taxpayers spent an estimated $20.6 million to get tens of thousands of stranded students to school, during a monthlong strike by the bus workers' union that began Jan. 16 and ended Friday.

February 18, 2013

Russian lawmaker’s body found stuffed in barrel of cement

Investigators have discovered the body of a 36-year-old Russian lawmaker stuffed into a barrel of cement and are working off the theory he was killed because of unpaid debts.

February 18, 2013

Chicago police chief: Second Amendment supporters guilty of corruption

Chicago's chief of police can't seem to avoid controversy over his statements related to gun control.

February 18, 2013

Dressed to kill: MIT scientists forging new uniform to help soldiers communicate on the battlefield

Scientists with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are fine-tuning a fiber invention that could soon see soldiers speaking to each other — by speaking into their field jackets.

February 18, 2013

NYC police begin roundup to purge streets of the mentally ill

New York City's finest have embarked on a new safety project to rid the streets of those deemed mentally ill.

February 18, 2013

No White House brain drain: Obama launches project to study human mind

Talk about a Big Brother conspiracy story. The White House has announced a 10-year study on the inner workings of the human brain, akin to the Human Genome Project's research into genetics.

February 18, 2013

Mo. GOP Rep. rails against ‘hammer and sickle’ gun bill

A Republican congressman in Missouri is standing strong in the face of a Democrat-backed push to outlaw certain weapons in the state, characterizing the effort as a Communist-style politics and vowing its legislative failure.

February 18, 2013

China flexes its muscle, takes control of key Pakistani port

China has taken control of a Pakistan seaport located on the southwest coast, an economically strategic move that will benefit Beijing.

February 18, 2013

Reader’s Digest files for bankruptcy; iconic magazine will still publish

The company that publishes Reader's Digest, one of America's most iconic magazines, has filed for bankruptcy.

February 18, 2013

Senegal activists decry beauty trend turning black women white

Senegal women seem to be facing an identity crisis of sorts. Recent advertisements and posters aimed at teaching black women how to bleach their skin — and go lighter, or whiter — have now been met by a backlash of activists.

February 18, 2013

Al Qaeda group lays claim to string of car bombings in Baghdad

An al Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility Monday for a string of recent car bombings in Baghdad that targeted Shiite districts and left 28 dead.

February 18, 2013

It’s official: Mississippi finally ratifies 13th Amendment outlawing slavery

Life really does move slower in the South. One hundred forty-eight years after Congress sent the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery to the states for ratification, Mississippi officially has joined the ranks.

February 18, 2013

Muslims attack Coptic Christians, church in Egypt

Muslims in Egypt set fire to a Christian church in Fayoum Province over the weekend, the second such assault against the village's Coptic Christian population in just more than a month.

February 18, 2013

Bourbon distiller Maker’s Mark to stay 90-proof

As President Obama and Congress head on vacation, America can rest easy that at least one crisis has been averted: Iconic bourbon distiller Maker's Mark will stay 90-proof.

February 18, 2013

‘Roid rage killing? Steroids found in Oscar Pistorius’ home: report

A source close to the murder investigation of Oscar Pistorius said police found evidence of steroid use in the Olympic track star's home.

February 18, 2013