Jessica Chasmar

Blockbuster to close its 300 remaining video stores

Blockbuster prepares to shut down its remaining 300 American retail stores, making them obsolete by January of next year.

November 6, 2013

Car bomb kills 8 at Syrian intelligence building

A suicide car bomber killed at least eight security personnel, including a major, on Wednesday in an attack on a military intelligence building in the southern Syrian city of Suweida, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

November 6, 2013

Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned, Swiss study reveals

Swiss scientists say they are 83 percent confident that deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned after tests revealed at least 18 times the normal levels of radioactive polonium in his remains, Al Jazeera America first reported.

November 6, 2013

Oldest NYC Marathon runner dies one day later at 86

Joy Johnson, the oldest woman to complete the New York City Marathon on Sunday, died just one day later at age 86.

November 5, 2013

Hunt is on for giant rat after it kills, eats 1-year-old Yemeni boy

A one-year-old boy was killed and partly eaten by a giant rat at his house in Western Yemen, leading to a hunt for the killer rodent.

November 5, 2013

Floating island of debris the size of Texas headed for U.S. shores

A floating island of debris broader than Texas has been crossing the Pacific Ocean toward the U.S. west coast since a devastating tsunami hit Japan in March 2011, killing nearly 16,000 people.

November 5, 2013

Angry mob injects acid into Indian man’s eye after he’s caught stealing cow

An Indian man may be permanently blinded after an angry mob of villagers injected acid into his eye socket as punishment for stealing a cow.

November 5, 2013

Computer-generated ‘Sweetie,’ 10, lures thousands of alleged pedophiles

The names of 20,000 would-be sexual predators have been passed on to police after a Dutch children's charity set up a fake profile posing as a 10-year-old Filipina girl.

November 5, 2013

‘Marathon Jesus’ bears cross for Boston bombing victims

A Japanese man dressed as Jesus Christ ran barefoot in the New York City Marathon on Sunday, bearing a large cross on his back as he ran for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

November 5, 2013

Army veteran banned from daughter’s school for photo of concealed weapons permit

An Army veteran in Georgia is outraged after her daughter's school banned her from campus because she posted a photo of her concealed weapons license on Facebook.

November 5, 2013

Snubbed: Bill de Blasio outsourced party-planning duties to Ohio company

In a snub to New York City's thriving party planning industry, mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio's campaign outsourced its needs to a production company in Youngstown, Ohio, to plan his election-night party, the New York Post has revealed.

November 5, 2013

Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi spends night in prison hospital

Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's deposed president, spent his first night in prison in a hospital room with a separate bathroom and television after he complained he was ill, security officials said.

November 5, 2013

Russia sending Sochi Olympics torch for first-ever spacewalk

For the first time in history, the Olympic torch will go on a spacewalk ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

November 5, 2013

Brazil admits to spying on U.S. diplomats

Brazilian intelligence on Monday admitted to spying on foreign officials, including top diplomats from the United States, Russia and Iran.

November 4, 2013

German spa offers ‘Kristall-nacht’ special ahead of atrocity’s 75th anniversary

A German health spa has faced severe backlash since advertising on its website a "long romantic Kristall-nacht" exactly 75 years after Nazi forces burned synagogues and murdered Jews across Germany.

November 4, 2013

Police suspect toddler’s Halloween candy was laced with meth

Police in Huntington Beach, Calif., suspect that a 2-year-old boy's Halloween candy may have been laced with the dangerous drug methamphetamine.

November 4, 2013

US Airways fined $1.2 million for inadequate wheelchair access

The Department of Transportation has fined US Airways $1.2 million for not providing adequate wheelchair access for disabled passengers.

November 4, 2013

8-year-old threatened with expulsion for soldier, ninja drawings

An Arizona couple pulled their two children out of a Scottsdale elementary school last week after the headmaster threatened to expel their 8-year-old for drawing "highly disturbing" pictures of a soldier, a ninja and a "Star Wars" character.

November 4, 2013

Kuwaiti woman arrested for driving in Saudi Arabia: report

A Kuwaiti woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia over the weekend for trying to drive her father to a hospital, as female activists continue to protest the kingdom's driving ban.

November 4, 2013

Shiite, Sunni fighters in Yemen agree to cease-fire after at least 100 killed

Shiite and Sunni fighters agreed to a cease-fire Monday after days of clashes in a northern Yemeni town left at least 100 combatants and civilians dead.

November 4, 2013