FINANCIAL TIMES: …The UK is poised to ship arms to some rebel factions in Syria as soon as this summer if a planned peace conference in Geneva this month fails to make significant progress, according to British officials. Britain and France this week forced through an amendment to an EU arms embargo that opened the […]
Month: May 2013
Journalists Meet With Eric Holder, Say He Pledged Change
HUFFINGTON POST / REUTERS: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told media editors on Thursday that he would change the way the Justice Department handles investigations that involve reporters and not repeat searches that have raised concerns about freedom of the press, the editors said. After a meeting that other media outlets boycotted because of its […]
Chicago Sun-Times lays off its photo staff
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: …A total of 28 full-time staffers received the news Thursday morning at a meeting held at the Sun-Times offices in Chicago, according to sources familiar with the situation. The layoffs are effective immediately. The newspaper released a statement suggesting the move reflected the increasing importance of video in news reporting: “The Sun-Times business […]
AP Poll: 2 in 5 Women Would Consider Parenting Solo
NEWSMAX: As Christy Everson was nearing age 40, she made a decision: She wanted to have a child, even though she was single and it meant doing it all alone. Her daughter, conceived via a sperm donor, is now 2 1/2 years old, and Everson hopes to have a second child. “Was it worthwhile? Well, […]
Eurozone unemployment hits another record high
USA TODAY: Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro has hit another record high, the latest in a series of ignominious landmarks for the ailing single currency zone.
God’s new banker brings Teutonic thoroughness to Vatican
FINANCIAL TIMES: On his last full day of a troubled papacy, Benedict XVI bade farewell to his household staff lining up in the Vatican, greeting cleaners, drivers and gardeners, before stopping to exchange just a few words with a newly arrived fellow German. “I got a rosary. He wished me strength,” recalls Ernst von Freyberg, […]
Democratic Insiders Snooker AG Kane
Protect The Hersheys’ Children, Inc. (PHC), a nonpartisan watchdog group seeking reform of the $10.5 billion Milton Hershey School (MHS) Trust, released an open letter today addressed to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.
A plea to LCSWMA: “Look before you leap!”
Most homebuyers are familiar with a pre-sale home inspection. A home inspection discovers any problems with a property so that any dangers or complications are known to all parties, and can be addressed, before an important transaction is made. Many people wouldn’t think to buy a home without a formal inspection.
Pa. pension debate heats up at hearing
PHILLY.COM: Pension experts, an asset manager and a national clearinghouse for state governments fielded questions Wednesday from a legislative panel scrutinizing Gov. Tom Corbett’s pension-overhaul plan, providing an abundance of information but no clear direction on how to proceed barely a month before the Legislature is expected to take its summer break. Sen. Mike Brubaker, […]
Paterno estate to sue NCAA over Sandusky sanctions, lawyer says
The planned litigation also seeks to shine a light on the withering report prepared by former FBI director Louis Freeh, whom the university tapped to lead an investigation into the scandal, and calls into question how and why the NCAA used the report as a basis for its sanctions in July, according to Sollers…<
Obama’s poll numbers hold up despite the storm of scandal
THE HILL: President Obama’s approval ratings have increased since a trio of controversies involving his administration began dominating the news cycle. Fifty percent of those surveyed in Gallup’s three-day tracking poll released Wednesday say they approve of the job the president is doing, compared to 43 percent who said they disapprove. The 7 percentage-point positive […]
Vote for ‘nuclear option’ in Senate would be extremely close
THE HILL: If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) triggers the nuclear option to break the logjam of President Obama’s nominees, it would be a very close vote. Reid backed off the nuclear option at the start of the year and instead struck a deal with Republicans to streamline Senate floor business. The Democratic leader […]
Former Bush Aide Said to Be Choice to Be Chief of F.B.I
NEW YORK TIMES: President Obama plans to nominate James B. Comey, a former hedge fund executive who served as a senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, to replace Robert S. Mueller III as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to two people with knowledge of the selection. By choosing […]
Syrian opposition sets conditions for talks
ALJAZEERA: Syrian opposition members face their final day of talks in Istanbul having set out ‘preconditions’ on entering international peace talks scheduled for next month in Geneva. “The Syrian Coalition welcomes the international efforts to find a political solution to what Syria has been suffering for two years while being committed to the principles of […]