US News // Current

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7 hours ago

Sex Offender causes Ho-Ho-Hold on Dear Santa Mail

After a sex offender was discovered to be working in Maryland at the local operation Santa program for the North Pole, Alaska post... more

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Public Enemy Raises money for a D.C. youth shelter

Public enemy, led by Chuck D and Flavor Flav, came to D.C. November 18 in an effort to raise money for youth homelessness and... more

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Afghanistan - A Matter of Security

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that she is pleased by Afghan President Hamid Karzai's pledge to have the country's security forces take the lead over the next few years.

Speaking to U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan, Clinton said the United States and other contributing nations have to do "everything we can to create the capacity of the Afghan government and the Afghan people to protect themselves."

"I was very pleased to hear today when President Karzai said that he hopes that within three years, the Afghan security forces will have the lead in important areas and within five years -- which is an ambitious goal, but he stated it -- the Afghan security forces would have the lead throughout the country."

Earlier Thursday, Clinton attended Karzai's inauguration to a second term, where he vowed to tackle corruption and drug-trafficking.

The U.S. secretary of state told the troops that she knew serving was difficult, both for them and for their families.

"There are a lot of sacrifices, most particularly, not being able to see your family, friends for long periods of time," she said. "For everybody who serves, there's a family that serves as well."

To the Americans, Clinton noted the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, saying there were many things she was grateful for but that the troops top her list.

"I want to especially wish you a happy Thanksgiving," she said.

Clinton's first visit to Afghanistan as secretary of state comes as President Obama is deciding whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, as requested by McChrystal.

The Obama administration has expressed concerns about Karzai's viability and has ratcheted up pressure to end corruption in order to combat an intensifying Taliban insurgency.

Clinton reiterated those concerns in a dinner meeting with Karzai on the eve of his inauguration and encouraged him to seize the "clear window of opportunity" before him at a "critical moment" in Afghanistan's history.

Ahead of speaking to the troops, Clinton attended a Thursday briefing with those involved in development work in Afghanistan.

Personnel from the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, as well as members of provisional reconstruction teams and military commanders, were present.Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that she is pleased by Afghan President Hamid... more

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12 hours ago

BOY IN AGONY AFTER H1N1 NASAL FLU MIST

This footage is of a young boy called Brycen in absolute agony just trying to walk. On the 14th November Brycen's mother... more

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12 hours ago

Why Are So Many Media Conservatives So Obsessed With Rape? (Homosexual Mafia?)

Conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage frequently employ rape metaphors when discussing... more

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12 hours ago

PUSH-BUTTON WAR

Civilians caught in the crossfire. Unlawful CIA warfare.

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14 hours ago

TVA Coal Ash Spill - Kingston, Tennessee

Not too long ago I went to my hometown which is a neighboring city to Kingston,Tn and for the first time was able to see the site... more

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1 day ago

Walmart Line-Cutter Case

This much isn't in dispute: Heather Ellis joined a line at a Wal-Mart nearly three years ago. Whether she cut in line or... more

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1 day ago

Battlefield Justice Or Murder?

Murder confession from the interrogation Army Tapes.

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1 day ago

A New Vision: In Class With Baghdad's Blind Students

In class with blind students in Baghdad after receiving a brail printer.

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1 day ago

US Protest by 9/11 Responders

Hundreds of emergency workers who responded to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States have been protesting in the... more

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1 day ago

UPDATE:Arrest Made:Southern Adventist Student Murdered:Kirsten Wolcott was serving as a Student Missionary

UPDATE: ARREST MADE: http://www.newschannel9.com/news/adventist-986536-southern-wolcott.html

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/adventist-986536-southern-wolcott.html
A Southern Adventist student has been murdered while on a student mission project in the state of Yap in Micronesia.

A spokesperson for Southern Adventist, in Collegedale, confirms that Kirsten Wolcott, a junior liberal arts education major, was killed on Wednesday. According to the Adventist News Network, she had reportedly gone jogging by herself before morning classes and did not return.

"This is devastating news, not only for the family but for the school and the Adventist Church," said Homer Trecartin, associate secretary for the Adventist world church and director of Adventist Volunteer Service.

"Throughout the history of the church many have made the sacrifice to go serve and some have paid with their lives," Trecartin said. "Our prayer is that God will raise other people to finish the work that Kirsten and others started."

Ms. Wolcott, originally from the Richmond, Virginia area, was teaching second grade at the Yap Adventist School.

Wolcott was on Southern Adventist University’s distinguished dean’s list. She was also known for her love of music and running. She played the harp and piano and sang in Bel Canto, Southern’s women’s chorus.

In a statement a Southern Adventist spokesperson said, "Southern is profoundly saddened by the loss of Kirsten Wolcott. At a painful time such as this, we remember in prayer Kirsten's parents, friends, fellow Student Missionaries, and all on our campus who knew and loved her well."

The school is providing counseling services for fellow students and have set up a special web site in memory of Ms. Wolcott. They have also set up a table in the Campus Ministries area of the student center where people can leave notes and remembrances.

Yap SDA School opened in 1987 as an elementary school and subsequently expanded to a kindergarten through 12th-grade school. The school is run mostly by Adventist college students volunteering as teachers. About 10 student missionaries are serving this year in Yap, Trecartin said. Teachers live in apartments on campus.

Yap, about 16 miles long and four miles wide, is one of four island states of the nation of Micronesia, a U.S. protectorate.UPDATE: ARREST MADE: http://www.newschannel9.com/news/adventist-986536-southern-wolcott.html... more

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1 day ago

Former UTC wrestler surrenders in connection with murder of 4

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1 day ago

Drive-by shootings are a coward-thug persona

Drive-by shootings are nothing more than coward thugs who blast off their weapons thinking it makes them have the persona of being... more

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2 days ago

Palin: Jewish Settlements Should Be Allowed to Expand, Because More Jews Are 'Flocking' to Israel

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2 days ago

Why This Mom Won't Get The Vaccine, & Neither Will Her Kids (Retro Packers PSA Intro)

On the street interview, Emeryville Ca, Oct. 2009. Educate before you vaccinate! The intro is an old 1976 swine flu PSA.

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2 days ago

Patriots or Extremists: Who are the Oath Keepers?

Who are the Oath Keepers?

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3 days ago

Obama brothers meet

President Obama comments that he doesn't know his brother very well. He doesn't seem to be very enthused about the... more

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3 days ago

Economics of piracy: Maersk Alabama repels 2nd pirate attack

Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.

A U.S. surveillance plane was monitoring the cargo ship as it steamed on to its destination.

Pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama last April and took ship captain Richard Phillips hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days. Navy SEAL sharpshooters freed Phillips while killing three pirates in a daring nighttime attack.

Somali pirates attacked the ship with automatic weapons early Wednesday about 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, but guards on board the craft fired back and thwarted the attempted hijacking.

Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force, called it "pure chance" that the Maersk Alabama had been targeted a second time.

"It's not the first vessel to have been attacked twice, and it's a chance that every single ship takes as it passes through the area," Harbour said. "At least this time they had a vessel protection detachment on board who were able to repel the attack."

An EU patrol aircraft from the Horn of Africa nation Djibouti was called in to investigate, and the closest EU Naval Force vessel was tasked with searching for the pirate attack group, the EU Naval Force said in a statement.

Phillips' ordeal last spring galvanized the attention of the U.S. public to the dangers of operating merchant ships in the Horn of Africa, one of the busiest and most precarious sea lanes in the world.

Pirates have greatly increased their attacks in recent weeks after seasonal rains subsided. On Monday, a self-proclaimed pirate said that Somali hijackers had been paid $3.3 million for the release of 36 crew members from a Spanish vessel held for more than six weeks — a clear demonstration of how lucrative the trade can be for impoverished Somalis.

Phillips told The Associated Press last month from his farmhouse in Vermont that he was contemplating retiring from sea life after his ordeal. He's been given a book deal and a movie could be in the works.

Phillips was hailed as a hero for helping his crew thwart April's hijacking before he was taken hostage, but he says he never volunteered, as crew members and his family reported at the time.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/11/18/maersk.alabama.pirates/index.htmlSomali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the... more