Editor Choice - Diaal News

2013-06-19 06:08:29 UTC
Word that the Taliban and U.S. will hold formal talks to find a political solution to end nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan comes after years of failed efforts at peace talks. A look at the evolution of U.S. relations with the Taliban: 19...

Google asks FISA court to lift gag order

2013-06-19 05:53:21 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Google on Tuesday sharply challenged the federal government's gag order on its Internet surveillance program, citing what it described as a First Amendment right to divulge how many requests it receives from the government ...

Gov't report: Smooth launch unsure for health law

2013-06-19 05:28:17 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — There's no guarantee that President Barack Obama's health care law will launch smoothly and on time, congressional investigators say in the first in-depth independent look at its progress. But in a report to be release...

House passes far-reaching anti-abortion bill

2013-06-19 05:24:46 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House on Tuesday passed a far-reaching anti-abortion bill that conservatives saw as a milestone in their 40-year campaign against legalized abortion and Democrats characterized as yet another example of a...

Poland checking files on Nazi-led unit commander

2013-06-18 17:19:54 UTC
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish prosecutors say they are reviewing files on a Minnesota man who was a commander in a notorious Nazi-led unit to see if they contain enough evidence to press charges and request extradition from the United States. ...

Obama: NSA secret data gathering "transparent"

2013-06-18 05:00:42 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama defended top secret National Security Agency spying programs as legal in a lengthy interview Monday, and called them transparent — even though they are authorized in secret. "It is transparent," Obam...

Thai Buddhist monks criticized for lavish behavior

2013-06-18 04:46:21 UTC
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's Buddhism body said it is monitoring monks nationwide for any inappropriate behavior after a video showed monks using luxurious personal items while flying on a private jet. The YouTube video showed one of the m...

WikiLeaks trial focuses Army email list

2013-06-18 03:32:17 UTC
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A huge database of troop names and email addresses an Army private allegedly downloaded to a personal computer could be used by foreign adversaries to launch cyberattacks on service members, a government witness said Monday ...

Miss USA crown goes to Connecticut contestant

2013-06-17 22:16:23 UTC
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The newest Miss USA is leaving a white-collar job behind for the glamour and excitement that go with her new role — and she can't wait. Moments after she was crowned at the Planet Hollywood hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip o...

NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women

2013-06-17 15:19:24 UTC
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has eight new astronauts — its first new batch in four years. The space agency announced its newest astronaut class Monday. Among the lucky candidates: the first female fighter pilot to become an astronaut in ne...

Family tweets indicate Kim Kardashian gives birth

2013-06-17 04:40:32 UTC
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It looks to be a baby girl for Kim Kardashian and her rapper boyfriend Kanye West. Or does it? The couple was keeping silent on Sunday in the wake of multiple reports that Kardashian gave birth over the weekend — abou...

Putin, Cameron still hopeful on Syria peace talks

2013-06-17 04:09:37 UTC
LONDON (AP) — The leaders of Britain and Russia said Sunday they're hopeful that Syria's warring factions can hammer out their differences at upcoming peace talks tentatively planned for next month in Geneva. Speaking at British Prime Minis...

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a G-8 drone

2013-06-17 04:07:08 UTC
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) — Northern Ireland police have a new eye in the sky just in time for the G-8 summit of world leaders. A unit of surveillance drones will be used here for the first time to keep tabs on protest marches and scan ...

Shock lingers after Nazi unit leader found in US

2013-06-16 04:47:46 UTC
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The revelation that a former commander of a Nazi SS-led military unit has lived quietly in Minneapolis for the past six decades came as a shock to those who know 94-year-old Michael Karkoc. World War II survivors in both t...

Bill Maher Compares Congress To 'Weekend At Bernie's' For Insanely Old Members (VIDEO)

2013-06-15 23:24:19 UTC
Bill Maher closed Friday's episode of "Real Time" with a rant about the retention rates in congress, which results in more than a few congressmen remaining in their seat and voting on issues well into old age. Slamming the fact that congress ha...

AP Analysis: Iran president may help shield rulers

2013-06-16 21:47:47 UTC
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — For a lesson in what Hasan Rowhani's reformist-backed presidency could mean for Iran, a promise Sunday by the ultra-powerful Revolutionary Guard to cooperate with him is a good guide. Like the rest of Iran's r...

Kate Is Cheered at Last Official Royal Engagement Before Baby

2013-06-15 16:59:49 UTC
The Duchess of Cambridge was pretty in pink as she helped fete Queen Elizabeth at her birthday parade in London Saturday. The expectant royal rode an open-topped carriage and later joined three generations of the royal family on the balcony at...

Paul McCartney carries the weight at Bonnaroo

2013-06-15 07:37:42 UTC
MANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) — Even a former Beatle needs a moment standing on the main stage at Bonnaroo. A few songs into his transcendent first set at the massive Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Paul McCartney wrapped his arms around his signature...

German ministers quiz web firms on US surveillance

2013-06-15 07:21:41 UTC
BERLIN (AP) — German ministers questioned major Internet companies on Friday about U.S. tracking of web activity, days before a visit to Berlin by President Barack Obama. Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said European-based c...

Ideas for keeping your data safe from spying

2013-06-15 07:03:53 UTC
LONDON (AP) — Phone call logs, credit card records, emails, Skype chats, Facebook message, and more: The precise nature of the NSA's sweeping surveillance apparatus has yet to be confirmed. But given the revelations spilling out into the media ...

Marines land Osprey aircraft on Japanese ship

2013-06-15 06:54:52 UTC
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft made an unprecedented landing Friday on a Japanese naval vessel off the California coast. The tilt-rotor aircraft flew from San Diego's Marine Corps Miramar Air Station to the Japanese ...

Disappointing reports help push US stocks down

2013-06-14 22:06:51 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Disappointing reports about the U.S. economy helped push the stock market lower on Friday. Concerns that the Federal Reserve could announce plans to cut back its stimulus program next week also weighed on the mood. Americans'...

Months later, Sarah Palin back as Fox News analyst

2013-06-14 02:05:48 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Sarah Palin is rejoining Fox News Channel as an analyst less than half a year after they decided to part ways. The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate has signed on as a contributor to Fox and ...

UN says nearly 93,000 killed in Syrian civil war

2013-06-14 01:07:12 UTC
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrians are being killed at an average rate of 5,000 per month, the U.N. said Thursday as it raised the overall death toll in the civil war to nearly 93,000, with civilians bearing the brunt of the attacks. The grim estimate refle...

Obama Authorizes Sending Weapons To Syrian Rebels

2013-06-14 02:53:39 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has authorized sending weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, U.S. officials said Thursday, after the White House disclosed that the United States has conclusive evidence President Bashar Assad's gove...