Micro Finder: December 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Palestinian leader seeks to join ICC

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a bid on Wednesday to join the International Criminal Court.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1B7Peuq

Sony hack: FBI insists N. Korea did it

Despite seeing evidence from data scientists pointing to individuals who may have been behind the hacking of Sony last month, the FBI isn't wavering on its original assessment that North Korea is the culprit, an FBI source tells CNN.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1B7AxYo

Obama sorry golf hit wedding

President Barack Obama apologized to a couple after his golf game in Hawaii forced the bride and groom to relocate their wedding Sunday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xgQeej

Iran's 'hypocritical' stab at U.S.

It's a farce that Iran's Supreme Leader is posting tweets criticizing U.S. police, says Michael Rubin.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1x5fLaB

Tributes for mom shot by tot

The father-in-law of a mother fatally shot in an Idaho Walmart by her 2-year-old son says she didn't have a mean bone in her body.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1y9qSkl

HK teen held after drawing flower

A 14-year-old girl in Hong Kong could be removed from her father's care after she was arrested for drawing chalk flowers on a wall at one of the city's pro-democracy protest sites.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1B7aaSl

Lessons from transgender teen

Last weekend, a 17-year-old apparently committed suicide in Ohio. And because she was transgender, many assigned a political or social or religious narrative to her story before even fully recognizing her death.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1tp3NDz

Teen dies in U.S. flu epidemic

Shannon Zwanziger seemed perfectly healthy. She was an active 17-year-old who rarely got sick and hadn't been to a doctor in more than three years.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1tp3OHq

Beijing skyscraper show goes dark

CNN's Will Ripley reports from Beijing where police have canceled a planned New Year's Eve celebration.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1rBJMxP

Tragedy at Shanghai waterfront

Steven Jiang reports on news from Shanghai that at least 35 people have been killed during a New Year's Eve celebration.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xhiKMX

'Gilmore Girls' father dies

Edward Herrmann, the versatile, honey-voiced actor whose roles included patricians and politicians such as "Gilmore Girls" father Richard Gilmore, "The Practice" law professor Anderson Pearson and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, has died. He was 71.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1vuKrww

Dozens die in New Year stampede

At least 35 people were killed in a stampede at a New Year's celebration in Shanghai, China, state media reported.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1B6csRN

Is AI really an existential threat?

Imagine you're the kind of person who worries about a future when robots become smart enough to threaten the very existence of the human race. For years, you've been dismissed as a crackpot, consigned to the same category of people who see Elvis lurking in their waffles.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1t5J8nS

A New Year's resolution for work

Imagine that after a routine medical exam your doctor delivers some devastating news: Since your last checkup your cognitive performance has plummeted.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xgPvtF

Who are passengers?

The families of those aboard the missing AirAsia plane cope with the unknown. A social media post believed to be the pilot's daughter, reads: "Dad, please come home, I still need you."

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1tmwZeo

See world's 2015 celebrations

Follow the celebrations as the world's biggest cities ring in 2015.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1zx2kNF

NFL security head on sex charge

The Baltimore Ravens' top security guy has been charged with a sex offense that allegedly occurred December 14, online court records reveal.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1K24Qnn

U.S.: We killed Al-Shabaab leader

A U.S. airstrike has killed the head of intelligence and security for the Al-Shabaab terrorist organization in Somalia, Tahlil Abdishakur, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/13TbNGf

U.S. rips Cuba's dissident crackdown

Two weeks after the United States and Cuba agreed to thaw decades of icy relations, the U.S. State Department blasted the Cuban government for reportedly arresting at least six dissidents.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/13TdymW

'Straight Outta Compton' trailer debuts

One of the most controversial rap acts of all time will soon have a movie that chronicles their rise to fame and infamy.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1rAx56E

Ebola patient: I want new treatment

A Scottish woman diagnosed with Ebola is now asking for experimental treatment of the virus.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1rAyObW

How AirAsia flight differs from AF447

Pilot Bill Palmer says the AirAsia flight had similarities to Air France 447, which also encountered bad weather

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/opinion/palmer-airasia-air-france-disasters/index.html?eref=edition

Don't turn your back on smuggled kids

Poverty isn't the only reason why so many parents are paying to have their child smuggled into the United States, says Carole Geithner

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/opinion/geithner-lawyers-child-smugglers/index.html?eref=edition

The power of radical empathy

I recently read seven words that shook me to the core.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/opinion/liu-radical-empathy-michael-schwerner/index.html?eref=edition

Kremlin critic convicted, re-arrested

One of Russia's most prominent opposition figures and his brother have been found guilty of fraud in a politically charged trial, state media reported Tuesday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/europe/russia-alexei-navalny-case/index.html?eref=edition

Victims' bodies flown to Indonesia

The bodies of the first recovered victims of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 are returned to Indonesia. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/31/newday-tuchman-flight-8501-bodies-returned.cnn-ap.html?eref=edition

How will AirAsia families grieve?

Sarah Bajc, who lost her partner on MH370, explains the emotional trauma AirAsia families will be going through.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/31/intv-vause-bajc-mh370-grief.cnn.html?eref=edition

Motorists stranded in snowstorm

San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig speaks to CNN after 139 motorists were stranded on a snowy mountain pass.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/12/31/newday-sot-hartwig-motorists-trapped-in-snowstorm.cnn.html?eref=edition

139 drivers saved on U.S. mountain

It beats sleeping in your car at temperatures in the teens -- maybe lower.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/us/weather/index.html?eref=edition

Rebels targeted by suicide bomber

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering for Shiite rebels Wednesday, killing at least 18 people in Yemen's southern city of Ibb, town officials said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/world/meast/yemen-violence/index.html?eref=edition

Bad weather hinders search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501

The search for the wreckage and victims of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 is temporarily halted because of adverse weather conditions in the area.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html?eref=edition

Saudi King Abdullah hospitalized

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has been admitted to a hospital for medical tests, according to a statement from the royal court published Wednesday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/world/meast/saudi-arabia-king-health/index.html?eref=edition

Hundreds of migrants rescued on ship

A freighter carrying 970 people, most believed to be migrants from war-torn Syria, docked safely in the southern Italian port of Gallipoli on Wednesday after the coast guard seized control.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/world/europe/italy-migrant-vessel/index.html?eref=edition

Official: Sonar may have detected QZ8501 wreckage

An Indonesian search and rescue official tells CNN sonar equipment has detected wreckage from the plane at the bottom of the Java Sea.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html?eref=edition

15 killed in Boko Haram raid

At least 15 people were killed by Boko Haram fighters during a raid on a village in northern Nigeria, local residents told CNN.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/31/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-attack/index.html?eref=edition

Voice of 'Babe' dies at 51

Christine Cavanaugh, who lent her distinctive voice to the title pig in "Babe," Chuckie Finster on "Rugrats" and Dexter of "Dexter's Laboratory," has died. She was 51.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/feat-obit-christine-cavanaugh-babe-rugrats-voice/index.html?eref=edition

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Sonar detects wreckage

Indonesian officials have located wreckage from AirAsia Flight 8501 on the sea floor. CNN's Don Lemon has more.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/12/31/ctn-lemon-8501-location-sonar.cnn.html?eref=edition

U.N. nixes Palestinian state

The U.N. Security Council, in a close 8-2 vote with five abstentions, on Tuesday voted down a Palestinian statehood resolution that set a deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian territories by 2017.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/palestinian-statehood-draft-vote/index.html?eref=edition

10 dead in ferry blaze; 427 rescued

Hundreds of desperate passengers are enduring freezing conditions on a stricken ferry that has been burning in the Adriatic Sea for 24 hours. Helicopters have been working through the night to pull them off, one by one.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/world/europe/ferry-fire-italy-greece/index.html?eref=edition

“Tristan and Isolde”: A spine-tingling and blissful infinity

“THE most erotic music ever composed.” This was how one critic described Richard Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde”, which in 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of its first performance. The work is divisive. Many 19th-century critics thought little of it; some even mocked it. But it had an enormous impact, ushering in the move towards atonality that found its most extreme expression in the work of composers like Arnold Schoenberg. Today it is the most famous opera by Germany’s most famous opera composer. But why all the fuss?The opera traces the story of two lovers, Tristan and Isolde (painted above by August Spiess in 1881), who fall madly in love after drinking a potion. The plot is forgettable; the music is not. The magic starts with the prelude, a ten-minute musical introduction that structures the rest of the piece. The opening chord, known to music buffs as the “Tristan chord”, shocked the 19th-century listeners who heard it first.Normally, in classical music, dissonance resolves into consonance; tension melts into resolution. But the Tristan chord, and the music that follows it, dispenses with such convention. It tempts you to listen out for a particular chord (A...

from The Economist: Books and arts http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21637349-magic-wagners-opera-springs-musical-trick-spine-tingling-and-blissful?fsrc=rss%7Cbar

Wartime Germany: Right to write

Damaged and desperate, but still dedicated

A Stranger in My Own Country: The 1944 Prison Diary. By Hans Fallada. Translated by Allan Blunden. Polity; 267 pages; $25. Buy from Amazon.comGERMAN intellectuals in the 1930s faced a painful choice between exile and danger. Hans Fallada chose to stay. Even as war was looming, after years of harassment and humiliation, he turned down an offer of life abroad for himself, his wife and his three young children. He loved Germany too much to leave it. “What kind of German would I be if I had slunk away to a life of ease in my country’s hour of affliction and ignominy?” he wrote.Those words were scribbled in a psychiatric prison in 1944, in tiny and all but illegible handwriting in a secret diary. The result is one of the most powerful accounts of life in the Third Reich. It was published in German only in 2009 thanks to the extraordinary editing skills of Jenny Williams and Sabine Lange, who deciphered the text, unravelled the deliberately confusing structure, and...

from The Economist: Books and arts http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21637350-life-third-reich-english-last-right-write?fsrc=rss%7Cbar

The Armenian genocide: Seeing through fire

There Was and There Was Not. By Meline Toumani. Metropolitan Books; 304 pages; $28. Buy from Amazon.comANNIVERSARIES have become the party theme of our time, especially over the past year, as the world was reminded of the start of the first world war. At least two further historic moments will be marked in 2015. One is the battle of Waterloo, which on June 18th will be accompanied by triumphal chest-beating (at least in Britain). Elsewhere, the centenary of the Armenian genocide is likely to arouse rage as well as recrimination.On April 24th 1915 scores of Armenian intellectuals and artists were rounded up in Istanbul, the capital of the collapsing Ottoman empire, and later killed. The killings marked the start of a protracted period of persecution of the empire’s Christian subjects, who were subjected to state-sanctioned murder, rape and huge forced deportations to the Syrian desert. At least 1m people—mostly Armenians—died.In an audacious first book, Meline Toumani, an Armenian-American journalist who grew up in suburban New Jersey, describes spending two weeks every year as a youngster in an Armenian summer camp in Massachusetts, where she and fellow schoolchildren were ordered never to forget what happened to the Armenians. She offers...

from The Economist: Books and arts http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21637351-untangling-hatred-between-turks-and-armenians-seeing-through-fire?fsrc=rss%7Cbar

Memoir: Killer prose

The Undertaker’s Daughter. By Kate Mayfield. Gallery Books; 350 pages; $24.99. Simon & Schuster; £12.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk“WE’VE got a body.” Raised above her family’s funeral home in a small Kentucky town, Kate Mayfield knew the phrase that inevitably followed whenever the phone rang. “The Undertaker’s Daughter”, her memoir, lures the reader in with a behind-the-scenes view of man’s final act. She recounts the forbidden thrill of touching a dead body for the first time; her revulsion at the embalming room; a bit of the biology of decomposing organs; and plenty of keen observation on people showing their true colours after their loved ones die.Mimicking the unpredictable interjections of death that punctuated her childhood, she interrupts her chronological narrative with a series of “in memoriam” vignettes about the town’s deceased, ranging from a man with such poor hygiene that he made the...

from The Economist: Books and arts http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21637352-memories-mans-final-act-killer-prose?fsrc=rss%7Cbar

The daily commute: Travelling hopefully

The lunatic express

Rush Hour: How 500 Million Commuters Survive the Daily Journey to Work. By Iain Gately. Head of Zeus; 378 pages; £16.99. Buy from Amazon.co.ukTO THOSE who don’t do it and to many who do, commuting is joyless: dead time, a limbo between home and work. Not for Iain Gately. In “Rush Hour” he argues, vividly and largely convincingly, that commuting is to be celebrated, not lamented. “For the last century and a half”, he writes, “it has given countless people the opportunity to improve their lives.”The book is in three parts, covering commuting past, present and future, from Britain’s Victorian railway boom to Elon Musk’s vision of a “Hyperloop” whisking Californians the 380 miles (610km) from San Francisco to Los Angeles in merely half an hour. Mr Gately points out the changes in landscapes, manners and entertainment (from drive-time radio to “The Jetsons”) that commuting has brought about.People were eager to commute as soon as they had the chance. Early railway entrepreneurs...

from The Economist: Books and arts http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21637353-joys-journey-work-travelling-hopefully?fsrc=rss%7Cbar

Cotton, a global history: Spinning tales

Still a player, thanks to subsidies

Empire of Cotton: A Global History. By Sven Beckert. Knopf; 615 pages; $35. Allen Lane; £30. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukGOOD economic history tells dramatic stories of ingenuity and aspiration, greed and national self-interest. Sven Beckert writes good economic history. But why cotton? Mr Beckert’s answer is that for 900 years, until 1900, it was the world’s most important manufacturing industry. Cotton is relevant now because the story explains how and why an industry goes global. It is a story of wildly fluctuating fortunes, from stunning wealth to dire social disasters.India runs like a thread through this tale. Cotton was being spun in the Indus Valley in 3000BC; Herodotus admired its quality. Spinning and weaving cotton (the word comes from qutn in Arabic) were introduced to Europe by Muslim invaders in the tenth...

from The Economist: Books and arts http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21637354-fine-account-900-years-globalisation-spinning-tales?fsrc=rss%7Cbar

The office cubicle: Inside the box

IN THE 1960s Robert Propst, an inventor and artist who had patents in heart valves, livestock-tagging machines and aeroplane parts, was asked by Herman Miller, an American design company, to find problems outside the furniture industry that could be solved with design. He flooded the company with concepts ranging from agriculture to medicine, but in the end found himself drawn to the problems of office life. He was particularly troubled by how sedentary people were. The consequences were clear in insurance and medical data. As a sufferer from back pain, he understood the need for regular movement and good posture.Propst thought workers should have standing and sitting desks. He designed a perching seat, dreamed up display surfaces and created a prototype napping pad, an inch and a quarter thick and two feet wide (3cm by 60cm), that could be hung up for storage. Sleeping in the office, he thought, would make people more productive. He was, in many ways, ahead of his time.His ideas culminated in the first modular office system, the “Action Office 2”, in 1968. At that time many firms put managers in offices and their subordinates in open “bullpens”, at pedestal...

from The Economist: International http://www.economist.com/news/international/21637359-how-workers-ended-up-cubesand-how-they-could-break-free-inside-box?fsrc=rss%7Cint

Investing in agriculture: Barbarians at the farm gate

IN THE next 40 years, humans will need to produce more food than they did in the previous 10,000 put together. But with sprawling cities gobbling up arable land, agricultural productivity gains decreasing, and demand for biofuels increasing, supply is not keeping up with demand. Clever farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs are bursting with ideas. But they need money to make this jump.Financiers more often found buying and selling companies have cottoned on to the opportunity. Farm gates have traditionally been closed to capital markets: nine in ten farms are held by families. But demography is forcing a shift: the average age of farmers in Europe, America and New Zealand is now in the late fifties. They often have no successor, because offspring do not want to farm or cannot afford to buy out family members. In addition, adopting new technologies and farming at ever-greater scale require the sort of capital few farmers have, even after years of bumper crop prices.Institutional investors such as pension funds see farmland as fertile ground to plough, either doing their own deals or farming them out to specialist funds. Some act as landlords by buying land and...

from The Economist: Finance and economics http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21637379-hardy-investors-are-seeking-way-grow-their-money-barbarians-farm-gate?fsrc=rss%7Cfec

Buttonwood: Same old song

IMAGINE that, ten years ago, a group of economists had been made privy to the key American indicators at the start of 2015. They would have been told that GDP grew at an annualised 5% in the latest quarter, that unemployment was 5.8% and falling, and that headline inflation was 1.3%. What would have been their forecast for the level of short-term interest rates today? Perhaps 3%? Or 4%?It is a fair bet that no economist would have predicted the actual level of interest rates of 0%-0.25%. Those low rates are the key to understanding the outlook for markets in 2015. The Federal Reserve has kept rates so low because it frets that a premature tightening of policy may damage an economy that is still bearing the scars of the financial crisis of 2007-08. Perhaps 2015 will see the first rate increase, but unless there is a surge in inflation (which few expect) the Fed will proceed very cautiously. Elsewhere, it seems highly unlikely that either the European Central Bank or the Bank of Japan will tighten policy in the next 12 months.This background helps to explain why investors are entering the new year in optimistic mood. A poll of British fund managers...

from The Economist: Finance and economics http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21637380-forecasts-2015-look-remarkably-forecasts-2014-same-old-song?fsrc=rss%7Cfec

Japan’s economy: Pump-priming

IF YOUR first shots miss the target, keep firing. That seems to be the lesson in Japan, where the cabinet of Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, approved an emergency stimulus package worth ¥3.5 trillion ($29.1 billion) on December 27th to pep up the recession-hit economy. Yet what stood out was the diminished heft of the package. Nearly two years ago the first of three “arrows”, as the various parts of Mr Abe’s programme have been dubbed, was a fiscal boost of ¥10.3 trillion, followed by another spending package worth ¥5.5 trillion in April 2014. The other facets of “Abenomics” will now have to be exploited.The government hopes that its meagre package will boost Japan’s real GDP by as much as 0.7% in 2015-16. Although more modest, the stimulus is more finely targeted this time, notes Robert Feldman of Morgan Stanley, an investment bank. A third of the total is to go on helping small businesses and households particularly hard hit by the effects of a weak yen and a squeeze in real incomes, both side-effects of Abenomics itself. Measures will include handing out shopping vouchers to the poor and subsidies for heating oil.Another of Mr Abe’s aims is to spread the...

from The Economist: Finance and economics http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21637410-shinzo-abe-unleashes-small-stimulus-package-pump-priming?fsrc=rss%7Cfec

Free exchange: Green tape

WHAT are the economic effects of environmental policies? It sounds painfully obvious, but the answer depends on how strict those policies are. So how do you quantify that? One of the dirty secrets of green economics is that, until now, no one has had a good measure of environmental strictness.One or two narrow indicators have been developed. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, for example, has an index of climate-policy stringency for 2011. But there is no standard measure comparing the effects of different policies, assessing countries’ overall policy stance and calculating how these have changed over time.This lack reflects problems in the underlying data. So-called environmental services—disposing of waste or cleaning up the air—are not included in traditional measures of productivity. So if their inputs or outputs change (and they have changed a lot over 20 years) the results will not show up in the numbers. Environmental policies also influence the stock of capital—for example, by making some technologies obsolete. But depreciation rates in national accounts rarely allow for such effects.This does not mean it has been impossible...

from The Economist: Finance and economics http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21637411-environmental-regulations-may-not-cost-much-governments-and-businesses?fsrc=rss%7Cfec

Euro-zone quantitative easing: Coming soon?

AS 2014 drew to a close, the European Central Bank (ECB) signalled an increasing readiness to pursue a big programme of quantitative easing (QE)—creating money to buy financial assets—in order to lift worryingly low inflation. Such an undertaking would require the purchase of sovereign bonds, an unpalatable policy in Germany, the country that in effect underwrites the single currency. Will the ECB nonetheless move from semaphore to action when its governing council meets on January 22nd?Mario Draghi, the ECB’s president, wants to crank up monetary policy because inflation remains uncomfortably lower than the bank’s goal of almost 2%. The headline rate stayed below 1% throughout 2014, reaching 0.3% in November, while the core rate, which strips out food and energy prices, was just 0.7% in late 2014 (see chart). The steep fall in oil prices will be a welcome tonic for the sickly euro-zone economy. But it may have a sting in the tail if people expect lower inflation as cheaper energy pushes the headline rate into negative territory, even if only temporarily.

...

from The Economist: Finance and economics http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21637422-ecb-might-unleash-its-long-awaited-programme-early-2015-coming-soon?fsrc=rss%7Cfec

Influential economists: Shifting clout

ECONOMISTS measure their influence by looking at their publication count. They obsess over their RePEc (“research papers in economics”) ranking, a list topped by heavyweights who inspire awe among PhD students and blank stares everywhere else. In an effort to gauge clout outside the ivory tower, The Economist asked Appinions, a startup that analyses influence online, to look at a list of 500 economists—the 450 atop the RePEc list, plus some we chose ourselves. Appinions tracked how much attention was paid to their utterances in the mainstream media, the blogosphere and in social media over a 90-day period up to December 11th 2014. That produced an alternative influence ranking (see table).Our winner was Jonathan Gruber, an expert in health policy who advised on Obamacare. Comments made by Mr Gruber on the sausage-making behind the health-care law became the centre of a political firestorm last autumn, propelling him up the list. His elevation is a reminder that the news cycle is also an imperfect measure: in any other quarter, he would not have troubled the ranking.Central bankers current and former occupy prominent...

from The Economist: Finance and economics http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21637412-economists-academic-rankings-and-media-influence-vary-wildly-shifting-clout?fsrc=rss%7Cfec

Obituary: Billie Whitelaw: Her master’s voice

ALL that could be seen was her mouth. A mouth that opened and closed convulsively, clenching its teeth, flickering its tongue, like some glutinous, repulsive sexual object. Out of it came a stream of wild, jumbled reminiscences, faster and faster:a voice she did not recognise…at first…so long since it had sounded…then finally had to admit…could be none other…than her own…certain vowel sounds...she had never heard…elsewhere…so that people would stare…and now this stream…not catching the half of it…not the quarter…no idea…what she was saying…imagine!…no idea what she was saying!This part, almost the only part, which Billie Whitelaw played in Samuel Beckett’s “Not I” at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1973 and 1975, was called, appropriately, Mouth. It was the hardest thing she ever did in her career in stage, TV and film: a 17-minute monologue, masked and in a head-brace, after weeks of word-learning so intense that she thought she was losing her mind. The public at large remembered her for her role as Mrs Baylock, the green-eyed, prim-white-collared Nanny from Hell in “The Omen”. That, she said, was just a laugh. The highest accolade she ever received was not...

from The Economist: Obituary http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21637345-billie-whitelaw-actress-and-muse-samuel-beckett-died-december-21staged-82-her-masters?fsrc=rss%7Cobi

What really scares terrorists?

Even terrorists have fears. And the prospect of gender equality appears to rank high on their list of worst nightmares.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/26/opinion/soussan-weingarten-gender-equality/index.html?eref=edition

Funeral attack leaves 21 dead

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up among mourners inside a funeral tent on a farm about 12 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, according to police.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/world/meast/iraq-funeral-attack/index.html?eref=edition

Ebola patient at London hospital

A health care worker diagnosed with the Ebola virus has been transferred to a London hospital. Nic Robertson reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/30/lok-robertson-uk-ebola-patient-london.cnn.html?eref=edition

Ebola virus: What you need to know

The deadliest outbreak of Ebola virus on record has sparked fears that the killer virus could spread from West Africa to other regions and continents.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/27/world/ebola-virus-explainer/index.html?eref=edition

The messy truth about Ebola

What happens when you get Ebola? CNN's Miguel Marquez explains (Sources: CDC and WHO).

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/health/2014/10/09/this-is-the-messy-truth-about-ebola-miguel-marquez-graphic-orig.cnn.html?eref=edition

Schumacher still fighting, one year on

There is a simple message for Michael Schumacher one year on from his devastating accident -- keep fighting.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/sport/motorsport/formula-one-michael-schumacher-urged-to-keep-fighting/index.html?eref=edition

Is AI a threat to humanity?

A New Year's resolution for work

Who are passengers?

MS Dhoni retires from Test cricket

He is India's most successful Test match captain but Mahendra Singh Dhoni has decided enough is enough.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/sport/cricket-mahendra-singh-dhoni-retires/index.html?eref=edition

U.S. police shot at in Florida, L.A.

A week after two New York City officers were killed while sitting in their patrol car, more police across the country are getting shot at.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/justice/police-shot-at/index.html?eref=edition

What Obama said

A childhood friend of an Army captain whose wedding was moved to accommodate a round of golf for President Barack Obama said the bride and groom had to quickly scramble to find a Plan B. But the agile bride and her wedding party still pulled it all off without a hitch, the friend said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/politics/obama-golf-wedding-hawaii/index.html?eref=edition

Sofia Vergara reportedly engaged

One of Hollywood's most attractive couples is heading down the aisle.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/feat-joe-manganiello-sofia-vergara-engaged/index.html?eref=edition

Opinion: Disaster's lasting effects

News that wreckage was found after an Indonesia AirAsia flight went missing over the weekend marked the third major incident involving Southeast Asian airlines this year.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/opinion/tan-airasia-impact-asia/index.html?eref=edition

Passengers arrive in Italy

New video shows rescued ferry passengers arriving in Bari, Italy. CNN's Natalie Allen reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/vo-burning-ferry-passengers-arrive.cnn.html?eref=edition

Timeline

TIMELINE

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/world/asia/airasia-flight-qz8501-time-line/index.html?eref=edition

Comedian Chris Rock to divorce

After 19 years of marriage, Chris Rock has filed for divorce.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/showbiz/feat-chris-rock-divorce/index.html?eref=edition

Families see shocking images

In a briefing by officials, the families of AirAsia Flight 8501 passengers were briefly shown video of bodies in the water.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/30/lok-stevens-airasia-family-reaction.cnn.html?eref=edition

Ebola patient moved to London

A health care worker who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus after returning to Scotland from Sierra Leone was transferred early Tuesday to the Royal Free Hospital in London.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/europe/uk-ebola/index.html?eref=edition

Kremlin critic Navalny convicted

Russian opposition figure guilty

One of Russia's top opposition figures and his brother have been found guilty of fraud. CNN's Erin McLaughlin has more.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/30/lok-mclaughlin-russia-kremlin-critic-navalny-guilty-sentence.cnn.html?eref=edition

Boy jumps from burning building

An Alabama man captures chilling video of people jumping to safety during an apartment fire. CNN affiliate WBRC has more.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/12/29/dnt-child-jumps-out-of-burning-apartment-building.wbrc-kerry-jackson.html?eref=edition

Pilot had 20,000 flying hours

CNN's Joe Johns profiles the pilot of the missing AirAsia flight 8501, Captain Iriyanto.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/tsr-johns-airasia-pilot-iriyanto-profile.cnn.html?eref=edition

MH370 relatives relive agony

No one can fathom the agony that families of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 are going through -- except the families of MH370.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/asia/mh370-and-airasia8501-families/index.html?eref=edition

Reports: Debris seen in Java Sea

An Indonesian official says that debris has been spotted in the water by crews searching for AirAsia Flight 8501.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/30/lok-stevens-airasia-flight-8501-search-tuesday.cnn.html?eref=edition

Pilot: Radar should help find jet

Before the world reaches a conclusion as to the outcome of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, it's important to understand that the details are far too limited for drawing a parallel to Malaysia Flight 370.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/opinion/abend-missing-airasia-plane-radar/index.html?eref=edition

The Cuban-American rift

When Raul Moas took his first trip to Cuba, he plunged deep in the generational chasm among Cuban-Americans that now shapes much of the politics behind this month's historic renewal of U.S.-Cuba ties.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/americas/cuban-american-generation-gap/index.html?eref=edition

Possible debris from AirAsia flight spotted

Authorities are poring over photos of debris that could be from missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501. The objects are spotted off the coast of Indonesia's central Kalimantan province.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html?eref=edition

Fire at mall kills at least 13 in Pakistan

A fire sparked by a short circuit at a shop quickly engulfed a three-story shopping center in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/asia/pakistan-market-fire/index.html?eref=edition

Monday, December 29, 2014

Search area for AirAsia jet expands

Rescuers from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand join the effort in a wider search are for the AirAsia jet.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html?eref=edition

Al-Shabaab commander 'caught'

Somali government forces on Saturday captured a top commander of the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, two of the country's military officials said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/africa/somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?eref=edition

10 dead in ferry blaze; 427 rescued

Smoke sighted in plane search

CNN's Jim Scuitto talks with his guest about the likelihood the smoke sighted on an island is from the missing plane.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/30/erin-segment-airasia-smoke-sighted.cnn.html?eref=edition

Senator gave speech for hate group

Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 3-ranking House Republican, defended his speech before a a white supremacist forum in 2002 on Monday night, saying he did not subscribe to their philosophy.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/politics/steve-scalise-white-supremacist-group-speech/index.html?eref=edition

Ayatollah tweets #BlackLivesMatter

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweets #BlackLivesMatter amidst tensions in the U.S. over police shootings.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/12/29/lead-vo-tapper-nypd-vs-mayor-de-blasio-tweet.cnn.html?eref=edition

'Felt explosions in our feet'

10 people are now confirmed dead from a ferry disaster on the Adriatic Sea. CNN's Nima Elbagir reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/30/pkg-elbagir-ferry-passengers-shock.cnn.html?eref=edition

Search area expands

The search for a missing airliner with 162 people aboard will expand Tuesday, Indonesia announced. Andrew Stevens reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/pkg-stevens-indonesia-airasia-search-expanded.cnn.html?eref=edition

Obama marks end of Afghan combat

Thirteen years and more than 2,000 American casualties after it began, the war in Afghanistan will conclude responsibly, President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/politics/obama-afghanistan-end-of-combat/index.html?eref=edition

How storm could hit flight?

CNN's Tom Foreman demonstrates how weather may have impacted the missing AirAsia airliner with 162 people aboard.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/lead-foreman-magic-wall-air-asia-weather.cnn.html?eref=edition

U.S. targets Al-Shabaab leader

The United States conducted an airstrike Monday in Somalia against Al-Shabaab, said Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/world/africa/somalia-airstrike-al-shabaab/index.html?eref=edition

Bush remaining in hospital

Former President George H.W. Bush's breathing "has returned to normal" but he will stay in the hospital Monday night, an aide said. It will be his seventh straight night since being admitted last week.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/politics/bush-hospital-through-tuesday/index.html?eref=edition

Vin Diesel hints at Marvel role

Vin Diesel, can you be a little more "inhumanly" obvious?

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/showbiz/movies/feat-vin-diesel-inhumans/index.html?eref=edition

Scotland confirms case of Ebola

Health officials in Glasgow, Scotland, have confirmed a case of Ebola.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/health/ebola-scotland/index.html?eref=edition

Obama sorry golf hit wedding

President Barack Obama apologized to a couple after his golf game in Hawaii forced the bride and groom to relocate their wedding Sunday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/politics/obama-golf-hawaii/index.html?eref=edition

Al Jazeera journalists held for year

One year later, Al Jazeera journalists are still being held in an Egyptian prison. CNN's Ian Lee reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/pkg-lee-al-jazeera-journalists-arrested-one-year-later.cnn.html?eref=edition

Frustrating day in jet search

Despite an expanded search area, no concrete evidence in the search for the missing Air Asia plane. Andrew Stevens reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/lkl-stevens-air-asia.cnn.html?eref=edition

U.S.-bound flight lands safely after fault

A Virgin Atlantic plane that developed a technical fault en route to Las Vegas has landed safely at London's Gatwick Airport, the airline says.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/world/europe/uk-gatwick-virgin/index.html?eref=edition

What's with North Korea's Internet?

North Koreans' ability to surf the Internet -- for the few in the isolated nation who could ever really go online anyway -- is rockier than ever.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/23/world/asia/north-korea-internet/index.html?eref=edition

Funeral attack leaves 21 dead

What really scares terrorists

Poll: Bush is GOP frontrunner

Jeb Bush is the clear Republican presidential frontrunner, surging to the front of the potential GOP pack following his announcement that he's "actively exploring" a bid, a new CNN/ORC poll found.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/politics/bush-leads-gop-field-poll/index.html?eref=edition

Clinton, Obama top 'most admired' poll

Hillary Clinton takes the top spot on a list of admired living women for the 13th year in a row, according to an annual survey released by Gallup on Monday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/politics/poll-clinton-admired/index.html?eref=edition

Pilot held hostage by ISIS

The U.S. says a Jordanian pilot was taken hostage by ISIS in Syria after his plane crashed -- refuting claims that the group shot the jet down.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/24/world/meast/syria-isis-shoots-down-warplane/index.html?eref=edition

Electoral crisis sparks Greek vote

Greek lawmakers failed to elect a new president and that will trigger a snap general election. Elinda Labropoulou reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/lok-labropoulou-greece-snap-election.cnn.html?eref=edition

Beyonce's dad sells memorabilia

Beyonce's father Mathew Knowles is getting flack for selling his daughter's old memorabilia at a garage sale.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/showbiz/2014/12/24/dnt-beyonce-dad-garage-sale.ktrk.html?eref=edition

Schumacher still fighting, one year on

Bad weather a factor?

The passengers and crew aboard AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 could have expected to have landed in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, after a flight of just over two hours.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/world/asia/airasia-plane-weather/index.html?eref=edition

N. Korea blames Obama for movie

The North Korean government is fuming over the release of the "The Interview," claiming President Barack Obama forced the film into theaters and onto streaming video services.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/north-korea-the-interview-reaction/index.html?eref=edition

QZ8501: Your questions answered

The sudden disappearance of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in Indonesian airspace has fueled a host of questions: What caused the loss of contact? Why Asia again? Is air travel still safe?

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/world/asia/airasia-questions-answers/index.html?eref=edition

U.S. police shot at in Florida, L.A.

Roddick: Time to scrap Hawk-Eye

When Andy Roddick played tennis, the grand slam winner and former world No. 1 never shied away from conversing, or arguing with chair umpires.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/sport/tennis/roddick-tennis-hawk-eye-change/index.html?eref=edition

Hope for survivors dwindling

CNN's Andrew Stevens talks with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla about the search for AirAsia Flight 8501.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/12/29/early-stevens-intv-airasia-kalla-indonesia.cnn.html?eref=edition

QZ8501: Timeline

TIMELINE

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/world/asia/airasia-flight-qz8501-time-line/index.html?eref=edition

Comedian Chris Rock to divorce

After 19 years of marriage, Chris Rock has filed for divorce.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/showbiz/feat-chris-rock-divorce/index.html?eref=edition

Rescued ferry passengers arrive

U.S. woman freed after 'nightmare'

American traveler Stacey Addison says she was detained for months in East Timor because she unwittingly shared a taxi with a stranger carrying methamphetamine. Now she's out of jail -- and a guest of a former East Timor leader.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/25/world/asia/east-timor-stacey-addison/index.html?eref=edition

Search for AirAsia jet resumes

CNN's John Vause talks with former pilot and aviation security expert Desmond Ross about missing AirAsia Flight 8501.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/vause-intv-ross-airasia-8501.cnn.html?eref=edition

Plane likely 'at bottom of sea'

AirAsia Flight 8501 went missing on a flight to Singapore. CNN's Michael Holmes reports on a newly-released statement.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/28/nr-harlow-missing-airasia-update.cnn.html?eref=edition

Passengers stuck on burning ferry

Hundreds of passengers on a burning ferry are still awaiting rescue. CNN's Barbie Nadeau reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/nr-nadeau-burning-ferry.cnn.html?eref=edition

Hundreds await helicopter rescue

Rescue teams have rescued more than 280 passengers, but hundreds are still on board. CNN's Elinda Labropoulou reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/lok-greece-labropoulou-ferry-fire.cnn.html?eref=edition

Syrian opposition barred from talks

The Syrian government is ready to send envoys to Moscow for talks with representatives of the opposition it has been fighting in a brutal civil war for over 3½ years, according to state-run media.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/meast/syria-moscow-talks/index.html?eref=edition

Rookie U.S. police officer killed

A rookie police officer who was answering a domestic violence call has died from gunshot wounds, the Flagstaff, Arizona, Police Department said Saturday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/us/arizona-police-officer-killed/index.html?eref=edition

Boko Haram kill 23 in Cameroon

At least 23 people were killed in a Boko Haram attack in the Mozogo district in Cameroon's Far North Region, an official said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/africa/cameroon-boko-haram-attack/index.html?eref=edition

Pilot: Radar should help find jet

The Cuban-American rift

Search resumes for plane

CNN's Andrew Stevens reports has the latest search efforts for AirAsia Flight 8501 from Indonesia's Surabaya Airport.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/29/stevens-lok-indonesia-airasia-8501.cnn.html?eref=edition

Official: AirAsia jet likely at 'bottom of the sea'

Based on radar data from the plane's last contact, authorities believe the missing AirAsia jet is likely at "the bottom of the sea," says Indonesia's top rescue official.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html?eref=edition

Sunday, December 28, 2014

When Christmas was banned

For the Puritans of the 17th century, there was too much merry and not enough Christ.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/24/opinion/lauder-when-christmas-was-against-law/index.html?eref=edition

Egypt bans movie 'Exodus'

Another Hollywood movie is running afoul of a foreign government this month.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/meast/egypt-exodus-ban/index.html?eref=edition

Al-Shabaab commander 'caught'

Hundreds on burning ferry for 24 hours

Can track phones, why not planes?

CNN viewers tweet their questions about the disappearance of AirAsia Flight 8501. Poppy Harlow gets answers.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/28/intv-harlow-airasia-questions.cnn.html?eref=edition

Distraught families gather

Relatives of passengers on AirAsia Flight 8501 await news on the missing plane's whereabouts. CNN's Andrew Stevens reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/28/nr-stevens-family-anguish-over-missing-flight-8501.cnn.html?eref=edition

Massive floods hit Malaysia, Thailand

Massive flooding forces more than 132,000 Malaysians to leave, and more rain is expected in the Thai border region.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/asia-flooding/index.html?eref=edition

Fire on ferry burns for hours

Scores of passengers are stranded on a ferry that has been burning for hours on the Adriatic sea.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/28/orig-natpkg-ferry-fire-adriatic-sea.cnn.html?eref=edition

Christmas countdown

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/defining-moments/index.html?eref=edition

Woman: My fiance on flight

For loved ones on board AirAsia Flight QZ8501, it's too painful to bear. They're teary-eyed, exhausted, confused and afraid.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/world/asia/airasia-families-of-passengers/index.html?eref=edition

'Holy Grail' of shipwrecks found?

Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe 's possible discovery of a sought-after shipwreck could be worth millions in gold.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/12/28/pkg-the-griffin-discovered.wzzm.html?eref=edition

Boko Haram's teen suicide bombers

A 13-year-old Nigerian girl said that the militant group forced her and two others into suicide attacks.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/26/world/africa/nigeria-teenage-girl-suicide-bombing/index.html?eref=edition

How AirAsia, MH370 incidents differ

A Malaysia-based airliner vanishes over the waters of a Southeast Asia ocean. There's no distress call, no wreckage, nothing but water and questions.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/world/asia/airasia-mh370-differences/index.html?eref=edition

Why is it possible to lose jet?

Jon Ostrower, a WSJ reporter explains the factors behind the disappearance of AirAsia's Flight 8501.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/12/28/exp-how-is-it-possible-to-lose-a-jet-in-2014.cnn.html?eref=edition

Obama marks end of Afghan combat

Daring rescue from ferry blaze

See the moment a woman and her two little kids were pulled from a burning ferry off the coast of Greece.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/28/vo-greece-burning-ferry-adriatic-sea.italian-air-force.html?eref=edition

Gym mat death re-investigated

Despite concluding there was no foul play in the death of a Georgia teen nearly two years ago, a sheriff's office conducted additional interviews on the case as recently as this month.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/26/justice/georgia-kendrick-johnson-teen-gym-mat-death/index.html?eref=edition

EPL: Man City miss chance

Sunday's action in football's Premier League failed to match the Boxing Day goal-fest but that didn't mean there was a shortage of drama.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/sport/football/man-city-chelsea-football-premier-league/index.html?eref=edition

Senator hints at China role

Sen. Lindsey Graham hinted at China's involvement in the North Korean cyberattack on Sony Pictures and called for additional U.S. action against North Korea to make the hermit kingdom "feel the pain that is due."

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/politics/lindsey-graham-north-korea-guantanamo/index.html?eref=edition

Who really hacked Sony?

Experts doubt North Korea was behind the Sony hack -- so who could it be?

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/tech/north-korea-expert-doubts-about-hack/index.html?eref=edition

Skiing: U.S. wins again in Italy

The way things have gone for the U.S. men in downhills in Italy this month, they probably wish every race could be held there. After Steven Nyman won in Val Gardena, Travis Ganong finished first in Santa Catarina.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/sport/ganong-downhill-win-italy/index.html?eref=edition

What's with North Korea's Internet?

Revenge of the Democratic techies

The nerds are all right.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/26/politics/democratic-technology/index.html?eref=edition

What really scares terrorists

Poll: Bush is GOP frontrunner

Santa helps soldier propose

A mall Santa Claus helped one overseas soldier propose to his girlfriend. WFIE reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/12/28/dnt-soldier-santa-wedding-proposal.wfie.html?eref=edition

Yachting: Wild Oats XI victorious

The super model's new super yacht couldn't quite keep up with an established vessel in the annual Rolex Sydney-Hobart race. Wild Oats XI won an unprecedented eighth line honor, bettering Comanche and its fast start.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/sport/yachting-sydney-hobart-wild-oats/index.html?eref=edition

'63 not out' trademarked

Cricket Australia has trademarked the term "63 not out" in an attempt to prevent people cashing in on the death of its Test batsman Phillip Hughes.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/sport/cricket-hughes-63-not-out-smith/index.html?eref=edition

Pilot held hostage by ISIS

Agonizing wait for families

CNN's Will Ripley reports on the families of the passengers on board the missing Air Asia flight 8501.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/12/28/newday-ripley-families-wait-for-news-on-flight-8501.cnn.html?eref=edition

PlayStation, Xbox still struggling

PlayStation was still hobbled over the weekend after a possible cyberattack Thursday on the network that enables its gamers to play one another online.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/tech/playstation-xbox-problems/index.html?eref=edition

Did weather affect flight?

N. Korea blames Obama for movie

AirAsia statement

AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (Surabaya LT) this morning. The flight took off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 0535hours.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/airasia-statement/index.html?eref=edition

Indian army hits back after massacre

Army, paramilitary and police troops have intensified counter-insurgency operations in Assam in the wake of Tuesday's tribal militant raid, which left at least 72 people killed in the India's remote tea-producing state, a defense spokesman said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/26/world/asia/india-tribal-militant-attacks/index.html?eref=edition

Adriatic ferry on fire, rescue underway

A joint Italian-Greek rescue operation was underway Sunday for hundreds of passengers on board the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic, which was on fire in the Adriatic Sea, the Greek Merchant Marine Ministry told CNN.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/28/world/europe/italy-greece-ferry-fire/index.html?eref=edition

Plane was on common route

Richard Quest explains 'flight information regions' and how they apply to missing AirAsia flight 8501.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/28/nr-quest-missing-airasia-plane-fir.cnn.html?eref=edition

Christmas baby born on train

Riders of Philadelphia public transit were reminded on Christmas Day that the holiday celebrates a birth in the humblest of circumstances.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/26/us/philadelphia-christmas-subway-baby/index.html?eref=edition

Neil deGrasse Tyson outrages Twitter

It's a figure that even astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is having a hard time wrapping his brilliant mind around.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/tech/feat-neil-degrasse-tyson-christmas-newton-tweet/index.html?eref=edition

Pilot asked to deviate from flight plan

AirAsia 8501's pilot asked to change its route due to weather, but Richard Quest says bad weather doesn't down planes.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/28/nr-quest-missing-airasia-plane-pilot-request-to-deviate.cnn.html?eref=edition

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Predecessor killed this month

The latest ISIS-appointed governor of Mosul was killed in coalition airstrikes, according to Iraqi police.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/25/vo-isis-mosul-governor.cnn.html?eref=edition

Contact with AirAsia plane lost

AirAsia Flight 8501 has lost contact with traffic control in Jakarta, Indonesia, the airline's crisis center said Sunday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html?eref=edition

U.S. woman freed after 'nightmare'

ISIS leader in Iraq 'killed by strike'

The latest ISIS-appointed governor of the group's Iraqi stronghold is killed by coalition airstrikes less than 25 days after taking office.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/25/world/meast/isis-mosul/index.html?eref=edition

Syrian opposition barred from talks

Rookie AZ police officer killed

Boko Haram kill 23 in Cameroon

Bush to stay in hospital over weekend

Former President George H.W. Bush has improved, but will remain in the hospital through the weekend, his spokesman said Saturday night.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/politics/bush-41-hospital/index.html?eref=edition

Breathing aid halted for pregnant patient

The artificial breathing support for a clinically dead woman who is 18 weeks pregnant has been switched off by the Irish hospital treating her, an official with detail knowledge of the case said Saturday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/europe/ireland-breathing-support/index.html?eref=edition

Hospitalized Bush 'in great spirits'

Former President George H.W. Bush, who was taken to a Houston hospital Tuesday night after experiencing shortness of breath, will remain in the hospital at least through Christmas Day as a precaution, his spokesman said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/25/politics/bush-41-hospital/index.html?eref=edition

Wrestling star booked on battery

Alcohol-fueled hostility ended with a famous professional wrestler pinning his son down at their Florida home early Christmas Eve, sheriff's deputies said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/25/us/florida-wwe-wrestler-battery-arrests/index.html?eref=edition

When Christmas was banned

Egypt bans movie 'Exodus'

Another Hollywood movie is running afoul of a foreign government this month.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/meast/egypt-exodus-ban/index.html?eref=edition

Al-Shabaab commander 'caught'

Threat of landslides looms

Government officials say extreme flooding in Malaysia has forced more than 132,000 people to evacuate.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/weather/2014/12/27/van-dam-malaysia-thailand-flooding.cnn.html?eref=edition

Missing Mexico priest found dead

A missing priest in Mexico was found dead in an alley on Christmas Day, his diocese said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/27/cnni-priest-body-found-on-christmas.cnn.html?eref=edition

Shot officer: U.S. police bid farewell

Rafael Ramos was an unusual cop.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/us/nypd-officer-rafael-ramos-services/index.html?eref=edition

Epic floods hit Malaysia, Thailand

Massive flooding has forced more than 132,000 Malaysians to evacuate, and more rain is expected. One Sri Lankan city received more than twice the average monthly rainfall in just eight days. And it's going to get worse. Another 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain could fall over the next two days near the Malaysian-Thai border, he said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/asia-flooding/index.html?eref=edition

Gitmo detainees days from move?

The Obama administration hopes to transfer dozens of detainees from Guantanamo Bay. CNN's Barbara Starr reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2014/12/27/newday-starr-guantanamo-detainees.cnn.html?eref=edition

Swarms of shoppers hit sales

Shoppers in London swarm stores for Boxing Day sales.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/27/natpkg-uk-boxing-day.cnn.html?eref=edition

UK battles to tackle obesity

Christina Macfarlane reports on new advice being given to British doctors to identify patients who are putting on weight.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/health/2014/12/27/pkg-macfarlane-uk-anti-obesity.cnn.html?eref=edition

Journalist's letter from Cairo cell

"As we approach the end of our first year in prison, I cannot help but feel proud and strengthened by all that has been achieved so far," said journalist Peter Greste in a letter from a Cairo jail cell.

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N. Korea blasts U.S. over film release

North Korea denounces "The Interview" release, as CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/27/lklv-hancocks-north-korea-the-interview-release.cnn.html?eref=edition

Russian doctrine: NATO a threat

Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a doctrine listing the U.S. and NATO as top military threats.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/27/lklv-mclaughlin-russia-doctrine-nato-threat.cnn.html?eref=edition

Friday, December 26, 2014

Amir Khan honors Pakistan pledge

He's one of the world's most famous boxers but this could be Amir Khan's toughest fight yet.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1vojqvG

Boko Haram's teen suicide bombers

A 13-year-old Nigerian girl said that the militant group forced her and two others into suicide attacks.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1Et09CP

N. Korea blasts U.S. over release

North Korea issued a statement on its official state news agency on Saturday denouncing Sony Pictures Entertainment's release of the movie "The Interview." It called President Barack Obama the "chief culprit" who forced the production company to "indiscriminately distribute" the picture.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/26/world/asia/north-korea-the-interview-reaction/index.html?eref=edition

Gym mat death re-investigated

Dustin Diamond held in bar stabbing

Police on Friday arrested Dustin Diamond, better known as "Screech" in the early 1990s sitcom "Saved by the Bell," in a stabbing incident at a bar in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xWwGO0

Super model's super yacht leads

It's the super yacht with a super model and her billionaire tycoon husband as its joint owners and the 100ft supermaxi Comanche lived up to expectations with a blazing start to the Rolex Sydney-Hobart race Friday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1x7HOWz

Twitter jibe backfires for EPL side

Jose Mourinho's Chelsea had the last laugh on London rival West Ham to keep up its relentless pace at the top of the English Premier League with a 2-0 Boxing Day home win.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1Eqilgd

Ireland: Pregnant mom to be unplugged

Ireland's Supreme Court ruled Friday doctors can withdraw life support in the case of a clinically dead woman who is 18 weeks pregnant as there is "no reasonable prospect" her unborn child will survive.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1x7Gp2u

What's with North Korea's Internet?

North Koreans' ability to surf the Internet -- for the few in the isolated nation who could ever really go online anyway -- is rockier than ever.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1zsWIJ7

Oldest Facebook user dies aged 114

A woman believed to be the world's oldest Facebook user has died at the age of 114, her family said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1Ectqla

Revenge of the Democratic techies

The nerds are all right.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1EpP0CN

What really scares terrorists

Even terrorists have fears. And the prospect of gender equality appears to rank high on their list of worst nightmares.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1ARTaPR

Al-Shabaab: AU attack was revenge

Al-Shabaab said it attacked an African Union military base in Somalia on Thursday in retaliation for a U.S. airstrike that killed their leader near Barawe in September.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1ARTaPL

Drone strikes 'kill 7' in Pakistan

A pair of suspected U.S. drone strikes on militant targets in Pakistan killed at least seven people, Pakistani intelligence sources said Friday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1H2mF3g

Teen 'raised gun before officer fired'

A teenager shot dead by police in Missouri, near Ferguson, held a gun "straight out" before the officer fired, the police chief says.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1GWG7OK

Coalition pilot held hostage

The U.S. says a Jordanian pilot was taken hostage by ISIS in Syria after his plane crashed -- refuting claims that the group shot the jet down.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1tbmsrX

Dotcom barters with hackers after gamers forced offline

Gaming legend Kim Dotcom intervenes after hackers torpedoed the PlayStation and Xbox live networks on one of the year's busiest gaming days.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CVTbS8

'Lizard Squad' claims hack

Hackers disrupt the live networks of Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox on one of the busiest gaming days of the year.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CUdjnU

Police scan social media for threats

Six men have been arrested in connection with alleged threats made toward police officers since Saturday afternoon, when two NYPD officers were shot in the head from behind while sitting in their patrol car, said police spokeswoman Sophia Mason.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1x6xpdY

Farewell for slain NYPD officer

Rafael Ramos was an unusual cop.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1EmtI97

Cricket: Smith leads way for Australia

The sudden responsibility of leadership is resting well on Steve Smith's shoulders and it needed a captain's knock from him to lift Australia to a respectable 259 for five wickets after day one of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1EpDN5d

Indian army hits back after massacre

Jackie Chan's son on drugs charges

The 32-year-old son of actor and kung fu star Jackie Chan has been charged with a drug offense and could face up to three years in jail.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1B47jaB

Indian tribal militants kill at least 54

At least 54 people have been killed in a series of attacks by tribal militants in India's remote northeastern state of Assam, a police official said Wednesday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1Ebohtw

'Baby Jesus' stolen, pig's head left

Police in Haverhill, Massachusetts, are asking the public to help solve a bizarre theft.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CKCig3

Christmas baby born on train

Riders of Philadelphia public transit were reminded on Christmas Day that the holiday celebrates a birth in the humblest of circumstances.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CKCg80

Rogen thanks fans at theater

Fans get a surprise at a Los Angeles movie theater before seeing "The Interview."

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1HJZmcU

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Predecessor killed this month

The latest ISIS-appointed governor of Mosul was killed in coalition airstrikes, according to Iraqi police.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xSM2Dj

Rogen: We hope you like it

Actor Seth Rogen drops by a screening in L.A. to thank fans for supporting "The Interview." CNN's Rosa Flores has more.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CTYxxi

U.S. woman freed after 'nightmare'

ISIS governor of Mosul killed in strikes

The latest ISIS-appointed governor of Mosul was killed in coalition airstrikes on Thursday, according to Iraqi police.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1Emly0z

Israeli girl hit with Molotov cocktail

An 11-year-old Israeli girl is being treated for severe burns after a Molotov cocktail was hurled into the car she was riding in Thursday in a West Bank settlement community, national EMS provider Magen David Adom said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1EmlxJV

Alan Gross gets $3.2M settlement

The U.S. Agency for International Development has paid Alan Gross $.3.2 million, settling a claim over the former contractor freed last week by Cuba after five years in prison, a spokesman for the federal agency tells CNN.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1HxU5oE

What the Pope wants for Christmas

Pope Francis wants to bring hope to Christians and other ethnic and religious groups suffering "brutal persecution" in Iraq and Syria.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1AMXU9e

Author's chilling journey inside ISIS

Juergen Todenhoefer's journey was a tough one: dangerous, but also eye-opening. The author traveled deep into ISIS territory -- the area they now call their "caliphate" -- visiting Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in Syria, as well as Mosul in Iraq.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1ANTz3K

Al-Shabaab raids Somalia base

Somalia's militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab raided the country's largest military base for African Union troops on Thursday, detonating a car bomb at the entrance before engaging in a firefight with troops, a spokesman for the group said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xkxdK4

George H.W. Bush in hospital

Wrestling star booked on battery

When Christmas was banned

For the Puritans of the 17th century, there was too much merry and not enough Christ.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xhXUyV

What about threat to journalists?

Will "The Interview" impact practitioners of an already risky profession?

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1teLpmt

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

China blacks out Sony hack

Efficient -- or heavy-handed -- censors mean most Chinese know little about the Sony hack story.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1HAeycF

Pope: God is always there

Pope Francis presides over Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica and delivers a message about life and patience.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1AKI2Ed

Amanpour: Legends we lost in 2014

CNN's Christiane Amanpour recalls "giant of journalism" and composer who brought hope to North Korea.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1A0EmhO

Ebola fear for CDC lab tech

A technician from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be monitored for three weeks after possibly being exposed to the Ebola virus at one of the agency's Atlanta labs, the CDC said Wednesday.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xdymzZ

Pope's big changes

CNN's Delia Gallagher looks back at the Pontiff's busy year with visits to Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the U.S. and France.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1A5XP0n

Killing in iconic civil rights city

On a recent morning, Edward Shaw and other family members walked into the Selma Police Department in search of answers.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1HCOYDQ

France market attack victim dies

One victim has died and five remain in hospital after Monday's market attack -- the latest in a string of attacks shaking France, authorities say.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1xItBkx

Pope ringing in his 2nd Christmas

After an eventful 12-plus months that began with him being named Time's Person of the Year and ended with his blistering critique of the Vatican bureaucracy, Pope Francis gets a chance to celebrate -- by presiding over Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/16QYPeb

Journalist's letter from Cairo cell

ISIS: We shot down plane

ISIS says it has captured a Jordanian pilot after his plane went down. CNN's Hala Gorani reports.

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S. Koreans applaud Sony

Kyung Lah reports that people in South Korea believe releasing "The Interview" is a good way to deal with North Korea.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CCegUl

School massacre: Boxer pledges help

He's one of the world's most famous boxers but this could be Amir Khan's toughest fight yet.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1vojqvG

Behind the scenes at the legendary Studio 54

It has become synonymous with the glamor and excess of the late Seventies. But people who've retained clear memories of Studio 54, the legendary New York nightclub that defined an era, are few and far between.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/13kraXT

The real story behind Santa Claus

Don't tell the kids, but we've got Santa Claus all wrong. Historians say Kriss Kringle was originally created to keep adults, not children, off the naughty list.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CvlSbn

Who's most at risk from police?

Simon Moya-Smith says Mah-hi-vist Goodblanket, who was killed by law enforcement, deserves justice.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1wFq9pi

Christmas countdown

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/14NCXJS

U.S. holiday storm turns deadly

This Christmas, people will grieve and heal in southern Mississippi. They will clear rubble and restore power lines ripped apart by a tornado system that killed four people and packed an emergency room with dozens of injured.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1AIvxJo

Doctors punished for 'surgery selfies'

Staff at hospital in northwest China take group photos next to patients.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1JN7kWu

FBI warns theaters of risks

The FBI is reaching out to the slightly more than 200 theaters which plan to screen "The Interview" on Thursday, warning of potential threats.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1CII8f5

Who unplugged North Korea?

North Korea's Internet is patchy after a disruption due to a possible attack, amid a war of words with the U.S. over a cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1zsWIJ7

Casey Kasem buried in Norway

Six months after his death, radio personality Casey Kasem has finally found a resting place.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1zsWH83

Oldest Facebook user dies aged 114

A woman believed to be the world's oldest Facebook user has died at the age of 114, her family said.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1Ectqla

Golf: Tiger seeks return to form in '15

The Tiger will be back on the prowl in 2015 -- and that's according to the man himself.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1A4h8r0

Cops: Teen was armed

Police say a teen in Missouri pointed a gun at an officer, who fired out of fear for his own life. CNN's Sara Ganim reports.

from CNN.com - Top Stories http://ift.tt/1zxBmdN

Poll finds racial divide on police

There is a defined racial divide in America between how whites and non-whites view police and the criminal justice system, according to a CNN / ORC poll released Monday.

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Billionaire tycoon to go to jail

A billionaire who jointly controlled Asia's biggest property development company was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $64,452 after he was convicted in one of the city's most significant corruption trials.

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New teen shot dead near Ferguson

A police officer shot and killed an armed man late Tuesday in Berkeley, Missouri, said St. Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman.

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