Obama campaign implies that Mitt Romney would not have killed Osama bin Laden

Obama campaign implies that Mitt Romney would not have killed Osama bin Laden:
President Obama’s campaign has launched an interesting new line of attack on Mitt Romney — questioning whether the former Massachusetts governor would have killed Osama bin Laden.
In a Web video released Friday morning called “One Chance,” former president Bill Clinton praises the “decider-in-chief” for ordering the Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden’s compound.
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Romney’s fiscal fantasy plan

Romney’s fiscal fantasy plan:
Political arithmetic is always suspect, and one should always examine carefully the claims of those seeking votes. Smart observers have learned to distinguish between the claims of political candidates and their advisers and proposals that have been evaluated by independent scorekeepers such as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
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Education Slowdown Threatens U.S.

Education Slowdown Threatens U.S.: Throughout American history, almost every generation has had substantially more education than that of its parents. That is no longer true.

Indonesia Bans U.S. Beef Imports

Indonesia Bans U.S. Beef Imports: Indonesia has banned the import of U.S. beef following a case of mad cow disease in California.

Cartagena Journal: Cartagena’s Prostitutes Perplexed by Global Glare

Cartagena Journal: Cartagena’s Prostitutes Perplexed by Global Glare: Cartagenans have struggled to come to terms with the commotion over the Secret Service scandal, but are also feeling anger and wounded national pride over an agent’s behavior.

Heavy Casualties Reported in Syrian Explosion

Heavy Casualties Reported in Syrian Explosion: Activists said shelling toppled houses in Hama, but state media blamed bomb making by government opponents.

Rick Perry endorses Mitt Romney

Rick Perry endorses Mitt Romney:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has endorsed Mitt Romney for president, switching his endorsement now that reports indicate Newt Gingrich will drop out of the race.
Here’s the full Perry statement:
“Mitt Romney has earned the Republican presidential nomination through hard-work, a strong organization, and disciplined message of restoring America after nearly four years of failed job-killing policies from President Obama and his administration. So today I join the many conservative Republicans across the nation in endorsing Mitt Romney for President and pledge to him, my constituents and the Republican Party that I will continue to work hard to help defeat President Obama. American jobs, economic stability and national security depend on electing a new president. Mitt’s vision and record of private sector success will put America back on the path of job creation, economic opportunity and limited government.”
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Vogue’s flattering article on Syria’s first lady is scrubbed from Web

Vogue’s flattering article on Syria’s first lady is scrubbed from Web:
It may have been the worst-timed, and most tin-eared, magazine article in decades.
“Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic — the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies,” writer Joan Juliet Buck began her profile of Syria’s first lady in Vogue last year. Amid descriptions of Assad’s “energetic grace” and Christian Laboutin shoes, Buck wrote: “The 35-year-old first lady’s central mission is to change the mind-set of six million Syrians under eighteen, encourage them to engage in what she calls ‘active citizenship.’ ”
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White House approves broader Yemen drone campaign

White House approves broader Yemen drone campaign:
The United States has begun launching drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen under new authority approved by President Obama that allows the CIA and the military to fire even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known, U.S. officials said.
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Most independent ads for 2012 election are from groups that don’t disclose donors

Most independent ads for 2012 election are from groups that don’t disclose donors:
Nearly all of the independent advertising being aired for the 2012 general-election campaign has come from interest groups that do not disclose their donors, suggesting that much of the political spending over the next six months will come from sources invisible to the public.
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Number of biracial babies soars over past decade

Number of biracial babies soars over past decade:
The number of mixed-race babies has soared over the past decade, new census data show, a result of more interracial couples and a cultural shift in how many parents identify their children in a multiracial society.
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Google Drive: A step closer to no-fuss cloud storage?

Google Drive: A step closer to no-fuss cloud storage?:
If you have even remotely been paying attention to the world of technology, you’ve been hearing a lot about the “cloud” lately. Yes, the cloud: where all your dreams of no-muss, no-fuss, readily available digital storage and services become reality. The next great thing that will keep all your devices in sync. The place in the not-so-distant future where all your data will be held. Redundant. In perpetuity. Safe from coffee spills, drops and that weird clicking noise a traditional hard drive makes, signaling that all your saved memories are about to be wiped from existence.
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In U.S.-Russia deal, nuclear communication system may be used for cybersecurity

In U.S.-Russia deal, nuclear communication system may be used for cybersecurity:
A secure communications channel set up to prevent misunderstandings that might lead to nuclear war is likely to expand to handle new kinds of conflict — in cyberspace.
The Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, established in 1988 under President Ronald Reagan so that Washington and Moscow could alert each other to missile tests and space launches that could be mistaken as acts of aggression, would take a central role in an agreement nearing completion between U.S. and Russian negotiators.
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Biden takes aim at Romney on foreign policy

Biden takes aim at Romney on foreign policy:
Vice President Biden delivered a broad critique Thursday of Mitt Romney’s foreign policy experience and approach, arguing that the presumptive Republican nominee “fundamentally misunderstands” the role of the American president and commander in chief in a rapidly changing world.
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Lawmaker confirms Secret Service investigating new misconduct allegations

Lawmaker confirms Secret Service investigating new misconduct allegations:
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating allegations of improper conduct last year by personnel sent to El Salvador that mirror the behavior by employees implicated in the agency’s Colombia sex scandal, according to a lawmaker closely tracking the agency’s investigations.
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D.C. area ethnic markets: Emily Wax explores

D.C. area ethnic markets: Emily Wax explores:
One of my favorite things about living as a foreign correspondent in New Delhi was shopping with my Indian co-workers. We would walk through the “bangles markets,” where male “bangle wallahs,” or merchants, sat on their haunches barefoot in kiosks filled with towering sets of hot pink, bright blue, sun yellow and garden green bangles.
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Twitter becomes a key real-time tool for campaigns

Twitter becomes a key real-time tool for campaigns:
The bully pulpit has a new kind of altar call: “Tweet them. We’ve got a hashtag. Here’s the hashtag for you to tweet them: #dontdoublemyrate.”

President Obama repeated that Twitter hashtag twice more during a Tuesday speech opposing an increase in student loan interest rates. For good measure, he even had his Chapel Hill, N.C., audience chant it back to him.
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Taliban closes dozens of Afghan schools

Taliban closes dozens of Afghan schools:
KABUL — The Taliban this week has shuttered or partially shuttered about 50 schools in southeastern Afghanistan, a bold display of the insurgency’s power in a part of the country now at the center of the American war effort.
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Gmail, now with 10 GB of storage (and counting)

Gmail, now with 10 GB of storage (and counting): Posted by Nicholas Behrens, Software Engineer



Today, we're happy to announce that we're increasing everyone's free storage in Gmail from 7.5 GB to 10 GB (and counting) to celebrate today's launch of Google Drive. The increase will take effect over the next 24 hours. We hope you all enjoy the little bump!

Cambodian Activist Shot Dead

Cambodian Activist Shot Dead: He is gunned down while trying to expose illegal logging activities in a forest reserve.

Egyptian Actor Guilty of Insulting Islam in Films

Egyptian Actor Guilty of Insulting Islam in Films: A court’s ruling against Adel Imam, Egypt’s most popular comic actor, alarmed those already anxious about the growing power of Islamists.

Group Says It Has Ceased Bomb Threats at University of Pittsburgh

Group Says It Has Ceased Bomb Threats at University of Pittsburgh: Students headed to final exams at the University of Pittsburgh this week after a semester in which more than 100 bomb threats disrupted classes and emptied dorms.

In Russia, Putin to Resign From Party Post

In Russia, Putin to Resign From Party Post: Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin stepped down as chairman of United Russia, a post he has held since 2008, handing the parliamentary majority to his protégé, President Dmitri A. Medvedev.

The Caucus: Gingrich Decides to Quit Race and Endorse Romney

The Caucus: Gingrich Decides to Quit Race and Endorse Romney: Newt Gingrich told Mitt Romney on Wednesday that he plans to officially endorse Mr. Romney’s candidacy after suspending his own efforts next week, Mr. Gingrich’s spokesman said.

Brother of Bo Xilai, Fallen Chinese Politician, Resigns Lucrative Business Role

Brother of Bo Xilai, Fallen Chinese Politician, Resigns Lucrative Business Role: The brother of Bo Xilai, the Politburo member at the center of a burgeoning political scandal, resigned as a well-paid business executive.

Britain Slips Into Double-Dip Recession

Britain Slips Into Double-Dip Recession: The figures provoked an outcry in Britain, and came the same day that Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, shifted his rhetoric on the debt crisis to add emphasis on growth.

China to Aid South Sudan, but Pipeline Efforts Stall

China to Aid South Sudan, but Pipeline Efforts Stall: South Sudan’s president visited China, which is trying to remain neutral in the dispute with Sudan.

Bo Xilai Said to Have Spied on Top China Officials

Bo Xilai Said to Have Spied on Top China Officials: Bo Xilai was toppled amid accusations his wife arranged the killing of a British businessman, but hidden wiretapping may have been another compelling reason party officials turned on him.

Former CIA spy boss made an unhesitating call to destroy interrogation tapes

Former CIA spy boss made an unhesitating call to destroy interrogation tapes:
The first and only time I met Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., he was still undercover and in charge of the Central Intelligence Agency’s all-powerful operations directorate. The agency had summoned me to its Langley headquarters and his mission was to talk me out of running an article I had just finished reporting about CIA secret prisons — the “black sites” abroad where the agency put al-Qaeda terrorists so they could be interrogated in isolation, beyond the reach and protections of U.S. law.
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Syria running out of cash as sanctions take toll, but Assad avoids economic pain

Syria running out of cash as sanctions take toll, but Assad avoids economic pain:
Syria’s remaining cash reserves are quickly dwindling as the country’s anti-government uprising marks its 13th month, according to intelligence officials and financial analysts who describe a steady hollowing-out of the country’s economy in the face of sanctions.
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In Afghanistan, underground girls school defies Taliban edict, threats

In Afghanistan, underground girls school defies Taliban edict, threats:
Every morning in this mountain village in eastern Afghanistan, four dozen girls sneak through a square opening in a mud-baked wall, defying a Taliban edict.
A U.S.-funded girls school about a mile away was shuttered by insurgents in 2007, two years after it opened. They warned residents that despite a new government in Kabul and an international aid effort focused on female education, the daughters of Spina were to stay home. For a while, they all did.
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Bo Xilai’s son defends lifestyle, says he’s concerned about scandal

Bo Xilai’s son defends lifestyle, says he’s concerned about scandal:
In his first public statement since the arrest of his mother on suspicion of murder and the ouster of his father from the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, Harvard University student Bo Guagua said he is “deeply concerned about the events surrounding my family” and defended his own academic performance and lifestyle against allegations of debauchery and sloth.
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Mad cow disease discovered in California animal, but food supply declared safe

Mad cow disease discovered in California animal, but food supply declared safe:
The first American case of mad cow disease since 2006 was found this week in a dairy cow in California, but the animal had not been slaughtered for food, government officials said.
Known formally as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, the infection decimated English cattle herds in the 1980s and 1990s. It was also linked to about 225 cases worldwide of a fatal human brain aliment known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
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Police investigating threats against Marco Rubio

Police investigating threats against Marco Rubio:
The U.S. Capitol Police confirmed Wednesday that they are working with law enforcement agencies in Miami to investigate a threat against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
The Florida senator, who gave a major speech on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday, is among the Republicans believed to be under consideration to serve as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate. Rubio campaigned with Romney in Pennsylvania this week, fueling the speculation that he is under consideration.
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Charles Taylor verdict expected in international court’s war-crimes trial

Charles Taylor verdict expected in international court’s war-crimes trial:
THE HAGUE—For the thousands of young men who had their limbs hacked off, the verdict will come way too late. Too late as well for the teenage boys sent into battle high on dope. And for the pubescent girls turned into sex slaves for rebel warriors, who will harbor unspeakable memories until they die, no matter what the court decides.
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Senate approves changes to the U.S. Postal Service

Senate approves changes to the U.S. Postal Service:
Congress moved one step closer Wednesday to overhauling the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service by approving sweeping reforms to rebalance the mail agency’s finances and help cut the size of its delivery network.
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Arizona immigration law: Supreme Court seems receptive to parts of crackdown

Arizona immigration law: Supreme Court seems receptive to parts of crackdown:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed receptive to the argument that Arizona’s tough plan to have state and local law enforcement play a much more active role in identifying illegal immigrants was a valid exercise of its power to protect its borders.
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