Syria war is everybody's problem

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: France considers sending Syrian rebels night-vision gear and body armor, a source saysBritain's foreign secretary says the UK will announce new aid soonThe statements after European Union loosens restrictions to allow nonlethal aid to rebelsThe U.S. will also send non-lethal aid to rebels for first time, plus $60 million in administrative aidRome (CNN) -- The United States stepped...

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Polls close in crucial British by-election

LONDON: Polls closed in the southern English town of Eastleigh on Thursday in a by-election for a new member of parliament in a tight contest that threatens serious repercussions for Britain's main parties.The election pits Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party against its junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, while the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) is hoping...

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Suspect in Las Vegas shooting, crash apprehended

By Erica Henry and Greg Botelho, CNNupdated 6:30 PM EST, Thu February 28, 2013Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, 26, was arrested about noon Thursday, the FBI says.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Ammar Asim Faruq Harris was arrested "without incident" in Los Angeles, police sayPolice say Harris, 26, fired at a Maserati, which then crashed into a taxi in Las VegasMaserati's driver and two people in the taxi, one of them...

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Judge accepts Manning's guilty pleas in WikiLeaks case

Updated at 5:52 p.m. ET FORT MEADE, Md. A U.S. Army judge has accepted an offer by a private to plead guilty to violating military regulations in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history. Pfc. Bradley Manning admits to sending hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, State Department diplomatic cables and other files to WikiLeaks while working as an intelligence...

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Obama Admin to Court: End Calif. Gay Marriage Ban

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, plans to file a brief today with the Supreme Court in favor of challengers of Prop. 8, according to an administration source.It would mark the first time that the Obama administration has come out in court against the California ballot initiative that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.As far back as 2008, the president said that...

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Italy left on financial high-wire

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi delivers a speech during a campaign rally in Rome on January 25, 2013. STORY HIGHLIGHTSBrilliant minds are still trying to figure out the financial impact of Italy's electionThe lack of certainty is seen as a negative for Italy -- and the eurozoneInstability could reignite the eurozone crisisBut it depends on what deal will be done, and how the markets will respond...

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AIM not bidding for PAP town councils' tender

SINGAPORE: Action Information Management (AIM), which runs the People's Action Party (PAP) town councils' computer systems, will no longer operate the systems when its contract expires on April 30. It said on Wednesday that it will not participate in the latest tender exercise.The arrangement between AIM, a company fully owned by the PAP, and the PAP town councils had caused controversy...

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Newtown father's emotional plea to Congress

During emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, the father of a first grader slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School fought back tears as he stressed the need to ban weapons like the assault rifle that a gunman used to kill his son, 19 other children, and 6 educators in Newtown, Conn. Neil Heslin described how his son Jesse "was brutally murdered at Sandy Hook school on December...

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Holder Says Sequester Makes America Less Safe

The looming budget sequestration will make Americans less safe, Eric Holder says—and anyone who says otherwise isn't telling the truth."This is something that is going to have an impact on the safety of this country," the U.S. attorney general told ABC's Pierre Thomas on Wednesday in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview."And anybody that says otherwise is either lying or saying...

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Benedict: Pope aware of his flaws?

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his last Angelus Blessing to thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square on February 24.STORY HIGHLIGHTSSister Mary Ann Walsh: Pope Benedict acknowledged that he made mistakesWalsh: In firestorm over scholarly quotes about Islam, he went to great lengths to atoneWalsh: Similarly, he quickly reversed a decision that had angered Jews and repaired tiesEven his stepping...

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