Newser Story Index from December, 2011
Welcome to the Newser Story Index. Here you find stories written by Newser writers and editors, assembled with supporting photos and videos from the files of the news story.
White House Seeks $1.2T Hike in Debt Limit
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 1:04 PM CST
(AP) -
The Obama administration will ask Congress to raise the nation's borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion this week, marking the third and final increase from a deal negotiated over summer. Treasury officials said the increase is necessary because the government will be within $100 billion of its current limit by Friday. The debt limit is the amount the...
Babysitter Admits Beating Indiana Girl to Death
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 12:53 PM CST
(Newser) -
Horrific new details in the murder of 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon : The neighbor who was watching her and her two sisters has admitted to beating her to death with a brick before dismembering her with a hacksaw and hiding her body parts, according to an affidavit released today. It does not, however, reveal what caused Michael Plumadore to murder the...
North Korea Wants South to Open Wallet
New York Times
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Dec 27, 2011 12:36 PM CST
(Newser) -
One thing hasn't changed in the dynamic of the two Koreas: The North wants its richer neighbor to pump in much-needed cash in the form of investments, reports the New York Times . The head of North Korea's parliament today pressed the issue when speaking with Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who paid...
Hey, Voters: Ignore the Pundits
Weekly Standard
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Dec 27, 2011 12:23 PM CST
(Newser) -
Are you a Republican from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Florida, wondering how to vote in your imminent primary or caucus? Then William Kristol has a pep talk for you in the latest Weekly Standard . Vote for the man or woman who you think will do the job best, he advises. "Ignore the proclamations of the pundits, the sophistries of...
Egypt Court Outlaws Military's Virginity Tests
CNN
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Dec 27, 2011 11:52 AM CST
(Newser) -
A court in Egypt has brought an end to a military tactic used to humiliate women arrested during protests: Virginity tests are no longer allowed, report CNN and al-Jazeera . A 25-year-old woman sued after she got arrested in March and had to undergo the procedure in front of a room full of leering soldiers. An army general defended the tests at...
China Debuts GPS Alternative
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 27, 2011 11:38 AM CST
(Newser) -
China isn’t depending on America’s Global Positioning System anymore—a development that could have military implications. The Beidou Navigation Satellite System went live today, broadcasting directions to China and its “surrounding area,” the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. has announced. Currently comprised...
Careful, Mitt: You Could Lose
fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com
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Dec 27, 2011 11:19 AM CST
(Newser) -
Conventional wisdom has crowned Mitt Romney the inevitable Republican nominee. His stock on Intrade shot up to 72% last night, and one of his strategists recently boasted that he couldn’t “see any scenario where we’re not the nominee." But calm down guys, writes Nate Silver in the New York Times , because “the scenario...
Starting Pay for Federal Workers Rises—a Lot
USA Today
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Dec 27, 2011 10:57 AM CST
(Newser) -
It’s a good time to be an entry-level federal worker, according to a new USA Today analysis: Starting pay is much higher today than it was for the same positions in years past. For example, the average salary for a 20- to 24-year-old government auto mechanic was $46,427 this year; five years ago, it was $36,750. For a 30- to 34-year-old lawyer,...
Zetas' New Tool in Mexico: National Radio Network
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 10:45 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Zeta cartel has secret weapons hidden in Mexican bushes and rooftops everywhere: radio antennas. Current and former US law enforcement officials tell the AP that the infamous cartel has a sophisticated, nationwide radio network that helps them coordinate their movements and keep tabs on law enforcement. “They're doing what any sensible...
Consumer Confidence Soars
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 10:27 AM CST
(Newser) -
Are American shoppers at last stepping back from the ledge? The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index shot up 10 points in December to 64.5, the AP reports. That's its highest reading since April and closing in on its post-recession peak of 72, which was achieved in February. Consumers were somewhat more upbeat in their view of the...
Victoria Jackson: Muslims Taking Over US
Huffington Post
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Dec 27, 2011 10:14 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Huffington Post delivers a belated Christmas present in the form of yet another bizarre Victoria Jackson story , this one unearthed from an episode of her web talk show that ran last week. On "PolitiChicks," the former Saturday Night Live cast member claims that the United States has been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, which...
10 Busted in Mall of America Brouhaha
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Dec 27, 2011 9:57 AM CST
(Newser) -
Retailers were hoping for a big day yesterday, but Minnesota's Mall of America might have preferred something smaller than a mob of hundreds of kids who wreaked havoc. At least 200 teens were involved in an hour-long melee that had shoppers scrambling and stores closing, some for the remainder of the evening, reports the Star-Tribune. Smaller...
FDA Dinged French Implants Maker in 2000
Reuters
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Dec 27, 2011 9:48 AM CST
(Newser) -
Interpol wants to arrest Poly Implant Protheses' founder , and a Dutch company that bought its implants is now cautioning women ... how could things get uglier for PIP? Maybe by way of the revelation that US health authorities expressed worry about PIP in May ... of the year 2000. That's nearly a full decade before European regulators began...
Van Halen Touring, With Roth Singing
Los Angeles Times
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Dec 27, 2011 9:09 AM CST
(Newser) -
Van Halen is back: The iconic rock band announced a tour yesterday featuring original members Eddie and Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth. (Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, replaced original bassist Michael Anthony in 2007.) The band has had its problems—the Los Angeles Times cites “that whole Gary Cherone nightmare of 1998,”...
Coming Soon: World's Highest Airport
Reuters
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Dec 27, 2011 9:05 AM CST
(Newser) -
It will soon take a little less effort to soar into the clouds: China will next year break ground on the world's highest airport. The $280 million airport is scheduled to open in 2015 in Tibet's Nagqu county. Its planned height: 14,553 feet above sea level, inching out the current title-holder, also located in Tibet, by about 334 feet. The...
18 Days Later, Sinead's 3rd Marriage Over
People
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Dec 27, 2011 8:48 AM CST
(Newser) -
Just when you thought it couldn’t get much worse than Kim Kardashian and her 72-day marriage , along comes Sinead O'Connor to beat that—by 54 days. Yes, O’Connor’s marriage to Barry Herridge is over just 18 days after it began, the singer revealed yesterday on her website . The couple had wed in Las Vegas on Dec. 8, ...
Man Busted After Mom Pleads for Help on Facebook
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 8:37 AM CST
(Newser) -
On Christmas Eve, a sort of Facebook miracle: A Utah woman posted a plea for help, saying that she and her 17-month-old son had been held against their will for five days, which eventually led to their rescue. Police have arrested the woman's live-in boyfriend, Troy Reed Critchfield, 33, on charges of aggravated kidnapping, forcible sodomy, aggravated...
With Week Til Iowa, Here's What We Know: Not Much
Sioux City Journal
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Dec 27, 2011 8:00 AM CST
(Newser) -
It's D-Day in Iowa in exactly one week, and with just seven days to go, things aren't exactly firming up among Republican voters. Most media reports use words like "fluid," "unsettled," and "muddled" to describe the situation there. Highlights of today's Iowa caucuses-centric news and analysis. It's...
Paul's Record: Quiet Futility
Washington Post
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Dec 27, 2011 7:58 AM CST
(Newser) -
Ron Paul has sponsored 620 measures in his 11-and-a-half terms in Congress, but only one of them has become a law—a bill allowing the sale of a Galveston customhouse to a historical society. That tells you much of what you need to know about Paul’s congressional record, which according to the Washington Post “stands out for its...
Syrian Army Leaving Homs
Bloomberg
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Dec 27, 2011 7:46 AM CST
(Newser) -
Soldiers and tanks began pulling out of Homs this morning, in response to the arrival of Arab League observers in Syria yesterday. Prior to the army’s retreat, fighting in Homs had been on the rise , with 34 civilians reportedly killed there yesterday. “The government’s goals haven’t changed fundamentally, but it appears...
Gingrich Gave RomneyCare the Thumbs Up in 2006
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 27, 2011 7:39 AM CST
(Newser) -
It's another "whoops" for Newt Gingrich: CNN yesterday broke the news that the candidate's story about how his first divorce went down wasn't exactly true . The Wall Street Journal today reveals the results of its own digging. It seems that while Gingrich has publicly panned Mitt Romney's Massachusetts healthcare law...
Congress Is Increasingly Richer Than You
Washington Post
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Dec 27, 2011 7:14 AM CST
(Newser) -
Before he ran for Congress in 1974, Gary Myers was a steel mill worker. His campaign set him back $33,000. Today, Myers’ seat is occupied by Mike Kelly, a wealthy car dealer who married into the Phillips oil fortune. His campaign cost $1.2 million. That contrast is emblematic of the widening wealth gap between members of Congress and their constituents,...
100 Kmart, Sears Stores to Get the Ax
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 6:40 AM CST
(Newser) -
It seems that the Kardashian Kollection alone wasn't enough to save Sears from a horrible holiday season. Sears Holdings Corp. today announced that it will close between 100 and 120 of its approximately 2,200 Kmart and Sears full-line stores, reports the Wall Street Journal . It expects the sale of those stores' inventory to bring in as...
Putin Offers to Talk to Protesters
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 27, 2011 6:29 AM CST
(Newser) -
After the biggest protests since the collapse of the Soviet Union , the Kremlin says it is willing to talk to protesters—but not to give ground on their main demands. A spokesman for Vladimir Putin says the prime minister is ready for "dialogue," but insists that Putin is still a lot more popular than the opposition, the Wall Street...
Yule Log Embers Linked to Deadly Christmas Inferno
New York Daily News
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Dec 27, 2011 6:09 AM CST
(Newser) -
Embers from a holiday Yule log may have triggered the horrific fire that killed the three young daughters and parents of a Connecticut advertising executive on Christmas Day. Madonna Badger, 47, was up until 3am with her boyfriend, wrapping gifts and making Christmas morning preparations; the two put embers from a Yule log burned that evening into...
Prince Philip Leaves Hospital
Daily Mirror (UK)
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Dec 27, 2011 6:02 AM CST
(Newser) -
Britain's Prince Philip left the hospital this morning after a four-night stay for heart surgery that saw him miss Christmas , reports the Mirror . The 90-year-old Duke of Edinburgh waved to media gathered outside Papworth Hospital, and appeared to be in good spirits. Philip was headed by car for the queen's Sandringham estate, where...
Brees Breaks Marino Passing Record
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 6:00 AM CST
(Newser) -
Drew Brees tossed for 307 yards and four touchdowns last night, securing his New Orleans Saints' place in the playoffs and his own in NFL history by shattering a 27-year-old season passing record held by Dan Marino. On his final pass of the game, Brees threw a nine-yard TD pass to put him over the top with 5,087 yards for the season—just...
Taylor Lautner Gay Cover Fakes Out Net
Gossip Cop
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Dec 27, 2011 5:57 AM CST
(Newser) -
A phony People magazine on which Taylor Lautner supposedly comes out of the closet is a fake, but it fooled plenty of people as it spread around the Internet, Gossip Cop reports. "Tired of rumors, the Twilight star opens up about his decision to finally come out,” reads the cover, which the magazine has confirmed is a fake. Def Jam...
In Iran, Fight Brews Over Blocked Broadcasts
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 27, 2011 5:25 AM CST
(Newser) -
Should Iran be allowed to use Western satellites to broadcast its state-run TV channels to dozens of countries while it continues to jam Persian language-channels from abroad? Human rights activists, who complain that Iran has stepped up censorship of channels such as the BBC and the Voice of America in recent months, are among those saying Tehran's...
French Breast Implants Sold Under New Name to Dutch
Reuters
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Dec 27, 2011 2:22 AM CST
(Newser) -
The potentially dangerous breast implants made by a French company accused of using cheap industrial-grade silicon were sold in at least one other country under a different name, Reuters has found. Implants made by Poly Implant Protheses were rebranded by a Dutch company that sold them to close to 1,000 women. Dutch health authorities have advised...
Missing Ind. Girl Found Dead, Babysitter Charged
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 1:49 AM CST
(Newser) -
The 9-year-old girl who vanished from an Indiana trailer park last week has been found dead, and the family friend who was watching her and her two sisters has been charged with her murder. County police and FBI agents learned the location of Aliahna Lemmon's body after interviewing 39-year-old Mike Plumadore, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel ...
China: Rotten Feed Causing Cancerous Milk
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 1:36 AM CST
(Newser) -
A cancer-causing toxin found in milk produced by two major dairy companies in China—including the nation's largest—is being caused by rotten feed fed to cows, say Chinese authorities. The mildewed feed is creating high levels of carcinogenic aflatoxin in milk in the latest dairy scandal to rock China. Authorities have ordered the tainted...
Marijuana Delivery Crews at Your Service
San Francisco Chronicle
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Dec 27, 2011 1:31 AM CST
(Newser) -
With the feds cracking down on medical marijuana shops, what's a responsible provider to do? Turn to the dope delivery man. More and more California operations are using medical marijuana couriers to get their weed into the hands of those who need it, operators tell the San Francisco Chronicle . Medithrive, for one example, was a pot dispensary...
Walmart Shopper Slugs 70-Year-Old Greeter: Cops
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Dec 27, 2011 12:55 AM CST
(Newser) -
A Walmart shopper in upstate New York slugged a 70-year-old store greeter who asked to look at the woman's receipts as she left, according to authorities. Jacquetta Simmons, 26, has been arrested and charged with two counts of assault for the attack that fractured the greeter's face and knocked her to the ground, said police. Simmons ran from...
Detroit Cops Link Trunk Murders to Escort Site
MSNBC
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Dec 27, 2011 12:11 AM CST
(Newser) -
Police in Detroit believe a killer may be targeting women who advertise adult escort services on backpage.com. Two dead women were found in the trunk of a burning car on Christmas morning, less than a week after the bodies of another two women were found in a car abandoned on the city's east side, the Detroit Free Press reports. No cause of...
Transplant Team Dies in Helicopter Crash
Associated Press
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Dec 27, 2011 12:01 AM CST
(Newser) -
A heart surgeon and a transplant expert from the Mayo Clinic were killed along with the pilot when their helicopter crashed in northern Florida as they raced to pick up a heart for transplant. The team was on its way from Jacksonville to Gainesville when the helicopter crashed in a remote area, AP reports. The viability of the heart they were going...
Yemeni Prez Will Receive Medical Care in US: Officials
New York Times
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Dec 26, 2011 7:18 PM CST
(Newser) -
The debate is apparently over : Washington will allow Yemen's embattled president to visit New York for medical treatment, US officials tell the New York Times . They say the move will effectively disempower Ali Abdullah Saleh by removing him from Yemen, where demonstrators are still waging a deadly battle for democracy. “In the end,...
Deer Love Grazing at FBI Shooting Range
Associated Press
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Dec 26, 2011 6:41 PM CST
(Newser) -
The busy FBI training ground in Quantico, Virginia, is a bit of a zoo—including foxes, turkeys, groundhogs, and free-roaming black bears. Most noticeable of all are the deer, which graze safely around the 547-acre academy despite the crackle of more than 1 million marksman bullets every month. "They're pretty immune to the sound,"...
Cuomo to Seek NYC Casinos
New York Daily News
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Dec 26, 2011 6:03 PM CST
(Newser) -
Fresh off his first year as New York governor, Andrew Cuomo promises to make "eye-catching" moves next year—including casinos in New York City. He'll start by asking the legislature next week to pass a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling, he tells the New York Daily News . “I’m not excluding any locations...
Iraq's Biggest Problem: Its Corrupt Banks
McClatchy Newspapers
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Dec 26, 2011 5:31 PM CST
(Newser) -
Eight years after the US invasion, Iraq still lacks reliable electricity, postal service, public transport, you name it. But many of these problems are fueled by a corrupt banking system that rejects market economics and funnels money to scams and greedy government officials, McClatchy reports. The worst offenders, critics say, are two bloated state...
Major Leaguer Hits Ump in Face
aol.sportingnews.com
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Dec 26, 2011 4:55 PM CST
(Newser) -
For any non-baseball fans out there, this is a huge no-no. Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba was playing in the Venezuelan League on Friday when he struck out badly and began yelling at the home plate umpire—probably over a strike call earlier in the at-bat. The two of them jaw for a good 15 seconds before Torrealba smacks the ump flat...
Elizabeth Warren Aligns Senate Bid With Occupy
Los Angeles Times
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Dec 26, 2011 4:25 PM CST
(Newser) -
Elizabeth Warren is embracing the Occupy movement in her Massachusetts Senate campaign, shocking political analysts and creating a test case for Democrats seeking to regain Congress, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Every candidate's watching her because she's something of a phenomenon," one analyst says. "They're not...
Abuse Experts Tremble Over Powerful New Painkillers
Associated Press
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Dec 26, 2011 3:50 PM CST
(Newser) -
A more powerful version of America's second-most abused medicine is likely headed for a doctor's office near you, the AP reports. Four companies are in the patient-testing phase of painkillers that will be up to 10 times more effective than Vicodin thanks to a highly addictive ingredient called hydrocodone. Critics are targeting one pill...
FBI Joins Hunt for Indiana Girl
Associated Press
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Dec 26, 2011 3:30 PM CST
(AP) -
FBI agents descended today upon the Indiana mobile home park where a 9-year-old girl went missing from a family friend's home on Friday, adding new urgency to the investigation after local authorities had called off the search after a single day. Some agents with search dogs searched a nearby storage facility for Aliahna Lemmon, but though some...
Fashion Exec's Charred House Torn Down
New York Post
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Dec 26, 2011 3:12 PM CST
(Newser) -
Survivors are trying to pick up the pieces after the furious blaze that engulfed a $1.7 million-dollar Connecticut home yesterday, killing the parents and children of fashion marketing executive Madonna Badger, the New York Post reports. Her father, Lomer Johnson, had just landed his dream holiday-season job—one befitting his real white...
Whoops: Court Papers Show Newt Filed 1st Divorce
CNN
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Dec 26, 2011 2:55 PM CST
(Newser) -
More bad news for Newt on the marriage front: Looks like his version of his first divorce doesn't quite add up. Court papers show that he divorced Jackie Gingrich 13 years ago, and not the other way around, as his website contends . "The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken," his divorce complaint read—at a time when...
Lady Gaga's Ex-Assistant Sues
New York Post
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Dec 26, 2011 2:40 PM CST
(Newser) -
Lady Gaga just can't get good help these days: At least not the kind who will seamlessly handle all aspects of her life, manage her crazy wardrobe, wait at her beck and call at all hours, and not sue for their trouble. Seems one Jennifer O'Neill is suing Gaga for some $380,000 in unpaid overtime for her 13 months on the $75,000-a-year job,...
Kabul Demands Lead Role in Taliban Talks
Reuters
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Dec 26, 2011 2:02 PM CST
(Newser) -
Afghanistan today told foreign powers to take a back seat in talks with the Taliban and let Kabul lead the way, Reuters reports. Afghanistan's High Peace Council put its foot down after the US, Qatar, and Germany secretly set up an office for the Taliban in Qatar to continue negotiations. “Afghans must be in the lead in the talks,”...
S. Korea's Former First Lady Meets Kim Jong Un
BBC
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Dec 26, 2011 1:37 PM CST
(Newser) -
South Korea's 89-year-old former first lady is in Pyongyang meeting with the North's new 20-something "Supreme Commander," reports the BBC . Lee Hee-Ho, the wife of late President Kim Dae-Jung, headed one of two delegations South Korea allowed to visit Pyongyang to pay respects to Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il. Lee met with...
Arab League Observers Land in Syria
Reuters
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Dec 26, 2011 1:02 PM CST
(Newser) -
Arab League monitors are officially on the ground in Syria, reports Reuters . The Arab League delegation includes some 50 monitors and 10 other officials, and will eventually number 150 people working to ensure that Bashar al-Assad is in fact backing off his nine-month-long crackdown on protesters. The monitors come not a moment too soon, as Syria...
