Honeymooning? Stay at Hotel Saddam

Group may be looking to exploit the chaos

(NEWSER) - Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch is moving into the chaos in Syria, and is responsible for two recent bombings and most likely yesterday's bombing in Aleppo , US officials tell McClatchy . Intelligence reports seem to back up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assertions—disputed by the opposition—that al-Qaeda has been involved in the 11-month uprising. More»

Just 10% approve of work on Hill, according to latest Gallup poll

(NEWSER) - A Gallup poll released Wednesday finds that Americans' approval of Congress has hit yet another record low: 10%. There aren't many institutions Americans have liked less over the last 50-or-so years, according to Gallup: Only Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and OJ Simpson detective Mark Fuhrman have ever scored lower. ABC News takes a look at some very unpopular things that still manage to rank above Congress:

• According to an August poll, Paris Hilton is America's least-favorite celeb. But her 60% disapproval rating is still better than Congress's 86% disapproval rating.

Ryugyong Hotel a longtime laughingstock

(NEWSER) - More than two decades ago, North Korea began work on a hotel taller than the Chrysler Building. This spring, after years of ridicule, a portion of Pyongyang's Ryugyong Hotel is set to open, the Washington Post reports. The 105-story building made of concrete still isn't ready for tourists, however: It will start as an office complex. The opening is thanks in part to contributions from an Egyptian telecom company—as well as construction work by university students that the government assigned to the project. More»

Agency expects to maintain large stations there for years

(NEWSER) - US troops may be leaving Iraq and Afghanistan, but the CIA isn't. The agency's stations in the two countries may see staffing levels fall off a bit, but they'll remain its biggest overseas locations for years, officials tell the Washington Post . The Obama administration is counting on the spies, along with Special Operations forces, to protect US interests as troops depart. "I would say the agency will be the last to leave," says one CIA veteran. "We were the first to get there." More»

State Department is operating surveillance drones in the country

(NEWSER) - Many Iraqi officials are outraged that the US is operating drones in the country a month after the American military left, calling the drones a violation of Iraq's sovereignty, reports the New York Times . It's the State Department, not the CIA or Pentagon, that's behind the program, and it says the drones—which are surveillance, not armed, drones—are only there to help provide security to our embassy and consulates. But many Iraq officials bristle at suggestion. “Our sky is our sky, not the USA’s sky," said Iraq's acting minister of the interior, who, along with other officials, says the US has yet to request formal approval from Iraq to run the program. More»