Thursday, December 31, 2009

OC megachurch pastor asks for urgent donations (AP)


AP - Evangelical pastor Rick Warren appealed to parishioners at his Orange County megachurch Wednesday to help fill a $900,000 deficit by the first of the year.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Raising a Family in France (BusinessWeek)


BusinessWeek - As a young adult, when I heard the acronym "MBA," images of Ivy League campuses and postgraduation yuppiedom came to mind. Now, as the wife of a business school admissions veteran, my thoughts have evolved. The term "business school" does not merely symbolize an edifice filled with ambitious, bright minds, but a journey that begins long before orientation week.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

No trial, but Nev gov


AP - Gov. Jim Gibbons smiled when the judge presiding over what promised to be a salacious and sensational four-day divorce trial asked if Gibbons' settlement with the first lady was fair and equitable.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Hawaii univ. president


AP - A letter from the president of the University of Hawaii declaring that labor negotiations are at an "impasse" prompted the union that represents faculty to declare it is ready to go to court.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Religion news in brief (AP)


AP - Students filtered into the pews as church bells rang to mark the start of a Wyoming Catholic College noon mass, a service conducted in Latin on a recent fall day.

Vatican defends move on World War II-era pope (AP)

 
AP - The Vatican sought Wednesday to quell its latest public dispute with Jewish groups, saying the pope's decision to move Pope Pius XII closer to sainthood isn't an act of hostility against those who say he failed to sufficiently denounce the Holocaust.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Pittsburgh won


AP - Pittsburgh officials shelved an idea for a first-of-its-kind tax on college tuition after two universities and a nonprofit health insurer agreed on Monday to make large contributions to the city.

Study: Schools face shortfalls after stimulus ends (AP)


AP - Using federal stimulus money to avoid layoffs at schools is going to create a shortfall even more difficult for states and schools to contend with when that money runs out, according to a first-of-its-kind study released Monday.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Career Education drops as accreditor questioned (AP)


AP - Shares of for-profit education company Career Education Corp. fell for a second day Friday after new government scrutiny raised concern that the accreditation of one of its schools may be in jeopardy, potentially making it ineligible for federal student loans.

Mullen worried Yemen becoming terrorist

 
AP - Adm. Mike Mullen is applauding a military strike in Yemen against suspected members of the al-Qaida terrorist group.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Judge calls for review in case of freed man (AP)


AP - Investigators at the U.S. Justice Department are being asked to look into the case of a man freed from prison this week after 28 years because DNA tests showed he was innocent.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Mass. woman charged with murder in womb-cut case (AP)


AP - A Massachusetts woman who allegedly faked her own pregnancy has been charged with killing her pregnant friend, cutting her baby girl from her womb and kidnapping the infant.

Madoff claims to be redone if court balks at method (Reuters)

 
Reuters - The trustee winding down Bernard Madoff's company vowed on Thursday to redo every claim by thousands of customers defrauded in the multibillion dollar swindle if a judge decides that the method he is using to determine reimbursements is wrong.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Pope calls for action on climate change (AP)


AP - Pope Benedict XVI called for urgent action to protect the environment, saying Tuesday that climate change and natural catastrophes threaten the rights to life, food, health — and ultimately peace.

Mass. 2nd-grader sent home for crucifix drawing (AP)


AP - An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Swiss Muslims protest minaret ban (AP)


AP - Around 700 Swiss Muslims peacefully protested against their country's minaret ban on Saturday, with speakers denouncing what they called a hate campaign against Islam.

Flynt wins partial victory in fight over his name (AP)

 
AP - The porn family feud that played out in federal court this week ended in a draw Friday when a jury ruled that Larry Flynt's estranged nephews infringed on their famous uncle's trademark when they launched their own smut business, but did not invade his privacy and were not liable for the substantial attorney fees both sides rang up.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Student, 18, wounded in shooting at La. school (AP)


AP - Police in the northwestern Louisiana city of Shreveport say a female student was shot on the grounds of a high school and a suspect was arrested.

Swiss Muslims protest minaret ban (AP)


AP - Around 700 Swiss Muslims peacefully protested against their country's minaret ban on Saturday, with speakers denouncing what they called a hate campaign against Islam.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Arsonists torch Bronx synagogue-turned-church (AP)


AP - A former Bronx synagogue that was turned into a church was torched by assailants who smeared Satanic graffiti on its walls.

Anna Nicole


AP - Anna Nicole Smith's two doctors and her lawyer-boyfriend have pleaded not guilty to drug conspiracy charges, and a judge has refused to suspend the physicians' medical licenses.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Police end SF State Univ sit-in; 33 arrested (AP)


AP - Police have arrested several San Francisco State University students who barricaded themselves inside a campus building to protest budget cuts and fee hikes.

A parent

 
AP - It's a dilemma no parent wants to face — fearing a son or daughter may be mixed up in terrorism, wondering whether to turn in a loved one.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

LA schools approve plan to cut 5,000 jobs (AP)


AP - The Los Angeles school board has approved a budget plan that calls for more than 5,000 job cuts.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Knox, boyfriend make final appeals in sex murder trial (AFP)

 
AFP - American Amanda Knox asked a jury not to put the "killer's mask" on her as she and her boyfriend made emotional final appeals Thursday denying the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

More charges expected in NYC terror plot (AP)


AP - Federal authorities expect to file more charges in an alleged plot by an al-Qaida associate to attack New York City with homemade bombs, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Religion News in Brief (AP)


AP - A court in northern China has sentenced five leaders of an unauthorized Protestant church to prison terms of up to seven years on charges including illegal assembly, rights groups reported.

Rare exhibition brings together Spanish sacred art (AP)


AP - An unprecedented exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art is drawing visitors from around the world to see 71 pieces from 45 lenders in Spain, Mexico, Peru and other countries.

Monday, November 30, 2009

AP Impact: For-profit colleges haul in gov

 
AP - Students aren't the only ones benefiting from the billions of new dollars Washington is spending on college aid for the poor.

Panel to Hold Hearing on State Dinner Gate Crashers (Bloomberg)


Bloomberg - Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The House Homeland Security
Committee will hold a hearing on Dec. 3 to investigate how an
uninvited couple slipped past security at last week’s state
dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons (AP)


AP - Ariana Leonard's high school students shuffled in their seats, eagerly awaiting a cue from their Spanish teacher that the assignment would begin.

AP Impact: For-profit colleges haul in gov

 
AP - Students aren't the only ones benefiting from the billions of new dollars Washington is spending on college aid for the poor.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Education salaries grow


AP - Salary costs have jumped in Louisiana's education department, even as the number of full-time employees dropped, and the number of people drawing six-figure paychecks has more than doubled in the two years since Paul Pastorek took charge of the agency.

Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons (AP)


AP - Ariana Leonard's high school students shuffled in their seats, eagerly awaiting a cue from their Spanish teacher that the assignment would begin.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Nev. teen accused in son


AP - A judge in Nevada has ruled that the case of a Las Vegas-area teen accused of smothering her newborn son can go to trial.

Ore. train operator fired; ignored calls for help (AP)


AP - Portland's mass transit agency has fired a light-rail train operator who ignored a father's calls for help after his 3-year-old son was left behind at a station last week.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Mumbai commemorates anniversary of attacks (AP)

 
AP - Black-clad commandos rappelled down a building and Mumbai's police showed off their new gear Thursday in what was intended as a reassuring display of force a year after a terror attack across the city killed 166 people.

Ore. train operator fired; ignored calls for help (AP)


AP - Portland's mass transit agency has fired a light-rail train operator who ignored a father's calls for help after his 3-year-old son was left behind at a station last week.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Missouri competes for


AP - Missouri must be willing to overhaul its education system and develop new teaching methods to compete for more than $4 billion in federal funds, the state's top education and political leaders said.

Southern Baptist president has prostate cancer (AP)


AP - Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt says that he has prostate cancer and expects to have surgery in January.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Fort Hood soldiers prepare for battle with scars from rampage (AFP)

 
AFP - Countless commanders in the US Army have prepared battalions for war since the terrorist attacks of September 11, but none of them had do it after losing soldiers in a shooting spree on a home base.

Number of hate crimes up slightly in US: FBI (AFP)

 
AFP - The number of US hate crime victims rose slightly last year to nearly 9,700 from 9,500 in 2007, with most people targeted because of their skin color, the FBI said Monday.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Atheist student groups flower on college campuses (AP)

 
AP - The sign sits propped on a wooden chair, inviting all comers: "Ask an Atheist."

Taliban suffocate Pakistan Buddhist heritage (AFP)

 
AFP - Archaeologists warn that the Taliban are destroying Pakistan's ancient Gandhara heritage and rich Buddhist legacy as pilgrimage and foreign research dries up in the country's northwest.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Emotion as life term sought for US student in Italy (AFP)

 
AFP - American student Amanda Knox exclaimed "I was her friend!" as Italian prosecutors Saturday demanded she be jailed for life for the 2007 murder of her British housemate Meredith Kercher.

Report finds wide disparities in gifted education (AP)


AP - When Liz Fitzgerald realized her son and daughter were forced to read books in math class while the other children caught up, she had them moved into gifted classes at their suburban Atlanta elementary school.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Ringleader in tower terrorism plot to be sentenced (AP)


AP - The ringleader of a group of men convicted of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices is scheduled to be sentenced.

Russian Orthodox priest shot dead in Moscow church (AP)


AP - A gunman killed a Russian Orthodox priest in his Moscow church and seriously wounded the reverend's assistant, officials said Friday.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Gates Foundation gives


AP - Three school districts and a coalition of charter schools have agreed to be test kitchens for some radical ideas for improving teacher quality — from paying new teachers to spend another year practicing before getting their own class to letting student test scores affect teacher pay.

Protesters gather at UCLA to oppose UC fee hike (AP)


AP - Hundreds of protesters chanted, marched and took over a building Thursday on the UCLA campus, where University of California regents were scheduled to vote on a 32 percent student fee increase.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Probe continues in Chicago BOE president


AP - Divers returned to the Chicago River and investigators scoured cell phone records Tuesday as police declined to call the death of the city's school board president a suicide a day after an autopsy concluded he shot himself in the head.

Guantanamo suspect denied military lawyers in N.Y. (Reuters)


Reuters - The first detainee transferred from Guantanamo Bay to face charges in a U.S. civilian court will not be represented by military lawyers as he had requested, a U.S. judge in New York ruled on Wednesday.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Bishops assert moral duty in health care debate (AP)

 
AP - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops defended their involvement in the health care debate, saying Monday that church leaders have a duty to the nation and God to raise moral concerns on any issue, including on abortion rights and coverage for the poor.

Chicago schools president


AP - Chicago's school board president shot himself in the head, officials said, as city leaders grappled with more bad news for a district trying to recover from the beating death of a high school student and a federal investigation into allegations of politically influenced admissions.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Illinois lobbies to land Guantanamo detainees (AFP)

 
AFP - The state of Illinois is lobbying hard to land relocated Guantanamo detainees despite strenuous opposition to bringing the terrorism suspects to the United States, top lawmakers said Sunday.

Five arrested in anti-terror raids (AFP)

 
AFP - Anti-terror police arrested five people on Monday in pre-dawn raids in Manchester and near London's Heathrow airport, officials said.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Germans ID convert, 27, as terror suspect (AP)

 
AP - Authorities have identified a 27-year-old German convert to Islam as an al-Qaida associate suspected of traveling to Afghanistan and planning to attack German targets.

Serb Patriarch Pavle dies, spoke for Balkan peace (AP)

 
AP - Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle, who called for peace and conciliation during the Balkan ethnic wars of the 1990s but failed to openly condemn extreme Serb nationalism, died Sunday. He was 95.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Ft Hood shooter failings to be held to account: Obama (Reuters)


Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday he would hold to account those who missed warning signs that could have prevented a shooting rampage on a Texas army base earlier this month that killed 13 people.

Malta


AP - The bishop of Malta says Pope Benedict XVI will visit the tiny Mediterranean island April 17-18 to mark the 1950th anniversary of St. Paul's shipwreck.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Ex-pastor Ted Haggard holds home prayer meeting (AP)

 
AP - Former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard says a well-attended prayer meeting at his home wasn't the start of a new church, but a sign of his resurrection three years after he was forced to resign amid a sex scandal.

Police say 2nd suspect admitted kidnapping NC girl (AP)

 
AP - A North Carolina man has admitted to kidnapping a 5-year-old girl, authorities said Friday, but investigators still have not found the child more than three days after she disappeared from a mobile home park.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Lawyer: FBI asked Mass. suspect to be informant (AP)

 
AP - The lawyer for a Massachusetts man accused of conspiring in an alleged terror plot says his client was charged only after he refused three attempts by the FBI to recruit him as an informant.

Army: Fort Hood suspect charged with murder (AP)


AP - The Army psychiatrist suspected in a deadly rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, has been charged in a military court with 13 counts of premeditated murder.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Catholic documents in oldest US city preserved (AP)

 
AP - Sister Catherine Bitzer slowly opened a file box and carefully removed a brittle page, scarred by years of neglectful storage, mold and insects. At 415 years old, the marriage record written by a Roman Catholic priest is still readable and is one of the oldest known European records from the United States.

Salt Lake OKs gay rights laws with Mormon backing (AP)

 
AP - The Mormon church for the first time has announced its support of gay rights legislation, an endorsement that helped gain unanimous approval for Salt Lake city laws banning discrimination against gays in housing and employment.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

AP: Pa. music church settles suit, bans concerts (AP)


AP - The leader of a western Pennsylvania church is settling a federal lawsuit by pulling the plug on jam band concerts he says were religious services.

Marine reservist accused of attacking Greek priest (AP)


AP - A Marine reservist has been charged with attacking a Greek Orthodox priest he mistook for an Arab terrorist.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Priests Spar Over What It Means to Be Catholic (Time.com)


Time.com - A pair of prelates face off over pro-choice politicians in an unusually public dispute that threatens to split American Catholics

Vatican opens door to Anglicans (AFP)

 
AFP - The Vatican eased the way Monday for Anglicans unhappy with the Church of England's ordination of female and homosexual clergy to convert to Catholicism.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

4th Chicago teen charged in videotaped beating (AP)


AP - A fourth teen is facing murder charges in the beating death of a Chicago high school honor student last month.

Senator: Senate will investigate Army shootings (AP)


AP - The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee says he plans to begin a congressional investigation of the shootings at Fort Hood.

4th Chicago teen charged in videotaped beating (AP)


AP - A fourth teen is facing murder charges in the beating death of a Chicago high school honor student last month.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Some fear backlash against Muslims in US military (AP)

 
AP - Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's family says he confided in them that he felt harassed as a Muslim in the U.S. military — and wasn't treated as an American and soldier should be.

Spat over


AP - An effort to honor a Sept. 11 victim in Connecticut has been halted by the unexpected conflict arising from the victim's father insisting that his son's memorial say he was murdered by "Muslim terrorists."

Friday, November 6, 2009

Fort Hood suspect said methodical goodbyes (AP)

 
AP - As if going off to war, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan cleaned out his apartment, gave leftover frozen broccoli to one neighbor and called another to thank him for his friendship — common courtesies and routines of the departing soldier. Instead, authorities say, he went on the killing spree that left 13 people dead.

Former NYC Police Commissioner Kerik pleads guilty (AP)

 
AP - Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik admitted in court Thursday that he lied to the White House while being considered for chief of Homeland Security.

Manager: Muslim sticker removed from suspect

 
AP - An apartment complex manager says the man accused of opening fire at Fort Hood, Texas recently had a religious bumper sticker torn off his car.

4th Chicago teen charged in videotaped beating (AP)


AP - A fourth teen is facing murder charges in the beating death of a Chicago high school honor student last month.

Manager: Muslim sticker removed from suspect

 
AP - An apartment complex manager says the man accused of opening fire at Fort Hood, Texas recently had a religious bumper sticker torn off his car.

US reels after Muslim doctor kills 13 on army base (AFP)

 
AFP - A stunned nation battled to understand Friday why a Muslim army psychiatrist may have snapped, mowing down 13 people and wounding 30 others in a massacre at a sprawling US military base.

Neb. senator takes issue with student loan stance (AP)


AP - U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns said Thursday that his concern for Nebraska families is what's driving his opposition to legislation that would turn control of student loans over to the government — not lobbying from private student loan provider Nelnet Inc. of Lincoln.