WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama defended America's drone attacks as legal, effective and necessary in America's campaign to counter terrorism.
But he acknowledged the targeted strikes are no "cure-all" and said Thursday he was haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed. He said he had signed new policy guidelines for the use of drones and said he wanted to find ways to allow additional oversight of the program.
Some questions and...
Out with the global war on terror. In with more narrowly targeted counterterrorism policies that persistently zero in on violent extremists at home and abroad.
President Barack Obama on Thursday laid out a counterterrorism strategy for a post 9/11, postwar world that he said seeks to strike the right balance between providing security and safeguarding civil rights in an open society. He said that plan includes more oversight of U.S. drone strikes, shutting down the U.S....
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Barack Obama pushed his health care overhaul plan through Congress, he counted labor unions among his strongest supporters.
But some unions leaders have grown frustrated and angry about what they say are unexpected consequences of the new law — problems that they say could jeopardize the health benefits offered to millions of their members.
The issue could create a political headache next year for Democrats facing re-...
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An elementary school principal has inspired the University of Wisconsin-Madison to create a new wheelchair lift that could help make more places wheelchair accessible.
The invention process began three years ago when the principal at Emerson Elementary School in Madison, Karen Kepler, told a school donor her biggest wish was for her building to become accessible to everyone. All four entrances had stairs.
The donor went to the...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service official who led the unit that targeted tea party groups and publicly disclosed the activity has been replaced, making her the third top IRS official moved aside since the episode was revealed two weeks ago.
Lois Lerner was put on administrative leave on Thursday, said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and two congressional aides.
Without naming Lerner, new Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel emailed...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Forecasting the changing nature of threats against the U.S. for years to come, President Barack Obama says "America is at a crossroads." And so, too, is his presidency's counterterrorism policy, which has long struggled to balance protecting the nation from terror attacks while upholding Americans' rights.
The Obama administration this week acknowledged that four Americans have been killed — three of whom were not specifically targeted — in secretive...
MOORE, Okla. (AP) — After living nearly 20 years in their one-story brick home, Sherry and Larry Wells finally won the lottery — for a state rebate on a home storm shelter, that is. A contractor finished installing the concrete bunker beneath the slab of their garage in early May. About three weeks later, the shelter saved their lives when a tornado that killed 24 people tore through their neighborhood.
Should residential storm shelters be mandatory in the midst of...
"We have a ton of people now. It's just like buying a refrigerator or a stove for your house. You put in a storm shelter." — Moore, Okla. community development director Elizabeth Jones.
___
"I was thinking that today could be my last day as a Boy Scout. Obviously, for gay Scouts like me, this vote is life-changing." — Pascal Tessier, a 16-year-old Boy Scout from Maryland, reacts to Boy Scouts of America's decision to accept openly gay youth as scouts...
MOORE, Okla. (AP) — One loved unicorns. Another, nicknamed "ladybug," sang country songs. Another dreamed of one day owning a pontoon boat.
When a top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, Okla., it took with it 24 lives. Seven of them were children at Plaza Towers Elementary school; two were only babies.
These are the victims' stories.
___
JaNae Hornsby, 9
One of seven children...
MIAMI (AP) — During a hurricane, the storm surge poses the greatest threat to life and land, yet many people don't even know what it means.
Simply put, storm surge is the abnormal rise of sea water. Predicting it is far more complicated and explaining it is tricky, too, as forecasters at the National Hurricane Center discovered, again, during a review of Superstorm Sandy.
This hurricane season, forecasters hope to offer easy-to-understand color-coded...
WHIZ-TV
WHIZscores
