Author: Dashiell Bennett

Obama Is Set to Reset the War on Terror

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

On Thursday, the president plans to deliver a speech focusing drone attacks and military detention — a pretty sweeping agenda for a simple policy speech, one that might signal a sea change in America's counterterrorism efforts, and Obama's foreign policy legacy.

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 29, 2013

Tibetan Miners Buried in Landslide

Chinese state media has reported that 83 workers have been buried in a massive landslide in Tibet, but that efforts are being made to bring them out alive. Those efforts aren't looking too good.

Comments | 703 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 29, 2013

NPR's Talk of the Nation Is Signing Off

"East Coast liberal elites" have lost another outlet for their opinions now that National Public Radio is putting an end to one of its signature shows.

Comments | 2,635 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 29, 2013

Pervez Musharraf Greeted by Shoe Thrower on His Return to Pakistan

Returning to the country he once ruled to face his critics — and possibly prison — former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf found at least one countryman who wasn't happy to see him.

Comments | 351 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 29, 2013

This Horrible Dentist Put 7,000 Patients in Danger

An oral surgeon in Tulsa has set off a local health panic after the health department discovered his disgusting office practices may have infected thousands of patients.

Comments | 3,087 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 28, 2013

Florida Gulf Coast Is the Best Argument Against Paying College Athletes

The biggest story of the NCAA tournament so far is the shocking run to the Sweet 16 pulled off by little-known Florida Gulf Coast University. Everybody loves when a plucky David comes out of nowhere to take down an overhyped Goliath. But if some fans had their way, they'd change college sports so dramatically that we might never see the likes of the Eagles this deep into March ever again.

Comments | 20,572 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 28, 2013

Newtown Documents Reveal Adam Lanza's Massive Arsenal & NRA Papers

New police documents were released today from the ongoing investigation into the Sandy Hook school shooting, including search records that reveal shooter Adam Lanza had amassed a gigantic home arsenal. Here's what they found.

Comments | 21,391 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 28, 2013

All Is Calm as Cyprus Banks Re-Open After 12 Days

Banks in Cyprus re-opened today for the first time in nearly two weeks, but the only "bank run" that has developed is the crush of reporters hoping to document the (non-existent) chaos.

Comments | 526 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 28, 2013

Oscar Pistorius Can Leave South Africa Again

Lawyers for Oscar Pistorius have successfully lobbied a judge to relax the sprinter's bail conditions so that he can travel abroad while awaiting his murder trial.

Comments | 877 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 27, 2013

Where to Find This Year's Peabody Award Winners Online

What do Vladimir Putin, Lorne Michaels, Tibetan nomads, Dr. Who, a Japanese children's show, and Lena Dunham all have in common? They all caught the eye — as subject, storyteller, or both — of this year's Peabody Awards committee. Here's how to enjoy each, in just one click.

Comments | 1,051 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 27, 2013

The CIA Has an Undercover Female Boss

A day after Julia Pierson became the first woman director of the Secret Service, it was learned that the head of the CIA's most secretive division has its first female chief as well.

Comments | 3,851 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 27, 2013

Half of All U.S. Rivers Are Too Polluted for Our Health

new report by the Environmental Protection Agency found that the majority of rivers and streams in this country can't support healthy aquatic life and the trend is going in the wrong direction.

Comments | 5,913 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 27, 2013

North Korea: 'War May Break Out Any Moment'

We didn't think it was possible, but the North Koreans found a completely new way to threaten the South—but this one might actually affect the lives of some people who live below the DMZ.

Comments | 4,199 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 26, 2013

Francis May Be First Pope in 110 Years to Decline Swank Real-Estate Upgrade

One of the perks of being named the Bishop of Rome is a sweet apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square, but Pope Francis being Pope Francis, the new pontiff is just fine in his current digs.

Comments | 3,017 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 26, 2013

The $1 Million Reward for Chris Dorner Just Shrunk He Wasn't Found Alive

The Riverside City Council in California wants to make it perfectly that when they offered $100,000 for the "arrest and conviction" of the fugitive cop-turned-killer, they meant arrest and conviction — not "burned to death in a mountain cabin." 

Comments | 1,098 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 26, 2013

Constant Threats to Destroy the World Keep North Korea's PR Man Busy

Just in case no one understood them after all those other threats, the North Koreans announced today that their army is now on "combat duty posture No. 1." And the Spaniard behind the world's most ubiquitous propaganda machine is ready to explain.

Comments | 2,266 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 26, 2013

Autopsy Says Boris Berezovsky Hanged Himself

A corner in England has ruled that Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky died by hanging, and despite the temptation to assume otherwise, there are no signs of foul play.

Comments | 871 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 26, 2013

The Amanda Knox Trial Will Have a Sequel

Almost a year-and-a-half after her original murder conviction was overturned, the Italian supreme court has overturned that acquittal, opening the door for another sensational trial of American student Amanda Knox.

Comments | 4,183 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 25, 2013

Israel's 'Prisoner X' Might Have Just Been a Really Bad Spy

One of the many mysteries surrounding the tale of an alleged Mossad spy who killed himself after arrested by his own people — why was he in jail in the first place? — may have answered, and it involves moles, double agents, and Hezbollah.

Comments | 1,914 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 25, 2013

Mike Rogers Thinks Syria Crossed a Line, Even If No One Else Does

U.S. intelligence sources spent most of last week tamping down the idea that the Syrians have begun using chemical weapons on each other. So why isn't Representative Mike Rogers going along with them?

Comments | 717 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 25, 2013

Cyprus Gets Its Late-Night Bailout

It took all weekend, but European finance chieftains finally clinched a deal that will keep Cyprus afloat—by taking a heavy toll from their wealthiest customers.

Comments | 1,391 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 22, 2013

How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Drones

The use of drones is maybe the most important topic in the realm of national security right now, and no matter how much the powers that be would prefer not to talk about, they can't stop nervous people from asking lots of questions about them. But they can try to make people feel a little less icky about drones and maybe even start to like them a bit.

Comments | 693 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 22, 2013

The Clock Is Ticking for Cyprus

Russia turned down the offer to bail Cyprus out of a jam and now the island is going back to the drawing board to try and pull off a financial miracle.

Comments | 1,213 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 22, 2013

New 'Cosmic Blueprint' Lets Us Look at the Earliest Days of the Universe

Scientists at the European Space Agency have released the "oldest" picture we have of our universe, revealing a map of cosmic radiation that shows what our skies looked like at the very earliest moments of creation. 

Comments | 173 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 22, 2013

Marine Kills 2, Then Himself at Quantico Base

Authorities in Quantico, Virginia, have lifted a area-wide lockdown after a Marine who shot and killed two co-workers was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot.

Comments | 2,599 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 21, 2013

Suicide Bomber Kills Top Syrian Cleric at Mosque in Potential Turning Point

A leading Sunni imam with close ties to Bashar al-Assad was killed today, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside his mosque — a potential turning point that risks pushing the conflict from a war to unseat Assad into a Sunni vs. Shia grudge match.

Comments | 1,038 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 21, 2013

How Russia Can Save Cyprus and the Euro (for a Steep Price)

The government of Cyprus has until Monday to figure out how raise 6 billion euros worth of emergency funds or the European Central Bank will pull the plug on their end of the bailout deal. And the one and only backup plan is in the hands of the one country you probably don't want to be in hock to: Russia.

Comments | 1,384 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 21, 2013

Gaza Fires Rockets into Israel as Obama Goes to the West Bank

On the same Barack Obama made his first visit to the West Bank as President and held talks with Mahmoud Abbas, militants in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel, underlining the divisions still faced between not just Israelis and Palestinian, but within the two factions.

Comments | 519 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 21, 2013

What Did North Korea Threaten to Blow Up Today?

It seems like every day now that North Korea has some sort of threat, warning, accusation, or other message to send about the "flames of justice" they are ready to hand out to anyone who messes with them. Today brings two potential targets.

Comments | 5,309 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 20, 2013

Obama's 1st Day in Israel, in Photo-Ops

The President of the United States is in Israel, in case you hadn't heard. How did he spend his first presidential afternoon in the Holy Land? Let's take a visual tour, with vacation slides!

Comments | 1,036 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 20, 2013

Reading Between the Red Lines in Syria

Did Syria use chemical weapons on its own people? If the verdict comes back "yes," then what? Will U.S. troops invade or bomb the country, as Republicans have suggested? Give the rebels all the guns they need? Welcome to the land of no consequences.

Comments | 861 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 20, 2013

Is the CIA Getting Out of the Drone Business?

Daniel Klaidman of The Daily Beast reports that the White House will soon take the power to launch lethal drone strikes away from the CIA and make the program the exclusive domain of the Defense Department.

Comments | 863 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 20, 2013

South Korean Websites Taken Down In Possible Cyberattack From the North

The web servers of three television networks and three major banks in South Korea were brought down by cyber attacks earlier today and, naturally, the first suspected culprit is North Korean hackers.

Comments | 690 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 19, 2013

What's at Stake for Obama in Israel

Barack Obama climbs aboard Air Force One tonight for what is, in some circles, the most anticipated trip of his precedency: a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank.

Comments | 517 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 19, 2013

The Problem with Cyprus' New New Deal

After widespread anger over the plan to tax regular people's bank accounts to pay for a big bank bailout, Cyprus's government reworked to the deal to protect small savers. Unfortunately, the new tax plan is unlikely to change anyone's mind about the fairness of having their savings taken away.

Comments | 517 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 19, 2013

The Inauguration of Pope Francis

In a giant inaugural mass before more than 100,000 worshipers in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis was officially installed as then new head of the Catholic Church.

Comments | 9,476 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 18, 2013

Support for Gay Marriage Has Never Been Higher

A major new poll not only reveals some of the largest support ever seen for same-sex marriage in the United States, but also show how dramatic the reversal of public opinion has been in just the last ten years.

Comments | 517 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 18, 2013

Mike Bloomberg Trades War on Soda for War on Cigarettes

Undeterred by his recent setback in the battle over big soda, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has turned his attention back to one of his original health enemies — smoking.

Comments | 345 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 18, 2013

Hillary Clinton Officially Supports Gay Marriage Now

Non-politician Hillary Clinton has officially decided that she supports same-sex marriage, announcing her position in a video for Human Rights Campaign.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 18, 2013

What Went Wrong in Cyprus?

Global markets are on edge today after it was learned over the weekend that Cyprus would be getting a bank bailout from the European Central Bank, along with a very controversial provision that could hurt every citizen in the country.

Comments | 2,069 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 18, 2013

Obama Finds His New Labor Secretary

Thomas Perez, a civil rights lawyer in the Obama Justice Department, is about to be nominated to be the new Secretary of Labor, setting the stage for some key battles that the president expects to fight in his second term.

Comments

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 15, 2013

Pope Francis Can't Escape Argentina's Dark Past

The world is still learning much about the life and history of Pope Francis, and now the Vatican finds itself having to directly confront the most troubling story from his early life in Argentina.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 15, 2013

North Korea Test-Fires Missiles and Fails to Provoke Much of Anybody

At a time of heightened awareness — and with U.S. and South Korean militaries in the middle of war games — North Korea has apparently decided that now would be the perfect time to start testing missiles.

Comments | 3,195 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 15, 2013

North Korea Complains of Cyberattacks From the U.S.

In the ongoing international spat over which country deploys the most evil cyber hackers, North Korea is lobbing accusations that the United States and South Korea took down the nation's webservers.

Comments | 336 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 15, 2013

Obama Says Iran Is a Year Away from a Nuke

As part of a mini press-tour to set up his first presidential trip to Israel next week, Barack Obama told an Israeli television station that Iran is at least a year away from developing a nuclear weapon.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 15, 2013

How a Broken Heart Led a Young Man to Become the Pope

A woman in Argentina says that her rejection of a young male suitor more than 60 years ago, drove the heartsick boy to join the priesthood. Oh, and his name just happened to be Jorge Bergoglio.

Comments | 4,483 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 14, 2013

What Did 1988 Los Angeles Think 2013 Los Angeles Would Look Like?

On April 3, 1988, the Los Angeles Times Magazine produced a special issue predicting what life would be like a family all the way in the distant future of 2013

Comments | 67,672 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 14, 2013

Russia and Iran Prop Up Syria's War Machine, and Tell the West to Butt Out

While Europe and the U.S. hem-and-haw about finding ways to support Syria's rebel army — and get threatened for even considering it — Iran appears to have no reservations about funneling money to their enemies.

Comments | 3,621 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 14, 2013

Is Francis the Most Humble Pope Ever?

Catholics are learning all kinds of fun new tidbits about the new Holy Father, and we're also starting to notice a pattern developing.

Comments | 5,244 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 14, 2013

Physicists Confirm They Actually Did Find the Higgs Boson

After analyzing "two and a half times more data" than they have since last summer, scientists at the CERN research labs in Switzerland say that they are pretty sure that they found what they think they found.

Comments | 2,033 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 13, 2013

HABEMUS PAPAM — Argentina's Jorge Bergoglio Becomes Pope Francis

The papal conclave has concluded and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina is now the first Latin American pope in the history of the Catholic Church.

Comments | 70,821 Views

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