IndyStar.com: Nation & World
Indiana's leading news source for all the top stories, local news, sports and weather.
FAA says computer problem is fixed
ATLANTA — A problem with the FAA system that collects airline flight plans caused widespread flight cancellations and delays nationwide today, the second time in 15 months that a glitch created such problems. The Federal Aviation Administration said...
Facebook alibi frees NYC robbery suspect
NEW YORK — A 19-year-old New York City man arrested on robbery charges has been exonerated thanks to his Facebook page. Rodney Bradford was held for 12 days on suspicion of robbing two people on Oct. 17 in the Brooklyn public housing complex...
Fort Hood victims include former Indiana man
A former Lafayette man stationed at the U.S. Army base in Fort Hood is being treated for two gunshot wounds, caused when another soldier opened fire Thursday afternoon at the post in Texas. One bullet grazed Nathan A. Hewitt’s hip. A second...
Army: Fort Hood shootings suspect is alive
FORT HOOD, Texas — A military mental health doctor facing deployment overseas opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post on Thursday, setting off on a rampage that killed 12 people and left 31 wounded, Army officials said. Authorities said immediately...
Ex-Presidents Bush, Clinton to debate
Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George. W. Bush have agreed to a smackdown at Radio City Music Hall. Well, there is not likely to be any head butting, but the two former presidents have agreed to debate foreign policy, economics and other issues...
Gunmen kill 12 at UN house in Kabul
KABUL — Taliban militants wearing suicide vests and police uniforms stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing 12 people — including six U.N. staff. It was the biggest in a series...
Car bomb kills 86 in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A car bomb tore through a market popular with women in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing 86 people hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in the country to show American support for its...
Source: Obama cutting bailout firms' pay
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to order companies that received huge government bailouts last year to sharply cut the compensation of their highest paid executives, according to a person familiar with the decision. The seven companies...
Feds to ease medical marijuana restrictions
WASHINGTON — Federal drug agents won’t pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana, under new legal guidelines to be issued Monday by the Obama administration. Two Justice Department...
'Balloon boy's' family never shied from spotlight
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A Colorado official said today there’s no indication a family was carrying out a hoax when they reported their 6-year-old son was in a helium balloon that floated away from their home, causing a massive rescue effort...
Obama calls for $250 payments to seniors
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The White House put the cost at $13 billion. The Social Security...
Friday, NASA attacks the moon
Earth attacks the moon tomorrow, bent on plundering that most precious of resources: water. “Things are looking great. We’re headed right for the target,” says Daniel Andrews of NASA’s Ames Research Center, head of the $79 million Lunar Crater...
Gates: Mistake to set Afghan pullout timing
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates is pushing back against liberal calls for withdrawal timelines from Afghanistan, saying it’s a mistake to set a deadline to end U.S. military action and a defeat would be disastrous for the U.S. In a stern...
N.Y. Times columnist William Safire dies at 79
NEW YORK — Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist, language expert and former White House speechwriter William Safire died today, his assistant said. He was 79. Safire, who also wrote novels and books on politics, had been diagnosed with...
Swiss cops: Polanski held in 1970s rape
ZURICH — Director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police as he flew in for the Zurich Film Festival and faces possible extradition to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl, authorities said today. Polanski was...
Obesity could become top cancer cause
LONDON — Being fat could become the leading cause of cancer in women in Western countries in the coming years, European researchers said Thursday. Being overweight or obese accounts for up to 8 percent of cancers in Europe. Experts said that figure...
House votes to extend jobless benefits
WASHINGTON — Jobless workers in imminent danger of losing their unemployment benefits would get a 13-week reprieve under legislation approved by the House on Tuesday. The House bill, which applies to 27 states plus the District of Columbia and...
FDA bans flavored, clove cigarettes
RICHMOND, Va. — The new federal ban on flavored cigarettes took effect on today, marking one of the first visible signs of the Food and Drug Administration’s new authority to regulate tobacco. The ban on manufacturing, importing, marketing and...
Lugar likely won't back emissions cap
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Lugar said today that he doesn’t know how a bill to limit greenhouse gas emissions could be crafted to win his support, despite his strong interest in climate change. In speeches delivered in Indiana and Washington this...
House votes to admonish ‘You lie’ yeller
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in the House voted 240-179 today to formally admonish Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., for shouting “You lie” to President Barack Obama during his health care speech to Congress last week. The relatively tight vote appeared to reflect...
Arkansas mom expecting child No. 19
LITTLE ROCK — Michelle Duggar, the 42-year-old Arkansas mom of 18 and a soon-to-be grandmother, is pregnant again. Duggar said today that she took a pregnancy test on a whim and was shocked to see she was pregnant. Meanwhile, she is gearing up to...
World’s oldest dog dies in New York
A wire-haired dachshund that held the record as the world’s oldest dog and celebrated its last birthday with a party at a dog hotel and spa has died at age 21 — or 147 in dog years. The dog, named Chanel, died Friday of natural causes at her owners’...
Police: Man stole woman's car on 1st date
FERNDALE, Mich. — Police in Michigan say a first date went from bad to worse when a Detroit man skipped out on the restaurant bill, then stole his date’s car. Police say 23-year-old Terrance Dejuan McCoy had dinner with a woman April 24 at...
NASA fuels shuttle for early launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is fueling space shuttle Discovery — with a Hoosier in the pilot’s seat — for an early morning flight to the international space station. Discovery is scheduled to blast off at 1:36 a.m. Tuesday with a full load of...
L.A. coroner rules Jackson death a homicide
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson’s death as a homicide, according to a law enforcement official. The finding makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when...
Cash for clunkers lures final buyers
From Vermont to California, exhausted but appreciative car dealers watched their lots grow empty as crowds rushed to trade in gas guzzlers during the final weekend of the popular Cash for Clunkers program. The hectic pace of the $3 billion rebate...
U.S. pulling the plug on cash for clunkers
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government will shut down its cash-for-clunkers program at 8 p.m. Monday, in a bid to avoid car dealers and shoppers from claiming more than the $3 billion set aside for the program. The decision means that the program...
Legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92
NEW YORK — Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the networks’ golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called “the most trusted man in America,” died Friday. He was 92. Cronkite died at 7:42...
Legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92
NEW YORK — Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the networks’ golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called “the most trusted man in America,” died Friday. He was 92. Cronkite died at 7:42...
Moon landing video brought back into focus
WASHINGTON — With the help of Hollywood, those historic, grainy images of the first men on the moon never looked better. NASA unveiled refurbished video today of the July 20, 1969, moonwalk restored by the same company that sharpened up the...
