North Korea says a detained American was freed this week following «repeated requests» from U.S. President Barack Obama. The brief note by Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency said «criminal» Jeffrey Fowle was released on orders of leader Kim Jong-Un. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said no deal – no «quid pro quo» – had […]readmore
Social Security checks will rise by 1.7% — which translates into $22 more each month for the average retired worker. In 2015, the average worker will receive $1,328 a month, or $15,936 a year, according to the Social Security Administration. More than 58 million recipients will see the bump in their checks starting in January. […]readmore
President Barack Obama says the risk of a widespread Ebola outbreak in the United States is very very low, if all the proper protections are taken. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Ebola Wednesday, Obama called for an emergency federal medical team to be immediately deployed to any hospital where an Ebola case is diagnosed, […]readmore
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the second U.S. health care worker to contract the deadly Ebola virus took a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland, Ohio, to a Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, airport on Monday, October 13. The health worker was identified as Amber Vinson, 29, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Officials said Vinson […]readmore
Nina Pham, a 26-year-old nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, was infected with the deadly virus while treating patient Thomas Eric Duncan. ‘I’m doing well and want to thank everyone for prayers,’ she said in a statement. The Dallas nurse infected with Ebola expressed gratitude for all the kind messages she’s received and is hopeful […]readmore
LUMPKIN, GEORGIA—In the concrete block-walled visiting room of the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia – one of the biggest immigrant holding facilities in the country – Salvadoran-born Nilson Flores says he’s seen many detainees sent back to countries where their lives are in danger. “They should call this place the ‘jail of broken dreams’,” he said. […]readmore
USA Swimming on Monday suspended Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, for six months and said he won’t be on next year’s U.S. team at the world championships. The 22-time Olympic medalist also won’t be paid his monthly stipend, USA Swimming said on its website. The organization said Phelps, who was charged with DUI […]readmore
WASHINGTON — In a move that may signal the inevitability of a nationwide right to same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court on Monday let stand appeals court rulings allowing such unions in five states. The development, a major surprise, cleared the way for same-sex marriages in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Officials in Virginia […]readmore
A freelance photojournalist with the Ebola virus has returned to the United States for treatment. Ashoka Mukpo, is the fifth American diagnosed with the Ebola virus. He was on assignment in Liberia for NBC News when he tested positive for Ebola last week and was sent back to the United States on a specially-equipped plane. […]readmore
Tens of thousands of Pacific walruses have gathered on a beach in northwest Alaska because they cannot find sea ice for resting. During a routine aerial inspection of wildlife along Alaskan coast, marine life experts from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) photographed a pod of walruses estimated to contain 35,000 animals. The […]readmore