 | |||
|
| TOP STORIES |
|
| ||||||||||
| U.S. imposes sanctions on N. Korea following attack on Sony |
| Two weeks after blaming North Korea for hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Obama administration on Friday imposed new sanctions on the repressive government as part of what it described as a broader attempt to tackle threats to U.S. cybersecurity. Read full article » |
| Frustrated Afghans wonder who is in charge amid cabinet delays and Taliban attacks |
| KABUL — As Afghanistan begins an uncertain new phase of coalition governance and self-defense against Taliban insurgents, protracted delays in forming a cabinet and filling most top posts in the three-month-old administration have left public agencies in disarray and Afghans wondering who is in charge. Read full article » |
| Al-Qaeda terrorist suspect dies days before his trial in New York |
| A suspected al-Qaeda terrorist died Friday night just days before he was slated to go on trial in New York on charges of helping plan the 1998 bombings outside U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people, his lawyer said. Among the dead were 12 Americans, including two CIA employees. Read full article » |
| Protesters slam Oprah over comments that they lack ‘leadership’ |
| Key organizers of the wave of recent protests over police treatment of African Americans lashed out at Oprah Winfrey Friday over comments she made to People magazine criticizing their movement as “leaderless.” Read full article » |
| John Hinckley won’t face murder charge in death of James Brady, prosecutors say |
| Federal prosecutors said they will not charge John W. Hinckley Jr. with murder in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary in a 1981 assassination attempt, even though a medical examiner concluded that James S. Brady’s death in August was caused by the old wounds. Read full article » |
| A cop in Ukraine said he was detaining me because I was black. I appreciated it. |
| I was already homeless — unknowingly a victim of housing discrimination — when my plane touched down in Kiev, Ukraine in the summer of 2009. I was traveling on a Fulbright grant to research the lives of biracial Ukrainians, and was eager to explore how the Slavic country could produce native people who looked like me, a young black man from Detroit. A local real estate agent had promised several months earlier to secure an apartment for me before my arrival. I took a taxi from the airport to meet him. Wearing a warm, wide smile, Sergei extended his hand and welcomed me. Then he explained why his apartment search had failed: “Your skin color has been causing us a lot of problems.” Read full article » |
| Injuries to Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell, Cardinals’ top two QBs loom over Saturday’s NFL playoff games |
| The two NFL playoff games that will take place Saturday could be notable just as much for the players who won’t be on the field as for those who are.The Arizona Cardinals will be without their top two quarterbacks, leaving the unproven Ryan Lindley as their starter by necessity, when they face the Carolina Panthers in a first-round NFC game Saturday afternoon in Charlotte. The Pittsburgh Steelers might be minus tailback Le’Veon Bell, the NFL’s second-leading rusher during the regular season, when they host the Baltimore Ravens in an opening-round AFC game Saturday night. Read full article » |
| Brainstormers: Obama’s big research push kicks off with a meeting of the minds |
| The motley group included men and women, old and young, in sweatshirts and three-piece suits, shod in socks and sandals, wingtips and heels. They were a kind of neuroscience dream team, more than 100 scientists gathered in a Bethesda, Md., hotel not to talk about their latest breakthroughs — there weren’t any yet — but to meet and get to know one another. Read full article » |
 |
| POLITICS |
| Breathless speculation about the next presidential race isn’t new. And few knew it better than Mario Cuomo. |
| In New York, Mario Cuomo's legacy is monumental. He defined a party with his poetry and shares a name with the state's current governor. Nationally, his legacy is defined by his words as well, but it exists in a strange in-between space. Whenever he entered the national spotlight, we wondered if he wanted to lead us. Read full article » |
| The White House press hangout in Hawaii is kind of amazing |
| KAILUA, Hawaii — Much has been written about the fantastic beach-side villas the First Family rents out for the winter holidays here on the eastern side of Oahu. Although far more modest, the press corps digs down the street are kind of amazing in their own way. Read full article » |
| State police: Four killed in Kentucky small-plane crash; 7-year-old girl survives |
| KENTUCKYPolice say four killed in small-plane crashKentucky State Police said Friday night that four people were killed in a small-plane crash and a 7-year-old girl apparently survived and walked away from the wreckage. Read full article » |
| Muriel Bowser sworn in as D.C. mayor; pledges to make city healthier, safer |
| Muriel E. Bowser was sworn in Friday as the District’s seventh mayor, pledging to bring “grand expectations” to a city that has struggled to move past an ethical morass.Bowser, 42, the second woman and the second-youngest person to lead the nation’s capital, acknowledged a series of intractable problems and said she would use “creativity, risk-taking and innovation” to solve them. Read full article » |
| OPINIONS |
| George Will: Why Bob Corker is the senator to watch in 2015 |
| Standing at the intersection of three foreign policy crises and a perennial constitutional tension, Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, may be the senator who matters most in 2015. Without an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) tailored to novel circumstances, the United States is waging war against an entity without precedent (the Islamic State). Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons during negotiations that should involve congressional duties. And Russia is revising European borders by force and, like Iran, is the object of a U.S. experiment testing the power of economic sanctions to modify a dictator’s behavior. As Congress weighs its foreign policy role regarding these three matters, Corker treads the contested terrain between deference to presidential primacy in foreign policy and the need for collective wisdom and shared responsibility. Read full article » |
| Helping children feel safe is a community effort |
| Our nation’s capital closed out the year with 105 homicides, up one over 2013 . But violence and the fear it brings won’t end with a flip of the calendar or the last gunshot of 2014. The nightmarish scene of a body found bleeding on the street, the sounds of wailing, the lurking dread that it could — no, that it will — all happen again are not things left behind at midnight Dec. 31. Community insecurity is a byproduct of violence. It carries over into the new year. Read full article » |
| The misleading lawsuit accusing Harvard of bias against Asian Americans |
| Alawsuit filed against Harvard University in November by a group called Students for Fair Admissions alleges that the school’s admissions policy discriminates against Asian Americans. A key component of the argument is the higher average SAT scores of Asian American students who are admitted to elite U.S. colleges and universities. To make its case, the suit notes the findings of a study of seven top public and private colleges: “Asian Americans needed SAT scores that were about 140 points higher than white students. . . . [I]f a white student needed a 1320 SAT score to be admitted to one of these schools, an Asian American needed a 1460 SAT score to be admitted.” Read full article » |
| Why Jim Harbaugh is worth $40 million to the University of Michigan’s football team |
| The University of Michigan’s decision this week to commit at least $40 million to Jim Harbaugh over the next seven years raised quite a few eyebrows. Forty million dollars — $5 million a year to start, along with a $2 million signing bonus — for a football coach? Read full article » |
| |||||||
| LOCAL |
| D.C. area forecast: Patchy AM icy spots possible ahead of a showery Saturday; Warmer Sunday, but big freeze looms |
| Expect lots of gray skies and periodic showers throughout the weekend. Read full article » |
| D.C. neighbors oppose preschool playground |
| A preschool playground has become the subject of a heated dispute among neighbors in a condominium development in the District.Some residents that share a building with AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School in Columbia Heights want to dismantle the school’s playground, which they say is located in common space, and replace it with something quieter and more appealing to the adults that live there. Read full article » |
| Park Police rescue injured hiker from Virginia mountain by helicopter |
| A severely injured hiker was lifted off rugged Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park on Friday by a U.S. Park Police helicopter from Washington, authorities said. The hiker, identified only as a 33-year-old man, suffered a serious compound fracture of his lower leg, the Park Police said. Read full article » |
| SPORTS |
| Thunder 109, Wizards 102: Kevin Durant scores 34 as Oklahoma City rallies |
| OKLAHOMA CITY — The Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder, opponents at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday night, opened 2015 seeking to validate expectations. The Wizards, in the midst of their toughest stretch of the season against five of the Western Conference’s best teams on the road, entered with an opportunity to prove they are legitimate contenders after their best start in 36 years. Read full article » |
| Maryland basketball vs. Minnesota: Previewing the game |
| THE INFOWhen: 12 p.m. Where: Xfinity Center, College Park, Maryland. TV: Big Ten Network DMV radio: 105.7 FM, Sirius 108, XM 192, 980 AM. Records: No. 12 Terps, 13-1, 1-0; Minnesota, 11-3, 0-1Coaches: Terps — Mark Turgeon (fourth season, 72-44). Gophers— Richard Pitino (2nd season, 36-16). Read full article » |
| John Wall takes blame for Wizards’ loss to Thunder |
| OKLAHOMA CITY — For 47 minutes and 32 seconds at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday night, John Wall accomplished one of his top objectives: he did not commit a turnover.But with 28 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Washington Wizards 109-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the game on the line, Wall blundered. Facing a three-point deficit, the fifth-year floor general launched an imprudent cross-court pass for Bradley Beal only to have Russell Westbrook step in for a back-breaking turnover. Read full article » |
| TV and radio listings: January 3 |
| NFL PLAYOFFS: OPENING ROUND4:35 p.m. Arizona at Carolina » ESPN8:15 p.m. Baltimore at Pittsburgh » WRC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch.11), WIYY (97.9 FM)NBA8:30 p.m. Washington at San Antonio » Comcast SportsNet, WNEW (99.1 FM) Read full article » |
| FEDERAL GOVERNMENT |
|
|
| Why the U.S. Border Patrol is making a big push to hire women |
| Tens of thousands of migrant women cross the Southwest border each year, and human rights organizations say a high percentage of them experiencing sexual trauma along the way. Yet only 5 percent of the U.S. Border Patrol agents are female. That’s a problem, according to Border Patrol Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, who discussed his agency’s recent push to recruit more women in a recent Federal News Radio interview. Read full article » |
| Postal Service poised to begin controversial plant closures next week |
| The U.S. Postal Service next week plans to begin a new round of plant closings and consolidations that will affect dozens of mail-processing centers, despite calls from more than half the members of the outgoing Senate to postpone the changes. Read full article » |
| Watch Seth Rogen and C-SPAN’s other top moments in 2014 |
| Before “The Interview” made Seth Rogen something of a political football, the actor appeared on Capitol Hill earlier this year to testify about Alzheimer’s disease.His opening statement, which had notes of his well-known humor in what was otherwise a sober testimony, gave C-SPAN its most viewed video on YouTube in 2014, topping President Obama at the White House Correspondents Dinner and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) questioning MIT professor Jonathan Gruber over his comments about the American people’s intellect. Read full article » |
| NATIONAL |
| How brick-and-mortar stores can survive the Internet shopping craze |
| Department stores and other brick-and-mortar retailers registered another lackluster holiday shopping season, while online sales have remained upbeat since Cyber Monday. As more consumers spend a larger share of their dollars online, does this signal the days of shopping at department stores and shopping malls are numbered? Read full article » |
| Let’s shatter the ‘broken windows’ theory of American foreign policy right now |
| A few months ago the Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens wrote an essay arguing for a “broken windows” theory of American foreign policy — or, rather, for applying the “broken windows” theory of policing to world politics: Read full article » |
| WORLD |
| The last time this many Iraqi civilians died was in 2007 |
| Violence in Iraq resulted in more than 35,000 civilian casualties in the past year, making 2014 the bloodiest year in Iraq since the 2006-2007 sectarian tensions after the US-led invasion.While the United Nations figures report 12,282 civilian deaths in Iraq, The Iraq Body Count, a non-profit that tracks violence in Iraq, reported civilian deaths roughly doubled from 2013 to 2014. Read full article » |
 |
| BUSINESS |
| A new year brings a new ‘21-Day Financial Fast’ |
| You’ve made the commitment to do better with your finances, but now you may be wondering how to keep this New Year’s resolution.I know some of the questions you may have. What’s the best way to pay down my debt? Where in the world will I find the money in my budget to start an emergency fund or build up the tiny one I started but raid all the time? Read full article » |
| Big strides could come from a small bump in pay |
| As we launch into 2015, there’s something other than an 18,000 Dow to celebrate. Thanks to increases in state minimum wage levels, nearly 4 million hardworking Americans in 21 states are getting a raise this year, according to the Economic Policy Institute — from 15 cents an hour in Washington state to $1.25 in South Dakota. The leadership of the Republican Congress and its allies in the business community continue demonizing these initiatives as job-killing government price controls. Most of the rest of us see something simpler: economic justice. Read full article » |
| Bailout highly profitable for taxpayers, when you look at the right numbers |
| It’s always nice to start a year by using the right numbers, especially if they are upbeat ones. So let’s start 2015 with the good news that U.S. taxpayers are far more ahead on the financial bailout than almost anyone realizes. Bailout payday from FedHere are the profits that the Federal Reserve has sent to the Treasury for the past 10 years. The numbers started rising sharply in 2009, when the first round of quantitative easing took place. That’s why I attribute all of the 2009-2014 payments above $30 billion a year to the bailout.Taxpayers’ money at riskFannie/Freddie$4.6 trillionFederal Reserve$3.8 trillion Treasury programs$3.5 trillion FDIC$1.7 trillion TARP$411 billionTotal$14.011 trillionEstimate of Fannie/Freddie debt when companies were nationalized, less Fannie/Freddie securities held by Treasury and Federal Reserve. Read full article » |
| TECHNOLOGY |
| The most anticipated innovations coming in 2015 |
| In the age of venture capital and crowdfunding, it’s not at all unusual that by the time a technology or breakthrough reaches the marketplace, the narrative that carried it to this point has been unfolding for some time. Read full article » |
| Affected by the PlayStation outage? Sony has some gifts for you. |
| Were you left out in the cold by the PlayStation network's Christmas outage? Sony would like to make that up to you.Hackers from a group called "Lizard Squad" claimed credit for attacking the company's PlayStation Network last week, chilling the joy of the season for anyone planning to spend some of those holiday vacation days in front of a new video game. To make amends to upset customers, Sony announced Thursday that it will tack on five extra days of membership to any of its PlayStation Plus subscribers who were unable to sign in to the network over the holidays. PlayStation Plus is a paid, premium services that gives PlayStation Network users access to online multiplayer, a library of games, and the ability to save games online. Read full article » |
| How one company is trying to tackle Big Data’s big problem |
| The promise of big data, the term given to analyzing trends in enormous data sets, is that it could help identify trends faster than ever before. In practice? There are a few roadblocks.Big data analysis is great if your information is in formats that are easy for computers to read, such as spreadsheets with numbers, or responses on a scale from one to five. But a lot of information isn't organized like that. Instead, it's in presentations, memos, reports, comments or just plain e-mail. Analysis of that kind of information -- often called "unstructured" or "dark" data -- is really tough to do by computer, and companies including Intel, SAP and HP are looking for a more reliable way to do it. Read full article » |
| Get ready: The FCC says it will vote on net neutrality in February |
| Federal regulators looking to place restrictions on Internet providers will introduce and vote on new proposed net neutrality rules in February, Federal Communications Commission officials said Friday. Read full article » |
| LIFESTYLE |
| Little Jimmy Dickens, jocular star of Grand Ole Opry, dies at 94 |
| Little Jimmy Dickens, the diminutive country singer and Grand Ole Opry star best known for his humorous novelty songs, such as “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose,” died Jan. 2 at a hospital near Nashville. He was 94. Read full article » |
| Bill Moyers signs off — for the final time, he swears |
| This time, Bill Moyers really means it. After 43 years as public television’s most visible intellectual and its most unabashed liberal, he’s done. As of Friday, he’s officially retiring from TV. Yes, he’s said that before. Twice, actually. And both times (in 2010 and 2013) he reversed course, returning to TV to pursue his varied passions and crusades — against the corrupting influence of money in politics, for the environment and civil rights, against growing economic inequality — in familiar style, avuncular and Texas-inflected. The last time he retired he was on the sidelines for all of 17 days. Read full article » |
| Carolyn Hax: When kids are grown and gone, a parent finds ways to reconnect |
| While I’m away, readers give the advice.On being a good parent to adult children:It’s a huge job! When my three children were in their late 20s and moving into places of their own, I was shocked to discover that in order to meet my goal of having adult, pleasant relationships with each of them, I had to learn an entirely new phase of parenting. I had to learn that I couldn’t know where they were at all times and be with them every time they were sick or injured. I faked it till I made it, and eventually it became okay with me — in fact, it was kind of a relief. Read full article » |
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기