national news

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and her daughter Sasha place flowers as they visit the Berlin Wall memorial in Bernauer Strasse in BerlinBy Sarah Marsh and Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - Michelle Obama and her daughters threaded roses through the narrow slots of a Berlin Wall memorial on Wednesday, honoring those who died trying to cross the Cold War barrier at a site which holds special poignancy in the once divided city. Accompanied by Angela Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer, who like the German leader hails from the former East Germany, President Barack Obama's family toured the Bernauer Strasse memorial where desperate residents of East Berlin once tried to jump from their windows into the western half of the city. ...


2013-06-19 10:24:45 -0500

Undated handout photo of Bulger holding Martorano's youngest son, John Jr., during his Christening ceremonyBy Daniel Lovering BOSTON (Reuters) - An altar-boy-turned-gang-enforcer told jurors at the trial of accused mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger on Wednesday that he did not set the terms of a deal with prosecutors allowing him to serve just 12 years in prison for 20 murders in exchange for details against his former boss. The witness, John "The Executioner" Martorano, was the first member of the ruthless Winter Hill Gang to testify against Bulger, who is on trial for charges including racketeering and 19 murders that occurred in the 1970s and '80s. ...


2013-06-19 10:25:54 -0500

Ariel Castro enters the court room for a pre-trial hearing in ClevelandCLEVELAND (Reuters) - Authorities plan to present evidence next week to a grand jury as they seek to bring more charges against the former Cleveland bus driver accused of holding three women captive in his home, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said Wednesday. Ariel Castro, 52, has pleaded not guilty to more than 300 charges against him, including rape and kidnapping, for holding the women and prosecutors are seeking to indict him on more charges related to later periods, McGinty said. ...


2013-06-19 09:06:52 -0500
The producers of an upcoming documentary on TWA Flight 800—which exploded and crashed into the waters off of Long Island on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 people on board—claim to have proof that an explosion outside the Paris-bound flight caused the crash. And six former investigators who took part in the film say there [...]
2013-06-19 09:16:24 -0500