[h=3]Headlines[/h]Syria
Syrian government aircraft and artillery pounded suburbs of Damascus on Friday, and rebels said a car bomb targeted a government building north of the capital.
Fighting in Syria's civil war has flared in areas around Damascus as rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad try to push into the capital itself.
Syria's 22-month conflict has turned into a bloody stalemate that the United Nations says has killed more than 60,000 people, and it warns that the civil war could claim the lives of many more this year.
2012 election certified
[h=3]It's official: Obama is president again[/h]President Barack Obama was officially re-elected Friday.
In a joint session, Congress formally certified that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were the winners in the November election with 332 electoral votes, well more than the 270 required. Republican Mitt Romney and his running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, won 206 votes.
The final official vote showed Obama with 65,899,660 votes, or 51.1%, and Romney with 60,932,152 votes, or 47.2%.
Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Obama at noon Jan. 20 in a private ceremony at the White House and then administer the oath again on the West Front of the Capitol the next day.
The Constitution requires that the inauguration take place Jan. 20, but because it is a Sunday this year, the public session and the accompanying festivities will occur Monday.
Another nomination? Obama is expected to nominate Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, to be defense secretary, officials said Friday, setting up a confirmation battle with lawmakers and interest groups critical of his views on Israel and Iran. The announcement could come as soon as Monday, the officials said.
India
[h=3]Friend of gang-raped woman speaks out[/h]The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a moving bus in India's capital said Friday that after being attacked for 2 1/2 hours, the pair was thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.
The male companion, who has not been named because of the severity of the case, made the comments in a TV interview, the first time he had recounted details of the Dec. 16 attack in New Delhi. He suffered a broken leg and was in a wheelchair during the interview.
The 23-year-old woman died last weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case was scheduled for today.
"The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you. ... Even animals don't behave like that," the man said.
Afterward, he overheard some of the attackers saying she was dead, he said. The men then dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. The woman's companion waved to passersby on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help.
"They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left," he said. After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived and the officers began arguing over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded for clothes and an ambulance, he said.
Senator's DUI
[h=3]Crapo fined, loses license for a year[/h]Sen. Mike Crapo, admitting "embarrassment and shame," was fined $250 Friday, had his driver's license lifted for a year and received a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail on a drunken-driving charge.
The Idaho Republican stood quietly with his attorney during the three-minute hearing in a second-floor courtroom in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Va.
Alexandria police stopped Crapo on Dec. 23 after he ran a red light. Police said his blood-alcohol level at that time was 0.11%. A second test at the local jail found the level at 0.14%. Virginia deems it a crime to drive with a level of 0.08% or higher.
Florida clerics on trial
[h=3]Father, son accused of funding Taliban[/h]A Muslim cleric and his son funneled thousands of dollars to the Pakistani Taliban to fund killings, kidnappings and suicide bombings "in the name of a perverted form of the Muslim faith," a prosecutor in Miami said Friday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley Jr. made his opening statement in the trial of Hafiz Khan, 77, and his 26-year-old son, Izhar Khan. The elder Khan was imam at a Miami mosque, and his son held the same post at a mosque in suburban Margate.
Both have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and material support to terrorism. Each count carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. The trial is expected to last about two months.
Khurrum Wahid, the elder Khan's defense attorney, and Joseph Rosenbaum, who is representing the son, argued that prosecutors are misinterpreting thousands of phone conversations, intercepts and the bugged conversations of an informant.
Whooping cough
[h=3]U.S. cases in 2012 are the most since 1955[/h]The nation just suffered its worst year for whooping cough in nearly six decades, according to preliminary government figures.
Whooping cough cases reached 41,880 in 2012, experts said Friday.
The good news: Despite the high number of illnesses, deaths didn't increase. Eighteen people died, including 15 infants younger than 1.
The tally does not come close to the nearly 63,000 illnesses in 1955.
Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children.
Syrian government aircraft and artillery pounded suburbs of Damascus on Friday, and rebels said a car bomb targeted a government building north of the capital.
Fighting in Syria's civil war has flared in areas around Damascus as rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad try to push into the capital itself.
Syria's 22-month conflict has turned into a bloody stalemate that the United Nations says has killed more than 60,000 people, and it warns that the civil war could claim the lives of many more this year.
2012 election certified
[h=3]It's official: Obama is president again[/h]President Barack Obama was officially re-elected Friday.
In a joint session, Congress formally certified that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were the winners in the November election with 332 electoral votes, well more than the 270 required. Republican Mitt Romney and his running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, won 206 votes.
The final official vote showed Obama with 65,899,660 votes, or 51.1%, and Romney with 60,932,152 votes, or 47.2%.
Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Obama at noon Jan. 20 in a private ceremony at the White House and then administer the oath again on the West Front of the Capitol the next day.
The Constitution requires that the inauguration take place Jan. 20, but because it is a Sunday this year, the public session and the accompanying festivities will occur Monday.
Another nomination? Obama is expected to nominate Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, to be defense secretary, officials said Friday, setting up a confirmation battle with lawmakers and interest groups critical of his views on Israel and Iran. The announcement could come as soon as Monday, the officials said.
India
[h=3]Friend of gang-raped woman speaks out[/h]The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a moving bus in India's capital said Friday that after being attacked for 2 1/2 hours, the pair was thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.
The male companion, who has not been named because of the severity of the case, made the comments in a TV interview, the first time he had recounted details of the Dec. 16 attack in New Delhi. He suffered a broken leg and was in a wheelchair during the interview.
The 23-year-old woman died last weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case was scheduled for today.
"The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you. ... Even animals don't behave like that," the man said.
Afterward, he overheard some of the attackers saying she was dead, he said. The men then dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. The woman's companion waved to passersby on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help.
"They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left," he said. After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived and the officers began arguing over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded for clothes and an ambulance, he said.
Senator's DUI
[h=3]Crapo fined, loses license for a year[/h]Sen. Mike Crapo, admitting "embarrassment and shame," was fined $250 Friday, had his driver's license lifted for a year and received a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail on a drunken-driving charge.
The Idaho Republican stood quietly with his attorney during the three-minute hearing in a second-floor courtroom in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Va.
Alexandria police stopped Crapo on Dec. 23 after he ran a red light. Police said his blood-alcohol level at that time was 0.11%. A second test at the local jail found the level at 0.14%. Virginia deems it a crime to drive with a level of 0.08% or higher.
Florida clerics on trial
[h=3]Father, son accused of funding Taliban[/h]A Muslim cleric and his son funneled thousands of dollars to the Pakistani Taliban to fund killings, kidnappings and suicide bombings "in the name of a perverted form of the Muslim faith," a prosecutor in Miami said Friday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley Jr. made his opening statement in the trial of Hafiz Khan, 77, and his 26-year-old son, Izhar Khan. The elder Khan was imam at a Miami mosque, and his son held the same post at a mosque in suburban Margate.
Both have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and material support to terrorism. Each count carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. The trial is expected to last about two months.
Khurrum Wahid, the elder Khan's defense attorney, and Joseph Rosenbaum, who is representing the son, argued that prosecutors are misinterpreting thousands of phone conversations, intercepts and the bugged conversations of an informant.
Whooping cough
[h=3]U.S. cases in 2012 are the most since 1955[/h]The nation just suffered its worst year for whooping cough in nearly six decades, according to preliminary government figures.
Whooping cough cases reached 41,880 in 2012, experts said Friday.
The good news: Despite the high number of illnesses, deaths didn't increase. Eighteen people died, including 15 infants younger than 1.
The tally does not come close to the nearly 63,000 illnesses in 1955.
Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children.