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GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — A Guantanamo court on Wednesday sentenced Osama bin Laden's former cook to 14 years in prison. Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi of Sudan pleaded guilty last month to supporting terrorism, making him only the fourth Guantanamo detainee to be convicted since the prison, which has held nearly 800 men, was opened in 2002. Al-Qosi could be released much sooner under plea deal that remains sealed, Reuters reported. Al-Qosi avoided a possible life sentence at trial by pleading guilty July 7 to one count each of providing material support for terrorism and conspiracy. The jury of...

In a brief interview today, Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said the state’s budget crisis is so great that a tax increase and an extension of the temporary 2009 tax increase may be necessary to keep government afloat. Raggio’s comments came amid a growing chorus of state officials saying the reality of Nevada’s looming $3 billion shortfall will necessitate a tax increase. “I do think we will have to have some infusion of new revenue,” Raggio said today. “But first, we must determine the essential services at the state level.”

Obama African Birth Certificate! Barack Obama's presidency is illegal! That's what political insiders are saying after a shocking birth certificate from a hospital in Kenya reveals America's Commander-in-Chief was born in Africa! GLOBE has all the explosive details you can't afford to miss!

LAS VEGAS -- The three Las Vegas police officers involved in Saturday's shooting at a Costco have been identified. Officers William Mosher, Joshua Stark and Thomas Mendiola shot and killed Erik Scott at a Summerlin Costco. Officers say Scott had a weapon and pointed it at them. Mosher has been with Metro for five years. Stark and Mendiola have been with Metro for under two years. All are assigned to the Metro's Northwest Area Command. This isn't the first time Officer Mosher has been involved in a shooting. In April of 2006, Officer Mosher and Officer John Wiggins shot and...

TORONTO - A man organizing tonight's cougar convention in Toronto says he hopes hundreds of older women prowl the area for younger men. Rich Gosse says he dated older women when he was a young man, but has since become older than the cougars so can't date them anymore. He says he hopes so-called cougar women and young men, who he calls cubs, will find a lasting relationship at the one-night convention. One woman will be also crowned Miss Cougar Canada, and win a cougar cruise. The convention starts at 7 p.m. at Tattoo Rock Parlour on Queen Street West.

Now this is what I call a Law & Order twist: NBC is declining to comment on a Deadline report claiming the network has opted to not to renew the long-running procedural for what would have been a record-breaking 21st season. If true, it means Dick Wolf will have to settle for simply tying Gunsmoke‘s record as TV’s longest-running drama series.

For Henry and Lorraine Chanin, the lawsuit they filed after Henry contracted hepatitis C during a colonoscopy was never about the money. Instead, they say it’s been about getting two giant companies to change their ways. “Five-hundred million dollars is an unimaginable sum of money for an individual,” Henry Chanin said Friday after a jury awarded him and his wife half a billion dollars in punitive damages.

A jury on Friday awarded a Henderson couple $500 million in punitive damages in the first civil trial related to Southern Nevada's hepatitis outbreak. Lawyers for Henry and Lorraine Chanin had suggested damages of more than $1 billion against Teva Parenteral Medicine and Baxter Healthcare Services.

Nothing else except a top-of-page banner; I'm not close to a TV so I'm not sure what's going on.

Just in. Small explosion, some injuries

Per the Politico: The DNC released this clip of the president rallying the troops, if rather coolly, for 2010, with the express goal of "reconnecting" with the voters who voted for the first time in 2008, but who may not plan to vote in the lower-profile Congressional elections this year. Obama speaks with unusual demographic frankness about his coalition in his appeal to "young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 [to] stand together once again."Youtube

Washington — When Nevada Democrats brought a goat and four chickens to Republican Sue Lowden’s campaign office last week to mock her suggestion that the uninsured barter for health care, it said as much about the political state of affairs for Harry Reid as it did his leading opponent. Lowden was ridiculed by Jay Leno and others for her bartering plan — goats for gallbladder surgery? — read one Democratic missive. Chickens for checkups? Lowden’s advice for the 500,000 Nevadans without health care coverage was another poor choice of talking points from the casino owner and former one-term state lawmaker...

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid must pick up far more support from crossover Republicans and independents to win re-election, according to a new poll that shows him losing to the GOP front-runner in a full-ballot election with eight contenders and a "none of these candidates" option. The survey of Nevada voters commissioned by the Review-Journal shows Reid getting 37 percent of the vote compared with 47 percent for Republican Sue Lowden, who would win if the election were today, while the slate of third-party and nonpartisan candidates would get slim to no backing.

U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle has won the Tea Party Express lottery and will get the national group's endorsement on Tax Day in Washington. Bryan Shroyer, the political director of Tea Party Express, told the Review-Journal late Wednesday that the group will make the announcement today.

For 18-year-old Kenia Pedroza, immigration reform means seeing the grandmother who raised her from a toddler when her mother died. Pedroza's grandmother voluntarily headed back to Mexico once her husband, who was undocumented, was deported a few years ago. Her grandmother was in the process of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen when she had to move south to be with her spouse. The couple had three children in California, including Pedroza's father, which is how the teen became a citizen.

In a brief procedure, Governor Deval Patrick and the Governor's Council this morning certified the upset election of Scott P. Brown, clearing the way for the Republican to take the oath of office this evening in Washington. Prior to the vote by the council, Councilor Michael J. Callahan offered a brief prayer for Brown and then councilors voted 6-0 to certify the results from last month's special election. Patrick said as he slammed down a gavel and said, "motion carried. Done.'' Patrick and Secretary of State William Galvin then formally signed paperwork that will be sent to Washington, confirming that...

Dems cleared in PMA lobbying scandal By Susan Crabtree - 12/18/09 04:49 PM ET At least three Democratic lawmakers have been cleared of any wrongdoing after an initial investigation into their ties to PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm. Reps. John Murtha (Pa.), Jim Moran (Va.) and Norm Dicks (Wash.) recently received a letter from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) informing them that it found no need for further inquiry into the PMA-related allegations. The board of the OCE on Nov. 30 voted unanimously to recommend that the full ethics committee dismiss the charges, according to a letter to...

Michelle Bachmann describes the Bill that Barney Frank is pushing through as the "Financial Services Takeover Bill".

Fox News can confirm that Fort Hood suspect Army Major Nidal Hasan is awake and speaking to medical staff at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.Hospital spokesperson Maria Gallegos says he's in critical but stable condition. A U.S. Army spokesman says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspected Fort Hood gunman, is in critical but stable condition three days after he allegedly opened fire on the military base that killed 13 and left 29 wounded. Hasan, 39, was shot during an exchange of gunfire during Thursday's attack. The military moved him on Friday to Brooke Medical Center, where he...

FORT HOOD - All available EMS units in and arround Killeen are being dispatched to Fort Hood. The Nolanville Fire Department tells News Channel 25 that they've been asked to bring all available EMS and Rescue personnel. Check back with KXXV.com; we'll have the latest details as they become available.