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The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant posted pictures online of militants bulldozing a berm dividing Iraq and Syria, symbolising its goal of uniting its forces in the two countries. The jihadists could be seen clearing a road through the berm, before trucks drove through as a militant stood nearby holding the group's black flag, in photos shared on websites and Twitter. Creating a cross-border Islamic state is one of the group's main aims. The first shot was dated June 10 and carried the title of the photo series, "Smashing the Sykes-Picot border" -- a reference to the...

BYLINE: Compared with the five-star reviews, the one-star ones are a lot more, er, colorful. Hillary Clinton is a polarizing figure. So when she releases an autobiography, opinions on said book are going to diverge. This is especially true with her book release now, seeing as many are interpreting the media blitz surrounding the book to be a test run for a 2016 campaign. On Amazon.com, as of this writing, there are 19 five-star, perfect reviews of Hard Choices. And then there are 44 one-star reviews. (The most popular line being "should be listed as fiction." Zing.) There are only...

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WATERVLIET - Firefighters in Watervliet spent Thursdsay morning, not fighting fires but raising money for the World War II veteran who had his benefits slashed to just $6 a month. They're hoping to raise at least $3,000 for 89-year-old Joseph Teson. As NewsChannel 13 first told you over the weekend, the Department Of Veterans Affairs told Teson he was overpaid by more than $3,000. So, they're withholding most of his benefits until they get the money back. Teson's relatives say he relies on the money and is now selling some of his coin collection just to pay the bills. “The...

WATERVLIET – On this Memorial Day weekend, World War II veteran Joseph Teson is thinking about his fallen comrades – and his personal finances. Teson, a D-Day survivor, told NewsChannel 13 the federal government has reduced his veterans benefits to just $6 per month in order to recoup an overpayment. “I don’t know how they did it, but they did it,” Teson, 89, said Saturday. “I didn’t say nothing. I just let it go. Everybody else complained but me.” Teson said he used to receive about $300.00 per month in veterans benefits, about a third of which he donated to...

HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Deputies with the Harris County Precinct One Constable’s Office say a man has been terrorizing a neighborhood in the Woodland Heights area of Houston by going to the bathroom in several yards at night. “We’ve had reports from six to eight neighbors out there that someone is actually coming into their yard and defecating — generally on their driveways,” said Sgt. J.C. Mosier. Authorities believe the unknown man is committing the act between 1:00 and 4:00 a.m., but a motive for crimes has not yet been established. “I think the neighbors are laughing about it, but that’s...

The working day in the retrial of former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno will be shorter — as long as the former political powerhouse is not too talkative outside of court. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gary Sharpe conditionally ruled on Thursday that the trial, which begins Monday, will start at 10 a.m. and last until 4:30 p.m. each day. He said Bruno, 85, of Brunswick requested the shorter days for medical-related reasons. (...) But Sharpe said his view will change if he sees Bruno outside the courthouse speaking to reporters about the trial. The longtime Republican senator...

WASHINGTON — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged the White House Wednesday to give "immediate attention'' to safety issues involving the increased use of freight trains to transport crude oil. He made his comments just hours before the latest derailment in Lynchburg, Va. Cuomo later said the accident and other recent derailments are "a startling pattern that underscores the need for action." "In addition to steps that states like New York are taking, the federal government must overhaul the safety regulations, starting with taking DOT-111 trains off the rails now," he said in a statement. "These trains travel through populated...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who will be arriving in New York this afternoon for a trip trying to lure businesses to the Lone Star State, offered a Texas-sized take-down of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s record on job creation this morning and challenged him to a debate. “I’d be more than happy to sit down and have a thoughtful conversation, a debate with Gov. Cuomo over the issues that face us as a state and talk about the economic policies and compare New York to Texas,” said Mr. Perry, speaking on New York Post columnist Fred Dicker’s Live from the State Capitol...

<p>ALBANY — A “mass exodus” is expected from the Cuomo administration after November’s election, according to several sources.</p> <p>“They all want out,” one source said of top Cuomo staffers. A former staffer said the rush has been spurred by the work environment.</p>

The West’s standoff with Russia over Ukraine is triggering debate over the adequacy of defence spending and cooperation to confront a more assertive Russia across Europe. In Finland and Sweden, an important element in this debate is whether the two countries should join NATO, STRATFOR reported. While the events in Ukraine strengthen the argument for NATO membership, general support for the idea is still lacking in both countries — such a step would represent a big shift from Finland’s and Sweden’s strategy of avoiding too strong a military alignment with the West in order to prevent any conflict with Russia....

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Conflict in Syria kills hundreds of thousands of people and spreads unrest across the Middle East. Iranian forces battle anti-Shi'ite fighters in Damascus, and the region braces for an ultimate showdown. If the scenario sounds familiar to an anxious world watching Syria's devastating civil war, it resonates even more with Sunni and Shi'ite fighters on the frontlines - who believe it was all foretold in 7th Century prophecies. From the first outbreak of the crisis in the southern city of Deraa to apocalyptic forecasts of a Middle East soaked in blood, many combatants on both sides of...

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Sepang - The radar blip that was Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 did a wide U-turn over the Gulf of Thailand and then began moving inexorably past at least three military radar arrays as it traversed northern Malaysia, even flying high over one of the country's biggest cities before heading out over the Strait of Malacca. Yet inside a Malaysian air force control room on the country's west coast, where American-made F-18's and F-5 fighters stood at a high level of readiness for emergencies exactly like the one unfolding in the early morning of March 8, a four-person crew did nothing...

A British man convicted of plotting an Al-Qaeda plane bombing told a New York court yesterday about a separate 2001 plan for a Malaysian pilot to blast his way into a jet's cockpit. Saajid Badat, who was sentenced in 2005 to 13 years in jail as a co-conspirator in a notorious December 2001 plot to bomb US airliners, has testified about the Malaysian plan before. But his description of the apparently abandoned plot has a new resonance as investigators probe the fate of a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared on Saturday with 239 people on board. There has been no...

<p>ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff has obtained a letter that an oil rig worker in Vietnam wrote to his employer claiming he saw Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 go down in flames.</p> <p>Mr. Woodruff tweeted an image of the letter saying, “Oil rig worker claims in employer confirmed letter-he saw the plane go down. Vietnamese say they found nothing.”</p>

The pastor of a Lansingburgh Baptist church plans to give away an AR-15 assault rifle to the winner of a free raffle at an upcoming Sunday service. A provocative flier he distributed rallied supporters of gun rights and stirred controversy among anti-gun advocates and some who considered it un-Christian. The Rev. John Koletas, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, said the service and gun raffle are aimed at "honoring hunters and gun owners who have been so viciously attacked by the antichristian socialist media and antichristian socialist politicians the last few years," according to a letter he posted on the church...

Last February, during an interview with Tom Trento, John Guandolo claimed that he personally knows two people who witnessed current CIA Director John Brennan convert to Islam in the 1990's while stationed in Saudi Arabia. We posted the interview at the time but in light of the allegations made by Yossef Bodansky and Dale Gavlak – in conjunction with our own research – relative to the CIA involvement in Syria, perhaps it’s an interview worth revisiting. (...) A very interesting figure in all of this is the CIA Director himself, John Brennan. If Bodansky is correct, the CIA is actively...

INDIAN LAKE, NY — Don’t worry, New Yorkers. We’re in charge — really! Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo channeled their inner mountain men — and showed off their office tans — during a white-water rafting race in the Adirondacks yesterday to promote upstate tourism. The pair, joined by crews of assorted relatives and staffers, engaged in a three-mile contest on the Indian River, about 310 miles north of Manhattan. (...) “He called me up and I said, ‘Oh, I can’t do that.’ And he said, ‘You will come,’ ” Bloomberg said. The two-day event cost taxpayers about $175,000. But Cuomo...

(...) As WCBS 880′s Peter Haskell and CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported, the former governor’s return to the campaign trail was not without hecklers, shouting things such as the following: “Spitzer, you cheated on your wife!” “You betrayed your constituents. You abandoned your wife. You betrayed everybody!” “This is about power. You just want power, man. If you want public service go volunteer somewhere!” “Did you leave your black socks on?” Spitzer appeared to take it in stride, as if he expected it. “This is what I look forward to — dealing with the public,” said Spitzer. “This is New...