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As per rumors first reported in the overnight summary article, the Cypriot finance minister has joined the other rats dumping the sinking island: CYPRUS FINANCE MINISTER SARRIS SAYS HE RESIGNSSARRIS SAYS RESIGNS DUE TO ONGOING INVESTIGATION IN CYPRUSSARRIS SAYS CYPRUS PRESIDENT ACCEPTED RESIGNATION Investigation? Did he also funnel cash into London ahead of Confiscation Day? But fear not, all shall be well, the now ex-finmin promises: SARRIS SAYS CAPITAL CONTROLS WILL BE EASED GRADUALLY Surely, if this great news doesn't send the S&P to new all time highs, nothing will.From Sigma Live:His resignation, submitted by the Minister of Finance...

TALLAHASSEE -- Lieutenant Gov. Jennifer Carroll has turned in her resignation to Gov. Rick Scott. The governor's office confirmed Carroll submitted her resignation Tuesday. Scott will hold a presser on the resignation this afternoon. Carroll was the first female elected as lieutenant governor in Florida and the first African-American elected statewide.

The Associated Press has learned that the Homeland Security Department official in charge of the agency's immigration enforcement and removal operations has resigned after hundreds of illegal immigrants were released from jails because of government spending cuts.

Just hours after Pope Benedict XVI‘s surprising Feb. 28 resignation, bookmakers have already started placing odds on his successor. Quickest off the mark was the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, which has already gone through three favorites for the position, starting off with Nigerian Francis Arinze, before shifting to Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson and then to Canadian Marc Ouellet — who at the time of this writing is the most favored option, with odds of 11 to 4. A rival bookie, Ladbrokes, currently has Turkson as the slight favorite at 3 to 1, followed by Arinze (7 to 2) and then...

On Feb. 28, Pope Benedict XVI will become the first pope to resign in almost 600 years. That’s not just tradition — it’s dogma. The Washington Post’s Debbi Wilgoren cited a theological expert in explaining, “Most modern popes have felt that resignation is unacceptable except in cases of an incurable or debilitating disease — that paternity, in the words of Paul IV, cannot be resigned.” But Benedict XVI’s resignation is even more curious when compared to the handful of others who have left the powerful office willingly. In the past 1000 years, only four other popes have resigned. Here are...

Pope Benedict XVI blesses Cardinals during a consistory at the Vatican February 11, 2013, in this picture provided by Osservatore Romano. Pope Benedict XVI told a gathering of cardinals Feb. 11 that he no longer has the strength to carry out ministry and will resign on Feb. 28. “I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. “After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age,...

Michelle and I warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years.

Pope Benedict XVI 'is to resign' Breaking news The Pope is to resign at the end of this month in an entirely unexpected development, reports from the Vatican say.

No pope has resigned in almost 600 years. But Pope Benedict’s surprise announcement is not entirely unprecedented. More than 260 men have reigned as Pope since Saint Peter was martyred in Rome in the third decade after the death of Christ, and at least four of them have resigned. We spoke to medieval historian Doctor Donald Prudlo, Associate Professor of History at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, about the history of papal resignations. Listen: Vatican Radio: It’s been centuries since a Pope has resigned the See of Peter. Can you tell us about the last Pope to resign? Dr....

Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also tocommunicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world,...

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who won a Nobel Prize in physics but came under questioning for his handling of a solar energy loan, is stepping down. Chu offered his resignation to President Barack Obama in a letter Friday. He said he will stay on at least until the end of February and may stay until a successor is confirmed. Chu’s departure had been widely expected and follows announcements by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson and Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that they are leaving.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, the head of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division who played a critical role in lying to Congress about Operation Fast and Furious, plans to resign soon, the Washington Post reports, citing anonymous sources. “It is not clear when Breuer intends to leave his post, nor what he plans to do once he departs, but it is certain that the prosecutor’s days in office are winding down, according to people who were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter,” the Post wrote. When asked for a comment on the Post’s report, and to verify...

<p>The Obama administration's chief environmental watchdog, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, is stepping down after a nearly four-year tenure marked by high-profile brawls over global warming pollution, the Keystone XL oil pipeline, new controls on coal-fired plants and several other hot-button issues that affect the nation's economy and people's health.</p>

Via Drudge, it looks like accountability for the four deaths of Americans in Benghazi turned out to be temporary. The New York Post has learned that the four State Department officials that supposedly resigned after the Accountability Review Board report slammed Foggy Bottom for its "systemic failures" and "leadership and management deficiencies" will return to work after all --- and all but one in the same post: The four officials supposedly out of jobs because of their blunders in the run-up to the deadly Benghazi terror attack remain on the State Department payroll — and will all be back to...

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee, says the resignation of Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair “is the result of the Obama administration’s rampant politicization of national security and outright disregard for congressional intelligence oversight.” ABC News reported today that President Barack Obama would be accepting Blair’s resignation tomorrow, and the Associated Press reported that the administration has already interviewed several candidates to replace him. Hoekstra, who formerly served as chairman of the intelligence committee, issued a written statement saying that Blair’s readiness to step down, considering his record of service...

Former congressman Dick Armey has quit FreedomWorks, the conservative group he helped bring to national tea party prominence. Armey confirms that he wrote a letter to FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe on Nov. 30, resigning from the group, as first reported by Mother Jones. He told the Post that he does not know who leaked his resignation letter. “We accepted his letter of resignation and we wish him well,” FreedomWorks press secretary Jackie Bodnar said. “As I resign from all board positions and duties, please see below a list of dispositions on outstanding issues: I expect to be fully compensated through...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday abruptly announced he was quitting politics, injecting new turmoil into the Israeli political system weeks ahead of general elections. Barak, Israel's most-decorated soldier and one-time prime minister, said he would stay on in his current post until a new government is formed following the Jan. 22 balloting.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Jacksonville police officer has quit after admitting he told colleagues that he would volunteer to assassinate President Barack Obama. Sam Koivisto told the Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/10zfc6q ) on Wednesday that his comments had been blown out of proportion and that he'd planned to retire in five months anyway. Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/20164591/police-officer-quits-after-comments-about-obama#ixzz2Czc5SK9A

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. will announce his resignation from Congress today in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Jackson's brother Jonathan Jackson said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Sesame Workshop says Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash has resigned from "Sesame Street" in the wake of allegations that he had sex with an under-aged youth. Last week a man accused Clash of having sex with him when he was a teenage boy, a charge Clash denied.