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Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed on Wednesday that Iran has removed the calandria, or central vessel, of its nuclear reactor at Arak, and it will be filled with concrete within hours. Iranian media reported earlier this week that the Islamic Republic had removed the core of the Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor, the fate of which was one of the sticking points in nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers. "Just yesterday, the foreign minister (of Iran) reported to me that the calandria of the plutonium nuclear reactor is now out and in the next hours it will...

The ladies are on fire. A very good watch.

Ted Cruz, now locked in a struggle to the political death with reigning campaign champion Donald Trump, faces a make-or-break night at the GOP debate Thursday night. Proving his mettle as a candidate worthy of his post-season position, Cruz has ruggedly endured a sustained week of media battering over Trump’s birtherism blitz, losing little ground. Trump’s all-out offensive raising questions about Cruz’s eligibility because of his birth in Canada – widely held to be a non-issue by constitutional experts — has arrested Cruz’s upward momentum but not caused a collapse. But while Cruz has barely dropped in the polls as...

President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address drew 31.3 million viewers across 12 networks, marking a new record low in viewership, according to Nielsen.

Weather during the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is likely to be soggy in the Sacramento area, but ideal for skiers heading to the Sierra. Ski resorts are welcoming the snowfall that began arriving Wednesday and is expected to continue with a series of storms forecast through Sunday. “The snow has been falling overnight,” Northstar California resort’s Cassandra Walker said Wednesday morning. “We already have a few inches piling up. It is still coming down. It is absolutely beautiful.” Walker said that the resort is prepared for a busy weekend, a time when families can get away for an...

General Electric, the nation's largest industrial company, makes products like jet engines, locomotives and gas turbines. Its corporate reputation is tied to producing big, heavy equipment - atoms by the ton, not the ephemeral bits of software. Yet Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive, predicted last September that G.E. would be a "top 10 software company"' by 2020. In recent years, the company has steadily built up its software business, and its industrial products are increasingly loaded with digital sensors, all part of an effort to be a leader in the "industrial Internet." Now, in its latest step to remake itself...

FYI!!!

A preview by Benghazi security officer Kris “Tanto” Paronto of 13 Hours, the block-buster Michael Bay film that premieres on Thursday, raises dramatic new questions about the refusal by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to authorize a military rescue of the besieged U.S. diplomatic facility and the nearby CIA Annex on Sept 11-12, 2012. In a presentation at a conference organized by the Maryland Citizen Action Network last weekend, Paronto revealed that two AC-130H “Spectre” gunships were “on call” that night, both within range of Benghazi. One of them was a six-hour flight away, co-located with a U.S. special operations...

Federal health officials are debating whether to warn pregnant women against travel to Brazil and other Latin American and Caribbean countries where mosquitoes are spreading the Zika virus, which has been linked to brain damage in newborn babies. ... A few isolated cases have been found in the United States, including one in Texas last wee k. However, all were in people who had just returned from overseas. No transmission within the 50 states has been found. Only one case has been confirmed in Puerto Rico, but because testing is rare and many cases involve mild or no symptoms, doctors...

The Republican Party's response to President Barack Obama's last State of the Union address on Tuesday night differed very slightly, but in telling ways, depending on whether you heard it in English or Spanish. Below is an excerpt from Haley's speech: No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country. At the same time, that does not mean we just flat out open our borders. We can't do that. We cannot continue to allow immigrants to come here illegally, and in this age of terrorism, we...

It's a common theme in science fiction, but migrating to planets beyond our solar system will be a lot more complicated and difficult than you might imagineThe idea that humans will eventually travel to and inhabit other parts of our galaxy was well expressed by the early Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who wrote, “Earth is humanity’s cradle, but you’re not meant to stay in your cradle forever.” Since then the idea has been a staple of science fiction, and thus become part of a consensus image of humanity’s future. Going to the stars is often regarded as humanity’s destiny,...

January 14, 2016 Thursday of the First Week of Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Sm 4:1-11 The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel.Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer,while the Philistines camped at Aphek.The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel.After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines,who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said,"Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated todayby the Philistines?Let us fetch the ark of the LORD from Shilohthat it may...

A federal judge awarded a team of Kentucky attorneys more than $1 million for their role in the landmark United States Supreme Court case that struck down bans on same-sex marriage. The state will have to pick up the $1.1 million tab. In 2014, U.S. District Judge John Heyburn ruled the state's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. Attorney General Jack Conway refused to appeal, announcing that he believed the ban was discriminatory and destined to fail in the federal appeals courts. But former Gov. Steve Beshear hired outside attorneys to continue defending the ban "so all Kentuckians will have finality...

After Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan sold the pizza chain, he had a grander vision for his next project: a university and town built on Catholic beliefs. “There is not going to be any pornographic television in Ave Maria Town,” Monaghan said in 2004, in a speech on his vision for the Florida town. “If you go to the drug store and you want to buy the pill or the condoms or contraception, you won't be able to get that in Ave Maria Town.” While Monaghan retracted his statements, Ave Maria has grown into a religious-centric town like no other in...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Lottery officials have announced the numbers drawn for Wednesday night's record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot. The California Lottery did announce there is Powerball jackpot winner in Chino Hills, California. There could be other winners in other states. Also, in Chula Vista a ticket was sold that matched 5 out of the 6 numbers.

Less than one week before the international community is set to unlock a decade of sanctions imposed on Iran, the country’s Islamic hardliners deliberately generated a crisis with the US for pure domestic consumption with the aim of ensuring the ayatollahs’s continued grip on power. Once the International Atomic Energy Agency announces on Friday as expected that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the US-brokered nuclear accord, the billions of dollars in unfrozen accounts and the massive flow of oil exports will usher in historic changes to Iran’s long-isolated economy.

     

Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump blasted the unnamed "bastard" responsible for setting up a faulty sound system at a Wednesday-night campaign rally. "And by the way, I don't like this mic," Trump said after criticizing US trade policy with China during his speech in Pensacola, Florida.

Several explosions have been heard in the centre of the Indonesian capital ...

Two robbery suspects were shot by an employee at a cell phone store in the Jeffrey Manor neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. The T-Mobile store in the 2000-block of East 95th St. was left riddled with bullet holes. If not for the employee carrying a weapon with a concealed carry license, the manager of the store says he might be telling a different story. "I think concealed carry is a great opportunity for managers, workers, employees to protect themselves in these cases. And our employee did a great job to protect themselves and the other employee," said Neil Tadros, store...