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UPDATE: Up to 18 people shot at Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, local NBC affiliate KTSM reports. Details soon. Police and other emergency services are responding to reports of an active shooting at the Walmart near the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas, local officials and witnesses say. Only few details were immediately available. The incident began at about 11 a.m. on Saturday when officers were called for an active shooter at Walmart. It was not immediately clear if police have confirmed a shooting and, if so, what is the status of the suspect.

Guzman’s attorney says the drug lord will plead guilty once he arrives if his lawyer can negotiate a “reasonable sentence” in addition to the medium security detention. The attorney, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, said he discussed the idea with the kingpin during a meeting on February 15. He said Guzman asked him to get in touch with a U.S. lawyer to discuss the process. Guzman, the purported leader of the Sinaloa cartel, has broken out of Mexican maximum-security prisons two times. He slipped out of the Altiplano prison in July through a mile-long tunnel dug under the prison, but was recaptured...

'Female figurines and inscribed prayers to a "divine couple" found in temples in Israel suggest that the “one God” of the Bible may not have been entirely alone. A recent excavation in Tel Motza, not far from Jerusalem, found what archaeologists believe to have been a ritual building - with clay figures of animals and men from the time of the First Temple, according to Israel's Haaretz news site. The find suggests that Iron Age religion in the area around Jerusalem may not have been monotheistic just before the time the Hebrew Bible – the basis of the Old Testament...

God had a wife, Asherah, whom the Book of Kings suggests was worshipped alongside Yahweh in his temple in Israel, according to an Oxford scholar. In 1967, Raphael Patai was the first historian to mention that the ancient Israelites worshipped both Yahweh and Asherah. The theory has gained new prominence because of the research of Francesca Stavrakopoulou, who began her work at Oxford and is now a senior lecturer in the department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter. Information presented in Stavrakopoulou's books, lectures and journal papers has become the basis of a three-part documentary series, now...

In the ghost town of Fort Quitman, 80 miles southeast of El Paso, four US road workers were up at dawn attending to "shovel ready" jobs by filling potholes with gravel. Unfortunately, "at least one Mexican gunman," who probably just wanted a chance to do jobs Americans won't do, "fired a high-powered rifle across the border," barely missing the workers. "The bullets struck private land ...about half a mile from the border fence." Thankfully, the quartet escaped unharmed. "Mike Doyle, Chief Deputy of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office, said after the fact, a rancher spotted a white pickup fleeing the...

Today, the Obama White House announced the nomination of Mari Del Carmen Aponte as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. It is not Ms. Aponte’s first brush with an ambassadorship. In 1998, President Clinton nominated her to be Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. She was forced to withdraw her name from consideration over allegations of ties to the Cuban spy agency. From Washington Times, January 25, 1999: Miss Aponte’s withdrawal from consideration for the Dominican Republic post came after she was questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about her contacts with Cuban government employees or agents. She told the panel...

Coral Gables, FL (LifeNews.com) -- After the euthanasia death of Terri Schiavo, her former husband Michael wanted to exact revenge against the pro-life members of Congress who supported a measure allowing Terri's parents to take their efforts to save her life to federal court. He formed a PAC to get involved in various political campaigns, but it's running afoul of FEC reporting requirements. Schiavo was very involved in the 2006 election season. In Pennsylvania, he attacked pro-life Sen. Rick Santorum -- calling him "the only U.S. senator who flew to Florida and interfered with Terri Schiavo's private family tragedy." He...

A team of New York-based architects led by Field Operations and Diller, Scofidio & Renfro has been selected to design a master plan that would transform an abandoned section of elevated freight track into a public park that would weave its way north from the meatpacking district to Hell's Kitchen, two stories above the city.

One year ago, I wrote a piece exposing radical Islam within Florida Atlantic University (FAU). My goal was twofold: [1] to bring awareness concerning a growing problem within FAU [2] to push the university to take action so that this problem ceases to exist. Unfortunately, only the first part of my goal was accomplished, as FAU is continuing to allow radicals on its campus, the latest being this Saturday'S (Jan.22, 2005) return engagement of potential co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Siraj Wahhaj. The Enemy Thrives at FAU In recent times, a fairly large list of...

Editor's note: Readers may also be interested in Moderate Islam or Fata Morgana? and freemuslims.org Speaks Out.There is good news to report: The idea that "militant Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution" is finding greater acceptance over time. But there is also bad news, namely growing confusion over who really is a moderate Muslim. This means that the ideological side of the war on terror is making some, but only limited, progress.The good news: Anti-Islamist Muslims have found their voice since September 11. Their numbers include distinguished academics such as Azar Nafisi (Johns Hopkins), Ahmed al-Rahim (formerly...

Source: National Science Foundation Date: 2003-11-20 Volcanic Eruptions May Affect El Niño Onset A new study by scientists at the University of Virginia (UVa) in Charlottesville and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, suggests that explosive volcanic eruptions in the tropics may increase the probability of an El Niño event occurring during the winter following the eruption. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). "The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of interannual climate variability on the planet," says NCAR scientist Caspar Ammann. "When thinking about long-term climate, we must ask...

El Al Plane Avoids Toronto for 2nd Day Saturday October 25, 2003 1:31 AM TORONTO (AP) - An Israeli flight was diverted from Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario, for a second straight day Friday due to an unspecified security threat, authorities said. An El Al flight from Tel Aviv was sent to Hamilton, 40 miles southwest of Toronto, Thursday because of a phone call that raised security concerns. It reached Los Angeles later that night then made the return trip Friday with a stop in Hamilton instead of Toronto's Pearson Airport before continuing on to Tel Aviv, said police spokesman Todd...

Shooting at LAX, several injured....

Ten years ago, a group of black Muslims tried to overthrow the democratically-elected government of the Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago. One-hundred-and-fourteen members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen group, mostly young black men, took over the island's parliament; held the prime minister and some other members of his cabinet hostage; and stormed the state-run television station. For many, inside and outside the Caribbean, the 27 July crisis came as a total shock. The English-speaking Caribbean islands had vowed, following the 1983 American-led invasion of Grenada, never to see democratically-elected structures topple ever again. Armed raid The crisis began with the...