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Vice President Kamala Harris posed next to a masked-up little girl in a photo shared to social media in which she offered a message to “Black women and girls everywhere.” “My message to Black women and girls everywhere: Never ask for permission to lead,” Harris said on Sunday, sharing an image of herself bending down and holding the hand of a little black girl who was wearing a mask covering half her face. Harris is not wearing a mask in the image: My message to Black women and girls everywhere: Never ask for permission to lead. pic.twitter.com/vimjDeItFG — Kamala Harris...

WASHINGTON — The government is expected to announce on Wednesday that three-quarters of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon leak has already evaporated, dispersed, been captured or otherwise eliminated — and that much of the rest is so diluted that it does not seem to pose much additional risk of harm. A government report finds that about 26 percent of the oil released from BP’s runaway well is still in the water or onshore in a form that could, in principle, cause new problems. But most is light sheen at the ocean surface or in a dispersed form

Sonia Sotomayor heeded White House advice to paint her fingernails a neutral shade during her Supreme Court confirmation process — up to a point. At a White House reception after her confirmation, Sotomayor showed her freshly painted red nails to President Barack Obama, along with her red-and-black semi-hoop earrings, according to an article in the new issue of Latina magazine to be released Nov. 17. Obama joked that Sotomayor had been briefed on proper nail color and earring size. "Mr. President, you have no idea what you've unleashed," Sotomayor replied, according to the article by her close friend Sandra Guzman,...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2007 – The national intelligence estimate released yesterday on Iran’s nuclear program proves that Iran is still a threat to world peace and provides an opportunity for the international community to work together to persuade the country’s current regime to stop its uranium enrichment program, President Bush said here today. Although the estimate says Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, it also states with “high confidence” that Iran had a covert nuclear weapons program that it has never acknowledged and continues to deny, Bush said in a White House news conference. This opens up...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Joe Lieberman's primary defeat Tuesday night came at the hands of Democratic voters angry over the war in Iraq and demanding that lawmakers stand up to President Bush rather than stand with him. It wasn't a polite message they sent their three-term senator, a former vice presidential running mate who fell to anti-war challenger Ned Lamont. It was an eviction notice, served by an electorate that has grown remarkably sour about the course their country is on. That makes the result both an opportunity and a challenge for Democrats nationally as they head into a fall campaign...

SACRAMENTO Over the past year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has sought to position himself as a leader on climate change issues. He outlined a broad program to reduce air pollution during a speech at a United Nations summit a year ago and last week reached a publicity-generating agreement with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Republican governor now faces a dilemma that threatens to undermine his environmental credentials at the same time he is trying appeal to moderate voters as he seeks re-election. This month, the Democrats who hold a majority in California's Legislature plan to send Schwarzenegger a bill that...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 11, 2006 – Violence in southern Afghanistan is caused not just by militant extremists, but also by regional issues such as a lack of governance, the U.S. general in charge of coalition troops in Afghanistan said today. The Afghan government has not traditionally had strength and presence in certain provinces in southern Afghanistan, so the Taliban can easily gain strength, Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, told reporters in Tajikistan before boarding a flight here with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "It's not a question of the enemy being strong; it's very...

Apparently, Britney Spears is out to prove she's not a girl and very much a woman. Just days after baring her soul on Dateline, the pregnant pop tart is baring, well, everything else, for the cover of the August issue of Harper's Bazaar. The magazine confirmed Wednesday that Spears posed in the nude for the cover and an accompanying feature story and photo spread at a shoot on Thursday. Unfortunately for Harper's, said photos leaked onto the Internet shortly after the conclusion of the shoot and were available on various Websites as of Wednesday afternoon. In the images, a newly...

Crumbling Chernobyl Shelter Poses DangerBy MARA D. BELLABY, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 22, 6:37 PM ET An aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant shortly after the explosion of its still smoking fourth reactor is seen in this 1986 file picture. Ukraine marks the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the world's worst civil nuclear disaster, on April 26 this year. The concrete was used for the building of a sarcophagus around the shattered reactor, designed to contain emanating radiation. BLACK AND WHITE ONLY REUTERS/Vladimir Repik/Files CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, Ukraine - Chernobyl's coffin is cracking. Birds...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2006 – The discovery that avian, or bird, flu has come to Afghanistan poses no danger to American troops conducting operations there, a U.S. general told Pentagon reporters today. "There's not really much implication on U.S. force protection at all," Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, said from Afghanistan during a satellite teleconference. First, American forces don't conduct operations in the areas from where positive samples of bird flu virus were taken, Freakley pointed out. And, "we buy all of our food products from outside vendors exterior to Afghanistan," the...

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2006 – There is still time for Iran to suspend its plans to enrich uranium and avoid sanctions, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said here today. "We still hope that this can be resolved," the secretary said during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, "but it's going to require the Iranians to suspend their activities, to re-enter the moratorium and to do a number of other steps which are outlined in that February 4th resolution." The Feb. 4 resolution refers to an International Atomic Energy Agency report sent to the U.N. Security Council...

Japan claims China poses 'considerable' military threat (Filed: 23/12/2005) Japan's new foreign minister has awakened an old feud with China by attacking its lack of transparency and describing its increased military spending as a "threat". Taro Aso said: "It's a neighbouring country with nuclear bombs, and its military expenditure has been on the rise for 12 years. It's beginning to pose a considerable threat." Mr Aso's words drew an angry response from China, which has itself attacked Japan for its "militarism". A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said: "As a foreign minister, to so irresponsibly incite such groundless rhetoric...

Enviro-Elitist Poses As Gas-Pump Populist By Jeffrey, Terence P Sen. Biliary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) sometimes talks as if she wants oil and gas to be cheap and abundant, but she never stops working to make them expensive and scarce. But there's a key to predicting when she will start gushing about America's need for inexpensive fossil fuels. Call it Hillary's hurricane rule: When a storm interrupts oil and gas supplies from the Gulf Coast, she becomes an instant gas-pump populist. Flash back to Sept. 28, 2004. A headline in that day's New York Times read: "Oil Nears $50 As Gulf Storms...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Legalizing more immigrants would help bolster the Social Security system, former President Bill Clinton told the nation's largest Hispanic-rights organization Friday. "Those of you who want immigration reform should use Social Security more," Clinton said to about 1,300 members of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "If we legalize just 250,000 more immigrants a year, it would solve half of the shortfall in the Social Security Trust Fund." More legalized immigrants would put more young people in the system to help support the deluge of baby boomer retirees, Clinton said. During his 48-minute speech, Clinton...

<p>The attack "is not good for Syria, not good for the United States and not good for the peace process, if there is one," says Murhaf Jouejati, referring to a U.S.-sponsored "road map to peace" that aimed to rebuild confidence between Israelis and Palestinians and establish a Palestinian state by 2005.</p>