Norfolk, VA - The two FBI agents who died while training off the Virginia Beach coast were part of the agency's elite hostage rescue team, a group known most recently for rescuing an Alabama boy from an underground bunker. It will likely be weeks before a cause of death is determined Special Agents Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw because the state medical examiner's regional office is...

Albany, NY - After a New York assemblyman resigned Monday over claims of serial sexual harassment of female staffers, attention turned to whether powerful Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver should continue his leadership despite an extraordinary apology for mishandling of the case. "The degradation and emotional duress endured by the women identified in the report, who were harassed while they...

Moore, OK - The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office says 51 people among them kids have been killed by a tornado that hit suburban Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon. Spokeswoman Amy Elliott says the death toll is expected to rise. Elliott didn't know how many of those killed were children. The powerful tornado, rated the second highest strength level of EF4 and packing winds of up to 200...

Moore, OK - Officials at two hospitals say they've been treating more than 140 patients, including about 70 children, since a massive tornado hit suburban Oklahoma City. Spokeswoman Brooke Cayot (KAY'-ot) says nine of 57 patients who are being treated at the Integris Southwest Medical Center were listed in critical condition after Monday afternoon's tornado. Nineteen were in serious condition...

New York - The federal judge who will rule in a class-action lawsuit accusing New York City police of racial profiling in their "stop and frisk" crime-fighting tactic expressed interest in having police officers wear cameras as the trial concluded on Monday. "Everybody would know exactly what occurred" in a given stop, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said toward the end of closing...

New York - As a teenager, Tumblr CEO David Karp would canvass the streets of New York City's Upper West Side, offering to build websites for local businesses. After his freshman year of high school, the precocious, computer-savvy kid decided to drop out altogether to devote more time to his passion for technology. A few years later, Karp built Tumblr — the wildly popular blogging forum —...

Moore, OK - Several children have been pulled out of the rubble alive at a school in an Oklahoma City suburb. An Associated Press photographer saw several children being pulled out of what was left of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., on Monday after a massive tornado hit the region. Rescue workers lifted children from the rubble before they were passed down a human chain...

Washington - Actor Sean Penn is urging the U.S. government to pressure Bolivia to free an American businessman jailed there since 2011. Penn says international pressure is what Bolivian President Evo Morales needs to free Jacob Ostreicher of New York. Ostreicher was granted house arrest in December after being jailed 18 months without being charged with any crime. He was arrested in a money...

Hackensack, NJ - Two New Jersey men accused in a series of firebomb attacks on synagogues across northern New Jersey have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Anthony Graziano of Lodi and Aakash Dalal of New Brunswick, both 21, entered their pleas Monday during a court hearing in Hackensack. The two were indicted in March on multiple counts of aggravated arson, conspiracy and bias...

Jerusalem - Updating a story that was reported by VINNEWS (http://bit.ly/18ZxHpY) on Sunday, the EU is denying reports that its plans to implement a "labeling" policy on goods imported from Israeli settlements have been temporarily "frozen" amid pressure from the United States. THE TIMES OF ISRAEL (http://bit.ly/12QhApW) is reporting that a spokesman for the EU delegation in Israel said on...

Tulsa, OK - A monstrous tornado at least a half-mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school. At least 37 people were reported killed. The storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, south of the city. Block after block of the community lay...

Concord, NH - Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Republican National Committee chairman are distancing themselves from conservatives who suggested in recent days that President Barack Obama could face impeachment for the developing scandal at the Internal Revenue Service. RNC chairman Reince Priebus said, "There's a few chapters before we get to the last one." He says it's up to Republicans to...

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Jerusalem - In an unexpected turn today against charges that it deceived the public in its treatment of animals during slaughter, Israeli food giant Tnuva Food Industries admitted to causing great "suffering" to animals, calling it an unavoidable part of a process that is, by nature, brutal. HAARETZ (http://bit.ly/1638g8b) is reporting that Tnuva Foods was in court responding to the two...

United Nations - The top Palestinian negotiator with Israel on Monday threw his weight behind U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's bid to revive stalled peace talks, while describing the situation in the West Bank as apartheid worse than that suffered in South Africa. Kerry is due to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah on Thursday and Friday. U.S.-brokered peace talks between the Palestinians and...