The political calendar heats up

Gun crime has plunged, but Americans think it’s up, says study

Via The Los Angeles Times Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show. Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, [...]

Florida man charged with having unregistered guns on grounds of US Capitol

Via The Washington Post A Florida man is under arrest after police say he brought unregistered guns and ammunition onto the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building. U.S. Capitol Police spokesman Shennell Antrobus says officers confronted 59-year-old Ty Carroll Mitchum, of Clearwater, Fla., outside the building on Sunday because they thought he was acting suspiciously. [...]

Ex-Detroit mayor convicted of widespread corruption

Via Reuters Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, once seen as a rising star in Democratic Party politics, was convicted on Monday on two dozen federal charges of corruption and bribery during his seven year tenure. Prosecutors accused Kilpatrick, 42, his father and a city contractor of widespread corruption, extorting bribes from contractors who wanted to [...]

The Queen’s Era Is Drawing to an End as Prince Charles Assumes New Royal Duties

Via TIME Often what British royals do is far more consequential than what they say. At tomorrow’s State Opening of Parliament, Queen Elizabeth II will read out her government’s agenda for the coming session, this time expected to include immigration reforms, a cap on the cost of social care, a measure to control dangerous dogs [...]

Five killed as Philippine volcano starts spewing rocks and ash

Via The Los Angeles Times Four German tourists and one of their Filipino guides were killed Tuesday when one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes started spewing large rocks and ash, officials said. The group was climbing the Mayon volcano when an explosion happened at about 8 a.m., lasting just over a minute, the Philippines’ [...]

Remains of Chilean Nobel Prize-Winning Poet Exhumed

Via Voice of America The remains of Nobel prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda have been exhumed as part of an investigation into claims he may have been poisoned during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The leftist author, who died 12 days after the 1973 military coup that ousted socialist president Salvador Allende and brought General [...]

The ‘former Obama campaign consultant’

Marjorie Clifton is a Democratic strategist, principal of Clifton Consulting LLC and founder of Spike the Watercooler, a community website for women. But on cable news, she is a “former Obama campaign consultant” — a billing that confounds Obama campaign officials who say they have no recollection of her work. “I spent four years working [...]

Obama Signals He’d Let Cuts Stand to Avoid U.S. Shutdown

Via The New York Times President Obama and Congressional leaders emerged from a White House meeting on Friday without resolution to the budget impasse, meaning that the across-the-board spending cuts that take effect Friday could remain in place for weeks if not months. Speaking to reporters after the hourlong meeting, Mr. Obama called the cuts [...]

New Congress takes office Thursday, will tackle old Congress’ leftovers

Via CNN A brand new The legislature requires workplace Thurs, and several of the identical hard problems that snagged the final 1 will certainly get into the panel. Leader Barack Obama offers authorized in to legislation the expenses in order to avoid the actual financial high cliff, a package exercised right after extended, milling rubbing [...]

Dow has its first close above 15,000 points

Via WLOX.com The Dow Jones industrial average is punching through another milestone: its first close above 15,000. The Dow rose 87 points to 15,056 points Tuesday, a gain of 0.6%. It was another milestone in the market’s epic ascent in 2013. Good economic reports, higher corporate profits and support from central banks have eased investors’ [...]

Avon slashes 400 jobs worldwide

Via The Financial Times Avon, the door-to-door cosmetics seller, is quitting the Republic of Ireland and slashing 400 more jobs worldwide as it seeks to right its troubled business. The moves announced on Monday come in addition to 1,500 job cuts announced by Sheri McCoy, chief executive, last December, when the group said it would [...]

Virgin America Performed Best of 14 US Airlines

Via ABC News Virgin America turned in the best performance last year of the 14 largest U.S. airlines, while United Airlines had the worst performance in an annual airline quality report released Monday. The report is based on government data on on-time arrivals, mishandled bags, consumer complaints and passengers with tickets who were denied seats [...]