Jack’s Weblog

The bumper sticker reading "Allah is Love" was torn off and the suspect's car was keyed. But what kind of impact these incidents had on Hasan remains a mystery.

Firefighters and police responded to a reported shooting Friday at a high-rise building in Orlando, Florida.

The nation's unemployment rate rose above 10% for the first time since 1983 in October, a much worse jump than expected as employers continued to trim jobs from payrolls.

A Spanish judge would consider sending two Somali pirate suspects held in Madrid back to Africa, as demanded by pirates holding a Spanish fishing boat and its crew off the Somali coast, it was reported Friday.

Two members of the NATO-led military force in Afghanistan have been missing since Wednesday, the force said Friday.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has caused a buzz all over Italy this week with the release of a new book that simply asks the colorful premier about some equally colorful exploits.

A new international treaty to combat climate change will not be ready when 40 world leaders meet next month in Copenhagen but may be finished next year, a top United Nations official said Friday in Barcelona.

Mexican authorities have arrested three doctors, a nurse and a receptionist accused of stealing newborns at a private hospital and selling them, the Mexico City attorney general's office says.

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo continued to purge the top ranks of the nation's military Friday, removing the armed forces' commander.

Michael Jackson's father wants a judge to order the pop star's estate to pay him a monthly allowance, according to papers filed in court Friday.

Thousands of workers have taken to the streets in a series of marches to protest against proposed Government cuts.

Three men have been arrested following an attempted armed robbery of a jewellery store in Dublin City Centre this afternoon.

The proposed new drink-driving limits will not be introduced before 2011 because the equipment used to test samples must be replaced.

An army psychiatrist who opened fire at a US military base in Texas, killing 13, is being treated in hospital for gunshot wounds.

A 37-year-old Derry man accused of the murder of Jean Quigley could face a retrial after the jury failed to agree on a verdict.

Aer Lingus has said that passenger numbers on its long-haul flights have fallen by more than 25% since this time last year.

PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott has confirmed plans to phase out the full-time reserve.

US employers cut 190,000 jobs in October driving the unemployment rate to 10.2%, the highest in over 25 years.

A court has heard that soil found on a boot belonging to a republican, matches samples found in the car used in the murders of two British soldiers last March.

A well known construction firm from Co Wexford has ceased trading with the loss of around 70 jobs.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Younger Palestinian leaders were in no rush on Friday to step into the shoes of President Mahmoud Abbas after he said he did not want to run for re-election in January.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - An agreement to end a four-month political crisis in Honduras collapsed on Friday after two rival leaders failed to form a government of unity to heal the damage from a June coup.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani soldiers entered the Taliban headquarters in South Waziristan on Friday, the military said, as gunmen wounded an army brigadier and his driver in a drive-by shooting in the capital.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - More than 25 NATO and Afghan troops were wounded during a search Friday for two missing U.S. paratroopers in western Afghanistan, the NATO-led force said.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to stop seeking compromise with Israel but offered him an olive branch, saying Palestinians must end their divisions.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's opposition, including Iranian-backed Hezbollah, agreed on Friday to join a national unity government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, a senior opposition source said.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has proposed that "indigenous Zimbabweans" take 51 percent ownership of all foreign companies, including mines and banks, according to a draft law seen by Reuters Friday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - H1N1 swine flu is on the rise in China and Japan after triggering an unusually early start to the winter influenza season in Europe, Central Asia and North America, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Two Iranian businessmen working at a Dubai-based firm were linked to video surveillance devices sold to Sudan and used in unmanned drones in Darfur in violation of a U.N. arms embargo, a U.N. report said.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Madagascar's political rivals struck a deal late Friday on the make-up of a unity government, paving the way for an end to a 10-month political crisis that has rocked the Indian Ocean island.