"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Republicans to delay business at convention by one day

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 05:34 PM PDT

Republicans will delay the start of business at their national convention in Tampa, Florida by one day due to Tropical Storm Isaac, the Republican National Committee chairman said on Saturday.

Apple's $1 billion patent verdict could corner market

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:06 PM PDT

ADDITION FOR CLARIFICATION ON WHERE RULING WAS MADE - Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S III, right, and Apple's iPhone 4S are displayed at a mobile phone shop in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. After a year of scorched-earth litigation, a jury decided Friday that Samsung ripped off the innovative technology used by Apple to create its revolutionary iPhone and iPad. The jury in San Jose, Calif., ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion. An appeal is expected. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)It was the $1 billion question Saturday: What does Apple Inc.'s victory in an epic patent dispute over its fiercest rival mean for the U.S. smartphone industry?

Syria activists report 'massacre' by army near Damascus

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:07 PM PDT

SYRIA-CONFLICT-ALEPPOAMMAN (Reuters) - The bodies of at least 200 people were found in a town close to Damascus on Saturday, according to activists who said most appeared to have been killed by Syrian troops "execution style". The deaths would bring the toll from an offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Daraya, a working class Sunni Muslim town on the southwestern edge of Damascus, to 270, according to a tally by opposition activists in the capital. ...

Refinery blast kills 26 in Venezuela, dozens hurt

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 05:28 PM PDT

Fire rises over the Amuay refinery near Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. A huge explosion rocked Venezuela's biggest oil refinery, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens, an official said. (AP Photo/Daniela Primera)A huge explosion rocked Venezuela's biggest oil refinery and unleashed a ferocious fire on Saturday, killing at least 26 people and injuring more than 80 others in one of the deadliest disasters ever to hit the country's key oil industry.

Ecuador says Britain withdraws threat to raid embassy

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 04:49 PM PDT

A police officer reacts to the heat of the day before a speech by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuador's embassy in LondonBritain has withdrawn a threat to enter Ecuador's embassy in London to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has taken refuge there, President Rafael Correa said on Saturday, taking the heat out of the diplomatic standoff. "We consider this unfortunate incident over, after a grave diplomatic error by the British in which they said they would enter our embassy," Correa said in a weekly media address. In a statement, Ecuador's government said it had received "a communication from the British Foreign Office which said that there was no threat to enter the embassy. ...

Obama-Romney race is focused on 7 states

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 05:21 PM PDT

President Barack Obama speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the White House, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012, in Washington. Obama talked about the presidential race and Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the exclusive AP interview before heading off to a long weekend with his family at Camp David, the secluded presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains. His comments come ahead of the GOP convention opening Aug. 27, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)On the eve of their national party conventions, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are locked in a close race to amass the requisite 270 Electoral College votes for victory. And the contest is exactly where it was at the start of the long, volatile summer: focused on seven states that are up for grabs.

Bear kills Denali backpacker in park's first fatal mauling

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:36 PM PDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A grizzly bear killed a backpacker in Denali National Park in the first fatal mauling at the Alaska nature site since it was created in 1917, the National Park Service said on Saturday. The solo backpacker died on Friday afternoon in the encounter with the bear, the Park Service said in a statement. Rangers found the body that night after being summoned by hikers who had come upon the attack site. Efforts to recover the body were postponed due to bad light and risks from bears feared to be nearby, the Park Service said. ...

Egypt PM says new constitution by late September

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:53 PM PDT

Egyptian anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters shout slogans during a rally to denounce the country's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group in Cairo, Egypt Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Friday's protests were the first attempt by Morsi's opponents to stage a major demonstration against the new president. Arabic reads " Morsi is illegal." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)Egypt will have a new constitution drafted by the end of September and ready to be submitted to a nationwide referendum, the country's prime minister said Saturday.

Neil Armstrong dead at 82

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 04:35 PM PDT

Neil Armstrong, the U.S. astronaut who was the first person to set foot on the moon, firmly establishing him as one of the great heroes of the 20th century, has died. The Purdue University graduate was 82.

Top cop lauds drug arrests in fight against 'unacceptable' violence

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 04:02 PM PDT

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy acknowledged today that the city has an "unacceptable level of violence," but insisted that the department's efforts to combat narcotics-related gang crime is showing positive results.

Republican National Convention events delayed due to Isaac

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:55 PM PDT

Workers prepare the stage for the Republican National Convention inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum, Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)TAMPA -- The events planned for the Republican National Convention on Monday will be postponed due to severe weather predictions near the conference's host city, Republican officials said Saturday. "The Republican National Convention will convene on Monday August 27th and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, August 28th," said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus in [...]

Biden postpones Florida travel over Isaac

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 04:14 PM PDT

Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign stop at Renaissance High School, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)Tampa - Vice President Joe Biden, who had scaled back planned campaign events in Florida this week because of the approach of Tropical Storm Isaac, has postponed his visit to the state altogether, the Obama campaign announced Saturday. "Due to the statewide state of emergency declared in Florida, Vice President Biden's travel to Orlando and [...]

Republicans to delay convention due to severe weather

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:52 PM PDT

Republican officials on Saturday cancelled most of Monday's planned opening of the Republican National Convention, bowing to concerns about  the safety of delegates who were to gather as the tropical storm Isaac barreled into the area.

Isaac drenches Haiti, Cuba, heads toward Florida

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:53 PM PDT

A home that was built twice within the last two years is left in ruins during the passage of Tropical Storm Isaac near the seawall in Baracoa, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. Tropical Storm Isaac pushed into Cuba on Saturday after sweeping across Haiti's southern peninsula. Isaac's center made landfall just before midday near the far-eastern tip of Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)Tropical Storm Isaac pushed over Cuba on Saturday after sweeping across Haiti's southern peninsula, where it caused flooding and at least four deaths, adding to the misery of a poor nation still trying to recover from the terrible 2010 earthquake.

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, dies at 82

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 04:18 PM PDT

FILE - In undated photo provided by NASA shows Neil Armstrong. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA)Neil Armstrong was a quiet self-described nerdy engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step on to the moon. The modest man who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter million miles away has died. He was 82.

Kidney for Ohio transplant accidently thrown in trash

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:15 PM PDT

Kidney for Ohio transplant accidently thrown in trash

Neil Armstrong dead at 82

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:38 PM PDT

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said. As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Neil Armstrong dead at 82

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 12:43 PM PDT

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died, his family says. As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the moon's dusty surface, Armstrong said: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Authorities: 2 dead, 1 wounded in Chatham shooting

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:26 PM PDT

Two assailants wearing masks opened fire this afternoon leaving two people dead and a 17-year-old girl hospitalized in serious condition in the Chatham  neighborhood on the South Side.

Toddler walking with mother hit and killed by truck

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT

A 3-year-old girl was hit and killed by a delivery truck this morning in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said.