"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Intelligence shows no planning for Benghazi consulate attack

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 11:53 AM PDT

Intelligence Shows No Planning for Benghazi Consulate AttackThe latest intelligence assessment of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi indicates there was little if any pre-planning for it and that it was in part an opportunistic response to the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. Ambassador Chris Stevens and...

One year after Gadhafi's death, Libyan turmoil persists

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 04:03 PM PDT

FILE - In this Friday, July 29, 2011 file photo, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim talks during a press conference concerning the death of Abdel-Fattah Younis, in Tripoli, Libya. The Libyan government on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 announced the capture of Moammar Gadhafi's ex-spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, as he was trying to flee Bani Walid, as the oil-rich North African nation marked the anniversary of the ousted dictator's death. Bani Walid has been the site of fierce fighting between pro-government forces and fighters holed up in what was once a stronghold for Gadhafi supporters. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill, file)On the anniversary of the capture and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, Libya is still grappling with the legacy of his four decades of rule as the interim government and the dictator's former spokesman engaged in a war of words amid the ongoing chaos.

Report: Iran ready to talk about its nuclear program

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 03:36 PM PDT

Iran's president sounds alarm on US debtThis is convenient timing. The New York Times' Helene Cooper and Michael Landry report Iran has finally agreed to sit down for the first time for one-on-one negotiations with the U.S. over their controversial nuclear program. 

'I'm doing my best' Jackson tells constituents in robocall

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 03:27 PM PDT

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., absent from public life and the campaign trail since June for treatment of bipolar depression, launched a series of automated telephone calls Saturday, asking constituents for patience but not their votes.

As other polls show tight presidential race, Gallup stands apart

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 11:30 AM PDT

U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney arrives at a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, FloridaThe election between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney looks like it will be a knuckle-biter - unless you go by one of the United States' most respected public-opinion polls. As most surveys show Obama and Romney locked in a virtual dead heat, Gallup finds that the Republican would win by a comfortable six percentage points if the election were held today. ...

Ryan criticizes Obama's energy policies at Pa. rally

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 10:05 AM PDT

Ryan Slams President on Energy PolicyFor the first time in two months, Paul Ryan stumped in Pennsylvania, landing in this town just outside of Pittsburgh, and rallying a crowd of several hundred on the tarmac. The GOP vice presidential nominee tailored his remarks to the steel country audience,...

Race tightens for Obama, Romney ahead of final debate

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 03:52 PM PDT

U.S. President Obama listens as Republican presidential nominee Romney answers a question during the second presidential debate in HempsteadThe race between President Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney has tightened in the days before their final televised debate, with the Republican closing the gap on Obama's slight but steady lead in a Reuters/Ipsos online poll. Data from the daily tracking poll released on Saturday showed the Democratic incumbent with a small lead over the former Massachusetts governor, but the margin has narrowed from Friday and from results earlier in the week. ...

Tactics set, Obama, Romney hurtle toward finish

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 10:38 AM PDT

Candidates get heated during Hofstra debateWith one debate and one jobs report to go, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are hurtling towards Election Day in a virtual deadlock, each convinced that victory is within reach if his campaign sticks with its plan.

Romney ups criticism of Obama's second-term plans

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:36 PM PDT

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, center, talks with foreign policy adviser Dan Senor, left, and his vice presidential running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., before boarding his campaign plane at Daytona International Airport, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)Heading into the campaign's final weeks, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is upping his criticism of President Barack Obama's plans for a second term, accusing the Democrat of failing to tell Americans what he would do with four more years. The Obama campaign is aggressively disputing the notion, claiming it's Romney who hasn't provided specific details to voters.

Al-Qaida in Afghanistan is attempting a comeback

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 10:21 AM PDT

FILE - This July 22, 2012 file photo shows U.S. Gen. John Allen, top commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) and US forces in Afghanistan gestures during an interview with the Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. A diminished but resilient al-Qaida, whose 9/11 attacks drew America into its longest war, is attempting a comeback in the country's mountainous east even as U.S. and allied forces wind down their combat mission and concede a small but steady toehold to the terrorist group. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq, File)A diminished but resilient al-Qaida, whose 9/11 attacks drew America into its longest war, is attempting a comeback in Afghanistan's mountainous east even as U.S. and allied forces wind down their combat mission and concede a small but steady toehold to the terrorist group.

CDC: Death toll rises to 23 in meningitis outbreak

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 12:08 PM PDT

A sample of Cladosporium species, one of the fungi diagnosed in the fungal meningitis outbreak sweeping the United States, in Nashville, TennesseeThe U.S. death toll from fungal meningitis linked to potentially contaminated steroid injections has risen by two to 23, with North Carolina reporting its first death, health officials said on Saturday. Tennessee's death total in the outbreak rose to eight, the highest state total, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on its website. States reported 13 new cases of fungal meningitis, raising the total to 281. There are also three peripheral infections caused by injections into joints. ...

Father, 4-year-old son killed in Calif. shooting; three wounded

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 02:58 PM PDT

Police searched for a gunman who wore a painter's mask as he set fire to a home before going on a shooting spree early Saturday, killing a father and his 4-year-old son and injuring a woman and two other young children near Los Angeles.

Envoy presses for cease-fire in Syria

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:23 AM PDT

UN Arab League deputy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, speaks during a press conference after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, at the government palace, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012. Brahimi is in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)The international envoy to the Syria conflict pressed his call for a cease-fire with Syrian officials during a visit to Damascus on Saturday while violence continued throughout the country unabated.

Bears ready to roll for Monday

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 11:31 AM PDT

The Chicago Bears probably would paint a special parking spot in front of Halas Hall for the oversized bus ESPN sends around the country for "Monday Night Football" if it would put them in the time slot more often.

Felon held without bond in slaying of restaurant worker

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 11:18 AM PDT

A felon has been ordered held without bail in the fatal shooting of an employee at a restaurant in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood during a robbery Feb. 9, authorities said.

Bail set at $400,000 in hit-and-run

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 11:35 AM PDT

Bail has been set at $400,000 today for a man after a skateboarder was struck and critically injured in a bike lane on a Bucktown street this week.

Gadhafi's former spokesman arrested, Libya says

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 11:19 AM PDT

FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011 file photo, Libya's government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim speaks to the press at a hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Ibrahim was captured as he was trying to flee Bani Walid, according to the Libyan State News Agency, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. The town has been the site of fierce fighting between pro-government forces and fighters holed up in the longtime Gadhafi stronghold. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)The Libyan government on Saturday announced the capture of Moammar Gadhafi's ex-spokesman outside a besieged town, as the oil-rich North African nation marked the anniversary of the ousted dictator's death.

Six Afghan police killed in insider attack

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 08:02 AM PDT

An Afghan police officer and cook poisoned their colleagues at a checkpoint in an assault coordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country's south, officials said Saturday.

Bombs in market, shootings kill 17 in Iraq

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:49 AM PDT

Back-to-back bomb blasts in a crowded Baghdad market near a revered Shiite shrine and a string of shootings targeting government officials killed at least 17 people Saturday.

Libya government says former Gadhafi spokesman captured

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:17 AM PDT

FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011 file photo, Libya's government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim speaks to the press at a hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Gadhafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, chided the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron for their visit to Libya, claiming that pro-Gadhafi fighters "are everywhere." He told the Syrian al-Rai TV station late Thursday, "This visit by Sarkozy and Cameron is a launch of an imperialist project in Libya." Ibrahim did not say where he was, nor where Gadhafi was hiding. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The former spokesman of Moammar Gadhafi's government has been captured, exactly a year after the death of the Libyan dictator, the prime minister's office said on Saturday. Moussa Ibrahim, who was the mouthpiece of the Gaddafi regime during last year's war, was caught in the town of Tarhouna, 70 km (40 miles) south of Tripoli. "Moussa Ibrahim has been arrested by forces belonging to the Libyan government in the town of Tarhouna and he is being transferred to Tripoli to begin interrogation," a statement from the prime minister's office said. ...