7.5 quake hits west of Alaska coast, tsunami warning lifted A 7.7-magnitude earthquake, followed by two aftershocks, has struck the western coast of Alaska. The magnitude was later downgraded to 7.5. The regional tsunami warning has been lifted. Craig, Alaska, is the city nearest to the epicenter of the quake, the US Geological Survey reported. The tremor occurred at a depth of 6 miles (9.6 kilometers)... 

The first Patriot anti-missile batteries have been installed at the Diyarbakir military airport in southeastern Turkey. A group of 27 US troops has arrived in Turkey to operate NATO Patriot surface-to-air (SAM) missile batteries. At least six of those will be deployed along the country’s border with Syria. ­The troops arrived in the southeastern province of Gaziantep on Thursday and were taken to... 

President Barack Obama wasn’t lying when he said he’d raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans if reelected — but it won’t be just the top wage-earners who will be handing over more to Uncle Sam in 2013. Under a last minute Capitol Hill agreement expected to avert the much-feared ‘fiscal cliff’ disaster that has dominated politics in recent weeks, working Americans across the board will... 

Federal detectives won’t need a warrant to eavesdrop on the emails and phone calls of Americans for another five years. President Obama reauthorized an intelligence gathering bill on Sunday that puts national security over constitutional rights. President Barack Obama inked his name over the weekend to an extension of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, a George W. Bush-era legislation that has allowed... 

US President Barack Obama enacted a law on Friday targeting Iran’s alleged influence in Latin America. This comes as Washington already wages a “covert war” against Iran, according to researcher Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich. The act also calls on the Department of Homeland Security to bolster surveillance at US borders with Canada and Mexico to “prevent operatives from Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary... 

A new Foreign Military Intelligence (GRU) report circulating in the Kremlin today is saying that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [photo 2nd right] was injured, and a top US Navy Seal Commander killed when their C-12 Huron military passenger and transport aircraft crash landed nearly 3 weeks ago in the Iranian city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border. Iranian intelligence agents quoted... 

For anyone who may have thought Senator Feinstein and her colleagues in Congress were bluffing about coming firearms legislation that would restrict the sale, transfer and possession of certain firearms, think again. A summary of the proposed legislation has been made available, and it’s a whopper. Among outright banning 120 ‘assault’ related firearms (such as AR-15′s and AK-47′s), the bill... 

Tit-for-tat moves between Russia and the US are plunging the two nations into a new Cold War, says Russia expert Stephen Cohen. Washington’s longtime policy towards Moscow is to blame for the growing tensions. The ‘reset’ in relations between the United States and Russia is dead, as the Obama administration has never truly cooperated with Moscow, instead pushing the same policy Washington has... 

An EDR. There for your own benefit? US regulators want to make event data recorders (EDRs), similar to “black boxes” used on planes, mandatory on all cars produced from September 2014. The move has sparked a tense debate between safety advocates and those worried about loss of privacy. The National Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA), which is in charge of setting motoring regulation, has submitted... 

Gun shop in East Windsor, Connecticut. Several states in America are working to allow teachers to carry weapons at schools, following a deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. On Thursday, the Utah Shooting Sports Council (USSC) canceled its fee for educators who intend to take part in training sessions in order to be allowed to carry concealed weapons at schools. Referring... 

A resident in Greenfield, Massachusetts clears snow off his car, December 27, 2012. A powerful winter storm has pounded the US northeast, bringing heavy snow and strong winds across several states and killing several people. The storm, which has claimed some 16 lives so far, hit the northeast on Thursday after it wreaked havoc on a region stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The tempest... 

Toyota, the third largest carmaker in the US market, has settled a US lawsuit that blames the company for defects in the speed control system in its vehicles. The class action has been the biggest safety crisis in the Japanese company’s history. The key accusation is that millions of Toyota cars accelerate unintentionally, with the proposed settlement set to cover economic losses from possible safety... 

With less than a week until a powerful legislation expires that lets the government eavesdrop on the phone and email conversations of Americans, the Senate has convened in DC to discuss whether or not to renew the FISA Amendment Act. The 2008 FISA Amendment Act, an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of the 1970s, allows the government to wiretap any conversation involving US citizens,... 

Immature: A former TSA officer has revealed that he had witnessed his co-workers laughing at the nude X-ray images of passengers going through full-body scanners A former Transpiration Security Administration (TSA) agent-turned-anonymous blogger recently revealed that his co-workers routinely make fun of passengers’ nude body images while reviewing them in backrooms. The unnamed ex-TSA officer,... 

What your credit says about you: Banks steer clear of giving loans to people with scores below 660, while scores above 750 are considered good according to this graphic by Credit Karma Asking for a date’s credit score has apparently eclipsed more traditional check-list questions like a good job and shared interests. According to the New York Times, websites like Creditscoredating.com state that...