1. EGYPT'S MUBARAK REPORTEDLY IN A COMA
After suffering a stroke and being transferred from prison to a military hospital, ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is said to be in a coma but no longer on life support, as Egypt continues to struggle with its transition to democracy. For a time Tuesday, Egypt's state-run media agency reported that Mubarak was "clinically" dead, but senior officials later said that wasn't the case. Amid the uncertainty about Mubarak's health, tens of thousands of Egyptians protested in Cairo Tuesday in response to interim military leaders having claimed additional powers after the country's first democratic presidential election. Official election results have not been announced, and both run-off candidates — former premier under Mubarak, Ahmed Shafik, and the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi — are claiming victory. [Bloomberg]
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2. HOUSE TO VOTE ON HOLDER CONTEMPT
The House Oversight Committee is set to vote on Wednesday on a contempt measure against Attorney General Eric Holder unless he hands over documents related to Operation Fast and Furious, a botched federal sting that allowed firearms to end up in the hands of Mexican drug gangs. Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) says he is "disappointed" that the political standoff has continued. Holder says he has offered to provide the documentation on the condition that Issa promise that his doing so would resolve the issue; he also says that this is more about "political gamesmanship" than documents. [CNN]
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3. LONDON POLICE COULD ARREST ASSANGE
London police says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is subject to arrest for breaking the terms of his bail. Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over 2010 sexual abuse allegations and has been fighting extradition for a year and a half. He is now seeking political asylum in Ecuador and is currently under the protection of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. His bail conditions stipulate that he must spend every night at the home of a supporter near London. [CNN]
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4. AL QAEDA TAKES HOSTAGES AT FRENCH BANK
A man claiming allegiance to al Qaeda took hostages Wednesday morning at a bank in Toulouse, France. The situation is ongoing, and French media report that four hostages are inside the bank. Officials say there have been no injuries thus far. Earlier this year, a man who claimed to be linked to al Qaeda shot and killed three Jewish schoolchildren and four adults near Toulouse. [Associated Press]
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5. SANDUSKY'S WIFE DEFENDS HIM
Dottie Sandusky testified Tuesday that she had never witnessed anything inappropriate between her husband and children. Jerry Sandusky's wife of 45 years, Dottie, described most of her husband's accusers as kind boys but called Victim 4 "very demanding." The defense in the child sex-abuse case against the former football coach could wrap Wednesday, and the jury could start deliberations by the end of the week. [Reuters]
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6. GREECE COULD FORM GOVERNMENT
Officials say that talks to form a new Greek government are going well and could result in a coalition being formed as soon as Wednesday, ending Greece's 223-day stretch without an elected government. On Monday afternoon, it was announced that the pro-bailout, center-right New Democracy party had narrowly won the weekend's elections. The party has three days from the announcement to form a government, and party leader Antonis Samaras has said he favors a wide coalition. [CNN]
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7. NO CHARGES FOR DAD WHO KILLED DAUGHTER'S ALLEGED ABUSER
A grand jury has decided not to charge a Texas father who beat and killed a man he allegedly found sexually abusing his daughter. "The substantial amount of evidence showed that the witness statements, and the father's statement, and what the father had observed was in fact what had happened that day," Lavaca County District Attorney Heather McMinn said at a press conference Tuesday. [CNN]
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8. MIAMI HEAT ARE ONE WIN FROM NBA TITLE
The Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-98 on Tuesday night, putting LeBron James within one victory of his first championship title. James pulled up lame with less than six minutes in the basketball game, and had to watch his teammates finish out the "gritty" game from the sidelines. [Washington Post]
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9. STANDARD MODEL PHYSICS THEORY COULD BE WRONG
New evidence suggests that the "reigning theory of particle physics," called the Standard Model, could be wrong. Scientists have found that subatomic particles decay in a specific way more often than the Standard Model predicts they will, poking holes in the theory. [LiveSciencer]
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10. KRISTEN STEWART TOPS HIGHEST-PAID LIST
After raking in an estimated $34.5 million from May 2011 to May 2012, the 22-year-old Twilight star is on top of the Forbes.com annual list of the highest-paid actresses. Angelina Jolie, who topped the list last year, fell to fourth place after earning $20 million over the same period. [Reuters]
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rain
