• 1

  2 hours ago

  GSA Lavish Party Planner Departs Agency

  

  AP
  The man who planned the extravagant General Services Administration conference in Las Vegas in 2010, which cost taxpayers nearly $823,000, is no longer with the agency, NBC News reported. Jeffrey Neely, the commissioner of the GSA's regional public building office for the southwestern U.S., had been on administrative leave since March 19, but "as of today, he's no longer employed with GSA," Adam Elkington, the GSA's deputy press secretary said. Neely and other GSA employees came under scrutiny after an inspector general report released in April exposed excessive and wasteful spending on the Las Vegas conference and other trips. Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight Committee said "the problems at GSA may far exceed his involvement in the waste of taxpayer dollars that has outraged Americans." He vowed to continue an investigation into the agency's "culture of wasteful spending." Get More at MSNBC
• 2

  2 hours ago

  Suspect Signed Confession in Etan Patz Killing

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• 3

  5 hours ago

  U.S. Probes Pics of Alleged 9/11 Plotter

  

  AP
  U.S. military officials are looking into whether photos of the alleged 9-11 mastermind that have appeared on a jihadist website were smuggled out of Guantanamo Bay. NBC News terrorist analyst, Evan Kohlmann, said the images, which show the inmate smiling, appear to have been taken in the detention center. Under Guantanamo regulations, unauthorized photos are not permitted to be taken or shared. Investigators are working to determine whether the images had been photo-shopped or in fact were taken at Guantanamo. Mohammed faces the death penalty if he is found guilty of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. Get More at MSNBC
• 4

  May 24, 01:02PM

  Romney Grilled by Educators on Friendly Turf

  

  AP
  A panel of educators at a West Philadelphia charter school challenged Mitt Romney's school policy plans presented this week in the most detail since he began campaigning. The charter school was friendly territory—Romney's plan calls for increased school choice. But some panelists expressed concerns. One educator noted that school choice plans often involve moving low income kids out of their neighborhoods. "Why can't we have good schools in this neighborhood?" he asked. Another teacher cited a study that concluded that small class sizes benefit students. It was a direct response to a separate study that Romney has often cited that came to the opposite conclusion. Nearby the mayor of the city and a group of protesters dismissed what they perceived to be Romney's far-too-late foray into education and social issues. "It's May. The election's in November," Mayor Michael Nutter said. Get More at MSNBC
• 5

  3 hours ago

  Sentencing of CIA-Informant Strains U.S.-Pakistan Relations

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• 6

  5 hours ago

  Edwards Jury Gets Massive Batch of Documents

  

  AP
  The jury in the John Edwards campaign finance trial asked to review a massive batch of documents on Thursday, an indication that it may be deliberating for a long time yet. The jurors first asked for 20 evidentiary exhibits most relating to the money Edwards' former campaign finance chair spent to keep Edwards' affair with a staffer quiet. When the judge asked if they would like copies of all of the more than 500 exhibits in the case, they said yes. Earlier, jurors had asked for letters from the lawyer for Bunny Mellon, the 101-year-old heiress whose almost $1 million dollar donation to Edwards is at the heart of the criminal case against him. The prosecution has argued Edwards knew Mellon's payment was illegal but used it anyway to hide his affair and keep his presidential campaign afloat, but the defense argued Edwards thought it was a personal gift and used it only to hide the affair from his wife. The jury must reach a unanimous verdict. Get More at MSNBC
• 7

  May 24, 07:56AM

  Facebook Mulls Stock Listing Switch to NYSE: Report

  

  Getty Images
  The New York Stock Exchange is trying to woo Facebook to switch over its stock listing, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, days after the company's fraught initial public offering on Nasdaq. A source told the Journal that the NYSE had exchanged "several emails" with Facebook about the possibility of coming aboard, but the exchange itself denied any such discussions. Facebook has been dominating headlines all week as it grapples with complications from its IPO last week — among them technological glitches in trading, regulatory probes and a flurry of shareholder suits alleging that the company and its IPO's underwriters misled smaller investors about the company's lagging performance expectations. Facebook's stock price has slid from its IPO price of $38 to close at nearly $32 on Wednesday. The stock edged higher Thursday. Get More at MSNBC
• 8

  2 hours ago

  Mt. Everest "Traffic Jam" Adds New Danger to Climb

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• 9

  May 23, 11:33AM

    Here we are in the most prosperous nation, but millions of kids are getting a third-world education.   — Mitt Romney Speaking at the Latino Coalition economic summit in Washington
• 10

  May 24, 06:21AM

  Obama's Swing State Lead Narrows: Poll

  

  Getty
  President Barack Obama has a narrow advantage over Mitt Romney in three key swing states, new NBC-Marist polls indicate, even as Romney chips away at his lead. Obama leads Romney by 48 percent to 44 percent in both Florida and Virginia among registered voters. Obama's lead was slightly wider, six percentage points, in Ohio. Helping Obama in those states: recovering state economies. Still, Obama's lead was noticeably slimmer than in March, when he led in both Virginia and Ohio by double-digit margins — with the shift largely due to voter pessimism and a feeling the country is on the wrong track, NBC News reported. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll Wednesday also found Obama's lead shrinking, with Obama's gay marriage support announcement barely affecting his standing. Get More at MSNBC
• 11

  2 hours ago

  U.S. Forecasters Predict “Near Normal” Hurricane Season

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• 12

  May 24, 07:41AM

  Dems Lead in 3 Swing State Senate Races: Poll

  
  Democrats lead their Republican challengers in three big Senate races in swing states, new NBC-Marist polls found. The GOP's chance of retaking the Senate hinge on their chance to pick up three or four seats — possibly in the battleground states of Ohio, Florida and Virginia. But Ohio's Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown leads by 14 points, Florida's leads by four and Virginia's Democratic former Gov. Tim Kaine leads former Sen. George Allen by six. The GOP expected an easy path to taking the Senate, since Democrats must defend 23 seats, many of them in Republican-leaning states. But Democrats' resurgence has increased pressure on the GOP — and focused attention on the Massachusetts Senate race, where Republican Sen. Scott Brown and liberal darling Elizabeth Warren are virtually tied in a new poll. Get More at MSNBC