Iraq issues arrest warrant for Sunni VP

Iraq issues arrest warrant for Sunni VP

baghdad

Iraq’s Shiite-led government issued an arrest warrant Monday for the Sunni vice president, accusing him of running a hit squad that assassinated government and security officials — extraordinary charges a day after the last U.S. troops left the country.

The vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, left Baghdad on Sunday for the semiautonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan, presumably hoping that Kurdish authorities would not turn him in. Investigative judges banned him the same day from traveling outside of Iraq.

Seattle officials vote to ban plastic bags

seattle

The Seattle City Council voted Monday to ban single-use plastic bags from groceries and other retail stores, joining a growing trend among cities that embrace green values.

The ordinance, which was approved unanimously after months of discussion and debate, takes effect in July 2012. It includes a provision to charge a nickel fee for the use of paper bags, to encourage people to bring their own bags when they go shopping.

Authorities: Mother shot her 3 kids, self

chicago

An Illinois woman shot each of her three children, including a 10-month-old baby, in the head before apparently killing herself, authorities said Monday. Investigators arriving on the scene found their bodies in the backyard, the woman’s hands stained with soot from firing the gun.

Authorities released new details on the shootings in Emington, a farming community with 117 residents about 85 miles southwest of Chicago. Neighbors have said the gunfire erupted moments after McMeen’s two older children got off a school bus on Friday.

Investigators found the body of her live-in boyfriend, Daniel Warren, 29, inside the couple’s rented home. They found McMeen, 30, and her three children in the backyard.

Ex-Miss Venezuela dies of cancer at 28

caracas, venezuela

Former Miss Venezuela Eva Ekvall, whose struggle with breast cancer was closely followed by Venezuelans, has died at age 28.

Her family said Ekvall died Saturday at a hospital in Houston.

Ekvall was crowned Miss Venezuela at age 17 in 2000, and the following year she was third runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico. She went on to work as a model, actress and television news anchor.

She also authored a book, “Fuera de Foco” (“Out of Focus”), about her struggle with cancer, which included images by Venezuelan photographer Roberto Mata.

Congress heads to standoff over tax

washington

Partisan to the core, Congress careened toward a holiday-season standoff Monday on legislation to prevent a Social Security payroll tax increase for 160 million workers Jan. 1.

“It’s time to stop the nonsense. We can resolve these differences and we can do it in a way that provides certainty for job creators and others,” said Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. A vote was set for Tuesday for the House to reject a bipartisan two-month extension that cleared the Senate over the weekend and seek negotiations on a bill to renew the cuts through 2012.

The two parties are approaching Christmas-week gridlock over an effort to pass core elements of President Barack Obama’s jobs program — renewal of the tax cuts and long-term unemployment benefits — that Republican and Democratic leaders alike said they favored.

Associated Press