New Iran sanctions

New Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON

Senators pressed ahead Thursday on a new set of tough sanctions against Iran’s domestic industries as they seek to cripple the Islamic republic’s economy and thwart its nuclear ambitions.

Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., unveiled a package of penalties that would designate Iran’s energy, port, shipping and ship-building sectors as entities of proliferation and sanction transactions with these areas. The legislation also would penalize individuals selling or supplying commodities such as graphite, aluminum and steel to Iran.

Bush in hospital

HOUSTON

Former President George H.W. Bush was in a Houston hospital Thursday for continuing treatment of a lingering cough.

Bush, 88, has been in and out of the hospital recently for complications resulting from bronchitis, Methodist Hospital said in a brief statement.

The hospital and Bush’s spokesman in Houston, Jim McGrath, described Bush as in stable condition and said they expected the former president to be released by the weekend. He’s been under hospital care for nearly a week.

Ice sheets melting faster than before

WASHINGTON

Fueled by global warming, polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting three times faster than they did in the 1990s, a new scientific study says.

So far, that’s added only about half an inch to rising sea levels, not as bad as some earlier worst-case scenarios. But the melting’s quicker pace, especially in Greenland, has ice scientists worried.

Cop’s kindness sparks online hit

NEW YORK

A tourist’s snapshot of a New York City police officer giving new boots to a barefoot homeless man in Times Square has created an online sensation.

Jennifer Foster, of Florence, Ariz., was visiting New York with her boyfriend Nov. 14, when she came across the shoeless man asking for change in Times Square.

As she was about to approach him, she said the officer — identified as Larry DePrimo — came up to the man with a pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks on the frigid night. She recorded his generosity on her cellphone.

Foster’s photo was posted Tuesday night to the NYPD’s official Facebook page and became an instant hit. More than 420,000 users “liked” it as of Thursday evening, and more than 140,000 shared it.

Last undecided House race called

WASHINGTON

The last undecided House race has been called for the incumbent Democrat, bringing an unofficial close to the 2012 campaign more than three weeks after Election Day.

North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre will return to Congress in 2013 after barely surviving a challenge from David Rouzer. The Republican conceded to McIntyre on Wednesday night after a recount showed the Democrat maintaining a small lead.

Internet service goes out in Syria

BEIRUT

Internet service went down Thursday across Syria, and international flights were canceled at the Damascus airport when a road near the facility was closed by heavy fighting in the country’s civil war.

Activists said President Bashar Assad’s regime pulled the plug on the Internet, perhaps in preparation for a major offensive. Cellphone service also went out in Damascus and parts of central Syria, they said. The government blamed rebel fighters for the outages.

Associated Press