TSA chief affirms small-knives plan

TSA chief affirms small-knives plan

washington

The head of the Transportation Security Administration told law-makers Thursday he stands by his plan to allow passengers to carry small knives onto planes despite a growing backlash against the proposal.

It’s unlikely in these days of hardened cockpit doors and other preventative measures that the small folding knives could be used by terrorists to take over a plane, TSA Administrator John Pistole told a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The policy goes into effect April 25, and has sparked opposition.

Attack leaves 24 dead

baghdad

Attackers unleashed a carefully planned assault with car bombs and gunmen disguised as police on the Iraqi Justice Ministry on Thursday, killing at least 24 people as hundreds of others crouched terrified in their offices.

The large and complex raid in the heart of Baghdad came less than a week before the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, showing how vulnerable this country remains.

Found: Higgs boson

Geneva

It helps solve one of the most fundamental riddles of the universe: how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.7 billion years ago.

In what could go down as one of the great moments in physics, scientists said Thursday that after a half-century quest, they are confident they have found a Higgs boson, the elusive subatomic speck sometimes called the “God particle.”

The existence of the particle was theorized in 1964 by British physicist Peter Higgs to explain why matter has mass. Scientists believe the particle acts like molasses or snow: When other tiny basic building blocks pass through it, they stick together, slow down and form atoms.

Tone down attacks, Senate GOP says

washington

Polite yet firm, Senate Republicans told President Barack Obama on Thursday to tone down his political attacks and prod DemocraticSFlballies to support controversial changes in Medicare if he wants a compromise reducing deficits and providing stability to federal benefit programs.

Participants at a closed-door meeting said Obama acknowledged the point without yielding ground — and noted that Republicans criticize him freely.

Associated Press