• 1

  6 hours ago

  Accused Etan Patz Killer Charged

  
  The former bodega stock clerk arrested for killing 6-year-old Etan Patz was charged with second-degree murder late Friday afternoon, The Associated Press reported. Pedro Hernandez, 51, had been taken to Bellevue Friday and placed under suicide watch earlier in the day, NBC 4 New York reported, since relatives said Hernandez had a history of mental illness. New York City police arrested Hernandez Thursday for allegedly luring Patz off a SoHo street with the offer of a soft drink, then strangling him in a basement. Patz vanished 33 years ago today while on his way to a school bus stop. Police said Hernandez's arrest resolves a case that had left New York City puzzled for decades. A tipster informed police that Hernandez had said he had "done a bad thing and killed a child in New York." Police said the boy's remains were tossed in the trash and they do not expect to recover them. Get More at MSNBC
• 2

  3 hours ago

  Ind. Gunman Dead After Shooting Himself: Cops

  

  NBC News
  A gunman who held as many as 10 people hostage in a real estate office in Valparaiso, Ind., died Friday evening of two self-inflicted gunshots, authorities said, NBC 5 Chicago reported. Just after releasing the last of his hostages, the gunman had remained holed up inside the Chicago-area office building, surrounded by tactical officers, and then shot himself twice in the head. Officers stormed in when they heard the shots and brought the gunman, then critically injured, out on a stretcher and to the hospital, according to police. According to NBC 5 Chicago, most of the hostages had already been released earlier in the afternoon. FBI agents entered the 21st Century office after witnesses reported hearing at least three gunshots around 11 a.m. People in the building’s parking lot told NBC News they were receiving text messages that the standoff was the result of a dispute between the man and his girlfriend. Get More at MSNBC
• 3

  4 hours ago

  CEO Pay in U.S. Hits Record High

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• 4

  5 hours ago

  Conservatives Urge GOP Action on Gay Marriage

  

  AP
  Conservative leaders are rallying around the issue of gay marriage heading into the November election, but the legal fate of the cause will probably rest with the U.S. Supreme Court. Social conservative groups sounded alarm bells over President Barack Obama's announcement of his support for the cause this month, and they chastised the GOP for not opposing gay marriage more vocally and urged it more clearly to draw a line in the sand between their stance and Obama's. But Republicans could risk alienating swing voters should they highlight the issue heading into November, as polling shows a majority of Americans support letting same-sex couples wed. The Justice Department last year said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act — two legal challenges to which are wending their way through appeals courts now and could come before the Supreme Court by next year. Get More at MSNBC
• 5

  39 minutes ago

  Congress Veers toward Politicking

  

  Getty Images
  Republicans in Congress will spend this summer not just legislating but striking political poses in the hopes of shaping their platform ahead of the November election. A memo House Majority Leader Eric Cantor issued Friday to Republicans called for a litany of proposals to hone the GOP narrative of small government, business boosts, oil exploration and tax cuts. The House GOP has a tall task ahead of it, however, as few proposals are expected to become law after making it out of the House. Democrats, who are hammering out their own vastly different agenda for the summer, say Republicans have fostered a "do-nothing" Congress they are trying to link to Romney. The warring political posturing could deepen a congressional impasse, prompting President Obama to warn Thursday that "it's always easier to be cynical." On Thursday, neither party wanted to budge on their respective versions of a student loan rate bill. Get More at MSNBC
• 6

  54 minutes ago

  Etan Patz Case Progress Gives Parents Hope

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• 7

  4 hours ago

  Egypt Sends Mubarak Associate, Islamist to Run-Off

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• 8

  6 hours ago

  Mother of 3 Abandoned Oregon Children Is Found

  

  Getty Images / Scott Olson
  The mother of three young children found abandoned in a shed in Portland, Ore., on Friday afternoon, police said. "We do not need any additional tips. There will be no more details released about this case as it is still under investigation," they said in a statement. Police had found a 3-year-old boy, a 2-year-old girl and an infant thought to be eight to 15 months old on Thursday after a man called 911 to report children's voices coming from the shed on a property of a vacant residence behind his house. Homeless people living on the premises told police that the children were left there the night before by a woman they believed to be their mother, The Associated Press reported. It was not clear if the children were siblings; they were reportedly placed in foster care. Get More at MSNBC
• 9

  May 25, 04:20AM

    Governor Romney came to Des Moines last week and warned of a prairie fire of debt. But he left out some facts. His speech was more like a cow pie of distortion.   — President Obama taking a swipe at Romney in an Iowa speech.
• 10

  May 25, 02:24PM

  Recordings May Expand Manson Murder Probe

  
  The Los Angeles Police Department has asked to listen to old audio recordings that could link unsolved murders to Manson Family followers. LA Police Chief Charlie Beck requested an 8-hour recording between attorney Bill Boyd and then-client Charles “Tex” Watson on March 19, NBC Los Angeles reported. Watson is serving a life sentence for his involvement in five Manson Family murders in 1969. The request for the recordings is in conjunction with “the liquidation of Boyd’s Texas-based law firm as part of a bankruptcy proceeding,” NBCLA reported. The LAPD is still waiting to receive the recordings. Get More at MSNBC
• 11

  4 hours ago

  SpaceX Docks on International Space Station

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• 12

  May 25, 06:54AM

  China's Economy Suffers "Sharp Slowdown"

  

  Getty Images
  China's economy has suffered what a Chinese cabinet adviser has called a "sharp slowdown," an ominous development that could ripple across the global economy, The New York Times reported. Declining consumer confidence, a real estate market downturn, and stalled exports have all contributed to China's economic woes, according to the Times. The economy is continuing to expand, but construction workers are out of work in staggering numbers and retail sales grew last month at the slowest pace in over three years. The unanticipated economic problems are beginning to unsettle investors in world markets, particularly commodity markets, since China is the planet's largest consumer of most raw materials and second-largest consumer of oil. Reports of economic trouble are also coming in from the U.S., Europe, India, South Africa and Brazil, The Wall Street Journal reported. Get More at MSNBC