Eyder Peralta

Eyder Peralta appears in the following:

Cuba Acknowledges N. Korean Ship Carried Its 'Obsolete' Weapons

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

(Updated 9:40 p.m. ET)

A statement from Cuba's foreign ministry says weapons that Panama seized in a North Korean ship were mid-20th Century models that Cuba was sending to North Korea for repair, according to reports from the BBC and Reuters.

The statement termed the cache as "obsolete defensive weaponry." ...

Comment

Cooling Tensions, Senate Confirms Cordray

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

In the shadow of a dramatic showdown over the filibuster of White House nominations, the Senate voted to advance the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The 71-29 cloture vote means the nomination overcame the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster and bring the ...

Comment

Surprise! They're Twins! ... Pandas That Is

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

It's not exactly the birth the whole world is waiting for. But something pretty spectacular — and surprising — happened at Zoo Atlanta last night: Lun Lun, a 15-year-old giant panda, gave birth to twins.

As the zoo reports, "the cubs are the first giant pandas to be ...

Comment

After Controversy, David Petraeus Will Now Earn $1 Teaching

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus has decided to take a huge pay cut. The former commander of the allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan will now make $1 to teach a course at City University of New York's honors college.

As you might expect, the concession comes after a ...

Comment

Snowden Asks For Temporary Asylum In Russia, Says Lawyer

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked a cache of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs, officially filed for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday, a human rights lawyer and WikiLeaks say.

According to Russia Today, a state-funded English-language news outlet, Russian human rights lawyer Anatoly ...

Comment

Zimmerman Trial: L.A. Mayor Calls For Calm After Violent Protests

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Late into the night on Monday, after a round of violent protests ripped through Los Angeles in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, Mayor Eric Garcetti called for calm.

The Los Angeles Times reports that by the time the sun came up, at least 13 people had been ...

Comment

In Egypt, More Clashes Leave 7 Dead, Hundreds Injured

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

After what had been a week of calm, violence returned to the streets of Cairo late Monday into early Tuesday.

NPR's Leila Fadel reports that Egypt's health ministry said seven people were killed and more than 200 were injured as supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi clashed with police. ...

Comment

Holder: Trayvon Martin Case Is A Chance For 'Difficult Dialogue'

Monday, July 15, 2013

Speaking at a luncheon for the Delta Sigma Theta sorority in Washington, D.C., Attorney General Eric Holder said he shared concerns about the "tragic, unnecessary shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., last year."

The comments mark his first public statements since a jury acquitted George Zimmerman of all ...

Comment

Is This The Worst Ceremonial First Pitch In History?

Monday, July 15, 2013

Back in May of 2009, Howard Stern called his producer's ceremonial first pitch at a Mets game "the most embarrasing ceremonial first pitch in baseball history."

And, yeah, Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate's pitch was pretty terrible. (It hit the ump!) But his reign may have come to an end yesterday, ...

Comment

Asiana Will Sue TV Station Over Bogus Flight Crew Names

Monday, July 15, 2013

Claiming the news report has damaged its reputation, Asiana Airlines said it will sue a San Francisco TV station that aired the bogus names of the flight crew piloting Flight 214, a Boeing 777 that crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport earlier this month.

If you haven't kept up ...

Comment

3 Of The World's Best Sprinters Test Positive For Banned Substances

Monday, July 15, 2013

The world of track and field got some bad news over the weekend: Three of its biggest stars tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Jamaican Asafa Powell, who once held the men's 100-meter record, American sprinter Tyson Gay, who participated in a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency program, and Jamaican ...

Comment

Snowden Has NSA 'Blueprint,' Says 'Guardian' Journalist

Monday, July 15, 2013

Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who was the first to report on classified documents leaked by Edward Snowden, says the former National Security Agency contractor has what amounts to an "instruction manual for how the NSA is built."

Greenwald made the comments in a Sunday interview with The ...

Comment

Zimmerman Trial: 6 Headlines That Tell The Story

Monday, July 15, 2013

A little more than a day after a jury handed down a not-guilty verdict for George Zimmerman, thousands of people gathered in cities across the country to express their anger and dismay.

As The Associated Press reports, protesters in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles ...

Comment

SEE: The 'New Yorker' Cover That Has People Talking

Friday, June 28, 2013

Bert and Ernie — yes, Sesame Street's Muppets — have been thrust yet again into the gay marriage debate.

This time, for its July 8 and 15 issue, The New Yorker decided to use an illustration of Bert and Ernie for their coverage of the Supreme Court's decisions on ...

Comment

Who Are These 'Bankers' Ecuador Keeps Referencing?

Friday, June 28, 2013

If you've paid attention to the case of Edward Snowden, you might have heard Ecuadorean officials refer to some bankers the U.S. is refusing to hand over.

Ecuador, of course, is considering an asylum request from the NSA leaker. The U.S. is pressuring them to abide by an extradition ...

Comment

U.S. Army Restricts Access To 'The Guardian' Website

Friday, June 28, 2013

The Monterey County (Calif.) Herald has a great scoop:

"The Army admitted Thursday to not only restricting access to The Guardian news website at the Presidio of Monterey, as reported in Thursday's Herald, but Armywide."

In simple terms: If you're accessing the Internet at an Army facility across ...

Comment

NSA Leaker's Father: Snowden Betrayed Government, Not The People

Friday, June 28, 2013

Lonnie Snowden says he doesn't believe his son, Edward, committed treason when he leaked information about top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs.

"He has in fact broken U.S. law, in a sense that he has released classified information," the elder Snowden told NBC News. "And if folks want to ...

Comment

Vatican Official Arrested Over Alleged $26 Million Scheme

Friday, June 28, 2013

A Vatican official already under investigation for money laundering was arrested after police say they caught him and two other men plotting a scheme that would bring in 20 million euros (about $26 million) in cash into Italy from Switzerland on a jet.

Prosecutors say Monsignor Nunzio Scarano said the ...

Comment

With Mandela's Health As Backdrop, Obama Arrives In S. Africa

Friday, June 28, 2013

Update at 4 p.m. ET: President Arrives In South Africa

President Obama and his family landed in South Africa late Friday. It's the second stop on his one-week trip to the African continent.

Our original post continues:

As we've told you, Obama planned his visit to talk about democracy ...

Comment

WATCH: Rep. Tammy Duckworth Dresses Down IRS Contractor

Thursday, June 27, 2013

It is one of those rare Congressional exchanges that's both dramatic and compelling: Yesterday during a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost her legs and use of her right arm when she served in Iraq, dressed down an IRS contractor who used his military disability status ...

Comment