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On Mars and thirsty? Drink from the dirt
Mars might appear dry as a desert, but astronauts may someday be able to tap its soil to quench their thirst. Research recently published suggests that the dust from the Martian's surface contains about 2% water by weight.
This is one of several insights emerging from data that the Mars rover Curiosity has been collecting. Five studies in the journal Science were published last week based on data from the rover's first 100 days on the Red Planet.
Thanks to Curiosity, scientists now know more than ever about the composition of the Martian soil.
"It's the first time that the soil has been analyzed at this level of accuracy," said Chris Webster, manager of NASA's Planetary Sciences Instruments Office.
Read more about the latest fascinating findings from MarsNo survivors in Santa Monica plane wreck
A business jet crashed into a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport on Sunday. No one survived the crash and subsequent fire, but authorities did not immediately determine how many were on board.
The twin-engine Cessna Citation ran off the right side of the runway after landing at 6:20 p.m. PT, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.
Amanda Knox's retrial begins
he latest chapter in Amanda Knox's long legal battle begins Monday in Florence, Italy, with a retrial over the 2007 killing of her British roommate Meredith Kercher.
But Knox, 26, who has expressed concern about returning to a country where she spent four years behind bars, will not be in the court.
She was convicted in 2009 of murdering Kercher, a 21-year old British exchange student who was found stabbed to death in November 2007 in the villa the two young women rented in the central Italian university town of Perugia.
The convictions of Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were overturned in 2011 for "lack of evidence."
After her acquittal, Knox returned to her hometown of Seattle where she has been living since.
But Italy's Supreme Court decided last year to retry the case, saying the jury that acquitted Knox didn't consider all the evidence, and that discrepancies in testimony needed to be answered.
FULL STORYNo survivors after plane hits hangar
A business jet crashed into a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport on Sunday. No one survived the crash and subsequent fire, but authorities did not immediately determine how many were on board.
The twin-engine Cessna Citation ran off the right side of the runway after landing at 6:20 p.m. Pacific Time, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.
The hangar collapsed, and firefighters were unable to enter more than two hours after the crash, said Captain John Nevandro of the Santa Monica Fire Department.
FULL STORYHouse delays Obamacare; shutdown looms
In a move that makes a government shutdown more likely, House Republicans approved a spending plan Sunday morning that would delay Obamacare for a year and repeal its tax on medical devices.
The temporary budget resolution now goes back to the Senate, where Democrats have consistently said any changes to President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law is a deal-killer.
On top of that, Obama has already issued a veto threat.
If Washington can't reach a deal, a government shutdown will begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
FULL STORYDeath toll at 60 in Mumbai building collapse
The death toll from the five-story building collapse in Mumbai rose to 60 on Sunday, authorities said.
Fearing they may have pulled out the last of the survivors, officials have now ended their rescue operation, said Sachidanand Gawde of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Thirty three people were pulled out alive from the building since it collapsed Friday.
U.N. Security Council OKs resolution on Syrian chemical weapons
United Nations (CNN) - [Breaking news update. 8:21 p.m.]
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday night to adopt a resolution that requires Syria to eliminate its arsenal of chemical weapons. The resolution places binding obligations on the nation.
Shift in policy? Obama, Rouhani talk on phone
President Barack Obama spoke by telephone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the first direct conversation between leaders of the United States and Iran since 1979.
Obama believes a comprehensive agreement is possible regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions, telling reporters at the White House that "the test will be meaningful, transparent and verifiable action" and if proven would ease international sanctions in place against Iran.
Western leaders have expressed cautious optimism about Iran's more moderate tone under Rouhani. Among other things, recent comments by Rouhani have given some hope that a deal could be struck over the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear program.
FULL STORYNSA officers spied on love interests
The National Security Agency's internal watchdog detailed a dozen instances in the past decade in which its employees intentionally misused the agency's surveillance power, in some cases to snoop on their love interests.
A letter from the NSA's inspector general responding to a request by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, lists the dozen incidents where the NSA's foreign intelligence collection systems were abused. The letter also says there are two additional incidents now under investigation and another allegation pending that may require an investigation.
At least six of the incidents were referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution or additional action; none appear to have resulted in charges. The letter doesn't identify the employees.
Several of the cases involve so-called "Loveint" violations.
Global warming is extremely likely our fault
The world's getting hotter, the sea's rising and there's increasing evidence neither are naturally occurring phenomena.
So says a report from the U.N. International Panel on Climate Change, a document released every six years that is considered the benchmark on the topic. More than 800 authors and 50 editors from dozens of countries took part in its creation.
The summary for policymakers was released early Friday, while the full report, which bills itself as "a comprehensive assessment of the physical science basis of climate change," will be distributed Monday. Other reports, including those dealing with vulnerability and mitigation, will be released next year.
MLB commissioner Bud Selig retiring in January 2015
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will retire when his current term ends January 24, 2015, Major League Baseball said Thursday.
Selig said that "it remains my great privilege to serve the game I have loved throughout my life."
"Baseball is the greatest game ever invented, and I look forward to continuing its extraordinary growth and addressing several significant issues during the remainder of my term," he said in a statement.
Selig, 79, has been full-time commissioner since 1998 after six years as the interim boss. Before that, he owned the Milwaukee Brewers after moving the Seattle Pilots in 1970.
The game changed significantly during Selig's tenure as commissioner.
Interleague play was instituted, teams that exceeded a salary threshold were penalized and the money shared with other teams, and the postseason was revamped several times to include division series and the Wild Card playoff contest. Umpires can now also use instant replay to review certain plays.
MLB also grew. Two teams - the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Rays - joined. The Montreal Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals. Other teams switched divisions and the Brewers changed leagues.
There were low points, too, including MLB canceling the World Series in 1994 after a players' strike, and a long investigation into the use of performing-enhancing drugs in baseball that culminated in a 2007 report that led to congressional hearings.
New trial ordered for woman in controversial warning-shot case
An appellate court has ordered a new trial for Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old mother of three, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband.
Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation.
The case gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race.
FULL STORYAt Kenya's request, Interpol issues alert for 'White Widow'
Interpol said Thursday it issued a red notice for Samantha Lewthwaite, the so-called "White Widow," at the request of Kenyan authorities.
Reports that a white woman was among the terrorists who stormed a mall in Nairobi last weekend have prompted a slew of media speculation about Lewthwaite, a British woman whose husband was one of the suicide bombers in the 2005 London terror attacks.
Known as the "White Widow," Lewthwaite, 29, has been wanted by international counterterrorism officials since authorities found bomb-making materials in her Mombasa, Kenya, apartment in 2011. She vanished shortly before a raid.
FULL STORYChicago boy shot in the face faces fears
Kids are scared of the dark. That's normal. But Deonta Howard is now even more leery of nightfall.
The 3-year-old boy was shot in the face last week and now says that whenever the sun goes down in Chicago, people might get shot again.
His mom was taking him home from the hospital late Wednesday when reporters caught up with them. He told them he wants to go home to see grandma, but he says he's not going back to the park in their Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side. That's where two men allegedly opened fire on him last Thursday.
FULL STORYKenya: families unsure if loved ones are dead
Propped up by strangers, a woman wails outside Nairobi's main city morgue, unable to control her grief.
She enters the brown makeshift counseling tent - but her screams still echo outside.
At the same time, dozens of families linger outside the mortuary, not sure whether their loved ones are dead or alive.
FULL STORY
America's Cup comeback complete as Oracle Team USA wins deciding race
Oracle Team USA successfully defended the America's Cup yachting race Wednesday, completing a seemingly improbable comeback in the series of contests against Emirates Team New Zealand by winning the deciding 19th race.
Oracle Team USA, which once trailed 8-1 in yachting's most prestigious competition, tied the series 8-8 Tuesday in San Francisco Bay to set up likely the most exciting finish in the 162-year history of the event.
On Wednesday, the U.S.-based team won by 44 seconds to claim the title.
Two victories for Oracle Team USA, bankrolled by billionaire Larry Ellison, were scratched off because it was deemed to have illegally tinkered with its boat prior to the finale.
FBI: Navy Yard shooter 'delusional'
Aaron Alexis, the man who went on the deadly shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, was under the "delusional belief that he was being controlled or influenced by electro-magnetic waves," the FBI's Valerie Parlave said Wednesday.
Parlave, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, said Alexis acted alone and there was no evidence he was targeting particular people.
Alexis, who was 34, went on the rampage September 16, killing 12 people and wounded several others. Chilling video released Wednesday shows Alexis running through hallways with a sawed-off shotgun. He also gained access to and used a Beretta pistol during the shooting.
FULL STORYGotta Watch: Soldier shocks daughter on football field
13-year-old Bella Lund thought she was on the field during a University of Wisconsin-Madison football game as part of the team’s tradition of honoring a military family of the game during home games.
What she didn’t know was that her mom, Army Captain Jane Renee “J.R.” Lund, was returning home from a 6-month deployment in Afghanistan. Lund stood a few yards behind her daughter on the sidelines waiting to surprise her with a cheering crowd of more than 80,000 fans as an audience.
The reunion that followed is sure to warm any heart.
Check out the full video here:
Syrian rebels reject interim government, embrace Sharia
A collection of some of Syria's most powerful rebel brigades have rejected a Western-backed opposition group that announced the creation of an interim government in exile this month.
The 13 rebel groups, led by the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, also called on supporters of the Syrian opposition to embrace Sharia law "and make it the sole source of legislation."
The move appeared to sideline the flagging National Syrian Coalition, which recently announced the formation of an interim government in exile led by Ahmad Tomeh, a dentist and dissident from the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.
FULL STORYRoad rage baby killer sentenced to death
A Beijing man who snatched a baby from a pram and hurled it to its death in an argument over a parking space was Wednesday sentenced to death by a Beijing court, according to court documents.
Han Lei, 39, was charged with intentional homicide over the death of the two-year-old girl who died in hospital from brain damage 50 hours after being dashed to the pavement in the Daxing District of Beijing on July 23.
FULL STORY
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