National / International News

Ramiro Gomez Jr. is an artist — and nanny — who places cardboard paintings of domestic workers in affluent Los Angeles neighborhoods. Some people see him as an activist, but Gomez shies away from that label; he just hopes his project will help to humanize immigrant workers.

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Lautenberg had already been challenged by the younger and very popular Newark Mayor Cory Booker. In a statement, Lautenberg said he still had a lot of work to do in his remaining two years.

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A funeral is held in Tehran for Gen Hassan Shateri, a commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard recently killed while travelling from Syria to Lebanon.

Last year New York Times Magazine contributor Michael Sokolove wrote an extensive profile on Oscar Pistorius. He says he is "shocked" that the athlete is facing a murder charge.

Military leaders are among those warning Congress of the consequences of the automatic spending cuts set to kick in at the beginning of March. But many on Capitol Hill seem resigned to the cuts taking place.

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Oscar-winning visual effects pioneer Petro Vlahos - who pioneered blue and green-screen techniques used by thousands of movies - dies aged 96.

Gareth Bale scores two free-kicks as Tottenham beat Lyon in a Europa League round of 32 meeting full of stunning goals.

There might be a lot of talk right now about all those Oscar-nominated films -- but what about the less-intensive viewing experiences? There's a presumptive new blockbuster out this week: 'A Good Day to Die Hard.' Chances are you already know all about the lead character -- and maybe even the plot.

Wesley Morris is a film critic with Grantland. He says that behind the decision to make one more 'Die Hard' movie is, of course, money.

"I think it involves a lot of finance people sitting around saying, 'Dude, I think there's still some water left in this sponge,'" Morris points out.

But there's more to the story here. The most famous action heroes -- the Schwarzeneggers and Stallones of the world -- are still up to their old tricks. But the movie industry has changed since they first started blowing up buildings and crashing cars. 

"In the original 'Die Hard' movies was a really fresh approach that basically changed for a long time the kind of action movies we got," says Morris. "I think we have sort of grown past this idea of an action hero in some ways. And I think that the movies aren't helping us out by basically regurgitating stuff it has always done without trying to find a new way to do it."

He cites blockbuster director Michael Bay and his 'Transformers' franchise as the main contenders filling the void.

"Michael Bay is a sort of evil genius," Morris adds. "He has figured out a way to do this without having to deal with the overhead of egos like Stallone's or Schwarzenegger's. And I don't see [the classic action hero] coming back around without a complete rethinking of how an action movie is supposed to work."

...Especially at $13.75 per viewing.

The son of a murdered RUC reservist is selected as the single unionist candidate to contest the Mid Ulster by-election.

The Crystal River nuclear plant was a driver of commercial life in rural Citrus County, Fla. The power company's decision to close the troubled plant will leave taxpayers and ratepayers on the hook for up to several billion dollars and has residents worried about their region's future.

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The vote makes the former Republican senator the first defense nominee to be filibustered.

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US billionaire Warren Buffett's investment firm Berkshire Hathaway is to buy food giant Heinz in a $28bn (£18bn) deal, the biggest to date in the food industry.

Kittens regained sight in a blind eye after being plunged into darkness for 10 days. Researchers say that prolonged darkness may reset the brain to an earlier stage of development, allowing the kittens to recover their vision.

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Remember Sen. Marco Rubio's paean to his Florida neighborhood in giving the Republican response to the State of the Union address? It seems Rubio is still living in West Miami because he's been unable to find someone to buy his house in the three months it's been on the market.

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Police probing alleged horsemeat mislabelling arrest two men near Aberystwyth and one in Todmorden, West Yorkshire on suspicion of fraud offences.

A light bulb which was first turned on in 1883 is still shining at a house in Lancashire.

A city financial officer in small Illinois city has been sentenced to almost 20 years in prison for stealing $53m (£34m) over two decades.

A man and a woman die and a man is critically injured after being caught in an avalanche in the Highlands of Scotland.

George Prendes was 23 when he was sentenced under New York's Rockefeller drug laws — tough mandatory sentencing guidelines for nonviolent drug crimes. The 15 years Prendes served for a drug transaction still reverberate for him and his family.

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A third of Scotland's local authorities have been debating and voting on their budget plans for the coming year.