CAEN, France — President Barack Obama on Saturday suggested a new and stronger response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile testing, promising to take “a very hard look” at the next steps.
He said North Korea has tested the limits of patient diplomacy intended to persuade the reclusive communist country to accept international demands and end to its nuclear program.
“Diplomacy has to involve the other side engaging in serious way, and we have not seen that reaction from North Korea,” Obama said. “I don’t think there should be an assumption that …

By Patrick Killelea, Wed Jun 3 2009

House prices will keep falling in most places because those prices are still dangerously high compared to incomes and rents. Banks say a safe mortgage is a maximum of 3 times the buyer’s yearly income. Landlords say a safe price is a maximum of 15 times the tenant’s yearly rent. Yet in coastal areas, both those safety rules are still being violated. Buyers are still borrowing 6 times their income, and sellers are still asking 30 times annual rent, even after …

In less than a year we have seen the bankruptcy of financial and industrial behemoths once thought impregnable: Lehman Brothers, Chrysler and GM. Selectively employing the mantra “too big to fail” with companies such as AIG and Citigroup, the U.S. government has sought to reassure the American public that it is acceptable for other large corporations to endure the tribulations of Chapter 11 reorganization; that bankruptcy is actually a healthy business process that will restore profitability to big companies overwhelmed by debt and the consequences of the Global Economic Crisis. …

HERMOSILLO, Mexico — A fast-moving fire killed 31 children in a day care center in northern Mexico despite desperate attempts of firefighters who punched through the walls and fought their way through flames to rescue babies, toddlers and others trapped inside.
At least 25 children and five employees were hospitalized after Friday’s fire in ABC day care in the city of Hermosillo, said Jose Larrinaga, a spokesman for investigators in the state of Sonora, which borders Arizona.
Some of the injured suffered severe burns and might be taken to U.S. hospitals, Sonora …

WICHITA, Kan. — Hundreds of people gathered Saturday to honor slain abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, and a longtime friend eulogized him as a passionate and generous man who repeatedly overcame difficult challenges.
Tiller’s funeral at College Hill United Methodist Church also drew small groups of protesters.
During the service, Tiller was remembered for his generosity and sense of humor.
“Dear God, get heaven ready, because Mr. Enthusiasm is coming,” said Larry Borcherding, of Overland Park, who first met Tiller a half-century ago when both were students at the University of Kansas. “Heaven …

Near the start of his much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world, President Obama described himself as “a student of history;” by the end it was clear that he needs to get back to the classroom.
For all its well-intentioned rhetoric, President Obama’s speech was, sadly, conceptually flawed, empirically challenged, and politically blind to the daily realities that drive hundreds of millions of Muslims to increasing despair.
Conceptually, the President’s goal was clearly to help correct the mistaken notion shared by so many Muslims and Americans of the notion of an essential conflict …

In the 48 hours since President Obama’s speech in Cairo, Israeli journalists and pundits have had a lot to say. Their comments offer insights into U.S. foreign policy that many American observers might not get at home.
Much of the Israeli media commentary is conducted in Hebrew, but key outlets offer English editions and translations. These sources provide Americans with a window into the debates occurring across Israel’s dominant Jewish majority.
In the hours after Obama concluded his speech, Israeli commentators were particularly struck by his implicit linkage of Palestinian …

On October 13, 2004 Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly was sued for sexual harassment by Fox News producer Andrea Mackris. Now, almost five years later, RuggedReporter has obtained the infamous tape recording. You can hear, word for word, what O’Reilly suggested to Mackris during a steamy late-night phone call. What follows is the actual tape recording that Mackris made of Bill O’Reilly’s call to her on the night of September 1, 2004.
Presented exclusively by RuggedReporter.