Kansas budget standoff ends, but other states in limbo

Kansas leaders Wednesday ended a standoff that had delayed tax refunds and state paychecks by agreeing to borrow $225 million from various state accounts, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office said. Republican lawmakers approved moving money into the state’s main account to pay the bills after budget cuts agreed to by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, spokeswoman Brittany Stiffler said

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All 18 survive helicopter crash off Scotland

All 18 people aboard a helicopter that crashed off the coast of Scotland have been recovered alive, a Royal Air Force officer told CNN. The Super Puma ditched about 120 miles east of Aberdeen while approaching an offshore platform, said Barry Neilson, commander of the RAF’s aeronautical rescue coordination center at RAF Kinloss.

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Helicopter carrying 18 crashes off Scotland

A Super Puma helicopter went down with 18 people on board in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland Wednesday, a Royal Air Force officer told CNN. The helicopter ditched about 120 miles east of Aberdeen while approaching an offshore platform, said Barry Neilson, commander of the RAF’s aeronautical rescue coordination center at RAF Kinloss. The RAF was providing helicopter assistance to the Aberdeen Coast Guard.

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Court: Chinese at Guantanamo can’t be freed in U.S.

A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that 17 native Chinese Muslims in military custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, cannot be released into the United States. The three-judge panel concluded by a 2-1 vote there is no legal or constitutional authority for the detainees to be immediately freed, even though they are unlawfully detained and no country is willing to accept them

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Republicans, analysts question Obama’s foreclosure plan

Even before President Obama unveiled his home foreclosure plan Wednesday afternoon, some Republicans and political commentators questioned how exactly it would work to stave off a crisis plaguing the country. House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, along with Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, sent a letter Wednesday to the president “seeking clarification on six important questions about [Obama’s] broad housing proposal,” according to a press release from Cantor’s office.

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Venus Williams: The winning shot

Venus Williams is most often seen wiping perspiration from her brow as she thunders around the court contesting championship tennis matches. These photos show the world number six in a more reflective mood, posing for a 16-page fashion spread in the Italian edition of Marie Claire. They were taken in Miami, Florida in December last year by her friend and photographer Koto Bolofo

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Journalist killed in Taliban region

Attackers in a Taliban-controlled area of Pakistan shot and tried to behead a Pakistani journalist on Wednesday, according to his employer GEO TV. The slain correspondent, Mosa Khankhel, had been covering the recent peace deal between the Pakistani government and Taliban militants in Swat Valley when he was killed, GEO TV managing director Azhar Abbas said. “He is the first martyr of this peace deal,” Abbas said, adding that he believes it is unlikely the deal will end the campaign of violence that has centered in Swat.

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