As deaths mount in Brazil flooding, more rain is forecast

The death toll from flooding that has covered large parts of Brazil continued to rise Friday, with the government reporting seven new fatalities, bringing the total to 38. The rain-induced floods left nearly 800,000 people displaced, according to the Brazilian civil defense agency

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Justice David Souter to retire from Supreme Court, source says

After more than 18 years on the nation’s highest court, Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring, a source close to Souter told CNN Thursday. Souter will leave after the current court term recesses in June, the source said

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Obama announces plan to lease federal waters for clean energy

President Obama marked Earth Day Wednesday by announcing a new initiative to lease federal waters for the purpose of generating electricity from wind and ocean currents. The president announced the initiative, to be administered by the Interior Department, while reiterating his pledge to push for a comprehensive energy plan that encourages the development of alternative fuel sources, cuts dependence on foreign oil, addresses climate change, and creates new jobs

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Japan to Immigrants: Thanks, But You Can Go Home Now

When union leader Francisco Freitas has something to say, Japan’s Brazilian community listens. The 49-year old director of the Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers called up the Brazilian Embassy in Tokyo April 14, fuming over a form being passed out at employment offices in Hamamatsu City, southwest of Tokyo

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Ex-CIA chief: Obama risks national security

A former head of the CIA slammed President Obama on Sunday for releasing four Bush-era memos, saying the new president has compromised national security. Michael Hayden, who served as former President Bush’s last CIA director from 2006 to 2009, said releasing the memos outlining terror interrogation methods emboldened terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. “What we have described for our enemies in the midst of a war are the outer limits that any American would ever go to in terms of interrogating an al Qaeda terrorist

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White House tries to combat drug demand with rehab

As President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon talk tough about cracking down on the deadly drug war, the United States is changing tactics in the battle against illegal narcotics at home. The man Obama picked to be the new “drug czar,” Gil Kerlikowske, has made it clear that the United States is going to do a better job of treating addicts to try to reduce the demand for narcotics.

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