From the ground of this extreme northern part of Antarctica, a spectacular white and blinding ice seemingly extends forever. What can't be seen is the battle raging below to reshape Earth.
Water is eating away at the Antarctic ice, melting it where it hits the oceans. As the ice sheets slowly thaw, water pours into the sea, 130 billion tons of ice (118 billion metric tons) per year for the past decade, according to NASA satellite calculations. That's enough ice melt to fill more than 1.3 million Olympic swimming pools. And the melting is accelerating.
Antarctica's spectacular glaciers melting faster
Congress passes one-week DHS fix
The House voted late Friday to stave off a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security for another week, narrowly averting a funding lapse for the agency that has become the battleground over President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
The vote was 357-60. The Senate approved the stopgap measure earlier Friday evening and it now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The 11th-hour vote came after senior House and Senate Democratic aides said they had reached a deal with Republicans: House Democrats would help Republicans pass a one-week funding extension under suspension of the rules, which would require a two-thirds vote in the House, and thus Democratic cooperation.
Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead in Moscow
Prominent Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has been shot dead in Moscow . Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and a sharp critic of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was reportedly shot four times in the chest by a killer in a passing car.
The killing took place in the very centre of Moscow late on Friday evening on a bridge near St Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin, two days before Nemtsov was due to lead a major opposition rally in Moscow.
Pentagon Scrubs Major Attack on ISIS
Just days ago, the generals were trumpeting plans to knock ISIS out of its most important stronghold in Iraq. Now, those plans are on indefinite hold.
The U.S. military’s goal to retake Iraq’s second largest city from the self-proclaimed Islamic State has been pushed back several months at least, defense officials told The Daily Beast. That’s a major shift for the Pentagon, which recently announced that the first major ground offensive in the war against ISIS could come in the next few weeks.
John Boehner Humiliated As House Republicans Defeat His Bill To Keep Homeland Security Open
In a crushing defeat for John Boehner, his own House Republicans defeated the Speaker’s bill, and jeopardized national security by voting against a three week funding bill for Homeland Security.
The final vote was 202-224. Twelve Democrats voted yes, and 51 Republicans voted no.
Twice before the final vote, the House was forced into recess because Boehner was trying to scrounge up the votes to pass his funding bill. Before the vote, Nancy Pelosi told Republicans that they were allowing their hatred of President Obama to jeopardize Homeland Security.
Leonard Nimoy, 'Star Trek's' Spock, dead at 83
Leonard Nimoy, probably best known as Mr. Spock on "Star Trek," has died. He was 83.
The actor died Friday morning at his Los Angeles home of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his reps Bob and David Gersh told CBS News.
The actor's granddaughter Dani posted the following message on Twitter Friday afternoon: "Hi all, as you all know, my Grandpa passed away this morning at 8:40 from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was an extraordinary man, husband, grandfather, brother, actor, author-the list goes on- and friend. Thank you for the warm condolences. May you all LLAP. - DaniP.s. I will be putting special shirts up on our site, SHOPLLAP.com, where all of the proceeds will go to the COPD Foundation. I hope to hear from you all."
Mysterious graffiti artist Banksy illustrates Gaza debris
The work of mysterious British graffiti artist Banksy has made an appearance in the Gaza Strip.
In a short film posted on his website, the popular street artist appears to have sneaked into Gaza through an underground tunnel from Egypt. The video combines footage from the Israeli-Hamas war last summer, with political commentary about the coastal strip's misery.
Gunman kills seven, then self in Missouri house-to-house shooting spree
A gunman went house to house, fatally shooting seven people and wounding another in an overnight attack at a small southern Missouri town, police said Friday. The shooting spree ended when the suspect apparently committed suicide in a vehicle.
The victims were found in four different homes in the town of Tyrone about 40 miles north of the Arkansas border. The body of the 36-year-old alleged gunman was discovered in neighboring Shannon County, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Kinder said Friday morning.
American blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh
Machete-wielding assailants hacked to death an American blogger in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, in the latest of a series of attacks in the South Asian nation on writers who support free expression.
The attack comes amid a crackdown on hard-line armed groups, which have increased their activities in Bangladesh in recent years.
Avijit Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, and his wife and fellow blogger, Rafida Ahmed, were attacked on Thursday while returning from a book fair at Dhaka University. Ahmed was seriously injured. It was the latest in a series of recent attacks on secular writers in Bangladesh.
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