U.S. probe of Benghazi attack focused on more than five suspects

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An investigation of the attacks on the American diplomatic mission and nearby annex in Benghazi, Libya, last year is looking at more than five potential suspects, a U.S. national security source said on Wednesday. The source would not identify the suspects who have come to the attention of the FBI, which is investigating the September 11, 2012, attacks that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. … Read more here: U.S. probe of Benghazi attack focused on more than five suspects

Iran’s Supreme Leader Tightens Grip After Disqualifying Two Top Presidential Candidates

For the cleric who runs Iran, there’s no such thing as a pleasant surprise, especially on election day. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was not pleased when a librarian named Mohammad Khatami was swept into the president’s office in 1997, leading a wave of reformists who challenged the status quo in which Khamenei, as the unelected Supreme Leader of the Revolution, was most heavily invested. In every election cycle since, the self-appointed portion of Iran’s government has done all it can to winnow the choices placed before Iranian voters. … Read more here: Iran’s Supreme Leader Tightens Grip After Disqualifying Two Top Presidential Candidates

Friends of Syria demands withdrawal of Hezbollah, Iran fighters

AMMAN (Reuters) – The Friends of Syrian alliance called on Iran and its Lebanese Hezbollah ally on Thursday to withdraw fighters immediately from Syrian territory and described their armed presence in the country as a threat to regional stability. In a communiqué issued after a meeting in Amman, the alliance said any transitional government in Syria being proposed as a core of a U.S. and Russian peace initiative must have authority over the army and the executive, which are now in President Bashar Assad’s hands. … Read more here: Friends of Syria demands withdrawal of Hezbollah, Iran fighters

Pentagon: New record plan won't help vet backlog

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has decided to buy a new computerized health records system to be able to better share and merge its data with the Department of Veterans Affairs, but officials cautioned that it was part of a “long-term modernization” effort and would not help ease the backlog in VA disability claims. Read more here: Pentagon: New record plan won't help vet backlog

Health officials probe deadly respiratory illness in Alabama

By Verna Gates BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – U.S. and state health authorities are investigating an unidentified respiratory illness that has killed two of 10 people hospitalized with it in Alabama since last week. Preliminary tests do not indicate the bird flu, nor a new mutation of any known influenza virus, said Dr. Mary McIntyre, an assistant state health officer at the Alabama Department of Public Health. Two patients did test positive for the H1N1 strain of the flu. … Read more here: Health officials probe deadly respiratory illness in Alabama