FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The director of the National Hurricane Center said Friday that Haiti’s ability to respond to a tropical storm while still reeling from a January 2010 earthquake remains his top concern for the Atlantic hurricane season. “I don’t feel comfortable that, should there be a direct hit, there would be the capacity […]

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday pardoned eight people convicted of crimes ranging from conspiring to import marijuana to selling alligator hides. The action marked the second set of pardons Obama has granted since becoming president. The first pardons, last December, went to nine people whose crimes included possessing drugs, counterfeiting and mutilating coins. […]

African American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says the drivers of problem solving and job creation in the world depend on whether American students demand scientific literacy. “Math needs better marketing,” deGrasse Tyson told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien during an intimate sit down on the subject of  math and science in American education. Tyson’s interview is a […]

OAKLAND, Calif. — They spent months warning the world of the apocalypse, some giving away earthly belongings or draining their savings accounts. And so they waited, eagerly or anxiously, on Saturday for the appointed hour to arrive. When 6 p.m. came and went at various spots around the globe, and nothing extraordinary emerged, Keith Bauer […]

WASHINGTON — Trying to make his case for overhauling the nation’s education laws, President Barack Obama is highlighting progress at a Tennessee high school as evidence that the proper incentives can help all schools succeed. Obama focused his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday on Memphis’ Booker T. Washington High School, where the president delivered […]

ATLANTA — If there is an early crowd favorite in the Republican race for president, it may be Herman Cain. The businessman, author, talk radio show host and tea party darling knows how to wow a conservative gathering. Now the 65-year-old Cain will try to see if he can use that grass-roots enthusiasm to turn […]

OAKLAND, Calif. — Some shut themselves inside to pray for mercy as they waited for the world’s end. Others met for tearful last lunches with their children, and prepared to leave behind homes and pets as they were swept up to heaven. And across the globe, followers of a California preacher’s long-publicized message that Judgment […]