A military judge may decide Tuesday whether the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 others in a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 should have more time to prepare before representing himself in the military trial.Major Nidal Hasan, 42, has been allowed to represent himself at his court martial, which has been sidetracked by questions involving the man...

A man loudly ranted about national security, the CIA and international spying aboard a flight from Hong Kong to Newark Monday, causing passengers to tackle him and bind his hands and feet for the duration of the flight. The FBI met United Airlines Flight 116 as it landed at Newark Liberty International Airport Monday around 1:30 p.m., passengers said, and escorted the man off the airliner. Th...

Penmanship purists can relax: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has straightened out his signature.When he was nominated for the post earlier this year, Lew was mocked for his John Hancock — an aimless series of loops that was compared to the white icing atop a Hostess cupcake.The top finance official in the federal government was given the humiliating nickname Loopty Lew. Worse still, the treasury chie...

Ever since Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs, he has sometimes been called a whistleblower. But is he?Those who believe he has shed light on improper government actions say he deserves to be called one. But there seems little doubt that he cannot claim legal whistleblower protection.For starters, the general whistleblower laws ap...

A stray kitten is recuperating after spending two days stuck in the engine of car that made a 1,000-mile drive from Oregon to Southern California.Julia Di Sieno, who has been rescuing animals for 30 years, answered the driver’s call to rescue the kitten in Santa Barbara, Calif.Di Sieno said that the driver heard the stray's cries when she left Oregon, but she continued with her journey, unsure of ...

Retired Boston hitman John "The Executioner" Martorano testified on Tuesday that he and James “Whitey” Bulger were “up to our necks in murder” by the time he committed what he described as his last killing at Bulger’s behest, more than three decades ago.The former underworld killer also described his one-time boss as having a direct hand in a murder, saying Tuesday that Bulger gunned down a Boston...