World/Nation
Governor's resignation elevates liberal Democrat
PORTLAND, Ore. - The resignation of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber instantly promoted the liberal Democrat who is next in line to succeed him: the 54-year-old secretary of state who has long been thought to have her eye on Oregon's top elected position.
Kate Brown, who is widely considered to be to the left of the departing Democratic governor, will also become the first openly bisexual governor in the nation. She will not assume office until Wednesday, when Kitzhaber's resignation takes effect. He is stepping down amid suspicions that his fiancee used their relationship to land contracts for her green-energy consulting business.
"This is a sad day for Oregon. But I am confident that legislators are ready to come together to move Oregon forward," Brown said Friday. "I know you all have a lot of questions, and I will answer them as soon as possible. As you can imagine, there is a lot of work to be done between now and Wednesday."
Unlike most states, Oregon has no lieutenant governor. Under the state constitution, the secretary of state takes over if a governor steps down or dies. That has happened eight times since statehood, according to the Blue Book, the state government almanac.
Until recent weeks, the assumptions were that Kitzhaber would finish his full, fourth term and Brown would be a top contender in 2018 to succeed him.
Rare, undulating clouds enchant visitors in Grand Teton
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A bizarre sheet of wispy clouds undulating over the Teton Range enchanted tourists and even veteran employees of Grand Teton National Park.
Drivers stopped along the park's main highway Thursday morning to gaze in awe and shoot photos of the rare phenomenon hovering over Grand Teton mountain. At 13,770 feet above sea level, the Grand Teton is the highest point in the Teton Range.
The shape-shifting clouds at times appeared like a billowing handkerchief or seagull with its beak touching the mountain's summit, park spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs said.
She first spotted them on her morning drive to work. "I had to make myself pay attention to the road because I was like, 'Wow, that is really strange,' " Skaggs said Friday.
The clouds persisted through the morning before finally dissipating in the afternoon.
Obama calls cyberspace new Wild West, asks for help on attacks
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Cyberspace is the new "Wild West," President Barack Obama said Friday, with everyone looking to the government to be the sheriff. But he told the private sector it must do more to stop cyber attacks aimed at the U.S. every day.
"Everybody is online, and everybody is vulnerable," Obama said during a White House cybersecurity summit at Stanford University, just miles from Google, Facebook, Intel and other Internet giants.
"The business leaders here want their privacy and their children protected, just like the consumer and privacy advocates here want America to keep leading the world in technology and be safe from attacks," he said.
Partnering with the federal government is a hard sell in the Silicon Valley. The pace of innovation in California's tech hub outstrips Beltway bureaucracy, and tech firms chafe at regulations that could limit their reach.
Further, disclosures from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden exposing sweeping U.S. government surveillance programs have angered many. The programs tapped into data from firms including Google and Yahoo.
Israeli strikes on homes in Gaza war took a high civilian toll
RAFAH, Gaza Strip - The youngest to die was a 4-day-old girl, the oldest a 92-year-old man.
They were among at least 844 Palestinians killed as a result of airstrikes on Gaza homes during Israel's summer war with the Islamic militant group, Hamas.
Under the rules of war, homes are protected civilian sites unless used for military purposes. Israel says it attacked only legitimate targets, alleging militants used the houses to hide weapons, fighters and command centers. Palestinians say Israel's warplanes often struck without regard for civilians.
The Associated Press examined 247 airstrikes, interviewing witnesses, visiting attack sites and compiling a detailed casualty count.
The review found that 508 of the dead - just over 60 percent - were children, women and older men, all presumed to be civilians. Hamas says it did not use women as fighters in the war, and an Israel-based research group, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, which tracks militants among the war dead, said it has no evidence women participated in combat.
Shadow of Hillary Clinton's Iraq war vote hangs over 2016 hopefuls
WASHINGTON - In 2002, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton cast a vote in favor of the Iraq war that would later come to haunt her presidential campaign.
Now, a new crop of senators eying the White House - Republicans Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas - will face a similar choice over authorizing military action in the Middle East.
A vote in favor of President Barack Obama's use-of-force resolution would give the potential candidates a share of the responsibility for the outcome of military action in a combustible region. And as Clinton learned well, the public's support for a military campaign can quickly fade, making the long-term implications of the vote difficult to predict.
Obama asked lawmakers this week to approve a three-year offensive against the Islamic State group and affiliated forces. His request includes no constraints on geographical boundaries but would bar "enduring offensive combat" - intentionally vague language that some lawmakers fear leaves open the prospect of a U.S.-led ground war.
So far, most of the 2016 hopefuls currently in Congress have sidestepped questions about how they would vote on Obama's measure, which could be amended before they have to say yes or no. Among Republicans, Rubio has been perhaps the most specific in outlining his views, saying he opposes the president putting constraints on his ability to use military force against an enemy.
- The Associated Press