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President-elect Barack Obama will officially announce Sen. Hillary Clinton as his choice for secretary of state Monday, a Democratic official said.

Clinton, along with three others, will be given positions in Obama's cabinet, the Star Tribune reported.

In addition to Obama's secretary of state pick, he will also announce his choices for U.N. ambassador, attorney general and homeland security secretary.

According to a Democratic official, Sen. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, had to make a deal with Obama's administration to release some financial records, the New York Times reported.

Among those records was a list of the names of every contributor to his foundation since 1977, something the former president has been hesitant to give out in the past.

The official announcement will come Monday.

Posted by dadov003 at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thai anti-government protesters in Bangkok that occupied the city's two airports, turned to police, Sunday, to ask for help.

Thai activists are protesting for the resignation of the government, which they believe to be bringing corruption to their monarchy, the BBC News reported.

The tensions have been growing between the protesters and pro-government groups. On Saturday, a grenade attack from a pro-government group left 50 of the protesters injured, the New York Times reported.

The recent attacks against the protesters have caused them to turn to the police for help. The protesters have been in negotiations with police stemming from Saturday's attack.

"We are in a negotiation process. We want to avoid any violent confrontation. We will not use weapons," police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said.

While the talks are taking place, Thai protesters are adamant that they will not budge on their stances.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A St. Paul man was jailed Saturday after having an hour and a half long standoff with St. Paul police and a SWAT team.

Police arrived to the 38-year-old man's home after receiving a call from his ex-girlfriend stating that the man was threatening to kill her with a gun, the Pioneer Press reported.

According to a statement from the St. Paul Police Department, the police arrived on the scene of the 1100 block of Arundel Street at 3:45 p.m. and the man would not answer the door.

The officers called in a SWAT team and the man still refused to answer the door. The standoff lasted for an hour and a half until eventually the man was arrested.

While the victim was not injured, the man was brought to jail on the charge of aggravated assault, the Star Tribune reported.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

President-elect Barack Obama will name Gov. Bill Richardson his commerce secretary.

A Democratic official, who wanted to remain anonymous as they did not have permission to leak the information, said Obama will officially announce the selection after Thanksgiving, CBS News reported.

Richardson, who was recently an opponent of Obama's for the Democratic presidential nominee, has prior experience in Washington. Before becoming governor of New Mexico, he served under President Bill Clinton as U.N. ambassador and energy secretary, the Star Tribune reported.

Richardson's name came up earlier in the week as a possible contender for the Secretary of State position, which is rumored to be going to another former opponent for the presidential nominee, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Denny Hecker said Friday he would be closing six of his car dealerships and selling three due to the bad state of the economy.

With the closing of the dealerships, 400 employees are out of a job, the Pioneer Press reported.

Earlier in the month, Hecker filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis against Chrysler Financial Services saying that they had unexpectedly stopped financing forcing Hecker to renege on contracts with his customers and business partners.

The Big Three automakers are also seeing negative results from the dwindling economy and have asked for a $25 billion federal bailout package, the Star Tribune reported.

Hecker sold his Inver Grove Heights Hyundai, Inver Grove Heights Volkswagen and Peninsula Dodge in California to private investors and closed his Blaine Bargain Lot, Forest Lake Chrysler Jeep Dodge Mitsubishi, Monticello Dodge Ford and Mercury Suzuki Kia, Rosedale Hyundai, Shakopee Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Stillwater Ford Lincoln Mercury.

Posted by dadov003 at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Nepalese teenager has been drawing crowds of thousands as he meditates and blesses the people in a Nepal village, leading them to believe he is the Buddha's reincarnate.

Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, was first discovered three years ago meditating in the Ratanapuri village in Nepal's Bara district. It was said by village witnesses that he did not stop meditating for six months and went without food and water, the BBC News reported.

Now, Bamjan is at it again, meditating in a nearby jungle in Ratanpur, sitting under a peepal tree with his legs crossed, all imitations of Siddhartha Gautama, the original Buddha, who Buddhists believe was born in Nepal in 560 BC.

On Friday, Bamjan silently greeted the thousands of spectators and began to bless them by tapping them on their foreheads, Yahoo News reported.

Although the villagers believe Bamjan to be a reincarnation of the Buddha, Buddhist scholars say the feat is not likely.

In the Buddhist religion, becoming the Buddha means reaching enlightenment and therefore it is the highest and final level one can achieve in reincarnation. The scholars say the Buddha cannot have another reincarnation as a Buddha.

Posted by dadov003 at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, India celebrated as it succesfully sent their first lunar probe, Chandrayaan 1, to the moon.

"We have now successfully put our national flag on the lunar surface," said Madhavan Nair, the chairman of India's space program.

Chandrayaan 1 orbitted the moon just three weeks after it was launched in Southern India.

Russia, the US, Japan and the European Space Agency, were the only places to have landed moon probes in the past, Yahoo News reported.

The probe will chart water and ice precence, as well as map a three-dimensional atlas of the Moon, the BBC News reported.

India has set a second mission already for 2012.

Posted by dadov003 at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

President-elect Barack Obama met with Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Bill Richardson Friday to interview them as possible contenders for the Secretary of State position.

Clinton and Richardson were both Obama’s former opponenets for the democratic presidential nominee earlier in the year, the Star Tribune reported.

If Clinton were offered the job, she would have a Senate confirmation hearing where it is likely her husband's financial dealings would be brought up. She prevented this from happening during her presidential run.

Clinton and Obama have similar stances on global issues, especially when it comes to Iraq strategies, the New York Times reported.

If Obama were to choose Clinton as his Secretary of State, it would ensure she would not challenge him in 2012. It could also be a stepping stone for Clinton to run again in 2016 should Obama serve two terms.

Posted by dadov003 at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday 700 Minnesotans gathered in Minneapolis in front of the Hennepin County Government Center to protest the new bans on gay marriage in other states.

"Love is something we all experience in our own way and it's very unfortunate that certain people think there should be a right way and a wrong way to love,� University of Minnesota student Kendra Atkins, 21, said.

Minnesota took part in a nationwide protest of the recently passed propositions, which modifies the constitution to ban gay marriage in California, Florida and Arizona, the Star Tribune reported.

Join the Impact, the group responsible for planning the nationwide protests Saturday, said they wanted peaceful protests, not violent ones, the Pioneer Press reported.

Overall 300 cities in the country took part in the protests Saturday, with over 1 million participants.

Posted by dadov003 at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Americans were not the only ones celebrating Barack Obama's Presidential win Tuesday, other countries also joined in on the celebration, one even declared it a holiday.

Kenya, the place Obama's father was from, declared the Thursday after election day a holiday, in honor of Obama's win, the BBC News reported.

"We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots," President Mwai Kibaki said.

Many Kenyans gathered around TVs and watched the results come Tuesday. When Obama was announced the winner, dancing and cheering ensued.

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black President, also took part in the celebration, the Associated Press reported.

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," he said in a letter of congratulations to Obama.

Although Obama was born in Hawaii and barely knew his late father, Kenyans still honor Obama's Kenyan roots

Posted by dadov003 at 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since California's Proposition 8 passed Tuesday, several protests have ensued, drawing thousands of angry Californians.

In May, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in California, and Prop. 8, a constitutional amendment, overturns that decision.

San Diego held the biggest protest of Prop 8 since it was passed, drawing a crowd of nearly 10,000 people, the Star Tribune reported.

This protest was peaceful, where marchers gathered and walked down Market Street, the city's main street, halting rush-hour traffic.

Police said no protesters were arrested.

Earlier in the week, California saw other protests on smaller scales, where several people were arrested, the New York Times reported.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With a recount set to occur In what is Minnesota's closest Senate race in history, the number of votes Sen. Norm Coleman won by keep changing, before the recount has even begun.

The morning after Tuesday's election, Coleman appeared to have beat his opponent Al Franken by 725 votes, less than the half percent needed for a recount to happen, the Star Tribune reported.

As of Saturday however, Coleman's lead has skrinked to 221 votes, the Pioneer Press reported.

It is Minnesota Law that is a candidate wins by half of one percent or less of the vote, a recount will be enforced. The loser of the election had the right to call off the recount, something Franken said he would not be doing. Coleman's campaign had criticized Franken for going through with the recount, calling the recount itself "dubious" and a waste of tax dollars.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie responded to the Coleman camapaign's comments Friday after meeting with both parties to discuss the recount.

"'Dubious' would imply that county election officials are breaking the law and are dishonest people," Ritchie said. "That's not a statement that I believe this person could support with any facts, and it's the opposite of my experience."

The plan for the recount was laid out by Ritchie saying that on Nov. 18 the State Canvassing Board will approve a recount plan and by Dec. 5, the recount must be done. The board will meet Dec. 16 to discuss the results and will be done by Dec. 19.

Posted by dadov003 at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Japanese General was fired Friday for writing an essay which stated that Japan was not an aggressor during World War II and the U.S. was to blame for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Gen. Toshio Tamogami, the 60-year-old chief of staff of Japan’s air force, posted his essay on a private company's website and was fired hours later by the Japanese Defense Ministry, the New York Times reported.

"It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation," Tamogami said in the essay.

The essay also said that U.S. President at the time Franklin D. Roosevelt had manipulated Japan into the war, the BBC News reported.

The Japanese government said Tamogami's views do not represent the views of Japan.. “It was improper for a person in his capacity as air force chief of staff to publicly state a view clearly different from the government’s,� Yasukazu Hamada, The Japanese defense minister said.

Posted by dadov003 at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah Palin received a prank call Saturday from a Canadian comedian she believed to be the President of France.

The two had conversations about politics, as well as discussions on hunting, Yahoo News reported.

After learning the callers true identity later in the day, Tracey Schmitt, Palin's campaign spokesperson, said she found the matter to be funny, the Star Tribune reported.

"Governor Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy and other celebrities, in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie," she said.

At one point during the phony call, the comedian reportedly told Palin she would make a good President.

"Maybe in eight years," Palin responded.

Posted by dadov003 at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A St. Olaf professor admitted Thursday to stealing McCain campaign signs from numerous homes in Southern Minnesota.

Philip Busse, a visiting professor in the theater department at St. Olaf College, wrote his confession in a blog on the Huffington Post website, the Star Tribune reported. The Huffington Post is a national website that presents liberal news and blogs.

Busse's entry, titled "Confessions of a Lawn Sign Stealer," said he had stolen a total of seven lawn signs along a highway near St. Olaf, the Pioneer Press reported.

Busse later told a local newspaper he did regret stealing the signs.

Posted by dadov003 at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)