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The 29 miners killed in the Upper Big Branch mine, 35 miles from Asheville, North Carolina, were remembered Sunday in a service with a eulogy from U.S. President Barack Obama.

USA Today reports Obama spoke broadly of the miners, with the executive of the mine company they worked for sitting in the rear of the venue with the miners' families.

"How can we let anyone in this country put their lives at risk by simply showing up to work, by simply pursuing the American Dream?" Obama said in his eulogy. Nearly 2,800 mourners joined in the memorial.

"The men we remember here today went into the darkness so we could have light," Biden said. "It was dangerous work and they knew it. But they never flinched," the president said.

The 29 miners died in an explosion twenty days ago. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Senate will hold a hearing on the investigation Thursday.

President Obama mandated visitation rights for same-sex couples Thursday.

The decision marks Obama's first visible form of change regarding same-sex rights and equality in the United States.

The Washington Post reports Obama has been advised to make change in small steps, such as this, to achieve overall equality.

A poll in the New York Times says eight out of 10 people think same-sex couples deserve the same rights straight couples get when their partners are in the hospital.

The New York Times also reported the socially conservative Family Research Council stated they have "no objection" to individuals needing to make decisions with whomever they wish.

The unexpected move allegedly came after White House officials heard a story about a lesbian couple kept apart during a stay at a hospital and one of them collapsed and died.

"In this day and age, basic rights are deemed to be accorded to everyone. This allows him to give something to his base without worrying too much about backlash on the other side," Whit Aryes, a Republican pollster from Virginia said.

But gay rights activists are still wanting more.

"This is a small and welcome step forward," Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry said.
"This isn't about just hospital visitation but the full measure of protections that families seek and want, and the real answer here is to end the exclusion on marriage."

President Obama said nuclear terrorism is the biggest threat to our country in a speech Sunday. He announced a three-day summit he will hold with four other world leaders hosting over 50 leaders from other nations.

Obama has already met with South African President Jacob Zuma.

The focus of this summit is to maintain optimal national security for all countries involved.

"If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically and from a security perspective would be devastating," president Obama said.

The summit was started because the administration is finding out that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are mobilizing on their quest for nuclear weapons, which Obama said they "have no compunction of using."

Obama said the other world leaders involved have "very specific" ways to solve this international problem.

The president said securing loose nuclear arms is "a central part of the process" but will focus more attention on the short term.

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will "surely retire" before Barack Obama's term is over.

Stevens said he will decide on the timing soon in a Web interview Saturday.

"I will surely do it while he's still president," Justice Stevens told The Washington Post. "The president and the Senate need plenty of time to fill a vacancy."

Hints at Steven's upcoming retirement surfaced when he hired only one law clerk this past September instead of the typical four clerks per justice for his fall term.

Justice Stevens will turn 90 this month. He has been serving on the Supreme Court since 1975 when he was appointed by President Gerald R. Ford.

Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway told Military.com that single rooms need to be made in military barracks in order to prevent straight troops from living with gay troops.

"I would not ask our Marines to live with someone that's homosexual if we can possibly avoid it," Conway said.

The proposition Conway made comes in the wake of the embattled repealing of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which makes it possible to boot someone from the military for having same-sex sexual preferences, among other things.

Last month, Conway told Congress, "My best military advice to this committee, to the secretary, to the president, would be to keep the law such as it is."

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the Pentagon will immediately ease up on enforcing Don't Ask, Don't Tell Thursday.

A shooting at an outdoor party left 3 men and 2 women injured, Pomona police said. Two were seriously injured late Saturday night.

The victims were in a courtyard of an apartment complex when the gunman approached the group around 11 p.m.

After firing several shots the gunman, described as a Latino man in his 20s, fled the scene.

The victims range in age from 24 to 47, coming from Pomona, Los Angeles, Claremont and Ontario.

After an extensive cross-country road trip, John Patrick Bedell, 36, opened fire at the entry point of the Pentagon Thursday night, shooting two security officers.

Officers Marvin Carraway and Jeffrey Amos shot back at the gunman, killing him.

According to the shooter's family, Bedell suffered from mental illness long before the shooting Thursday. He was repeatedly a patient at mental health clinics.

"There's a history of mental health problems with him that the family's been dealing with for a number of years," San Benito County, California, Sheriff Curtis Hill said Friday.

Bedell suffered from bipolar disorder according to 2006 court records.

Bedell was also a heavy drug user.

"He was a heavy marijuana user and tended to self-medicate with marijuana. I don't know if he used other drugs," family friend San Benito County Supervisor Reb Monaco said.

Family described Bedell as their "beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew and cousin."

Bedell made a suspicious $600 purchase at a Sacramento shooting range, which he refused to discuss with his family. Once the purchase was made and Bedell took to the road, his father Oscar filed a missing persons complaint.

The complaint was closed when Bedell returned to his parents' Hollister home after a week of being missing.

Before the shooting, Bedell was reportedly "mumbling something," according to FBI Agent Lindsay Godwin.

Bedell parked his 1998 Toyota Avalon then opened fire at the Pentagon doors and was shot to death by security officers.

The Obama administration appointed former Obama campaign adviser Julianna Smoot as the new social secretary for the White House.

Smoot replaced president Obama's Chicago friend Desireé Rogers after she resigned from the position, the White House said Friday.

Rogers' resignation follows being under scrutiny for an incident when two uninvited guests gained entry to Obama's first state dinner in November of last year, which she was a key player in planning.

The Washington Post quoted White House press secretary Robert Gibbs as saying, "She's not been asked to leave. She's decided it's time to go back to do other things she loved."

Smoot, who was Obama's financial adviser for Obama's presidential campaign, is said to share the commitment "to creating an inclusive, dynamic and culturally vibrant White House.''

The Washington Post reports a Casper man died at a hospital Saturday after a gas explosion in his home.

Michael Lesher, 44, disconnected all gas lines in his home Saturday morning, which prompted a third party to call a police on suspicions of suicidal behavior.

Three officers who reported to the scene were also injured. They were treated for abrasions and bruises when before being released from Wyoming Medical Center Saturday.

Trib.com reports that Lesher was no longer with his wife and that he had been given an eviction notice to be out of his home by noon Saturday. Reports also say Lesher told family and friends that he was planning on "going out peacefully" after discussing suicide with them.

A University of Alabama-Huntsville science professor with a doctoral degree from Harvard described as "gentle," opened fire in a faculty meeting Friday, killing three of her colleagues and injuring three more.

Friday afternoon Bishop sat in a faculty meeting for up to 40 minutes until she pulled out a handgun and shot and killed three other faculty members. She then left the room, dropping the gun in a bathroom. She was arrested outside the building by police minutes later.

Amy Bishop, 44, "loved teaching," her husband James said in the Boston Herald. However, students described Bishop as "awkward socially" and a tough test maker.

An interesting facet in the case reveals Bishop shot and killed her 18-year-old pianist brother in 1986. Records of the shooting have since gone missing but the case was originally marked an accident.

Police refused to comment on Bishop's motives for the shooting. However, Bishop was denied tenure at the university for which she had an appeal going for. Bishop was finishing up her final semester of the six year time limit the university will hold onto non-tenured professors.

Bishop had success outside of teaching. She and her husband developed an automated cell incubator slated to be marketed by Prodigy Biosystems. The company garnered $1.2 million in financing for the innovation.