Recently in National News Category

A former intelligence analyst pleaded guilty Thursday to 10 charges in the event of leaking classified material, USA Today said.

Bradley Manning, 25, admitted to sending hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, State Department diplomatic cables, other classified records and two battlefield video clips to WikiLeaks in 2009 and 2010, USA Today reported.

Manning's court martial is set to be June 3, The New York Times said.

Manning said Thursday at a hearing that he was disturbed by the conduct of the wars in the Middle East and the way the American troops treated the populace, USA Today reported.

According to the Obama administrations, the release of the documents "threatened valuable valuable military and diplomatic sources and strained America's relations with other governments," said USA Today. This is the biggest leak of classified material in the U.S., USA Today said.

Manning could face a life sentence if convicted of the most serious charges, which include "aiding the enemy," The New York Times said.

The lead of the article, "Body of missing Canadian woman, 21, found in water tank on Los Angeles hotel roof,"published by New York Daily News, focused primarily on when and where the body of the missing Canadian woman, Elisa Lam, was found.

The lead of the article, "Elisa Lam Autopsy Yet To Determine Cause Of Death," published one day later by the Huffington Post, proceeded to focus primarily on the why and how of the situation. Starting with the fact that the autopsy of the woman's body did not reveal the cause of death.

The fact that the body was found in the water cistern of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles was secondary news. The main news was summarized in a very short sentence, assuming the reader has already read the backstory of this particular event.

The second story advances the news by building off the information in the first article. The Huffington Post reiterates the situation only once, and then proceeds to add the new information and update the reader on the most current advances in the situation.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call Saturday after the monorail at the Dallas Zoo left passengers stuck when it stopped operating on the tracks, ABC news said.

Due to an unspecified malfunction, the monorail stopped running around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, leaving 100 people stuck 20 feet off the ground, the Dallas Morning News said.

No one was injured in this event and all passengers were removed from the train using five extension ladders, the Dallas Morning News said. The 30-minute rescue went smoothy because the train did not stop over any animal habitats, making the passengers easily accessible in the rescuing process, Dallas Fire Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said.

The Dallas Zoo's monorail is the only one in the U.S. that is ''engineered to climb and turn, taking guests on a one-mile tour through bush, desert, forest, woodland, river, and mountain environments," the zoo's website says, according to ABC news.

Three people are dead and at least six are injured after gunfire lead to a multiple car crash on the Las Vegas strip on Thursday, the Huffington Post reported.

A black Range Rover fired shots at a Maserati around 4:20 a.m., the Huffington Post said.

Kenny Cherry was driving the Maserati at the time of the accident, NBC news reported. He was killed by the gun shots and his passenger was injured, causing the vehicle to spin out of control, NBC news said.

The Maserati ran a red light at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road and hit a taxi, which subsequently burst into flames, the Huffington Post said.

The taxi driver Michael Boldon, 62, and passenger, Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, were both killed due to "multiple blunt forced injuries," NBC news said.

All three deaths were classified as homicides, NBC news reported. The driver of the Range Rover fled the scene, the Huffington Post said. The California Highway Patrol alerted officers in at least three surrounding countries to be on the lookout of the SUV, the Huffington Post said.

The body of a missing Canadian women was found Tuesday at the bottom of a water cistern on the roof of the Cecil Hotel, New York Daily News said.

Elisa Lam, 21, had been missing for two weeks prior to the discovery of her body in the California Hotel's water cistern, Fox news reported.

Ultimately headed for Santa Cruz, Lam arrived in California on Jan. 27 and was last seen at the Cecil Hotel on Jan. 31, CBS news reported. Lam was a University of British Columbia student and was traveling alone, New York Daily News said.

Guests complaints about low water prompted a hotel maintenance worker to check the water cisterns, finding Lam's body around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Fox news said.

The cause of death is still under investigation, New York Daily News said.

CBS lost much of its ability to broadcast the Super Bowl last Sunday when power to the Superdome went out early in the third quarter due to a suspected malfunction in a device called a relay, the New York Times said. A project that was focused on upgrading the electrical system of the Superdome allowed for the installment of the relay, StarTribune said. The relay was supposed to guard against malfunctions that could occur in the cable that links the power grid with lines that go into the stadium, StarTribune said. The Superdome was using only about two-thirds of its power capacity durning the game, the New York Times said. The relay, being the root cause of the blackout, has since been removed and replaced and according to the officials, "all systems are working now," the New York Times said.

Due to the "complexity of the issue" the Boy Scouts of America delayed the decision about whether to ease its policy of excluding gays until May, the Washington Post said. It is a very delicate issue, and leaning toward either side will alienate the another and inevitably anger those on the outside, ABC news said.
Gay-rights supports argue that no Scout should be discriminated against or dismissed because of their sexual orientation, ABC news said. On the other hand, conservatives such as religious churches are large sponsors for troops, and they warned that if the policy were even "partially eased" they would withdraw a great deal from the troops, ABC news said. Even with the support of President Barack Obama and the mayor of New York City to lift the ban, this serious deliberation will involve a broad spectrum of folks and thus needs the extra time, ABC news reports. Rallies in support of both sides have taken place outside of the BSA's headquarters, the Washington Post said. This issue has attracted national attention and will undoubtedly continue to do so as the final decision nears, ABC news reports.

The hostage standoff in Midland City, Alabama continues onto its sixth day, ABC news said. Bus driver Charles Poland was taking kids home from school on Tuesday when he stopped to let kids off and Jimmy Dykes boarded the bus around 3:40 p.m, CNN said. When Dykes demanded two children Poland stood in front of the aisle and told Dykes, 'Just please get off the bus,' ABC new reported. At least 21 kids were able to escape out the emergency exit at the back of the bus durning the time Poland was confronting Dykes, said police. Dykes then pulled out a gun and shot Poland four times, killing him, and then abducted 5-year-old Ethan, CNN reported. Police said there is no connection between Dykes and Ethan, or if Dykes was looking to take a specific child upon boarding the bus. After abducting Ethan, Dykes took him to a nearby bunker four-feet underground where they have been held up for the past six days, ABC news said. Ethan has Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit disorder, making it necessary that he receive his prescription medication, CNN reports. Dykes has been in constant communication with negotiators through a 60-foot-long plastic ventilation pipe, which is also being used as a means of transporting Ethan's medication, coloring books, crayons and potato chips, CNN reports. Authorities are not releasing any information in regards to what Dykes is asking for from negotiators or as to what police are planning to do to rescue Ethan and end this standoff, ABC reports. Ethan is physically unharmed, but has been crying for his parents, Police said. For now, negotiations continue with the sole purpose of getting Ethan out unharmed, CNN repots.

The Obama administration proposed Friday that churches and nonprofit religious organizations that object, on religious grounds, to providing birth control coverage, would not have to pay for it, the New York Times said. Previously, the health care plan stated that businesses were required to provide health coverage that included contraceptive benefits to all employees, LA Times said. This raised a lot of controversy from religiously affiliated organizations such as churches, universities and hospitals who would, under the pre-revised health care plan, have to provide contraceptive coverage directly to their employees, the New York Times said. The new revisions purposed on Friday allow employees to receive contraceptive coverage at no cost, but through a separate, private insurance policy, LA Times said. The insurance companies, not the businesses, would bear the cost of providing this separate, private coverage, the New York Times said. They would regain money lost though providing this coverage by lower health care expenses resulting partially from fewer births, said the New York Times. The Obama administration hoped this would defuse the moral objections from the religiously affiliated organizations; however many are still dissatisfied. "Today's proposed rule does nothing to protect the religious freedom of millions of Americans," stated general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Kyle Duncan, according to the New York Times. These displeased parties want still a broader, more explicit exemption for religious organizations .