Career News 24/7: Clock Ticking, Japan Races to Save ISIS Hostages (Newser Nine at Nine)

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Clock Ticking, Japan Races to Save ISIS Hostages (Newser Nine at Nine)

The nine most recent stories, in your inbox bright and early.

Clock Ticking, Japan Races to Save ISIS Hostages

(Newser) - On Tuesday, ISIS gave Japan 72 hours to pay $200 million in ransom to save the lives of freelance journalist Kenji Goto and self-employed contractor Haruna Yukawa—a demand that Yoshihide Suga, the country's chief Cabinet secretary, said yesterday the country wasn't going to meet . Now, with the... More »

FBI Arrests NY Assembly Speaker

(Newser) - An FBI spokesman says New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the most powerful politicians in the state, has been arrested. The spokesman, Peter Donald, says Silver was taken into custody around 8am today. Donald declined to discuss the charges Silver is facing; though feds last month were investigating... More »

Stay Away From Disney: Calif. to Unvaccinated

(Newser) - From 1988 to 1990, California was slammed with a measles epidemic that affected at least 16,000 people, per the Western Journal of Medicine . Now public health officials are trying to avoid a similar scenario, encouraging people in the Golden State to a) get vaccinated, and b) stay away from... More »

'Ring of Fire' Volcano Births New Island

(Newser) - Mother Earth has given birth to new land. An island has formed in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where a volcano has been erupting since Dec. 20. Tonga's Land and National Resource Ministry tells the Weather Network the volcano is erupting from two vents. One is spewing ash and... More »

2 Bodies Found in Mansion's Charred Ruins

(Newser) - Investigators found the bodies of two unidentified people yesterday in the charred remains of an Annapolis-area mansion that burned to the ground earlier this week, a fire official says. Cadaver dogs and searchers found the bodies, and four people remain unaccounted for, the county fire department spokesman says. "I... More »

Turning Up Voltage on E-Cigs Is a Very Bad Idea

(Newser) - It's still too early to say whether e-cigarettes cause cancer the way regular cigarettes do, researchers say, but what they can tell at this stage is that at high voltage, the vapor they produce is a lot higher in at least one carcinogen than traditional smokes. A new study... More »

London Mayor Hit With Huge US Tax Bill

(Newser) - Many Londoners might not know their mayor has an American passport as well as a British one—but Uncle Sam is certainly aware of it. Boris Johnson was born in New York, and as an American citizen, he's liable to pay American taxes, which he has reluctantly agreed to... More »

After Revolt, House GOP Shelves Abortion Bill

(Newser) - House Republicans have abruptly dropped plans to debate a bill banning virtually all late-term abortions after objections from GOP women and other lawmakers left them short of votes. The decision was embarrassing for Republican leaders eager to display a united, GOP-led Congress, which had planned to push the legislation through... More »

Frilled Shark With 300 Teeth Caught Off Australia

(Newser) - Fishermen off the coast of Australia were startled to haul in something none of them had ever seen before: a rare species of "living fossil" shark virtually unchanged since before dinosaurs went extinct. The frilled shark they caught was around 5 feet long, almost as big as they get,... More »