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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

'Robin Hood' Obama to Go on Offense Tonight (Newser Nine at Nine)

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

'Robin Hood' Obama to Go on Offense Tonight

(Newser) - The centerpiece of President Obama's State of the Union address tonight will be what some are calling a "Robin Hood" tax plan to benefit the middle class at the expense of Wall Street and the wealthiest 1%—and while the proposals have little chance of making it intact... More »

ISIS Gives Japan 72 Hours to Pay $200M Ransom

(Newser) - In a video released online today, ISIS threatens to kill two Japanese hostages unless it receives a $200 million ransom in the next 72 hours. The video, posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, mirrors other hostage threats it has made. The militant in it also directly addresses... More »

Gun That Killed 'Cover-Up' Prosecutor Wasn't His

(Newser) - The death of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman the day before he was due to testify about an alleged cover-up in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires is looking pretty fishy to many Argentines—not least because of the country's history of suspicious high-level suicides, and... More »

JCPenney Brings Back Its Dead-Tree Catalog

(Newser) - JCPenney has found that even in the Internet age, print has its place. Decades after launching its big catalog in 1963, JCPenney stopped sending it in 2009. Now, the company is restoring the catalog, having found that many online shoppers—some 31%, according to analysts—use the book as inspiration,... More »

Gen. Sherman's War Spoils May Sit at Bottom of SC River

(Newser) - In 1954, a gas-producing plant closed near the Congaree River in Columbia, SC. But its presence lingers, in the form of roughly 40,000 tons of "taffy-like" black tar that need to be removed from the river. The State reports on a most unusual side effect of damming the... More »

Police Have Been Using Radar to Peek Into Homes

(Newser) - The gist of the Fourth Amendment, according to the Supreme Court , is "the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion." Which is why legal and privacy concerns are cropping up regarding the recent revelation that at least... More »

No More Topless Girls on Page 3 of the Sun

(Newser) - For some 44 years, British tabloid The Sun has featured topless female models on its third page in a controversial tradition known as the "Page 3 girls." But no more: Though the Sun itself has not confirmed the change, another newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch, the Times , reports... More »

Traders Using Supertankers to Stockpile Oil

(Newser) - Commodity brokers call it a "contango"—a situation where the current price of a commodity is lower than prices for future delivery—and it could make a lot of money for traders who can find somewhere to store huge amounts of oil. The recent plunge in oil prices... More »

Couple, 4 Grandkids Feared Dead in Mansion Fire

(Newser) - Technology exec Don Pyle, his wife, and four grandchildren are feared dead in a huge blaze that destroyed a mansion in Annapolis. Some 85 firefighters spent hours early Monday morning battling the fire at the 16,000-square-foot castle-like home, using tanker trucks and a fire boat because there were no... More »