Casey Anthony has been found not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. LIVE BLOG Continue reading →

Editor's Note: Tune in Sunday at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. ET for Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN. By Fareed Zakaria, CNN The rise and fall of Bo Xilai is part of a much larger and potentially disruptive trend in China — the return of politics to the Chinese Communist Party. We don't think of the Chinese Communist Party as a political organization these days. It is dominated by technocrats obsessed with economic and engineering challenges. These men — and they are almost all men — are comfortable talking about detailed economic and technical data, laying out master plans for development. But they are not politicians, adept at handling large crowds or palace intrigue. When the Chinese Communists took power in 1949, the party was ... Continue reading →

Secretary Albert del Rosario will be visiting Washington to participate in the first “2 plus 2” dialogue among the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense and the Philippines Secretaries of Foreign Affairs and National Defense. The meeting comes amidst escalating tensions in the South China Sea and much speculation about new ways the U.S.-Philippines alliance can address common challenges associated with China’s aggressiveness in waters far from its shores. The Philippines in the last couple years has emerged as a real leader in pressing Southeast Asia’s diplomatic prerogatives. Secretary del Rosario has been right in the thick of his nation’s new found confidence. He has also been a key mover in energizing the alliance. His views on where the alliance is headed and its application ... Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fast-growing Asian American community is largely untapped by the presidential candidates and their political parties even though they are expected to vote in record numbers this fall, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday.The Lake Research Partners poll showed that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders identified themselves as Democrats over Republicans by a three-to-one margin. But only about a third of them said they had been contacted by their party in the past two years.A majority of those who identified themselves as independents - usually a prime target of both parties - said they had not heard from the political parties at all."Presidential candidates and political parties ignore Asian Americans at their own peril," said pollster Celinda Lake."While Asian Americans and Pacific ... Continue reading →

A new poll finds both parties have the potential to make inroads with this fast-growing bloc -- but neither is doing enough to engage them. Reuters A large proportion of the Asian American vote is up for grabs in the 2012 election, according to a new poll. While President Obama leads Republican Mitt Romney by a wide margin -- 59 percent to 13 percent -- impressions of Romney remain largely unformed, and both Democrats and Republicans have work to do with this potentially important but often overlooked voting demographic. Obama was strongest among Indian American voters, leading Romney by a margin of 76 to 8 percent in the poll, and weakest among Filipino Americans, where the vote was 57 percent to 20 percent. Among Chinese ... Continue reading →

11 a.m.Herman Cain announces plans for presidential campaign Continue reading →

Wake County Board of Education work… 'The Doctors' talk obesity, 'pregnant… Conjoined twins turn two Daytime Pick 3 and Pick 4 Drawing Funeral of Dr. LeRoy T. Walker Longtime Apex town clerk retires WRAL WeatherCenter Forecast Wife of former Edwards aide undergoes… Continue reading →

A book for the price of a song by Paulo Coelho on May 1, 2012 IMPORTANT NOTICE: PROMOTION IS VALID FOR USA & CANADA ONLY. If you open your browser outside these territories, it will eventually show the normal price (I wish it were valid world wide, but I have no final word on it – it is a publishing house decision…)UPDATE 6:21 pm (GMT): Not yet on Nook and iBookstore, but I hope this will be fixed tomorrow, and I will post it again on Twitter and Facebook _______________________________ I am delighted to know that one of my US publishers, Harper Collins, following a conversation with my agent Monica Antunes at the London Book Fair 2012, have decided to reduce the price of all ... Continue reading →

Deepening the Security and Strategic Partnership We continue to enhance our cooperation and force interoperability in the areas of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and maritime security, conducting nearly 20 combined exercises every year, including the recently completed 28th iteration of Exercise “Balikatan” (“Shoulder-to-Shoulder”). The Republic of the Philippines is a committed peacekeeping provider, deploying nearly 1,000 troops, police and civilians to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions annually. The United States supports the Philippines’ peacekeeping role through continued funding and training. There were over 100 U.S. ship visits to the Philippines last year. In June 2012, the U.S. hospital ship the USNS Mercy will provide medical, dental, and veterinary services to Filipinos on the islands of Samar, Basilan, and Sulu. U.S. personnel also intend to partner ... Continue reading →

Be honest: What do you know about the Philippines? Ten bucks says it’s 1980s First Dictator Lady Imelda Marcos’s 3,000 pairs of shoes. Or the mysterious draw of fast-food joint Jollibee. Maybe it’s the cocktail party-wowing fact that Journey front man Arnel Pineda was a Filipino street kid who turned into a cover-band sensation and then became the heir to great American Steve Perry. The Southeast Asian country of 100 million has not had an easy history. Colonial exploitation. Corruption. Rampant poverty. False starts. But now there are signs that the Philippines, the world’s 33rd largest economy, might be on a sustainable upward trajectory. Under the leadership of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, son of late ex-president Corazon Aquino, the country is fighting corruption and tax ... Continue reading →

Duke and Virginia are tied 14-14 at halftime. Virginia vacillated from hot to cold to hot in the first half, scoring the game's first touchdown in the first quarter and then scoring again late in the second quarter. Get live updates from the game on our Twitter account, @accnow or get a Twitter feed and halftime recap at our ACC Now blog. Modified: 11/12/11 04:59:57 PM Continue reading →

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- As a 23-year-old contract worker for agribusiness giant Syngenta, Amber Arrington enjoys her job as a greenhouse technician, roaming the aisles of the company’s greenhouses and inspecting supplies of corn.But ask her how she feels about the legendary research park where she works, and a puzzled look comes over her face.“I don’t hang out here or go out to lunch here,” she said. “... I leave and then come back to work.” Her complaint is not new. For decades, Research Triangle Park’s model was simple: sell large chunks of its 7,000 acres to major companies for sprawling campuses. But early in this decade, it became obvious that wasn’t enough. People who worked in RTP wanted more – more places to live, ... Continue reading →