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The Talk Shows November 25th, 2012 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; Dave Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell International Inc.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Annual books and authors show.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.; actor/director Ben Affleck.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

Russia sent a detachment of ships of the Black Sea Fleet to the coast of the Gaza Strip in order to evacuate Russians in case of escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a source in the main command of the RF Navy said. "The detachment of combat ships of the Black Sea Fleet, including the Guards missile cruiser Moskva, the patrol ship Smetliviy, large landing ships Novocherkassk and Saratov, the sea tug MB-304 and the big sea tanker Ivan Bubnov, got the order to remain in the designated area of the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea for a possible evacuation...

Protesters set fire on Friday to the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, the party of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, a day after he assumed broad new powers not subject to appeal. Pro- and anti-Morsi rallies erupted in cities across Egypt. Protesters torched Muslim Brotherhood offices on Friday, state media said, as supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi staged rival rallies across Egypt a day after he assumed sweeping powers. The offices of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, were set ablaze in the canal cities of Ismailiya and Port Said, state television said. An...

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal announced in a press conference Wednesday evening that Israel "has failed in all its goals" in Operation Defensive Pillar, following the cease fire announcement. "After eight days, God stayed their hand from the people of Gaza, and they were compelled to submit to the conditions of the resistance," Mashaal said. "Israel has failed in all its goals," he told reporters in a Cairo hotel. Mashaal also thanked ceasefire mediator Egypt, as well as Iran, which he said "had a role in arming" Hamas during the conflict. Arabs in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the...

While pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey today, President Obama absolved it with what he called a "special dispensation," making the Sign of the Cross over the gobbling turkey. It appears that Obama made a left handed, backward sign of the cross.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - First-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell sharply in the latest week but remained elevated due to Hurricane Sandy, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The number of initial claims in the week ending Nov. 17 fell 41,000 to 410,000. Claims in the previous week were revised to an increase of 90,000 to 451,000 compared with the initial estimate that they rose 78,000 to 439,000.

Terrorists have blown up a bus on Shaul HaMelech street in central Tel Aviv. At least three people are seriously wounded. There are at least 10 passengers wounded, most of them with lesser injuries, and ambulances have evacuated them to hospitals.

Hostess Brands Inc. lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing on Wednesday in which a bankruptcy court judge will decide if the company can shutter its operations. The renewed talks between Hostess and The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union came after the company declared last week that it would move to wind down its business and start selling off its assets in bankruptcy court. The company...

The Obama administration issued new rules Tuesday that require insurance companies to cover people with preexisting conditions — one of the most popular provisions of President Obama’s healthcare law. The Health and Human Services Department also began to implement other popular, but expensive, parts of the Affordable Care Act. Regulations released Tuesday will prohibit insurers from charging women a higher premium than men, and will require plans in every state to cover certain services.

Florida Rep. Allen West — the tea party pugilist and face of the class of House Republicans that stormed to power two years ago — conceded Tuesday to 29-year-old construction executive Patrick Murphy in one of the nation’s highest-profile congressional races. After two weeks of battle with St. Lucie County elections officials — and a recount of early votes that wound up extending Murphy’s lead — West acknowledged that he couldn’t surmount his 1,904-vote, or 0.58 percent, deficit. That difference was just outside the 0.5 percent threshold to automatically trigger a recount of all votes.

A rocket exploded in an open area near an Arab village in Gush Etzion around 2:15 p.m. as sirens wailed in Jerusalem during another barrage of rockets and missiles unleashed by Hamas. The missile exploded in an open area, and no one was injured. Minutes before the sirens rang out, an AFP correspondent in Gaza City reported hearing the loud report of an outgoing rocket. The attack was claimed by Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which said it had fired "an M75 rocket at the occupied city of Jerusalem." United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who spent the...

Three U.S. Navy amphibious warships are returning to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby in the event they are needed to assist Americans leaving Israel in the coming days, according to two U.S. officials. The officials stressed an evacuation remains an extremely remote possibility and the Obama administration is not currently planning for one. Americans who wish to leave the region now are able to do so using commercial airlines. But the decision to send the ships even if the event is such a remote contingency underscores the growing concern about where the Israel-Gaza conflict could be headed. "This...

GAZA CITY — The top leader of Hamas dared Israel on Monday to launch a ground invasion of Gaza and dismissed diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire in the six-day-old conflict, as the Israeli military conducted a new wave of deadly airstrikes on the besieged Palestinian enclave, including a second hit on a 15-story building that houses media outlets. A volley of rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel included one that hit a vacant school. Speaking at a news conference in Cairo, where the diplomatic efforts were under way, the Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal, suggested that the Israeli infantry...

Dow Jones is reporting that a bankruptcy judge is urging mediation to save Hostess from liquidation. WSJ will have more to come as it comes out of the courtroom. Here’s an update from bankruptcy reporters Jacqueline Palank and Rachel Feintzeig A bankruptcy judge Monday asked whether he should preside over mediation between Hostess Brands Inc. and its striking union to avoid pulling the plug on the baker of Ho Hos, Twinkies and Wonder Bread.

Diplomatic message to Egypt: Hamas terrorism must cease by Tuesday evening or we step up attack. Israel has delivered an ultimatum to Hamas through Egypt, according to which the IDF will widen its offensive in Gaza in 36 hours unless Hamas ceases firing rockets and smuggling arms into Gaza, IDF Radio reported Monday morning. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the station that the time left before Israel steps up its attack can be measured in "hours, not days." "We are at a junction," he said. "Either we go toward a calm or toward a meaningful widening of the operation… including...

November 18, 2012 Allen West Camp to Contest ‘Suspect Result’ on 'Behalf of all Voters in District 18’ By: JIM TURNER As St. Lucie County has reportedly missed the noon Sunday deadline to certify new numbers after a weekend recount of the first five days of early voting, the campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Allen West says more questions have arisen about how the election was conducted. “Today’s actions cast an even greater cloud of suspicion over the results of St. Lucie County than existed before,” Tim Edson, the campaign manager for the Palm Beach Gardens Republican, stated in a...

November 18, 2012 St. Lucie recount results shows Murphy picked up votes on West St. Lucie election official said state-mandated noon deadline met James Kirley FORT PIERCE -- Results of recounting more than 37,000 St. Lucie County ballots were announced shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday and preliminary figures given by Canvassing Board member Tod Mowery placed Jupiter Democrat Patrick Murphy farther ahead of Republican Allen West than before the two-day effort began. Murphy campaign senior advisor Eric Johnson was quick to reaffirm victory. "As far as we're concerned, this puts an end to it," Johnson said. "The West people demanded...

On Friday, Walmart filed an unfair labor practice charge against UFCW with the National Labor Relations Board to stop what Walmart says are illegal disturbances against its businesses. A group of Walmart employes, encouraged by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and OUR Walmart, are expected to strike on Black Friday. Black Friday is the store’s busiest day of the year, and this may be the largest strike against the company in its history. Two groups affiliated with the UFCW -- OUR Walmart and Making Change at Walmart -- have been organizing demonstrations and flash mobs outside...

p>The Talk Shows November 18th, 2012 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Govs. Bobby Jindal, R-La., and Scott Walker, R-Wis.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Lindsey Graham R-S.C.; Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Raul Labrador.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.THIS WEEK (ABC): Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Peter King, R-N.Y.; Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich..STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Durbin; Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; Reps. Tom Price, R-Ga., and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger,...

St. Lucie elections officials suspend recount; tally to continue at 8 a.m. Sunday By James Kirley, Eric Pfahler FORT PIERCE — The St. Lucie County Canvassing Board suspended its recount of all early voting ballots late Saturday night, saying members would return at 8 a.m. Sunday to complete the job. The board made the announcement at 10 p.m. that it will continue tabulating write-in and provisional ballots Sunday after counting votes late into Saturday night as supporters for District 18 congressional candidates Patrick Murphy and Allen West watched the process. Poll workers finished entering in early ballots for all precincts...