Questions Swirl Around Rep. Jackson's Absence

Bipartisan compromise on toughening border security could be close, lawmakers say; would smooth way to passage of sweeping bill

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U. S. army soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday. The offer follows this week's official opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar. The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.

After journalist Michael Hastings was killed in a car crash on Monday, friends and admirers took to social media to express their shock and grief at the loss of a talented and uncompromising reporter. On Tuesday, Fox News host Geraldo Rivera offered his own backhanded version of condolence. Reporter Michael Hastings KI tragic car wreck Condolences to familyBut hard to forget he destroyed career of 1 of our best fighting generals— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) June 19, 2013 Rivera is referring to Hastings' Polk Award-winning Rolling Stone profile of General Stanley McChrystal, who at that time was leading U.

E. W. Jackson, the Chesapeake minister running on the GOP ticket for lieutenant governor of Virginia, has some extreme views, and he's not afraid to share them. The latest revelation came during a speech on Wednesday when Jackson claimed that government social programs have done more harm to the African-American community than slavery, Talking Points Memo reported. "In 1960, most black children were raised in two-parent, monogamous families.

If you tuned into the latest episode of "The Colbert Report" on Wednesday night, odds are you found yourself tearing up within the first minute, and not from laughter. Stephen Colbert opened his first show back since the death of his mother, Lorna Tuck Colbert, last week with a moving tribute to the woman who made him who he is. "Now if you watch this show, and you like this show, it’s because everybody who works here and I’m lucky to be one of them.