Recovery attempt weighed for man's body in sinkhole

SEFFNER, Fla. Engineers worked gingerly Saturday to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground. It could be days before officials decide whether they will attempt to recover Jeff Bush's body, and they were still trying Saturday to determine the extent of the sinkhole network...

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Vatican hints at start date for papal conclave

VATICAN CITY Much speculation surrounds the date when leaders of the Roman Catholic Church will begin the process of selecting their new pope. Play VideoPope Benedict XVI: "I am no longer Pope"The date for the conclave of cardinals to begin their deliberations has not yet been set, although one of Pope Benedict XVI's final acts before resigning his office was to amend the rules governing the election...

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Navy investigates training pond deaths

The Navy is investigating the deaths of two divers during an operation at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the second deadly incident at a deep pond there in the past month. CBS Baltimore reports that the two divers that perished on Tuesday were 28-year-old James Reyher of Caldwell, Ohio and 23-year-old Ryan Harris of Gladstone, Mo. Both were members of a mobile diving unit based at Joint Expeditionary...

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Dozens of prominent Republicans sign brief backing gay marriage

More than 80 "conservative voices" have signed onto a legal brief supporting the notion that same-sex couples should have a fundamental right to marriage. The brief is in support of the plaintiffs in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case now before the Supreme Court, which challenges California's Proposition 8 barring same-sex marriage. The case, which will be argued starting in late March, could result...

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2nd blizzard in less than a week slams Plains

Last Updated 12:35 p.m. ET Blizzard conditions slammed parts of the Midwest on Monday, forcing the closure of highways in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and sending public works crews scrambling for salt and sand anew just days after a massive storm blanketed the region with snow. National Weather Service officials issued blizzard warnings and watches in Kansas and Oklahoma through late Monday...

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Afghans accuse U.S. troops of involvement in torture

KABUL, AfghanistanAfghanistan's president says all U.S. special forces must leave eastern Wardak province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans. Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi says Sunday's decision was taken during a meeting of the National Security Council because of the alleged actions of Afghans who are linked to the...

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Govs make plea to Washington on budget cuts

The National Governors Association, a bipartisan collection of state executives meeting this weekend in Washington for their annual winter conference, delivered a timely message to lawmakers working on a deficit reduction package: balance the budget, by all means - but not at our expense. "Deficit reduction should not shift costs from the federal government to the states," said NGA chairman Gov....

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LaHood: Time for GOP to "wake up" to avoid "calamity" at airports

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today warned of the "enormous impact" the looming sequester budget cuts will have on air travel in America, given that his department will have to cut nearly $1 billion from its budget, with more than $600 million coming from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As the one former Republican congressman in President Obama's cabinet, LaHood put the responsibility...

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Movement in budget cuts battle?

Play VideoSequestration poses threat to government agency budgetsFor the first time since the waning days of the "fiscal cliff" battle in late December, President Obama reached out to congressional Republican leaders to talk about next week's impending budget cuts known as the sequester. "He placed calls earlier today to [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell and [House] Speaker [John] Boehner,"...

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Pistorius prosecution: Error in "testosterone" testimony

PRETORIA, South AfricaThe investigating officer in the Oscar Pistorius murder case made an error in his court testimony Wednesday when he identified a substance found in the athlete's bedroom as testosterone, the national prosecutor said. Medupe Simasiku, the spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Agency, told The Associated Press that it was too early to identify the substance as it was...

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Pistorius' account of shooting, in his own words

Oscar Pistorius, the famed double amputee South African Olympian, has been charged by prosecutors with intentionally murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home. Play VideoPistorius: I thought girlfriend was a burglarHe has said it was an accident, that he mistook her for a burglar when he fired several rounds through a locked bathroom door with a 9mm pistol. When a judge ruled...

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Jerry Buss, longtime Lakers owner, dead at 80

LOS ANGELES Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers' playboy owner who shepherded the NBA team to 10 championships from the Showtime dynasty of the 1980s to the Kobe Bryant era, died Monday. He was 80. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Bob Steiner, his assistant. 23 PhotosJerry Buss: 1933-2013 Buss had been hospitalized for most of the past 18 months while undergoing cancer...

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S.A. paper sheds doubt on Pistorius claims

Oscar Pistorius weeps in court in Pretoria, South Africa, Feb 15, 2013, at his bail hearing in the murder case of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. / AP Photo Double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius has claimed he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp accidentally because he thought she was an intruder, but a report in a major South African newspaper casts some doubt on that scenario....

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Deadly end for fugitive who stabbed detective with eyeglasses

Updated at 1:33 p.m. ET GRAPEVINE, Texas A Florida prisoner who escaped after stabbing a detective with his eyeglasses was shot and killed by Texas law enforcement officers early Saturday after police responded to a report of a home burglary, authorities said. Alberto Morales was shot shortly after midnight when officers, with assistance from a police helicopter, spotted him in a wooded area near...

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Passengers trade broken-down ship for broken-down bus

(CBS News) Thousands of passengers erupted into cheers Thursday night as the crippled triumph finally pulled up to the dock. As they stepped onto dry land, and into the arms of their loved ones some couldn't contain their excitement. Carnival then chartered a caravan of buses to transport folks out of Mobile, Ala. To add insult to injury, at least one of those buses became stranded on the way to...

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Reid warns against delaying Hagel's confirmation

By Stephanie Condon, John Nolen / CBS News/ February 14, 2013, 12:24 PM Updated at 2:08 p.m. ETSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., slammed Republicans today for attempting to filibuster the confirmation of former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., as defense secretary, suggesting the Pentagon could be left without a leader if Hagel's confirmation is blocked tomorrow. Despite Reid's comments,...

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Video: Syria's youngest talk about life in war zone

The impact of war on Syria's youngest residents is depicted in a striking video released Wednesday by Global Post. A correspondent, identified only as " Maya," spoke with kids in a Syrian children's shelter about their experiences growing up in a war zone. The sound of explosions can be heard in the background as the footage opens to a room filled with young people. "When the shelling starts we...

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"Gunfight" in Delaware courthouse kills 3

Updated 2:04 p.m. ET WILMINGTON, Del. Three people died Monday morning in a shooting at a courthouse in Delaware, including the shooter, authorities said. Delaware State Police Sgt. Paul Shavack confirmed three people died in the shooting at the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington. He said the suspected gunman and two women are dead. The city's mayor said one of the women killed was the shooter's...

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Pastor: Slain teen the face of violence epidemic

CHICAGO A prominent Chicago pastor remembered a slain 15-year-old girl Saturday as the face of an "epidemic of violence causing funeral processions around the country." Father Michael Pfleger spoke at Hadiya Pendleton's funeral, telling a packed South Side church that "we must become the interrupters of funeral processions." Pendleton was a band majorette and honor student who was shot and killed...

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Bratton on "chilling" memento ex-LAPD cop sent to network

(CBS News) More than a dozen local, state, and federal authorities have joined the three-state manhunt for Christopher Dorner, the ex-LAPD officer suspected of killing three people in a vendetta against the police force. Thursday afternoon, the search shifted to the snowy mountains around Big Bear Lake, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, where police found his burned-out pickup truck and tracks...

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