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The son of Illinois Senate President John Cullerton allegedly drove under the influence (DUI) early Sunday morning while using a state-funded vehicle. Local police report that 26-year-old Garritt M. Cullerton was pulled over in downtown Chicago shortly after midnight and registered a blood alcohol level of .188, more than twice the legal limit of .08. Chicago police spokeswoman Antoinette Ursitti told the local press that Cullerton has been charged with "DUI, negligent driving and improper lane usage." He is to appear in court on May 26. Sena

Some of Europe's airlines and airports have called into question whether the mass restrictions imposed on the continent's airspace, due to volcanic ash in the area, are necessary. Millions of travellers have been stranded by the cancellations; however, some airlines have made test flights to see if there were any immediate effects on jets after flying through ash. Authorities fear that the ash can cause vital aircraft parts, such as the engines, to fail in-flight. Three large airlines — KLM, Air France, and Lufthansa — have already made test

The European Union presidency says that air traffic over Europe could return to about 50 percent of its normal level on Monday, if weather forecasts confirm that skies over the continent are clearing of volcanic ash. European transportation ministers from countries affected by the ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland began spewing into the sky last week will meet on Monday by video conference in an effort to reopen closed airspace. The volcanic ash has brought chaos to the region — canceling most trans-Atlantic and European flig

One of Cuba's leading cigar makers, Alejandro Robaina, died at the age of 91 of cancer, with which he was diagnosed last year. His death was announced by Jose Antonio Candia, spokesman for the cigar company Habanos S.A. Robaina was the only Cuban tobacco grower to have a brand of cigars named after him. Robaina was known as the “Godfather” in Cuba. His face was seen on all sorts of advertising including the packet of Vegas Robaina cigars. Vegas Robaina’s can fetch as much as US$500 internationally. He lived on his farm in Pinar del Rio

A joint military operation by Iraqi and American forces has killed two senior al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq, according to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Malaki and US officials. The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and the leader of an affiliate group, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, were killed by Iraqi military forces with assistance from US forces in a night-time attack on a safe house. According to Prime Minister Malaki, "The attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles." The two wer

At least 24 people were killed in two separate suicide bombing attacks in Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. In the more damaging of the two blasts, a suicide bomber attacked police officials who were guarding a protest rally against frequent power cuts in the city. A schoolboy was the victim of the earlier and less damaging attack, which injured ten. These attacks take the death toll in the North-West Frontier Province to 73 in three days, after two blasts in the city of Kohat killed 49 people during the wee

Toyota has agreed to pay a record $16.4 million fine to the US government over allegations that the automaker concealed defects in its vehicles. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made the announcement Monday, saying in an e-mailed statement that "Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly." Toyota has still not admitted any wrongdoing, and said that it disagreed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which levied the fine against Toyota. In a statement,

A Long Island, New York teen has been found guilty of murdering an Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero. The teen, 19-year-old Jeffrey Conroy, faces eight to 25 years in prison. The case exposed racial tensions in Long Island and received national media attention. Lucero was stabbed in Patchogue on the night of November 8, 2008. He was approached by a group of people and beaten, then stabbed by Conroy. Conroy was also convicted of three other counts of gang assault for other racially charged beatings on Long Island. He was not convicted with

A public memorial for the victims of the plane crash that occurred last Saturday where the Polish president, Lech Kaczyński along several members of the Polish government died, was attended by 100,000 citizens of the country in Pilsudski Square of Warsaw. A gigantic white platform having a giant cross across the centre was constructed in the area which had photos of the victims, including Maria Kaczyński, the first lady of Poland and many high ranking Polish officials. The names of the deceased were read, beginning with the president and his w

The mayor of Champaign, Illinois denies that Barack Obama is eligible to hold the highest office in the United States, joining others who question the validity of the president's birth certificate. Jerry Schweighart said: "I don't think he's American, personally. You know, if you're not willing to produce an original certificate like a birth certificate, then you've got something to hide." The Republican, three-term mayor of the central Illinois city made the comment to a man holding a video camera during a Tea Party protest at West Side Park

North Korea today denied any involvement in the sinking of a South Korean naval ship, the ROKS Cheonan on March 26. In its first official statement on the disaster, in which 38 people were killed, North Korea denied any involvement in the incident. A North Korean military officer was quoted by the state-run news agency KCNA as saying that "The puppet military warmongers, right-wing conservative politicians and the group of other traitors in South Korea are now foolishly seeking to link the accident with the North at any cost." North Korea's

At 8:50 AM local time (15:50 UTC) a man attempting to enter the United States at the Tijuana – San Diego section of the US – Mexican border, tried to escape U.S. customs officers, after he could not provide official documentation. According to Lieutenant Kevin Rooney of the San Diego police department, "the agent referred the driver to a secondary inspection and he [the driver] quickly accelerated away." The acceleration caused him to crash into a pickup truck. It is thought he was trying to force the other vehicle out of the way. When custo