Topic: Northeastern University

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As gang warfare escalates in Chicago, can Facebook be a help?

At least 6 of the 10 homicides in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend are linked to gangs, police say. City officials on Tuesday laid out a strategy that includes tracking known gang members on Facebook and Twitter.
The unusual confessor who broke the Etan Patz cold case

Killing Etan Patz in 1979 may have been the only time alleged killer Pedro Hernandez hurt someone. While he avoided detection for 33 years, the secret took enough of a toll that Hernandez broke down in tears as he confessed, appearing remorseful and ‘relieved.’
Student debt: How big a risk does it pose to the economy?

Student debt represents a financial challenge for America, some economists say, but in a way that's different from the big buildup in mortgage debt that led to a deep recession.
Oakland shooter's connections to religious university under scrutiny

A shooter killed seven people on the campus of an Oakland, Calif., university Monday. The founder of Oikos University has said he was a former nursing student.
Foiled suicide bombing of US Capitol: plot is both familiar and strange

Since 9/11, a series of would-be attackers – many of them 'lone wolves' – have been thwarted by undercover agents posing as collaborators. But an attempted suicide bombing is unusual.
Robert Reich
The downward mobility of the American middle class.

January’s increase in hiring is good news, but most of the new jobs being created are in the lower-wage sectors of the economy. The middle class, meanwhile, is becoming poorer and poorer.
Robert Reich
Obama is no 'food stamp president'

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich agree that President Obama is turning America into “European-style welfare culture,” pointing to a rise in the number of citizens relying on federal aid. Here's why they have it backwards.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: How would American life be different without him?

Institutional racism in the United States has declined greatly thanks to the work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet 'we have not reached the promised land MLK talked about,' says one scholar, nor has the economic equality King sought for all races been achieved.
To save buildings from quakes, architects try self-destruction by design

Architects hope to protect buildings by letting them rumble instead of crumble. A new design feature would sacrifice itself during an earthquake without harming anything else.
Progress Watch
US crime rate at lowest point in decades. Why America is safer now.

The crime rate for serious crimes, including murder, rape, and assault, has dropped significantly since the early 1990s in part because of changes in technology and policing, experts say.
Obama plan to boost teen employment could be an uphill battle

The national unemployment rate has fallen to 8.6 percent, but the level of teen joblessness has remained high. So, on Thursday, President Obama encouraged the private sector to step up their hiring of young people.
'Barefoot Bandit' says broken home sparked international crime spree

It's a sensational story with a Hollywood deal, but the adventures of Colton Harris-Moore, aka 'The Barefoot Bandit,' is really a tragedy, his attorneys tell a judge at a hearing Friday.
Dynasties undone? Clippers, Angels are now the 'it' teams in L.A.

The Angels signed superstar Albert Pujols last week for a record-breaking $250 million. And now the Clippers have just signed dynamic point guard Chris Paul. Repeat: The Los Angeles Clippers.
Tim Tebow: Hero? Role model? Overbearing evangelist? All of the above.

Tim Tebow is many things to many people, in part because he has sparked a national conversation about religion's place in American life. Call it the Tim Tebow culture wars.
With players' lawsuits filed, hope barely flickers for an NBA season

'Months and months of legal wrangling' ahead dim prospects for any sort of 2011-12 NBA season, says one sports management expert. Two groups of players filed federal antitrust lawsuits Wednesday.
Occupy Wall Street: Unions join protests. Will message change?

Union support offers Occupy Wall Street protesters organization and supplies. But will union involvement change the Occupy Wall Street movement's message?
Robert Reich
Morally indefensible budget cuts

We’re in the worst economy since the Great Depression – with lower-income families and kids are bearing the worst of it – and what are Republicans doing? Cutting programs Americans desperately need to get through it.
Global News Blog
Good Reads: Model-Plane Bomber, Mass Graves in Kashmir, and Occupy Wall Street

Today's best stories are a close look at the world's disaffected, from a radicalized Boston youth, to the families of disappeared young men in Indian-held Kashmir, to the protesters marching on Wall Street.
Model plane bomb plot tests US antiterrorism strategy at home

Rezwan Ferdaus, a US citizen and would-be jihadist, is indicted Thursday in connection with a model plane bomb plot to attack the Pentagon and the Capitol. His arrest is the latest example of what authorities warn is home-grown violent extremism.
Plot to bomb Capitol with explosive-laden model planes foiled, FBI says

Rezwan Ferdaus was arrested in Massachusetts Wednesday, charged with plotting to kill US soldiers overseas as well as to attack the Pentagon and the US Capitol with explosives carried by remote control aircraft.
Violent crime falls again: why some experts are 'stumped'

An FBI report released Monday shows a persistent decline in violent crime. Amid a stuttering economy, the trend defies many expectations and could take years to be fully understood.
IHOP shooting: Will police ever understand gunman's motive?

As police in Carson City, Nev., seek a motive in the IHOP shooting Tuesday, criminologists say thorough investigations can often turn up the reasons behind mass killings.
Paying people to ID violent sports fans: a winning idea?

A California lawmaker wants to set up a fund to pay people who help identify violent sports fans. His legislation comes after brutal attacks this year at Dodger Stadium and Candlestick Park.
Chicago police use more deadly force as gang war heats up

Chicago police have already shot and killed more people this year than they did in 2010. Officials blame a 'wanton disregard for law,' but critics say police have been too aggressive against gangs.
Five reasons the GOP race is so unsettled

Among the Republican candidates, Mitt Romney has emerged as the early front-runner. Yet the field remains as uncertain as any in modern times – can any of them beat Obama?