dpa
(MCT)
TEHRAN, Iran _ Iran on Saturday said that, instead of drawing a “red line” for Iran, Israel should draw one for itself and its nuclear arsenal, the ISNA news agency reported.
The “red line” has become an ongoing phrase in the war of words about Iran’s nuclear program, with Israel saying the world needs to lay down such a line to show Iran how far it may be allowed to progress with its nuclear program.
“The prime minister of the Zionist regime (Israel) with his painting at the UN, should be told …

By Kentaro Nakajima
The Yomiuri Shimbun
(MCT)
NEW YORK _ U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed for cool heads in the Takeshima territorial dispute in a meeting in New York City Friday with the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea.
The meeting between Clinton, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Sung Hwan lasted for 45 minutes Friday.
Clinton was quoted as calling for “dialogue among our allies . . . to calm the waters, maintain cool heads” in the recent tension over conflicting claims to the …

 
By Ken Dilanian
Tribune Washington Bureau
(MCT)
WASHINGTON _ The lethal attack on the U.S. Consulate in eastern Libya was “a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists” linked to al-Qaida and did not stem from a spontaneous riot as first believed, a spokesman for the director of national intelligence said Friday.
In an unusual statement, spokesman Shawn Turner said the U.S. intelligence community had revised its initial assessment that the Sept. 11 attack, which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, grew out of a protest similar to one in …

By David S. Cloud
Tribune Washington Bureau
(MCT)
WASHINGTON _ The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan is being transferred and another Marine general will take over the war effort early next year as the United States and its allies shrink their combat role against the still-potent insurgency.
The White House plans to nominate Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, to replace Marine Gen. John Allen, who has directed U.S. and other foreign forces in Afghanistan since mid-2011, officials said.
Although Allen is not being forced out, “the president wants …

By Casey Grove
Anchorage Daily News
(MCT)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska _ If Anchorage, Alaska’s first snowfall Saturday seems a little early, that’s because it was.
The average first snowfall in Anchorage isn’t until Oct. 17, according to the National Weather Service. The earliest recorded snowfall in the city came Sept. 20, 1947.
The mixed rain and snow overnight turned fully to snow during the early morning hours Saturday, catching some off guard as it changed the look of the landscape.
“We saw it as we were going to bed last night, but I was surprised about how …

By Tara Sullivan

The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)

(MCT)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. _ The NFL’s referee nightmare has come to an end.

In the wake of unceasing criticism, impatient anger and awfully bad publicity, the NFL and the union that represents it regular game officials came to a new eight-year labor agreement late Wednesday night, a source confirmed to the Record. The agreement was confirmed by both the NFL and NFLRA shortly after midnight when they released a joint statement that read as follows:

“The NFL and NFLRA are pleased to announce that they have reached …

By Brian Schmitz
Orlando Sentinel
(MCT)
Maybe no one can dethrone the Miami Heat until the 2016 presidential election.
The L.A. Lakers have the mission in mind, and this season is their last best shot at the Heatles.
This is the Lakers’ dirty little secret.
And why there’s more pressure on Dwight Howard now than even he realizes.
It’s all about today for the Lakers because they don’t have many tomorrows, not when Howard’s most decorated teammates are just . . . plain . . . old.
Steve Nash turns 39 in February, born six months before Nixon …

By Larry Stone
The Seattle Times
(MCT)
SEATTLE _ On the surface, the decision that disqualifies Melky Cabrera from the National League batting title seems like a stroke of wisdom, a win-win.
Cabrera, who initiated the ruling, gets to make a selfless gesture that may help restore some of his lost honor and dignity. And MLB gets to avoid the embarrassment of watching someone suspended for performance-enhancing drugs take one of the most prestigious honors in the game.
But, of course, it’s not that simple. It never is.
The feeling I have is not out of …

By Harvy Lipman
The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)
(MCT)
HACKENSACK, N.J. _ Suicide attempts are on the rise among three select groups of Americans: military veterans, gays and lesbians, and college-age males, federal statistics show.
Administrators know when lots of their students fall into those three group. And that’s part of the reason Bergen Community College, in conjunction with the mental health non-profit Care Plus NJ, applied for a federal grant to establish a suicide prevention program on its Paramus, N.J., campus.
This month it was awarded $301,215 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service …

By Carla Rivera
Los Angeles Times
(MCT)
LOS ANGELES _ Marianet Tirado returned to Los Angeles Trade Tech community college this fall, optimistic that she would get into the classes she needs to transfer to a four-year university.
Of the courses she wanted, only two had space left when she registered in May. She enrolled in those and “crashed” others. In one of those cases, she lucked out when the professor teaching a political science class admitted additional students. But she couldn’t get into a biology class because she was too far down on …