J1 News

"Unlike many stories about powerful Washington figures having secret affairs, the downfall of spy chief David Petraeus goes deeper than sex. The scandal surrounding the decorated four-star Army general who once ran the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan involves questions of national security, politics and even the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. Petraeus resigned Friday after acknowledging he had an affair with a woman later identified as his biographer, Paula Broadwell, a fellow West Point graduate who spent months studying the general's leadership of U.S. forces in Afghanistan."

"There is a widespread belief among teachers that students' constant use of digital technology is hampering their attention spans and ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks, according to two surveys of teachers being released on Thursday."

"Gov. Chris Christie signed an executive order today instituting gas rationing for the purchase of fuel by motorists in 12 counties. Calling the fuel supply a "shortage" that could endanger public health, safety and welfare, the rationing will take place in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris, Monmouth, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties."

"After days of intensifying pressure from runners, politicians and the general public to cancel the New York City Marathon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, city officials and the event's organizers decided Friday afternoon to cancel the race."

"Two days before nearly 50,000 runners are scheduled to gather in Staten Island for the start of the New York City Marathon, opposition to the race continued to swell Friday and the Police Department, stretched thin from handling relief efforts, has called for department retirees to help with storm work and the marathon on Sunday."

"Three former Penn State University officials -- including ex-President Graham Spanier -- have been charged with conspiring to cover up years of sexual abuse against children by former football coach Jerry Sandusky."

"The number of New York City fatalities from Hurricane Sandy jumped to 38 on Thursday, including two young boys who were swept from the arms of their mother on Staten Island and found dead at the swampy end of a street, the police said."

"In a surprise announcement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Thursday that Hurricane Sandy had reshaped his thinking about the presidential campaign and that as a result he was endorsing President Obama."

All eyes are fixed on now Hurricane Sandy, which is churning slowly northward in the southern Caribbean and expected to play a crucial role in the potential development of a powerful nor'easter that could begin affecting the Garden State as early as Sunday.

Pablo Sandoval homered in his first three at-bats and Barry Zito was dominant again as the Giants cruised past Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers 8-3 in the first game of the World Series.

"Even with what are known as "mercy rules" - regulations designed to limit a dominant team's ability to run up scores - the touchdowns kept coming, and so did the concussions. When the game ended, the final score was 52-0, and five preadolescent boys had head injuries, the last hurt on the final play of the game." Late last week, league officials suspended the coaches for both teams for the rest of the season. The referees who oversaw the game were barred from officiating any more contests in the Central Massachusetts Pop Warner league, and the presidents of both programs were put on probation. But the debate the game has further fueled is not likely to calm any time soon. 

"In a moment that seems likely to live forever in the annals of derring-do, Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner on Sunday rode a balloon to the edge of space, saluted and stepped off a platform 24 miles high with as much ease as any of us mere mortals might step off a curb. The former soldier hurtled through the sky at up to more than 830 mph, breaking the sound barrier in a tumbling, gut-churning four-minute free fall before popping his parachute and making a running landing in the New Mexico desert."

"Former pro cyclist Lance Armstrong will step down as chairman of the Livestrong cancer charity he founded in 1997 after recovering from the disease, organization spokeswoman Katherine McLane said Wednesday. The move comes the same day that Nike, a key Armstrong sponsor, announced it was ending its contract with Armstrong amid "seemingly insurmountable evidence" that he participating in doping."

"Mo Yan -- a beloved Chinese author who has captivated his countrymen by intertwining fantasy and gritty everyday life -- won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Mo the prestigious prize, saying the author's "hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary.""

"South Korea announced Sunday that it reached a deal with the United States that allows Seoul to extend the range of its ballistic missiles, a move a senior security official says will deter military provocation from North Korea."

"A North Korean soldier on guard duty at the border dividing the two Koreas defected, telling authorities who received him in the South that he killed his superiors before fleeing across the Military Demarcation Line."

"sraeli military experts Sunday worked around the clock to examine the remains of a mysterious drone that was shot down after penetrating Israeli airspace from the Mediterranean Sea. The Israeli military announced Saturday that the unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down over the northern Negev Desert. They say the drone did not take off from Gaza, leading them to consider the possibility that it originated in Lebanon. Israeli security experts point the finger at Israel's longstanding rival Hezbollah, the Shiite militia based in southern Lebanon."

" protest march against U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, led by former cricket star turned politician Imran Khan, came to a halt on Sunday when authorities blocked access to the demonstration's final destination in the tribal region, officials told CNN."

"The death toll from an outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to contaminated steroid injections has risen to seven, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday."

"It's odd that so much emphasis is put on teaching journalists how to write an article when that skill is useless without also teaching journalists how to develop strong interview techniques. In an effort to help other aspiring reporters develop this crucial skill-I brought together some of my colleagues and journalist friends to ask them what interview tips they think are most helpful:"