OTG Daily News

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services Updated at 8:23 a.m. ET BAGHDAD -- Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta marked the end of the U.S. war in Iraq at a highly symbolic ceremony Thursday. U.S. soldiers rolled up the flag for American forces in Iraq and slipped it into a camouflage-colored sleeve, formally "casing" it, according to Army tradition. Panetta said veterans of the nearly nine-year conflict can be "secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to cast tyranny aside." Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani were invited to the ceremony but did not attend. Nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives in a war that began with a "Shock and Awe" campaign of missiles pounding Baghdad, but later descended into a bloody sectarian struggle between long-oppressed majority Shiites and their former Sunni masters. "After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and ...

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A tea party group in Kansas says its depiction of President Barack Obama as a skunk is satire, not racism as the leader of a civil rights group alleges. Hutchinson-based Patriot Freedom Alliance says on its website that like the president, the skunk is “half black, half white, and almost everything it does stinks.” The Hutchinson News reports local NAACP president Darrell Pope sees no humor in the depiction, which he calls a blatant statement of racism. Local tea party supporter Chuck Sankey says former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been the target of worse insults than what’s on the website. Patriot Freedom Alliance meets regularly and has hosted rallies in the Hutchinson Sports Arena. ___ Information from: The Hutchinson News

 By NBC News and wire services A commercial airliner has landed safely after being diverted to a Colorado airport when one of its two engines stopped working due to low oil pressure, NBC affiliate KKCO-TV reports. The Federal Aviation Administration says United Airlines Flight 321 declared an emergency due to right engine failure and diverted to Grand Junction Regional Airport, where it landed safely at 11:44 a.m. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the Boeing 757 was flying from Denver to Los Angeles on Sunday when the right engine shut down. United spokesman Charlie Hobart says the plane was carrying 125 passengers and crew. Passenger Jim Schreckengast tells the Associated Press the pilot announced over the public address speakers that the engine had lost oil volume. He said passengers remained calm and no one appeared to be afraid. "There was some applause when we landed," he said. "I think the crew handled it very well." Another plane has left Denver to...

UPDATED 10:27 a.m. ET on 12/8/11: Jerry Sandusky has been freed on bail and has left the jail, NBC Philadelphia reports. Previous story: BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky posted bail Thursday after spending a night in jail following a new round of sex-abuse charges filed against him. Sandusky secured his release using $200,000 in real estate holdings and a $50,000 certified check provided by his wife, Dorothy, according to online court records. Sandusky remained at the facility as of midmorning and the warden said he was quiet and cooperative during his overnight stay. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Sandusky was arrested Wednesday and charged with 12 new sex abuse counts involving two new alleged victims. He has maintained his innocence. In all, he faces more than 50 charges. The latest accusers are the ninth and 10th alleged victims described in grand jury reports that claim Sandusky befriended a...

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Two people, including a campus police officer, were shot dead Thursday at Virginia Tech, where 33 people were killed in 2007 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a university spokesman said. Officials warned everyone to seek shelter while an armed suspect was at large on the campus. The officer was shot during a traffic stop, Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski told NBC News. "Witnesses reported to police the shooter fled on foot heading toward the Cage, a parking lot near Duck Pond Drive. At that parking lot, a second person was found. That person is also deceased, Owczarski said. A Virginia Tech alert described the suspected shooter as a white male wearing gray sweat pants, a gray hat with a neon green brim and a maroon hoodie, and carrying a backpack. The Virginia Tech alert posted on the school's website said the suspect was last seen walking toward McComas Hall, which is the main gym on c...

TheWrap Anthony Borgese , a character actor best known for playing criminal roles in " Goodfellas " and " The Sopranos ," has been sentenced to six months of house arrest for his role in arranging for a mob beating. Borgese, who also goes by the stage name Tony Darrow, also will receive two years' probation, Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for Brooklyn Federal Court, confirmed to TheWrap. The 72-year-old Borgese faced up to three years in jail after pleading guilty to enlisting a Gambino crime family associate to collect a $5,000 debt for him. The victim of the collection attempt had his jaw and his ribs broken. Borgese's sentence was mitigated after the actor agreed to speak to youth groups about the dangers of mob life and filmed a public service announcement. In addition to his work as lounge owner Sonny Bunz in "Goodfellas" and a recurring role as crime family captain "Larry Boy" Barese in "The Sopranos," Borgese also...

By msnbc.com staff and WSMV-TV SOUTH FULTON, Tenn. -- Firefighters stood by and watched a Tennessee house burn to the ground earlier this week because the homeowners didn't pay the annual subscription fee for fire service. "You could look out my mom's trailer and see the trucks sitting at a distance," Vicky Bell, the homeowner, said. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy For Bell, that sight was almost as disturbing as the fire itself. "We just wished we could've gotten more out," she said. It's the second time in two years firefighters in the area have watched a house burn because of unpaid fees. Last year, Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions in a house fire, along with three dogs and a cat, because the fire fee wasn't paid. Related: No pay, no spray: Firefighters watch home burn People in the city of South Fulton have fire protection, but those in the sur...

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested Wednesday at his home in State College, Pa., on new sexual abuse charges involving boys. Authorities showed up in four unmarked cars to detain Sandusky, an NBC staffer said. He was out on bail from his initial arrest almost a month ago on charges of sexually abusing young boys. "Today's criminal charges were recommended by a statewide investigating grand jury, based on evidence and testimony that was received following the initial arrest of Sandusky on November 5," Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy At that time, Sandusky was charged with sexually assaulting eight boys, all of whom first met Sandusky as children through The Second Mile, an organization that he founded to operate programs for disadvantaged young people. Kelly said the latest criminal charges follow grand jury testi...

CHICAGO - Update, 1:30 p.m. ET: Judge sentences ousted Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich to 14 years in prison for corruption. Update, 1:25 p.m. ET: Judge Zagel says he is considering issuing a 12.5 to 15.5-year jail sentence, NBC reports. Update, 1:20 p.m. ET: Judge Zagel says "Blagojevich's staff did not march him down this criminal path. He marched them." He also says Blago's acceptance of responsibility will mean he will reduce his sentence, NBC News in Chicago reports. Sentence has not yet been handed down. Update, 1 p.m. ET: The court has been called back into session, NBC reports. Judge James Zagel has asked the defendant to rise so he can announce the sentence. Update, 12:45 p.m. ET: Before the court took 20-minute recess, Blagojevich told the judge, "I have nobody to blame but myself," reports NBC News. "I'm not blaming anybody. I realize I was mistaken. I realize the things that I thought were permissible were not." Blagojevich also...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The FBI is investigating whether a body found Friday in a shallow grave in Akron, Ohio, is a second killing connected to a phony Craigslist job ad that authorities say lured victims into a deadly robbery scheme. The body was found Friday near the Rolling Acres shopping mall in Akron, agency spokeswoman Vicki Anderson told The Associated Press. The cause of death and identity are under investigation. The FBI is working on the supposition that the body may be that of Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, who hasn't been seen in more than a week. He answered the same ad for a farm hand that authorities say led to the shooting death of Norfolk, Va., resident David Pauley, 51, in a rural area 90 miles south of Akron. A South Carolina man answered the ad but managed to escape after being shot Nov. 6. Two people from the Akron area are in custody: a high school student who has been charged with attempted murder and 52-year-old Richard Beasley, who is in jail on unrelat...

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and Associated Press Violence erupted at Black Friday sales across the U.S. with one bargain-hunter left critically injured after being shot during a robbery and 15 other people injured when an angry shopper used pepper spray. Several of the incidents took place at Wal-Mart stores as millions of Americans loaded up on holiday purchases. Update 12:17 p.m. ET: A robot removed a suspicious device that led to the evacuation of a Wal-Mart store in Cave Creek, Ariz., Maricopa County, sheriff's deputies said. Deputies told KPHO-TV of Phoenix that they had reason to believe the device might have been an explosive and said whoever left it in a refrigerator at the store Thursday could face felony charges. Police dogs swept the store for further possible devices, they said, and the store reopened late Thursday night, KPHO reported. Update 11:57 a.m. ET: An off-duty police officer used pepper spray on shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Kinston, N.C. Kinston ...

The rogue hacker group known as Anonymous posted a YouTube video disclosing the cellphone number, email and home address of Lt. John Pike, the University of California Davis police officer who sparked worldwide outrage when he pepper-sprayed a group of student protesters over the weekend. "Dear Officer John Pike," a computer-generated voice in the video said. "Your information is now public domain." The video, which was posted on Tuesday, has since been removed because it is "a violation of YouTube's policy prohibiting hate speech ." Anonymous has threatened or claimed credit for attacks on numerous media organizations, including Fox News --but this appears to be the first time the hacking group has targeted an individual. "We have no problem targeting police and releasing their information even if it puts them at risk," the group said, "because we want them to experience just a taste of the brutality and misery they serve us on...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Newly found coins underneath Jerusalem'sWestern Wall could change the accepted belief about the construction of one of the world's most sacred sites two millennia ago, Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday. The man usually credited with building the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary is Herod, a Jewish ruler who died in 4 B.C. Herod's monumental compound replaced and expanded a much older Jewish temple complex on the same site. But archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority now say diggers have found coins underneath the massive foundation stones of the compound's Western Wall that were stamped by a Roman proconsul 20 years after Herod's death. That indicates that Herod did not build the wall — part of which is venerated as Judaism's holiest prayer site — and that construction was not close to being complete when he died. "The find changes the way we see the construction, and sho...

(Reuters) - Legendary musician Jimi Hendrix was named the greatest guitar player in history on Wednesday by Rolling Stone magazine in a list compiled by a panel of music experts and topguitar players. "Jimi Hendrix exploded our idea of what rock music could be: He manipulated the guitar, the whammy bar, the studio and the stage," said Grammy-winning guitarist Tom Morello in the magazine, citing Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" as key tracks. Hendrix is joined by the likes of Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend among the top 10, in a list laden with rock 'n' roll icons spanning decades. The panel of experts recruited to vote for their favorite guitar players included musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Eddie Van Halen(who was voted No. 8), Brian May and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, along with a selection of Rolling Stone's senior writers and editors. The experts also weighed ...

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - AT&T said it would take a $4 billion charge in case its takeover of T-Mobile USA fails, reflecting the dwindling chances for the deal seen as job-destroying by powerful political opponents. The telecommunications group and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom, said they would continue to pursue anti-trust approval for the $39 billion takeover from the U.S. Department of Justice, but withdrew for now applications to the industry regulator. "AT&T Inc and Deutsche Telekom AG are continuing to pursue the sale of Deutsche Telekom's U.S. wireless assets to AT&T," they said in a statement on Thursday, the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the United States. AT&T declined to comment on the timing of the announcement beyond the statement. Both the DOJ and telecoms watchdog the Federal Communications Commission oppose the deal, which would reduce the number of national mobile carriers to three while consumers are struggling to make ends mee...

CINCINNATI — A mother and three nurses were charged Thursday in the death of the woman's 14-year-old daughter, who had cerebral palsy and weighed 28 pounds, a prosecutor said. A Montgomery County grand jury in Dayton indicted the mother and a nurse on involuntary manslaughter charges. Two other nurses were indicted on charges of failing to report child abuse or neglect. All are being held in the county jail. "This is a tragic and sad case wherein four adults were responsible for the care of this 14-year-old special-needs girl, and they all utterly ignored and failed to do so." Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. said in a statement. "The conduct of these four defendants transcends all bounds of human decency," he said. Heck said that the girl undoubtedly would still be alive "if just one of these defendants had acted responsibly." Makayla Norman died March 1 from nutritional and medical neglect complicated by her chronic condition,...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son. Scott Paterno said in a statement provided to The Associated Press by a family representative on Friday that the 84-year-old Joe Paterno is undergoing treatment and that ''his doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery.'' ''As everyone can appreciate, this is a deeply personal matter for my parents, and we simply ask that his privacy be respected as he proceeds with treatment,'' Scott Paterno said in a brief statement. Scott Paterno said the diagnosis was made during a follow-up visit last weekend for a bronchial illness. Earlier Friday, the Standard-Speaker newspaper of Hazleton, Pa., reported that Paterno had been seen Wednesday visiting the Mount Nittany Medical Center and was treated for an undisclosed ailment and released. Paterno was fired last week in the aftermath of shocking allegations against former defens...

More than two dozen current and former waiters and their associates from some of the city's top steakhouses have been arrested in an alleged identity theft ring, accused of stealing credit card numbers from wealthy customers, authorities said Friday. The Manhattan district attorney, police and the U.S. Secret Service announced the arrests Friday involving a 28-person ring that operated at top metro-area restaurants like Smith & Wollensky, Capital Grille and Wolfgang Steak, as well as Morton’s in Stamford, Conn. and the Bicycle Club in New Jersey. The story was first reported Thursday by NBC New York. The alleged scam targeted customers who often paid with American Express Black cards and other high-limit credit cards. Prosecutors said restaurant workers used handheld scanners to copy the credit card information as they walked away to process the bill. Later, that information would be sent to leaders of the alleged fraud ring, who would forge new credit cards with the st...

The US Department of Justice wants to make it a federal crime to violate the “terms of service” of any website, reports Declan McCullagh at CNet . According to this interpretation, breaching the terms of service of websites — which can be done by simply using a fake name on Facebook, lying about your weight on a dating site, or using Google if you’re under the age of 18 — could make you a criminal. According to a leaked statement that Richard Downing, the DoJ’s deputy computer crime chief, will reportedly deliver to Congress on Wednesday, the DoJ will argue that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) — an amendment to the Counterfeit Access Device and Abuse Act generally used to prosecute hacking and other serious cyber-crimes, and which went into effect way back in 1986 — must give prosecutors the ability to charge people “based upon a violation of terms of service or similar contractual agreement with an employer or provider.” According to Downing, the expansion of this law is ...

COVE CITY, N.C. (AP) — A 9-year-old North Carolina girl pinned in a wrecked car for almost two days ate Pop-Tarts and Gatorade to help her survive the single-car crash that killed her father, police and relatives said on Monday. Jordan Landon of Cove City was airlifted to a hospital Sunday night after rescue teams cut her out of the 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlothat had been upside down in a culvert since Friday night, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said. Killed was 39-year-old Douglas Landon, police said. Sgt. David Clifton called the girl "heroic" and that she was able to stay calm despite being trapped in the dark and cold. He says the girl was talkative and is expected to fully recover. Clifton said a person walking by saw the car off the state highway and called 911 late Sunday afternoon, more than 40 hours after the pair was believed to have crashed on their way to a store. Temperatures at night had dropped into the 30s in the area in eastern North Carolina. P...