Today in Headlines - Thursday, July 3, 2014

Book themed benches are popping up all over London's public trails and parks spaces as part of a new government initiative to promote reading amongst the city's youth.  It's been so effective that the program has moved on to more adult titles.  Those to come include: Silence of the Lambs, Tom Clancey's Rainbow Six, and the very controversial, Capital in the 21st Century.

A U.S. teen by the name of Shannon Conley was arrested on Wednesday for trying to emigrate to the country of Syria so that she could join the ISIS and fight alongside her online lover.  In a similar story, a teenage Syrian girl was arrested for trying to flee to the United States so that she could go to work for Blackwater.

The Department of Homeland Security says that many of the young migrants flooding the U.S. Southern border are being lied to by smugglers about the circumstances they will face upon entering the country.  In addition to spreading rumors about "special permits" and streets paved with opportunity, the migrants were also led to believe that Americans are a tolerant people. They did not expect to be confronted by mobs of angry citizens demanding unwelcome foreigners leave their land.  They thought that was Iraq.

Iraq's 5 million plus Kurds are ready to seek independence from Baghdad this week, seizing upon the ongoing instability in the region to bring about what many Kurds have wanted since the 1990's.  Baghdad has been less than receptive to the idea of a Kurdistan break away, but some cite the President's lack of assertiveness as the cause for delay.  One Baghdad official told us, quote "he's always mumbling about a red stapler, I don't know what he means.  Once he told me if we didn't give his country independence, he would set the building on fire."

Hillary Clinton is apparently thinking about dropping out of the 2016 presidential race before it even gets started.  I guess it's finally sinking in that she's just not wanted, a concept her husband Bill has been trying to convey for years. 

To the surprise of many, and the dismay of the U.S., China has been courting it's South Korean neighbor in an effort to cultivate better ties, claiming the North has been, quote "acting a fool." The trio are expected to battle out their differences on an upcoming special foreign affairs episode of the Maury Povich show.

Also in Asia, it was discovered that Tibetans possess a special genetic adaptation passed on by extinct Denisovans ancestors which allows them to live at very high altitudes.  A similar study found that certain Mid-Western Americans possess a special gene variant that allows them to tolerate the incessantly annoying comedy of CBS's "Two and a Half Men"

That's it for this week, see you all Sunday, I'm out.