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NATIONAL
Obama nominates U.S. envoy to Libya Fla. Lt. gov. resigns over scandal 5-organ transplant patient a mom
WASHINGTON -- A veteran diplomat who has served in Syria, Kuwait and Turkey will return to the Middle East as the new U.S. ambassador to Libya, President Barack Obama announced Wednesday.
If confirmed by the Senate, Deborah K. Jones will fill a post that has been vacant since the previous envoy, Ambassador Christopher Stevens, died along with three other Americans in the Sept. 11 militant attacks on U.S. facilities in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
Jones' nomination coincided with the first official visit to Washington by Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who said that Libyan authorities remain committed to investigating and bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 Benghazi attacks. The embassy Jones would lead is located in the capital, Tripoli.
"I am pleased to tell you that we will soon be sending Deborah Jones to Libya as our new ambassador," Secretary of State John Kerry said at a joint appearance Wednesday with Zeidan.
The death of Stevens, the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in hostilities since 1979, led to sweeping changes in diplomatic protection, communication and oversight after an independent review board found that security was "grossly inadequate" at the Benghazi facility.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Florida's lieutenant governor resigned and nearly 60 other people were charged in a scandal involving a purported veterans charity that authorities said Wednesday was a front for a $300 million gambling operation.
The organization, Allied Veterans of the World, runs nearly 50 Internet parlors with computerized slot machine-style games, which are normally legal in Florida if most of the proceeds go to charity. But investigators said the organization's executives gave precious little to veterans and lavished millions on themselves, spending it on boats, beachfront condos and Maseratis, Ferraris and Porsches.
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll was not among those charged but resigned a day after she was questioned by investigators.
The public relations firm she co-owned, 3 N&JC, did work for St. Augustine-based Allied Veterans. A Navy veteran who served in the Gulf War, Carroll also appeared in a TV ad in 2011 promoting the organization's work on behalf of veterans and their families.
MIAMI -- Miami doctors say they believe a five-organ transplant patient is the first to deliver a baby, making her the first reported case in the world.
Fatema Al Ansari was 19 and living in Qatar when she was diagnosed with a blood clot in a major vein to the intestine. In 2007, she underwent surgery at Jackson Memorial hospital in Miami and was given a new liver, pancreas, stomach and small and large intestine. Five years later, she gave birth to a girl.
Al Ansari faced some complications during pregnancy, but her doctors say she is capable of having more children.
Al Ansari says it's "the best feeling in the world" to be a mother.
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