U.S. Department of State

Sunfest 2013: What to Eat, From Gator Bites to Vegan Fare

Today begins SunFest 2013, West Palm Beach's five-day waterfront music and arts festival that manages to wrangle in some exceptional national and local musical talent -- and lots of food -- to the city's downtown area. The event has been known to attract upwards of 165,000 visitors each year, and wi ... More >>

New Times Says No to MLB

New Times Says No to Major League Baseball

Sorry, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. We won't hand over records that detail the inner workings of Biogenesis, the controversial Coral Gables anti-aging clinic that allegedly supplied prohibited drugs to six professional baseball players, including Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.The reasons are manifol ... More >>

Robert Levinson, Broward Man Who Disappeared in 2007, Hostage Photos Released

Robert Levinson, a Coral Springs private detective, disappeared in March of 2007 while visiting Kish Island in Iran while researching a cigarette-smuggling case. In March of 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. State Department had received indications that Levinson was ... More >>

Global Education Concepts: Summer Program Puts Exchange Students into Forced Labor, Lawsuit Claims

Imagine you want to travel to a foreign country to work with the locals. You link up with a company that promises to handle the specifics across the ocean. Everything sounds legit, so you kiss the family goodbye and hop the thousand-some miles for the big adventure. But when you land in-country, it' ... More >>

Republican Voter Suppression Is the Perfect Crime

By now, more than 2 million people have already voted in Florida, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the state's voters and trouncing early concerns that voter-suppression measures would stymie turnout. We already knew how bogus concerns over voter fraud were, but does the same go for our trepidat ... More >>

Big Early-Voting Numbers in Broward, Palm Beach

In some cases, it's taken five minutes, in others, almost three hours, but people on Broward and Palm Beach Counties are coming out in droves to vote early. Nearly 80,000 people hit the early-voting booths over the weekend, with the biggest turnout coming from Broward, which recorded 54,338 early v ... More >>

Mitt Romney Accuses Obama of "Apology" for America After Attack in Libya

See also: Allen West Blames Obama For Libya AttackDuring his RNC speech, Mitt Romney mentioned Afghanistan like none times. But today, following the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and at the embassy in Cairo, where U.S. diplomats were killed, Romney decided it was a good time to get all D ... More >>

GOP, Here's Your Man: Josef Sever, Florida's Lonely Fraudulent Voter

See also: Voter purge havoc, good luck voting in FloridaRemember all those pesky voter-ID laws that state officials have been trying to enact? The embattled plan of Gov. Rick Scott to go through voter rolls with a fine-toothed chainsaw and excise anyone named Manuel Lopez*? All that was done in the ... More >>

How to Speak Republican: Leaked Document Reveals the Secrets of the GOP's Coded Language

Dash to Dubai: An FBI Fugitive Explains Why She Kidnapped Her Daughter and Fled Fort Lauderdale

Fidel Castro's Niece Endorses Obama, and Conservatives Are Absolutely Thrilled About It

It's a Wall Street Journal editor's wet dream, splashed across the opinion page today: "Castro Endorses Obama."Mariela Castro, niece to the tracksuit guy and daughter of Raul, calls herself a "sexologist," and her work, according to Journal columnist Mary O'Grady, "has something to do with advocatin ... More >>

Secret Service Investigating Terry Jones for Hanging Effigy of Obama Outside Gainesville Church

UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: We just finished an exclusive interview with Jones.UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: The Secret Service is investigating  Pastor Terry Jones' Dove World Outreach Center for hanging a dummy of President Barack Obama outside of its church."The Secret Service is aware of this inciden ... More >>

Satellite Images Show First Glimpse of Cuba's Offshore Drilling Rig in Florida Straits

Earlier this year, Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF announced that a massive drilling rig had started operating  in "ultra-deep water" in the Straits of Florida, somewhere between Cuba and the Keys. One of the more problematic aspects of the operation is the dearth of information about where the ri ... More >>

Principal at Mavericks High in Palm Springs Not Certified to Teach in Florida

​The principal of the Mavericks High charter school in Palm Springs is not certified to teach in Florida, according to the State Department of Education.Thomas Lockett runs a school that serves roughly 500 at-risk students and promises to help them earn enough credits to graduate. Yet he does not ... More >>

Allen West Blames the President for SOPA, Deletes it, Then Blames Eric Holder

Rep. Allen Bernard West​Rep. Allen West -- unlike a few of his South Florida congressional counterparts -- opposes the Stop Online Piracy Act and explained that it's because President Obama doesn't know "this is a democracy."Wait, Obama's not on board with SOPA? Check that; it's Attorney General E ... More >>

Allen West: Obama's Delay of Keystone XL Pipeline is "Pathetic"

Rep. Allen West​Rep. Allen West isn't too happy about the State Department's decision -- or as West says, "Campaigner-in-Chief" Obama's decision -- to delay the Keystone XL Pipeline project, which means it's time for another rhetoric-loaded statement from the congressman.According to the State ... More >>

Juliet Mahabir Stole the Identity of a Dead 8-Year-Old Kid, State Attorney's Office Says

Palm Beach County Sheriff's OfficeJuliet Sherry-Ann Smith Mahabir, who's allegedly been posing as a dead 8-year-old for years.​Maria Del Carmen Diaz died on May 7, 1981 at the age of 8 years old. Maria Del Carmen Diaz has also made $283,464.35 as a teller at a Palm Beach County Wells Fargo ban ... More >>

Marco Rubio: Celebrity.

​This week, political junkies made much of Sen. Marco Rubio's sudden re-emergence in the national media after three months of almost total silence. Some people -- by which I mean "I" -- thought Rubio's invisibility was a sign that his celebrity had ebbed -- that he'd permanently ceded star power t ... More >>

Robert Levinson's Family Issues a Statement On the Fourth Anniversary of His Disappearance

Robert Levinson has been missing for four years now.​Today marks the fourth anniversary of Robert Levinson's disappearance. A retired FBI agent living in Coral Springs, Levinson went missing in March 2007 during a trip to Kish Island, in Iran. Last week the U.S. State Department recently announced ... More >>

Clinton Gives a Sign That Robert Levinson, Broward Man Who Disappeared in 2007, is Alive

​Robert Levinson's family says that the retired FBI agent was in Iran to investigate a cigarette-smuggling case when he disappeared in Iran in 2007. Since then, his family has urged the Iranian government to cooperate with an investigation, to little avail. No news of his whereabouts or whether he ... More >>

Gaybies: Gay Couples in Florida Turn to Foreign Surrogacy

Film Fundraiser Wednesday; After-party at the Blind Monk in West Palm Beach:

Nicole DannaThe Blind Monk in West Palm Beach will be hosting the Kessler-Koehler Evening of Film "After Party" from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday.​Here's a great recipe.Take a bar chock full of great wine; mix with a hearty helping of tapas; add three equal parts lifelong friendship; and add a doub ... More >>

Terry Jones, Car-Donating Qur'an-Burning Pastor, Chats with New Times about It All

via the AP​In case you didn't catch the news on Friday, a New Jersey car dealer awarded a new car to Terry Jones, the Gainsville preacher who threatened to burn thousands of Muslim holy books on September 11. The gift, a 2011 Hyundai from Brad Benson, was in fulfillment of his promise to give Jone ... More >>

Asylum Denied

Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum.

Introducing George "Barely True" LeMieux

For the past week, Sen. George LeMieux has been obsessed with skimmers. So obsessed that he's found one to match his salmon tie, as you can see above. Recently, Politifact.com busted out its bullshit detector and put LeMieux's claims to the test.

[UPDATED] LeMieux Working to Save Orphan Haitian Cancer Patient

courtesy of Lauren OdmanEsthelhomme Peterson​A 12-year-old Haitian orphan with a large malignant tumor on his neck will hopefully receive desperately needed medical attention later today or tomorrow, thanks to a group of concerned South Floridians that includes Republican Sen. George LeMieux.The b ... More >>

Video: Haitian Boy with Cancer and His Mother Talk About Their Trip to the U.S.

Michael J. MooneyPeterson Esthelhomme​The 12-year-old Haitian boy who was brought to the U.S. to treat the malignant tumor on his neck was in good spirits this morning. Through a translator, Esthelhomme Peterson said he was in a lot of pain during the trip here, but that he was feeling much better ... More >>

VIDEO: Haitian Boy in Stable Condition at Broward General

Estelhomme Peterson, a 12-year-old Haitian boy with a large malignant tumor on his neck, arrived in Fort Lauderdale around 7:30 last night with his mother. The boy, whom volunteers call "Peter," is in stable condition at Broward General."Peter is here and looking wonderful," said Lauren Odman, the ... More >>

Ron Klein to President: Stop Hurting Israel's Feelings

FlickrRon Klein​It's not enough that the United States gives spectacular sums of money to Israel. Nor is it enough that the U.S. takes Israel's side in virtually every political issue that crops up between that nation and the Muslim world. No, according to Congressman Ron Klein, the U.S. also must ... More >>

Will Haitian Quake Be Crist's 9/11?

Flickr: The PeacekeepersA scene from yesterday's devastating earthquake in Haiti.​Charlie Crist juggled his schedule so he could fly down to Miami-Dade, where a press conference will be staged to comfort the Haitian people. But however little Crist has to lose in his Senate race against Marco Rubi ... More >>

Fanjul Family Hunts Art Thieves

According to the powerful Fanjul family, the State Department has launched an investigation into Bruno Scaioli, an Italian-Argentinian art dealer who is suspected of trafficking artwork the Fanjuls say is rightfully theirs. Not long after Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959, the wealthy Fanjuls fled ... More >>

Armed Again

Indicted South Florida weapons dealer Efraim Diveroli keeps making millions from you and me.

From the Closet to the Stage

Rollins Brand

Rock 'n' roll maverick Henry Rollins talks politics and the upcoming election

Green Eggs and Dolphin Ham

Learning on the Fly

Young actors scratch the surface, find darkness underneath

From Gitmo With Love

The elephant in Guantanamo's living room gets 4,200 calories a day and a Koran.

Finding Gary, Part 2

A rogue FBI agent, tons of smuggled drugs, a wife in search of her husband's corpse

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Murdered in Havana

After the Catholic Church banished him, Cuba welcomed him. But the vibrant new life George Zirwas created for himself soon ended in tragic death.

Letters for November 28, 2002

Pot laws are no joke, dude

Oiling the Wheels of War

If only our man in Washington would stay there

Felon Follies

A problem that marred the 2000 ballot is back

Speak and Suffer

Tim Hunter blows the whistle on U.S. hypocrisy toward Saudi Arabia

Admitting Terror: Part 5

When terrorists knock, the INS is more than likely to fall down on the job

Waiting For Otto

Why would a man sullied by Iran-contra and illegal propaganda campaigns be a Bush nominee? Good question.

The More Things Change

The Circle is a powerful film about women in Iran

Letters