Peanut Butter News

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Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) — Authorities believe assassins targeted a pregnant woman and two other people connected with a U.S. consulate who were killed in drive-by shootings over the weekend, Ciudad Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said Monday.

The killings were carried out by a local gang, known as Los Aztecas, that is allied with the Juarez Cartel, Reyes told CNN. No arrests had been made by Monday afternoon.

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More than 120 million U.S. census forms begin arriving Monday in mailboxes around the country, in the government’s once-a-decade population count that will be used to divvy up congressional seats and more than $400 billion in federal aid. Fast-growing states in the South and the West could stand to lose the most because of lower-than-average mail participation rates in 2000 and higher shares of Hispanics and young adults, who are among the least likely to mail in their forms.

Did those $2.5 million Super Bowl ads work? Stay tuned.

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DENVER – An American woman and three others arrested in Ireland over an alleged plot to assassinate Swedish artist Lars Vilks have been freed without charge, Irish police said Saturday.

Seven people — including the American woman, three Algerians, a Libyan, a Palestinian and a Croatian — were arrested Tuesday in Ireland. Irish police said three others who were also arrested remained in custody and were being questioned.

In Leadville, Colo., Christine Mott identified the American woman held in Ireland as her daughter, 31-year-old Jamie Paulin-Ramirez. Christine Mott said she was informed of Paulin-Ramirez’s arrest by the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.

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Kansas City, Mo., plans to close nearly half its public schools by fall. Illinois’ governor wants to raise state income taxes by 1 percent to continue funding schools and prevent the layoffs of thousands of teachers. Hawaii, President Barack Obama’s home state, has whacked 17 days from the school year and says it’s not done with educational cost-cutting.

From Maine to Wisconsin, Florida to California, school districts across the country are taking drastic measures to deal with school budget cuts made severe by the recession and its aftermath. Msnbc.com asked readers how their school district is coping, and one clear lesson emerged — cuts in education make no one happy.

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CNN) — Some people who didn’t file a federal tax return for 2006 have more than 1 billion reasons to reconsider, but they need to do it fast, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS says it has more than $1.3 billion in refunds for 1.4 million people who didn’t file a 2006 return. But to collect the cash, they will have to file for that year by April 15.

Otherwise, the money will become the property of the U.S. Treasury, as happens with all tax refunds that aren’t claimed within three years.

The IRS estimates the median unclaimed refund for 2006 nonfilers is $604. California is the state with the most nonfilers who qualify for refunds from that year (159,700), with Texas (109,600) and Florida (101,700) right behind.

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(CNN) — North Korea said Sunday it would no longer move forward with nuclear disarmament in response to a planned U.S.-South Korean joint military exercise.

The announcement was made by the official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA.

“The maneuvers clearly indicate once again that the U.S. and the South Korean authorities are the harassers of peace and warmongers keen to bring a war to this land,” the statement sa

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(CNN) — A U.S. soldier who defused roadside bombs in Iraq wants credit for inspiring the main character in “The Hurt Locker,” a movie up for nine Oscars this weekend.

Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday claiming writer Mark Boal — a journalist embedded with his Army unit in Iraq — based the film’s main character on his life.

“They literally transposed his life in the film and then claimed it was a work of fiction,” said lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. “The only fiction was the claim it was a work of fiction.”

Without directly denying Sarver’s claim, the production company said it was “a fictional account of what brave men and women do on the battlefield.”

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a small dent in Chile’s growing needs following a massive earthquake, handing over 25 satellite phones while promising more Tuesday in the country’s capital.

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Washington (CNN) — British defense contractor BAE Systems has pleaded guilty in Washington to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and was ordered to pay a $400 million criminal fine, authorities announced.

A top Justice Department official said the fine is one of the largest criminal fines ever levied in the United States against a company for business-related violations.

BAE Systems admitted Monday to knowingly making false statements to U.S. investigators to hide its failure to ensure compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

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VANCOUVER — After she won silver in the 1,000-meter race late in these 2010 Vancouver Games, short-track speedskater Katherine Reutter met the press with an American flag draped over her light-blue warm-up jacket.

The flag wasn’t going anywhere and neither was the big smile on her face.

“I have a lot of pride to have done this for my country,” she said. “The USA can honestly say we went to the Olympics and we came back victorious.”

The 2010 U.S. Olympic team put on a performance for the history books. When they gave out the final medals Sunday, the Americans — for the first time since the 1932 Games in Lake Placid — stood atop the overall medals table, with 37.

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Orlando, Florida (CNN) — SeaWorld has scheduled a Friday news conference to discuss an accident that left a trainer dead after she was attacked by a whale, a spokesman said.

Dawn Brancheau, 40, died Wednesday from multiple injuries and drowning after a 12,000-pound whale grabbed her ponytail and pulled her underwater in front of shocked onlookers at Shamu Stadium, the Orange County Sheriff’s office said Thursday.

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Washington (CNN) — The United States has renewed a travel alert to Mexico, citing increased violence in the country.

The alert, issued Sunday by the State Department, is in effect until August 20 and supersedes an alert issued August 20, 2009.

“Recent violent attacks have caused the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacan, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua … and to advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution,” the alert says.