MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

DEATH OF AN ICON: Mickey Rooney, the lovable actor who was small in stature but boasted a larger-than-life persona, dead at 93

Actor Mickey Rooney, the pint-sized screen dynamo of the 1930s and 1940s best known for his boy-next-door role in the Andy Hardy movies, died on Sunday at 93, the TMZ celebrity website reported. read full story »

From diapers to downloads: Experts warn toddlers frequently using technology could face health risks

Camila Dominguez likes knocking back a drink in the evening and checking the iPhone. She can swipe and tap an iPad screen with the best of them. Then, at 7:30 p.m., it’s lights out.

Hinckley: Mickey Rooney was still Andy Hardy to Americans, despite a life of turmoil

Despite a life with more wreckage than Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears combined, Mickey Rooney somehow never stopped being Andy Hardy.

'WE ARE TREATING EACH OF THEM SERIOUSLY': Ships pick up separate acoustic signals in hunt for missing jet

Chinese and Australian ships hunting for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner have picked up separate acoustic signals in different parts of a vast Indian Ocean search area.

Oscar Pistorius to take stand in his defense, finally answer questions about shooting girlfriend

A legal expert says Pistorius' account that he killed Steenkamp by mistake is going to 'stand or fall' with his testimony in court.

Lupica: Good Golly Mister Ollie! New king of UConn eyes Storrs-ybook finish

Even as John Calipari is doing what might be the best job of coaching he’s ever done at Kentucky, when his team might be on one of the great runs in the history of the NCAA basketball tournament, it is UConn’s Kevin Ollie who is the coaching story of the season, and this NCAA Tournament.

HOWDY COWGIRL! Sexy stars hit red carpet at ACM Awards

'They would be better off in heaven': Boy, 6, dies, drowned by deranged mother who heard voices

Daniel Schlemmer had been on life support at a local hospital since Tuesday when his mother, Laurel Michelle Schlemmer, allegedly sat on the little boy and his three-year-old brother, Luke, and tried to drown them.

Woman trying to park her van dies after running herself over — just moments after dropping kids off

A Spanish woman has died after she ran over herself while parking a van. Ana Maria Prieto had just pulled up outside her house with her children when the tragedy took place.

SEE IT Michigan man scores once-in-lifetime pinball action

Steve Muller, 24, of Warren Mich., was playing the Af-Tor pinball game by Wico Thursday at the 2014 Michigan Pinball Expo when something he never seen before happened.

Convicted murderer, rapist says 'there are no more manners anymore' in UK

A British rapist and murderer who has just been freed after 46 years in prison has complained there are no manners anymore in the UK. Alan Houchin was talking after his first taste of freedom in many years.

EXCLUSIVE Coachella $ells out! Lea, Vanessa paid big bucks to attend music festival

EXCLUSIVE Jammed Up site, soon an app, lets you find lawyers fast

Now there's an app for everything. People jammed up with the law and their fretting family members now have a user-friendly way to find and book attorneys, bail bondsmen and investigators who have been rated by past clients.

How a violent Gowanus Houses kingpin was brought down by littering, YouTube rap videos

How dangerous was the Gowanus Houses five years ago? Even the project’s most violent gang leader wore a bulletproof vest for protection.

Democrats say White House won’t delay Obamacare employer mandate again

Democrats fought back Sunday against claims from a former Obama aide that the White House might delay Obamacare’s employer mandate. House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi called the mandate, which requires businesses with between 50 and 100 employees to provide health insurance for workers or face a penalty, “integral.”

RED ALERT: Kate hits New Zealand with adorable Prince George

Lovett: Assembly Speaker Silver halts $185G funding; feds eye state lawmaker travel $$$

Nearly 20 Manhattan community groups have been caught in the crossfire of an ugly battle between Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and embattled Assemblyman Micah Kellner.

Pols dismiss idea that soldiers should be armed on bases in wake of Fort Hood shooting

Lawmakers on Sunday quickly rejected a Republican proposal that would allow military personnel to carry concealed weapons on bases — raised just days after the horrific Fort Hood base shooting that left four soldiers dead.

Full investigation of Metro-North defects came only after big accidents

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Federal inspectors over the last decade found more than 7,100 defects and deficiencies in Metro-North Railroad, but records obtained by a newspaper show regulators launched a full investigation only after two high-profile accidents last year. Following a public records request, Hearst Connecticut Media reports that federal inspectors last year found broken joint bars and loose or missing rail braces that hold tracks to ties in Bridgeport, Norwalk, New Haven and Stamford.

Smile! Lily Allen barely covers up for Twitter snap

De Blasio administration preaches pre-K programs to churches

Top officials from Mayor de Blasio’s administration fanned out to churches around the city Sunday to urge parents to apply for prekindergarten programs for the fall.

Ft. Hood gunman penned Facebook rant on Newtown killer Adam Lanza — blasting government over gun control

Fort Hood gunman Ivan Lopez slammed the government for allowing people with mental health issues such easy access to guns. Adam Lanza (top left) killed 26 people in school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Jeb Bush says he'll decide on 2016 run by year’s end

Jeb Bush says all the speculation about whether he'll run for president in 2016 is actually getting him more attention than if he had already entered the race.

'Catching Fire' actress bares all for music video

Swiss apartment bans perfume, cell phones and smoking

There’s a place for people who hate the sweet smell of perfume and the bitter stench of exhaust, but you’ll have to move to Switzerland. Don’t expect cell phones either at a 15-unit apartment building on the outskirts of Zurich.

Argentine president now godmother of lesbian couple's child

Argentina's president has become the godmother to the child of a lesbian couple who was baptized in a Catholic church. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has become godmother to tiny Umma Azul.

Plane makes emergency landing after cows set off fire alarm

A plane was forced to make an emergency landing because the almost 400 cows it was transporting were giving off too much heat. The Boeing 747 was forced to touch down at Heathrow Airport in London.

‘Game of Thrones’ spends big to get big drama in 4th season

Six-year-old child left brain dead from Pennsylvania mom’s drowning attempt dies

Daniel Schlemmer, 6, was confirmed dead Saturday — four days after he and younger brother Like, 3, were drowned in a hot tub near Pittsburgh by their mother Laurel Michelle Schlemmer, coroner says.

SPLITTING 'HERRS': Ground-breaking DNA tests on Hitler's wife had Jewish roots

Ground-breaking DNA tests almost 70 years after her death have revealed that Eva Braun counted Ashkenazi Jews among her forebears.

Wildling at heart: How 'Thrones' star fell into role

SEE IT California teacher placed on leave after wrestling alleged drug-dealing student in classroom

The science teacher at Santa Monica High School was seen on video wrestling a student to the ground for dealing drugs. The teacher, identified as Mark Black, is better known as "Coach."

U.S. funded 'Cuban Twitter' creates challenges for bloggers, exile groups

The revelation that a U.S. government-funded program set up a cellphone-based social network in Cuba is likely to pose new challenges for bloggers and exile groups working to increase tech access.

Gisele dons skimpy bikini on yacht trip

Obama pushes ahead with minimum wage raise efforts

Kiss frontman pens tell-all about sex, drugs, rock and roll

Dad allegedly kills girl, 3, in tragic murder-suicide: cops

Expecting mothers Drew Barrymore, Ciara bump bellies

Boy, 5, finds jewelry treasure worth thousands of dollars in pond

Boy, 12, finds dad’s body in car trunk

Alyssa Milano shares baby bump selfie

Paralyzed man overhears doctors talk about taking his organs

Video Romanian thugs brutally spin elderly woman

Sports

Weiss: Calipari sees friends and foes as 'Cats play UConn

Just as it was deja vu all over again for Aaron Harrison when he hit a game-winning three for Kentucky Saturday night, there will be an eerie “we’ve seen this before” feeling when Cats coach John Calipari walks into the massive AT&T Stadium and sees another former formidable UConn team on the bother bench.

Kentucky's freshman brace for final exam

Either youth will be served or it will be served up in Monday’s national championship game between Kentucky and Connecticut at AT&T Stadium.

NCAA president: Allowing union idea ‘ridiculous’

With his organization challenged on several fronts by lawsuits, NCAA president Mark Emmert lashed out Sunday at the decision by a local National Labor Relations Board to allow Northwestern football players to move forward with an effort to unionize, calling unionizing “ridiculous” and “a grossly inappropriate solution.”