US Army: Sergeant Aaron Wittman

US Army Sergeant Aaron Wittman, twenty-eight, of Chester, Virginia, died of wounds sustained on January 10.

He was the first US casualty of 2013.

His unit came under fire in Khogyani District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.

It was his second deployment to Afghanistan.

Wittman was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Sergeant Wittman had previously been awarded a purple heart and a bronze star.

Thousands Protest in Bahrain

Thousands protested through the streets of Manama, Bahrain, on Saturday.

They were protesting the upholding of jail terms for thirteen people.

The thirteen were arrested in 2011, during protests against the government.

A military tribunal convicted them of plotting terrorism, and sentenced them to jail.

Some of them received terms of as low as five years, while others received life sentences.

A majority of the country feels that the thirteen were innocent of the terrorism charges.

Every appeal for their early release has been denied.

Riots Renew in Belfast

A peaceful protest march in Belfast turned into yet another riot, on Saturday.

The city had finally seen a couple days of peace, after riots last week.

Around a thousand loyalist Protestants were marching through town, protesting decisions to severely reduce the number of days that the British flag flies.

During their march, a mob of masked, hooded, Catholic teens and young adults attacked them.

The peaceful protest broke into a street battle, as more Catholics joined and the noise brought out more Protestants.

Riot police rushed to separate the two groups, using clubs, water cannons, shields, and plastic bullets.

Sixteen police officers were injured, no word on injuries to the two sides was released.

France Raises National Terrorism Warning Level

French President Francois Hollande announced, on Saturday, that the nation's terrorism warning level will be raised.

He made the announcement after sending troops into Mali, where Al Qaeda troops were taking over the country.

Troops were also involved against Al Shabaab forces, in a failed rescue attempt of a French hostage, in Somalia.

With French forces fighting Islamist forces, many believe that the terrorist organizations may attempt to retaliate, by hitting France itself.

France has warned it's citizens abroad to be alert, and ordered all of it's citizens, in Mali, to evacuate the country.

French Troops to The Rescue in Mali

French troops in Mali

French soldiers have come to the rescue of Mali.

Mali has been dealing with Al Qaeda troops taking over the northern part of the country.

France has made it clear that they will not allow Al Qaeda to go any further.

Air power is suddenly a factor, and the French air force has pounded rebel forces.

Sweeping into the country the French army has placed themselves on the front lines, right with the troops of Mali.

They've already held off Al Qaeda attacks, and begun pushing them back.

Their aid has not come without cost, already a French helicopter pilot has been killed.

Spurred on by the French action, West African nations are speeding up their own plans to send troops, to their neighbor's aid.

The European Union also plans to speed up it's sending of troops to train Malian forces.

France and Mali are both asking the US to aid by sharing intelligence assets and by deploying drones.

French Commandos Fail in Hostage Rescue Attempt

Denis Allex

French commandos attempted to rescue a French man who had been held hostage since 2009.

Denis Allex had been kidnapped on July 14, 2009, while in Mogadishu, Somalia.

On Saturday, French commandos went in, to rescue him.

When the troops arrived, Allex's captors killed him.

During a firefight two French commandos and seventeen Al Shabaab militants were killed.

Chinese and Japanese Jets Scrambled

Chinese J7 Fighters

Saturday began with a showdown between China and Japan.

Once again a Chinese plane violated Japanese airspace, causing Japan to launch F15s. But this time China didn't just back down.

They responded by launching J7 and J10 fighters. Japan scrambled more F15s and defense forces went on alert.

The aircraft met over islands, which Japan owns, but China claims. After eyeing each other for a bit, the Chinese planes left and headed back to China.

China responded to the incident by announcing several more squadrons will be moved to Shuimen Air Base, right by the Chinese coast, and the nearest point to the disputed islands.

Japan is now considering giving it's pilots permission to fire warning shots, of tracers, past Chinese planes that violate the airspace.

That would be an extremely dangerous move, as it would be one step closer to war between the two countries.

Oscar Nominations Announced

It's a ways yet til the 85th Academy Awards, on February 24, but the nominations are out. Some big power is among the nominees for the 2013 Oscars.

Best Picture: Amour, Argo, Beasts of The Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty.

Actor in a Leading Role: Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln, Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables, Joaquin Phoenix in The Master, Denziel Washington in Flight.

Actress in a Leading Role: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty, Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook, Emmanuelle Riva in Amour, Quvenzhane Wallis in Beasts of The Southern Wild, Naomi Watts in The Impossible.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Alan Arkin in Argo, Robert De Niro in Sliver Linings Playbook, Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master, Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln, Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Adams in The Master, Sally Field in Lincoln, Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables, Helen Hunt in The Sessions, Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Notebook.

Animated Feature Film: Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Wreck it Ralph.

Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey for Anna Karenina, Robert Richardson for Django Unchained, Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi, Janusz Kaminski for Lincoln, Roger Deakins for Skyfall.

Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran for Anna Karenina, Paco Delgado for Les Miserables, Joanna Johnston for Lincoln, Eiko Ishioka for Mirror Mirror, Colleen Atwood for Snow White and The Huntsman.

Directing: Michael Haneke for Amour, Benh Zeitlen for Beats of The Southern Wild, Ang Lee for Life of Pi, Steven Spielberg for Lincoln, David O. Russel for Silver Linings Playbook.

Documentary Feature: 5 Broken Cameras, The Gatekeepers, How to Survive a Plague, The Invisible War, Searching for Sugar Man.

Documentary Short: Inocente, Kings Point, Mondays at Racine, Open Heart, Redemption.

Editing: William Goldenberg for Argo, Tim Squyres for Life of Pi, Michael Kahn for Lincoln, Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers for Silver Linings Playbook, Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg for Zero Dark Thirty.

Foreign Language Film: Amour from Austria, Kon-Tiki from Norway, No from Chile, A Royal Affair from Denmark, War Witch from Canada.

Makeup and Hairstyling: Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, and Martin Samuel for Hitchcock, Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, and Tami Lane for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for Les Miserables.

Music-Original Score: Dario Marianelli for Anna Karenina, Alexandre Desplat for Argo, Mychael Danna for Life of Pi, John Williams for Lincoln, Thomas Newman for Skyfall.

Music-Original Song: "Before My Time" from Chasing Ice, music and lyrics by J. Ralph; "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted, music by Walter Murphy and lyrics by Seth MacFarlane; "Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna and lyrics by Bombay Jayashri; "Skyfall" from Skyfall, music and lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; "Suddenly" from Les Miserables, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil.

Production Design: production design by Dan Hennah and set decoration by Ra Vincent and Simon Bright for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; production design by Eve Stewart and set decoration by Anna Lynch-Robinson for Les Miserables; production design by David Gropman and set decoration by Anna Pinncock for Life of Pi; production design by Rick Carter and set decoration by Jim Erickson for Lincoln.

Short Film-Animated: Adam and Dog, Fresh Guacamole, Head Over Heels, Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, Paperman.

Short Film-Live Action: Asad, Buzkashi Boys, Curfew, Death of a Shadow, Henry.

Sound Editing: Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn for Argo, Wylie Stateman for Django Unchained, Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton for Life of Pi, Paul N.J. Ottosson for Zero Dark Thirty.

Sound Mixing: John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, and Jose Antonio Garcia for Argo; Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, and Simon Hayes for Les Miserables; Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill, and Drew Kunin for Life of Pi; Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, and Ronald Judkins for Lincoln; Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, and Stuart Wilson for Skyfall.

Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, and R. Christopher White for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, and Donald R. Elliott for Life of Pi; Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, and Dan Sudick for The Avengers; Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, and Martin Hill for Prometheus; Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould, and Michael Dawson for Snow White and The Huntsman.

Writing-Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio for Argo, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin for Beats of The Southern Wild, David Magee for Life of Pi, Tony Kushner for Lincoln, David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook.

Writing-Original Screenplay: Michael Haneke for Amour, Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained, John Gatins for Flight, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom, Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty.

Beer for Your Dog

Ever wanted your dog to join you when you're drinking your beer?

Well now it's a possibility.

An Oregon man has created Dawg Grog, which contains no alcohol.

Daniel Keeton works at Bend's Boneyard Brewery, and the brewery is selling his concoction.

Dawg Grog is made with vegetable broth and spent grains, from the brewing process.

The lack of alcohol makes the brew dog friendly.

It's not cheap though, a six pack costs thirty-six dollars.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Proposes State Gun Training For Teachers

Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst proposed a policy for schools to become safer from violence.

At a speech to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Dewhurst called for the state to fund training for teachers and staff at schools.

The training would be more rigorous than normal concealed carry licensing.

It would include special training on how to act in an active shooter situation.

Districts would not be required to participate, and would nominate who they wanted to be carrying.