As President Obama stood at the podium in the Pentagon briefing room Thursday to outline the nation’s defense priorities, the military stood with him. Their primary audience was a few miles across the river — in Congress. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose beloved army will face a significant troop reduction under Obama’s plan, was at the president’s side. Marine Corps commandant Gen. James F. Amos, whose service will also shrink, stood just behind him. And over Obama’s right shoulder loomed Gen. Ray Odierno, the former commander in Iraq who is now the army chief of staff. Read full article > >

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In creating new defense strategy, Obama attempts to outflank Congress

Sculptors from nine different countries are competing to carve art out of ice cut from the river at an annual festival in northern China.

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VIDEO: Ice sculpture made from river water

GLOUCESTER POINT, Va. — Under the murky waters of the York River, an eerie blur appeared suddenly on Edward Hogge’s sonar, near where his 40-foot deadrise boat sailed about a mile offshore on a cool December morning. Hogge made a hard right turn. “I’m going back to get it,” he said. He called out to his wife and first mate, Cheryl. “All right, honey, get your gloves on. Get ready!” When the boat stopped, she tossed a long rope lined with hooks overboard and yanked it. “It’s got something! It’s heavy,” Cheryl Hogge said. Read full article > >

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‘Ghosts’ haunt creatures on bay’s bottom

Rescuers are searching the waters of the River Tyne in Newcastle after reports that a man has jumped from the Tyne Bridge.

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Police search for bridge leap man

A soldier on leave in Shropshire and another man are praised after they enter the River Severn to help a woman in the water.

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Two men praised as ‘life savers’

Scientists assemble a remarkable 140-year record of water quality in the River Thames that details the inexorable rise of nitrate pollution.

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Thames water quality re-analysed

Hits River Mountains near Nevada.

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Tour-Helicopter Crash Kills 5

A former mine boss is among those charged over last year’s Pike River mining disaster in New Zealand, one of the country’s worst mining disasters.

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NZ mine boss charged over tragedy

A $50 million art project, “Over the River,” will suspend nearly six miles of fabric panels along a 42-mile stretch of the Arkansas River.

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U.S. Approves Christo’s ‘Over the River’ Project in Colorado

At the Conowingo Hydroelectric Dam in northeast Maryland, the barbarians are at the sluice gates. Sediment, millions of tons of it, has flowed down the 440-mile Susquehanna River for more than 80 years and massed at the dam. And now a reservoir built to hold it is filling up. The threat to the Chesapeake Bay came into sharp focus when Tropical Storm Lee produced record flows in the river in September, forcing officials to open the gates. Four million tons of sediment rushed through in about four days, equal to what the bay normally gets in four years. Half the bay’s blue-green waters appear as beige as coffee with cream in recent satellite images . Read full article > >

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Susquehanna dam’s sediment has officials fearing for the Chesapeake Bay

A 60-year-old woman on Sunday became the third person to die as a result of a helicopter crash last month in New York’s East River, said a spokeswoman for the city’s medical examiner’s office.

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NY chopper crash claims third victim

A medieval ship discovered on the banks of the River Usk in Newport in 2002 could be a step closer to finding a home.

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Search for home for medieval ship

Alice Hoffman may be the most uneven writer in America. A trip through her enormous body of work — for adults and young people — is a jarring ride, from the loveliness of “ Illumination Night ” to the schlockiness of “ The River King .” Hang on tight and you’ll swerve from the quiet power of her short stories in “ Local Girls ” to the groaning hokiness of “ The Ice Queen .” In bestseller after bestseller, she explores women’s subjects and feminist themes, especially ancient and modern expressions of witchcraft. Sometimes, the results are practically magic; sometimes, they’re practically laughable. Read full article > >

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Book review: Alice Hoffman’s ‘Dovekeepers’ builds on lives of Jewish heroines

Sank in East River with 5 onboard.

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Helicopter Crashes in NYC

An agreement would give the United Nations a site for a new building and allow the city to finish an East River esplanade.

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United Nations and New York City Seek Land Deal