Ten fresh faces to watch in the new Congress

By Carrie Dann, NBC News Some will become household names, and some may be doomed to a quick re-election defeat or to toil away in anonymity. But every two years, new freshmen members of Congress descend on Capitol Hill, representing the country's changing landscape with their politics and their life stories.  The new ranks will be flush with record-breakers when they arrive in Washington. The 113th Congress will welcome the first openly gay senator, the first Asian-American woman in the Senate and first bisexual member of Congress. A new Latino senator -- one of just three -- is already snagging headlines for voicing a new vision of the Republican party. A record-breaking 20 women will serve in the upper chamber, and 78 will be seated in the United States House. Sixteen new members served in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. Four new LGBT individuals were elected, almost doubling the number of openly gay lawmakers on the Hill.   While the whims of a 24-hour news cycle can elevate any fresh face at the drop of a hat -- or the click of a tweet -- here's a first look at 10 interesting new people to watch as the 113th Congress convenes.  TED CRUZ, R-Tex. Even before being sworn in, newly elected Texas senator Ted Cruz grabbed headlines last week when he delivered a wide-ranging speech about the future of the GOP, coining "opportunity conservativism" to describe his vision for a Republican rebranding. Cruz, a Cuban-American whose support from Tea Party groups propelled him to victory over Texas Lt. Gov David Dewhurst in a July primary, said in remarks at an American Principles Project event that Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comment should have been flatly disavowed by conservatives. Sen.-elect Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 13. "We embraced in that comment, and in the narrative we made to this country, the Democrat notion that there is a fixed and static pie," he said. "The essence of the conservative message should be we want a dynamic nation where anybody with nothing can achieve anything."   The freshman -- who benefited from endorsements by Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint -- will add to the Senate's ranks of Tea Party-aligned conservatives, while his legal background as a solicitor general and onetime Supreme Court law clerk will make likely make him a sought-after voice on Constitutional issues.  Look for Cruz, one of just three Latino senators, to join colleague Marco Rubio as an influential voice in Republican soul-searching over their the party's drubbing with minority voters in the 2012 election. HEIDI HEITKAMP, D-N.D. The daughter of a school custodian, Heidi Heitkamp once spent a summer working on a highway construction crew to put herself through school. The Democrat served as North Dakota's attorney general and as the executive of an energy company before scoring an upset win last month over Republican Senate candidate Rick Berg.  The onetime director of Dakota Gasification Company, which operates a plant that turns coal into natural gas, Heitkamp is squarely at odds with her party's own standard bearer on energy issues. Asked during a campaign forum what she would tell President Barack Obama about the nation's energy policy, she flatly stated that the administration is "wrong."  Heidi Heitkamp smiles as she speaks to supporters during a campaign stop at the Coordinated Campaign HQ in Grand Forks, N.D, on Nov. 5. "You're wrong on energy. You're headed in the wrong direction. You made bad decisions," she said, according to The Associated Press. "You promised that you would promote clean coal technologies, that you would be a champion of coal, and you haven't done it." She also urged the president to replace Energy Secretary Steven Chu and EPA administrator Lisa Jackson.  A Democrat who eked out a narrow win in a state that voted for Mitt Romney by 20 points, Heitkamp faces targeting by Republicans hoping to lure red-state Democrats over to their side on key issues. She'll be a player on agriculture issues; she has said she's been offered a spot on the Senate agriculture committee and that she hopes to help shepherd a five-year Farm Bill to passage.  TAMMY BALDWIN, D-Wis. Tammy Baldwin would have made history just as the first female senator from Wisconsin, but she captured the national spotlight as the first openly gay person ever elected to the United States Senate. Although she is a longtime advocate of LGBT rights, Baldwin's sexual orientation never became a major issue in her bitter race against former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, which racked up a $65 million advertising bill between the two candidates.  Tammy Baldwin celebrates her victory over Republican candidate Tommy Thompson on election night on Nov. 6 in Madison, Wis. Before her Senate run, Baldwin served seven terms in the House, sitting on the House Energy and Commerce Committee as well as earlier stints on the bodies that cover judiciary and budget matters. In 2009, she authored a legislative amendment requiring that insurance companies allow children to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26, one of the more enduringly popular pieces of the Obama administration's health-care law. And with her swearing-in still weeks away, she has already jumped into the fray on the ongoing fiscal cliff talks, urging the president to adopt the "Buffett Rule," which would tax Americans with incomes over $1 million at a minimum 30 percent effective tax rate.  "In addition to letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire for incomes above $250,000 as you have pledged to do, we believe it is imperative to enact a safeguard to ensure that the highest-earning Americans cannot subvert the progressivity of the tax code through loopholes and special rates not available to middle-class families," she and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., wrote in a November 29 letter.  ANGUS KING, I-Maine As the dust settled from the 2012 election, all eyes in Washington briefly turned to the mustachioed new senator from the deep blue state of Maine. Angus King, the state's first independent to be elected to the Senate, had not formally indicated during his three-way race whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans for purposes of organization. On Nov. 14, King -- who served two terms as the state's independent governor -- announced that he would align with Democrats.  Senator-elect Angus King on Nov. 13 in Washington, D.C. In a statement, King said he considered forgoing any formal alliance with either party but that Senate rules would render him dramatically less effective to his constituents as a truly unaffiliated member of the body because of seniority. "I have decided to affiliate with the Democratic Caucus because doing so will allow me to take independent positions on issues as they arise and at the same time be an effective representative of the people of Maine," he said.  With his pledges to work across the aisle, King would join a long lineage of Maine legislators who fashioned themselves as compromise-minded moderates. His predecessor, Republican Olympia Snowe, was one of only three GOP senators to support the Obama stimulus package in 2009 and voted to confirm both Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. (Snowe was joined on those and many other party-bucking votes by colleague Susan Collins, also from Maine.)  King hopes to be a player on the issues of campaign finance and reform of the Senate filibuster, which King said has been employed "excessively" in recent years.  ELIZABETH WARREN. D-Mass. A longtime thorn in the side of Wall Street's big banks, Elizabeth Warren first earned a national profile when foes successfully campaigned against her appointment to the directorship of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog body that she masterminded.  U.S. Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., left, faces reporters during a news conference in Boston on Nov. 8. Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who helped oversee the bank bailout, has used blunt rhetoric to paint banks as remorseless perpetrators of the financial crisis. "Wall Street CEOs --  the same ones who wrecked our economy and destroyed millions of jobs -- still strut around Congress, no shame, demanding favors, and acting like we should thank them," she said during her speech at the Democratic National Convention. In November, Warren defeated Republican Senator Scott Brown, who rose to national prominence when he won the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in a special 2010.  Now, Warren is widely expected to play a role in Democrats' attempts to further reform the banking industry, with a possible appointment to the Senate Banking Committee. But the financial lobby has reportedly mounted an effort to keep her off the panel that drafts industry regulation, meaning that her high-profile clashes with Wall Street could get yet more ink in the coming months.  TAMMY DUCKWORTH, D-Ill. An Iraq War helicopter pilot who lost both legs in a 2004 grenade attack, Tammy Duckworth will walk the halls of Congress on prosthetic limbs. After defeat in a 2006 run, Duckworth won her second bid for the U.S. House by defeating Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party devotee, in the state's newly redrawn 8th District.  In what she describes as her "bonus time" after the attack that could have left her for dead, Duckworth has championed the rights of disabled veterans, serving as an assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Obama administration.  Tammy Duckworth arrives to pose for a class picture with other new members of the 113th Congress on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 15 in Washington D.C. Duckworth advocates for some cuts to military spending, a position that frequently earns her fellow Democrats the label of "weak on national security." But as a Purple Heart recipient with a high profile and a long family history of military service, she will be a visible advocate for the paring down of the defense budget while enjoying relative immunity from Republicans wary of questioning her record. (Just ask Walsh, her Republican opponent, who faced a blistering outcry during the campaign after he implied that Duckworth was not a "true hero" because of frequent mentions of her disability.)   Not that Duckworth is a shrinking violet from the harder edge of politics. "There's nothing anyone can say to me or do to me -- short of actually pointing a gun and shooting at me -- that's going to be as bad as it was in Iraq and that year I spent recovering," she recently told NBCNews.com in an interview. "So it's really freeing." KRYSTEN SINEMA, D-Ariz. Fresh off a nasty campaign in which opponents painted her as a hippie who enjoys the occasional "pagan ritual," Arizona freshman Krysten Sinema is no stranger to tough campaigns. The first openly bisexual member of Congress, Sinema -- who served as an Arizona state house member and senator -- can also boast leading a 2006 effort to defeat a same-sex marriage ballot initiative in Arizona.  Rep.-elect Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., is seen during a news conference with newly elected Democratic House members, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 13. The 36-year-old social worker, who once quipped that she's a "Prada socialist" in a magazine interview, jousted with Gov. Jan Brewer on education issues during her tenure in the legislature, warranting a hefty contribution from the governor's political action committee to Sinema's opponents. Education policy, jobs, and addressing foreclosures will be her top priorities as a federal lawmaker.  Sinema's spokesman recently told The New York Times that the new congresswoman, who was raised a Mormon, supports a "secular approach" to government.  TED YOHO, R-Fla. The country met Ted Yoho this year through his hogs. A large animal veterinarian in north central Florida, the conservative won national attention for a quirky ad that featured piggy-looking "career politicians" in business suits feeding at a trough alongside real porkers. In this 2012 photograph provided by the candidate's campaign, Ted Yoho poses for a photo. Yoho, a proponent of the consumption-based Fair Tax, has said that he won't be put into political "handcuffs" by signing anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist's pledge. "If you sign a pledge like [Norquist's], you've got handcuffs on," he told NPR. The upset winner of a primary against 12-term incumbent Rep. Cliff Stearns, Yoho imitated NFL player Tim Tebow's prayerful victory kneel for supporters after his win. He has promised constituents that he will serve no longer than eight years in Congress. MARKWAYNE MULLIN, R-Okla. When his father's illness forced Markwayne Mullin to quit college and take over the family plumbing business, the 20-year-old and his wife turned a flailing enterprise into a small eastern Oklahoma empire. Mullin, now 35, won the House seat vacated by retiring Rep. Dan Boren, running under the banner "A rancher. A businessman. Not a politician!"  Republican candidate Markwayne Mullin, right, answers a question during a debate at Rogers State University in Claremore, Okla., on Oct. 29, 2012. The Tulsa native -- a social conservative who vehemently opposes "amnesty" proposals -- has promised to take a no-frills attitude to the halls of Congress. Casually dressed on election night, he joked with supporters that he defied his campaign staff's request that he wear a suit to deliver his victory speech. "They got me this far, and boots are going to take me all the way there and bring me all the way back" from Washington, he said.  SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, D-N.Y.  A former senior adviser in President Bill Clinton's administration, Sean Patrick Maloney also worked as a staffer for New York governors Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson before mounting his own political run.  Maloney unseated Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth in a New York's redrawn 18th District.  Rep.-elect Sean Patrick Maloney, D-NY., is seen on stage during a news conference with newly elected Democratic House members, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 13. The first openly gay New York congressman, Maloney and his partner Randy Florke have three adopted children together.  Maloney once told New York Magazine that his hero is fictional lawyer Atticus Finch and came in third in New York's 2006 Democratic primary for attorney general. In addition to his career as a behind-the-scenes political aide, Maloney also made a name at two prestigious New York law firms. He was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP before moving to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.  ALAN GRAYSON, D-Fla. He's ba-ack.  Alan Grayson, the quotable liberal firebrand whose zippy insults served as cable catnip during his previous stint in Congress, will be back on the Hill again next year. After losing his 2010 re-election bid, Grayson moved to a new Orlando district and sailed to victory this year over Republican Todd Long. Rep. Alan Grayson listens to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testify during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Oct. 1, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The man who disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner once labelled as "one fry short of a happy meal," has garnered frequent outrage for his rhetorical bombs. He was forced to apologize after referring to a banking lobbyist as a "K Street whore"; he said Florida Gov. Rick Scott would have "blood on his hands" if he did not implement some parts of the health-care plan; and he accused Republicans of offering only the health-care proposal that sick people should "die quickly."  He was roundly beaten by Republican Daniel Webster in 2010 but will return having won by a 25 point margin in a redrawn district.  Cable news bookers, start your engines.

At least 3 dead in Philippines typhoon

Typhoon Bopha weakens slightly as it churns across Mindanao The storm hit the southern Philippine island early Tuesday It has so far killed two people, set off a landslide and blown away homes, officials say The typhoon comes almost a year after a storm killed more than 1,200 people on Mindanao Hong Kong (CNN) -- An intense typhoon thumped into the southern Philippines on Tuesday, destroying homes, setting off a landslide and killing at least two people, authorities said. Typhoon Bopha struck the large southern island of Mindanao, which is rarely in the direct path of tropical cyclones, fueling fears that it could be as devastating as a storm that killed more than 1,200 people there almost a year ago. Bopha, the most powerful typhoon to hit Mindanao in decades, packed top winds of 175 kph (110 mph) as it came ashore over the city of Baganga early Tuesday. Millions of people -- many of whom live in remote and unprepared communities -- were in the storm's path, Philippine authorities and aid groups said. "It really is getting to be a very, very big typhoon and it's just starting," said Richard Gordon, the head of the Philippine Red Cross. Trees have been uprooted and fragile houses blown away on Mindanao, Gordon said, adding that the corrugated iron roofs of some buildings were being carried through the air by the wind like "flying machetes." Two residents of the island were killed, both by falling trees, the official Philippine News Agency reported, citing Benito Ramos, the head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. A landslide in eastern Mindanao blocked a national highway, the news agency reported, leavening hundreds of people in buses, vans and cars stuck on the road. Maintenance workers were using heavy equipment to clear the mud and rocks, said Dennis Flores, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Works and Highways cited by the news agency. The tightly packed but fierce typhoon churned west northwest across the island, weakening slightly as it went, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. After it leaves Mindanao, it is expected to hit other Philippine islands during the next couple of days.  Map: Mindanao Map: Mindanao The storm, dubbed "Pablo" in the Philippines, had blown up into a super typhoon at one point Monday as it moved over the ocean, with sustained winds greater than 240 kph -- the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported. That wind speed is two and a half times the top winds of Severe Tropical Storm Washi, known in the Philippines as Sendong, whose heavy rains swept away entire villages in the same region in December 2011. "Many emotional people in (Mindanao) trying to prepare for Pablo with Sendong fresh in their minds," Carin van der Hor, the Philippines director for the children's charity Plan International, wrote Monday on Twitter. But local authorities have done a good job of relocating people out of vulnerable areas and preparing evacuation centers, said Gordon of the Red Cross. Washi, on the other hand, caught many residents off guard. It was a weaker storm, but its torrential rain triggered landslides and flash floods in the middle of the night, when many people were sleeping. More than 1,200 people died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless, prompting a humanitarian crisis. Ahead of Bopha's arrival, government agencies had moved millions of dollars worth of relief supplies into position for quick delivery to storm-hit regions and put emergency crews, the military and hospitals on standby. School classes were suspended in many cities, and at least 80 flights were canceled, according to the national disaster agency. Stormy weather in recent months has caused death and destruction in other areas of the Philippines, where poor infrastructure leaves many communities highly vulnerable. Severe flooding in the region of the capital, Manila, killed more than 80 people in August. And Tropical Cyclone Son-Tinh left at least 27 people dead after sweeping across the central Philippines in October. Palau, a tiny island nation roughly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) east of Mindanao, had earlier had a close shave with Bopha as the typhoon churned past, catching some outlying parts of the archipelago. "It was headed right toward Palau," said Derek Williams, a meteorologist for the U.S. National Weather Service in Guam. But at the last minute, "it just turned to the west and fortunately went south of them," he said. "I really think they escaped the brunt of the storm," Williams said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, noting that Palau doesn't usually get hit by strong typhoons. Bopha nonetheless brought down a lot of trees and caused widespread power outages in Palau, according to Williams. "The fast movement of the system really prevented a lot of flooding," he said. "I think probably only a few inches of rain fell, so that's certainly good news, because Palau itself is susceptible to mudslides." CNN's Jethro Mullen reported from Hong Kong and CNN's Michael Pearson reported from Atlanta.

Man pushed onto NYC subway tracks, killed by train

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com. By Shimon Prokupecz and Jonathan Vigliotti, NBCNewYork.com A man was pushed onto subway tracks and killed by a train in Manhattan after an argument with another traveler Monday afternoon, witnesses and law enforcement sources said. Police released video and photos of the suspect in the death at 49th Street. The man who fell on the tracks at the N, Q, R station at Seventh Avenue was hit by a southbound R train at about 12:30 p.m. He was later pronounced dead at nearby St. Luke's Hospital. Police identified him as 58-year-old Ki-Suck Han of Elmhurst, Queens. Witnesses told police the other man was mumbling to himself before he and Han began arguing on the platform. Bystander filmed argument A bystander captured part of the fight between the two men and turned the video over to police, who released it to the public Monday night. The man who allegedly pushed Han is heard cursing and saying, in substance, "Leave me alone... stand in line, wait for the R train and that's it." He then pushed Han on to the tracks, police said. Han tried to climb back up onto the platform a few feet above and died after  Read more news on NBCNewYork.com Mark Lennihan / AP Uniformed and plainclothes police officers stand outside a New York subway station after a man was killed after falling into the path of a train, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. Transit officials say police are investigating whether he could have been pushed onto the tracks. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Witness Patrick Gomez, who was in the station, said he heard a "thud that didn't sound normal" when the train pulled into the station. "People are just standing there in fear and shock, not really knowing what's going on," he said. "Some people started running out of the platform, others just stood there." He said police evacuated the platform within minutes. Subway pushes are unusual. Among the more high-profile was the January 1999 death of Kendra Webdale. A former mental patient admitted he shoved her to her death. Following that, the state Legislature passed Kendra's Law, which lets mental health authorities supervise patients who live outside institutions to make sure they are taking their medications and aren't a threat to safety. Police are searching for the suspect in the video, last seen wearing a dark jacket, a gray t-shirt and a cap.

Teachers in Chicago suburb go on strike

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com. By BJ Lutz and Dick Johnson, NBCChicago.com More than 20,000 students in a suburb of Chicago won't have class or after-school activities beginning Tuesday after teachers voted to strike. Teachers in Community Unit School District 300 voted Monday afternoon to strike after 11 months of negotiations failed to end with a new contract. The last contract expired July 1, and class sizes and salaries remain the sticking points. "It's pretty daunting. It's something that we kept talking about but I never really thought would happen," said fourth-grade teacher Ann Hottoby. "We need a better learning environment for our students. Three years ago -- over three years ago -- I had 23 students in my room. The next year I had 37," she added. Chicago teachers strike affects 350,000 students District spokesman Joe Stevens said in a voicemail to district parents and staff members that members from the Board of Education, the Local Education Assocation of District 300 -- the Carpentersville area district's teachers union -- and a federal mediator met for a final time Monday. Chicago teachers agree to end strike "After the Board agreed to LEAD's latest proposal to further reduce class sizes at all grade levels and create class-size caps for middle and high school classes, the LEAD team increased its salary proposal by returning to an earlier salary request. At this point, the Board has met LEAD's expectations regarding class sizes, but we have not reached agreement on salaries," he said in the message. Biggest losers of Chicago's teachers strike? The students, critic says Three middle schools will remain open as emergency attendance centers for students in kindergarten to grade six who have no other place to go, according to the district. Read more news on NBCChicago.com The district's website -- d300.org -- has information about the board's latest offer. The massive district, which covers 118 square miles and 15 communities in four counties, hasn't had a teacher strike in three decades.

Report details 'horrific abuse' in Yemen

Militants loyal to Abu Hamza, the leader of Ansar al-Sharia, an Al-Qaeda affiliate group in Yemen, are pictured on January 21. New Amnesty International report came out Tuesday Ansar al-Sharia took control of the area "They committed horrific abuses," Amnesty says (CNN) -- Residents in parts of southern Yemen experienced a "human rights catastrophe" when an al-Qaeda affiliate took control of the country's Abyan province for 14 months, according to Amnesty International. In a new report entitled "Conflict in Yemen: Abyan's Darkest Hour", the rights group catalogs "a raft of gross and deeply disturbing" punishments carried out by Ansar al-Sharia, including crucifixions, public executions, amputations and floggings. "They committed horrific abuses," said Cilina Nasser, of Amnesty International. "They set up courts, their own courts and claimed to apply Islamic law." One man, accused of spying for the U.S., was killed and then had his remains crucified. A video obtained by the rights group shows the rotting body, which had been left out in the open for days -- a warning to anyone who might consider doing the same. Protesters riot at U.S. Embassy in Yemen Yemen: Al Qaeda No. 2 leader killed In another video, a prisoner, bound and blindfolded, is led to a public square. The man, convicted of spying on al-Qaeda for Saudi Arabia, is then readied for execution. For the U.S. and Yemen, who for years have been attempting to vanquish a resurgent and emboldened al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the news couldn't have been more dire. "As the United States and as Saudi Arabia have been very, very concerned about al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula being able to sort of plot, plan and launch attacks from their hideouts in Yemen, the Saudis and Americans have worked together to create these undercover agents," Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert who has written a book on the nation. But the militants was not only going after alleged spies. According to Amnesty International, one woman was beheaded for the crime of sorcery. In an extremely disturbing video, her severed head can be seen as it is paraded through the streets. And one young man, accused of theft, had his hand publicly amputated. "They detained me in a room for five days," the young man later told the rights group. "They kept beating me hard ... After five days, they gave me an injection and I slept ...When I woke up my hand was not there." A chilling video shows him lying unconscious -- his left arm stretched out as one man begins cutting through the wrist. Once done, a spectator takes the severed hand and raises it for the gathered crowd to see. Cries of "God is great" can then be heard. "In 2011, the Yemeni military essentially split during the uprising that eventually overthrew the long serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh," explained Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen. "They were fighting amongst themselves and what this did is it opened up a lot of space for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and their affiliate Ansar al-Shaira to take over villages and towns in Southern Yemen, particularly in Abyan and in Shabwa." Between February 2011 and June 2012, after seizing those areas, they began imposing and practicing a very draconian interpretation of Islamic law. But in that time, they were also able to provide services a weak central government had not. "They established their own police system, their own court system," Johnsen said. "They started to dig water wells, string electrical lines in villages that had never had these before, that had essentially been ignored by the Yemeni government for decades." "On one hand," added Johnsen, "they were welcomed in the fact that they were able to impose law and security. But the longer they stayed, the more unpopular they became." According to Amnesty International, in the end, the people of Abyan weren't just subjected to repression by Ansar al-Sharia, they were also subjected to additional violations by the Yemeni government forces. "When the situation evolved into an armed conflict between Ansar al-Sharia and the Yemeni government," explained Nasser, "both sides committed violations of international humanitarian law." Amnesty's report states how Ansar al-Sharia used residential areas as its base, "recklessly exposing civilian residents to harm." The righs group also details how it says the Yemeni military's intense aerial bombardment as well as the use of inappropriate battlefield weapons in residential areas further endangered a population already in peril. "Scores of civilians, including children, were killed," reads the report, "and many more injured as a result of air strikes and artillery and mortar attacks by government forces." The "toxic mix of fighting and human rights abuses," it states, "meant an estimated 250,000 people from the southern governorates, particularly Abyan, were displaced." The Yemeni government said it is studying the Amnesty report. "The Yemeni government will carefully examine the findings," said Mohammed Albasha, the spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington. "Sanaa continues to welcome the international community's support of the government's efforts to promote and protect human rights." While Ansar al-Sharia was ultimately driven out and Yemen's government ended up claiming success, continued instability in the country, a haven for Al-Qaeda, has left many wondering how long will that victory may last.

2 charged in Coast Guard death

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne, stationed on the Cutter Halibut, climbs into the ship after conducting water survival training in this undated photograph. A Coast Guardsman dies after a panga boat rams his boat, authorities say The panga flees, but it is eventually intercepted and its 2 occupants detained The 2 Mexicans are charged with killing a U.S. officer and held without bond They told investigators they were transporting gas to another panga boat (CNN) -- Two Mexican nationals were charged Monday in the death of a U.S. Coast Guardsman, whose succumbed to a traumatic head injury after his boat was rammed off the Southern California coast. The suspects -- Jose Meija-Leyva and Manuel Beltran-Higuera -- are charged with killing a U.S. government officer while that officer was on duty in the death of Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, the U.S. attorney's office for the central district of California said in a news release. Neither man was asked to enter a plea when they appeared Monday afternoon in federal court, where Magistrate Judge Victor Kenton ordered them held without bond, U.S. attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek said. A preliminary hearing is set for December 17, and their arraignment is set for December 21. Calls placed Monday evening to the separate attorneys representing the two suspects were not immediately returned. Early Sunday morning, the crew of a Coast Guard patrol aircraft spotted a panga boat near Santa Cruz Island, suspecting "it was engaged in illegal activity," said Capt. James Jenkins. A panga is an engine-powered work boat often used off the coast of Mexico or Central America and is typically 25 feet to 45 feet long, Jenkins said. The aircraft's crew alerted the captain of the Cutter Halibut, an 87-foot patrol boat, which headed to the scene and noticed the panga "operating with no lights." A small boat was dispatched from the Halibut, and it headed closer to the suspect vessel. Then, the panga accelerated and slammed into the small boat, forcing Horne and another Coast Guard member overboard. Two Coast Guard colleagues on the same small boat recovered their shipmates, and all four boarded the Halibut as it headed to the nearest port. Having suffered a traumatic head injury, Horne was pronounced dead by emergency medical personnel upon his arrival on shore at Port Hueneme. The other Coast Guardsman tossed overboard was treated at a hospital for "relatively minor injuries" and released later Sunday morning, Jenkins said. The panga boat fled. Around 5 a.m. Sunday, about four hours after the initial crash, the panga was located about 20 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the criminal complaint. Coast Guard officers pulled up and ordered the boat's occupants, at gunpoint, to exit the boat. They refused to comply, and the panga raced away. It then stalled, refused further orders, and sped away again, the complaint said. In the third try, a Coast Guard officer pepper-sprayed both men on the panga. That boat's driver was detained after a struggle with Coast Guard officers, while his passenger was "detained without incident," the criminal complaint said. The suspects had entered the United States "illegally from Mexico," according to the document. Meija-Leyva told investigators "he was taking gasoline to some lost friends north of Los Angeles," and Beltran-Higuera said he'd been offered $3,000 to transport gas to a waiting panga boat off the U.S. coast. As for what happened early Sunday, Beltran-Higuera said he heard people yelling "Stop! Put your hands up!" then "a series of gunshots before the Coast Guard vessel collided with the panga," the criminal complaint stated. The same day the two suspects were in court, colleagues of Horne remembered him as a devoted Coast Guardsman and beloved friend. The Redondo Beach, California, resident, 34, was second-in-command on the Cutter Halibut. "Words cannot express (the) admiration that I have for him," said the ship's commander Lt. Stewart Siebert, as he fought back tears. "He was my friend, he was my confidant, he was the glue that held my crew together." CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

Alaska suspect tied to other killings

Authorities say Israel Keyes killed himself while in custody. Israel Keyes committed suicide while in custody on murder charges, officials say He was charged in the death of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, an Alaskan barista He is said to have confessed to multiple murders and did not know any of his victims (CNN) -- A suspected serial killer has killed for the last time. Authorities say Israel Keyes, who was arrested and charged in the killing of an Alaskan barista, killed himself while in custody. Before committing suicide on Sunday, Keyes confessed to at least seven other slayings, according to the FBI field office in Anchorage, Alaska, which on Monday asked for the public's help with tracing Keyes' travels over the years in the hopes of identifying any additional victims. He crisscrossed the country, and authorities may never know how many he killed. "Based upon investigation conducted following his arrest in March 2012, Israel Keyes is believed to have committed multiple kidnappings and murders across the country between 2001 and March 2012," the office said in a statement. "Keyes described significant planning and preparation for his murders, reflecting a meticulous and organized approach to his crimes." Investigators are continuing to investigate those crimes, though they say Keyes confessed to killing at least seven other people besides the barista: two in Vermont, four in Washington state, and one somewhere on the East Coast, disposing of the body in New York. Keyes did not know any of his victims, the FBI said, but looked for them at remote locations like parks, campgrounds and cemeteries. He is said to have buried supplies he planned to use in future crimes, and investigators recovered two caches, one in Eagle River, Alaska, and one near Blake Falls Reservoir in New York. They contained weapons and items used to dispose of bodies, the FBI said. Keyes allegedly confessed to killing Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex Junction, Vermont. He flew into Chicago, rented a car and drove across several states before arriving there, the FBI said. He is then thought to have traveled around the East Coast before returning to Chicago and then Alaska, where he had lived since 2007. Prior to that, he lived in Washington state, where he confessed to killing four people, the FBI said. He is likewise alleged to have admitted to killing another person, somewhere on the East Coast, in 2009. The identities of those five victims were not released. Finally, Keyes was accused and charged in the death of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, the Alaskan barista. She was last seen on February 1 being led away by a man from the parking lot of the coffee stand where she worked. Her body was found in a lake north of Anchorage. If he had been convicted in her death, Keyes could have faced the death penalty.