Plot

If you're a big fan, you already knew what was coming in the season finale. But it didn't make it any easier -- or less heartbreaking -- to watch. The majority of the Season 3 "Downton" finale, or the "Christmas special" as its called in the U.K., took place in Scotland, where the whole family (minus Branson) visits the Highlands home of the Dowager's niece, Susan, and her husband, Shrimpy. Most of the trip included bagpipes, hunting, more bagpipes and Scottish reel dancing. But more on that later (and more on O'Brien meeting her Scottish lady's maid doppelganger)

The 19-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing Dennis Lane allegedly told investigators that his girlfriend had instructed him to kill her father and his fiancee, specifying the number of times each was to be stabbed in the throat - 10 for him and 15 for her. Jason Anthony Bulmer charging documents In a conversation at school hours before the Ellicott City blogger and businessman was killed, Jason Anthony Bulmer said, 14-year-old Morgan...

A TV show about a group in their 20s who rent a summer share on the Jersey Shore. Hilarity, hookups and high jinks ensue. Been there, seen that. A decade and a half before MTV's controversial "Jersey Shore," there was "Down the Shore," a Fox sitcom that was a lot less controversial. A lot less funny, too. The comedy about three guys (lifelong pals) and three women (co-workers at a Manhattan ad agency) in their 20s sharing a house in the fictional town of Belmar Bay debuted in June 1992 and lasted for parts of two seasons.

Kentucky Derby winner Orb continues training toward Preakness from the track at Belmont Park. He galloped a mile and a quarter Friday morning for trainer Shug McGaughey, who was happy with what he saw. Orb should arrive in Baltimore by Monday afternoon. The Malibu Moon colt can become the 13thhorse to win both the Derby and Preakness since Affirmed completed the Triple Crown in 1978. Co-owned by Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III, Orb won the Derby by two-and-a-half lengths, and appears likely to be a heavy favorite in the 138th Preakness.

A 20-year-old from Bethesda linked to a plot to try to kill then-presidential-candidate Barack Obama was sentenced to 61 months in prison Tuesday by a federal judge who said he had gone well beyond innocent role-playing. "Nobody was assassinated. Nobody was wounded. Nobody was injured. But you were on the cusp," U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte told Collin McKenzie-Gude. The judge technically sentenced McKenzie-Gude on his earlier guilty plea of storing bomb-making chemicals in his bedroom.

The bizarre plot federal law enforcement officials described Tuesday in which elements of the Iranian government are accused of trying to blow up Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. with explosives planted in a Washington restaurant sounds like something out of a spy novel. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III acknowledged as much at the news conference announcing the arrest of one of the alleged conspirators. Yet if true, the charges represent an unprecedented and intolerable provocation by a regime long known for exporting terrorism, and they demand the strongest possible response - short of direct military action - from the U.S. and the international community.

Federal law enforcement authorities arrested a Northern Virginia man Wednesday in connection with an alleged plot to carry out terrorist bombings at stations in the Washington Metro system. Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn conspired with people he believed to be al-Qaida operatives to bomb the Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon City, Crystal City and Court House stations, according to a federal indictment. An Obama administration official said that Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, first drew the attention of law enforcement officials by seeking to obtain unspecified materials.

Washington -- THE FULL story of the conspiracy to blackmail Clarence Thomas into withdrawing will not be told until after the Senate votes on his confirmation this evening. But the outlines of the plot to use Anita Hill to bring him down are clear.Ricki Seidman, aide to that defender of womanhood, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and James Brudney, aide to Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, were tipped off by the legion of liberal activists digging for dirt that Professor Hill harbored a secret grudge against Thomas.

Antonio Martinez, who is accused of masterminding a failed jihadist plot to bomb a Catonsville military center, pleaded not guilty Friday to a two-count indictment charging him with the attempted murder of federal employees and the attempted use of a "weapon of mass destruction. " The 21-year-old Baltimore man, who has been in custody since his arrest a month ago, could receive life in prison if convicted on both counts, as well as a fine of up to $500,000. Martinez, who prefers to be known as Muhammad Hussain, confessed to plotting the attack after it was foiled Dec. 8 by investigators posing as accomplices, prosecutor Christine Manuelian said in court last month.

MINNEAPOLIS -- In a flurry of legal motions filed late yesterday, attorneys in the murder-for-hire case against Qubilah Shabazz profiled an indecisive woman who talked bluntly about murder, then backed out of an alleged plot just weeks before she was indicted on charges of conspiring to kill Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.The release of transcripts from FBI wiretaps and a purported confession from Ms. Shabazz, 34, the second eldest daughter of Malcolm X, provided the first inner details of a case that has flared into renewed controversy over the government's reliance on criminal informants.

H&S Properties Development Corp. plans to push its Harbor East development east across Central Avenue with an expanded Whole Foods Market, a possible department store and apartments on two sites, baker-turned-developer John Paterakis Sr. said Friday. The developer will convert the one-story, brown-painted H&S Bakery distribution center into one or two floors of retail space, with apartments above, Paterakis said. H&S Bakery revealed intentions last month to move the center to an East Baltimore office park, freeing up the real estate by the end of 2014, he said.

NAACP employees were going through the mail Thursday at national headquarters in Baltimore when they found a strange-looking envelope. It bore no return address and had a Memphis, Tenn., postmark - just like letters to President Barack Obama and a Republican senator this week that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin. Within minutes, the FBI ordered workers to evacuate, and emergency responders rushed to the scene. It turned out to be a false alarm; the letter was a request for assistance.

The NFL has released some intimate audio and video from the sidelines of Super Bowl XLVII, and one of the most interesting exchanges was filmed on the Ravens sideline before the final play of Baltimore's 34-31 win. As Sam Koch prepared to boot a free kick to San Francisco 49ers return Ted Ginn Jr., quarterback Joe Flacco told his teammates to run onto the field and tackle Ginn if it looked like he was going to score. This, of course, is illegal and could have resulted in an automatic touchdown, but Flacco wasn't sure about the rule.

As much as this week's bone-chilling temperatures might offer "cold" comfort to those who deny its existence, the threat of climate change earned a prominent spot in President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Monday. That was welcome, if overdue, given how little discussion this enormous challenge to the nation's well-being received during last year's campaign. For those who missed it, President Obama pledged to "respond" to climate change for the sake of future generations. He acknowledged that some still deny the "overwhelming judgment of science" but also noted its more obvious effects of recent years — raging fires, crippling droughts and more-powerful storms.

The Anne Arundel County Police Homicide Unit executed an arrest warrant on Friday charging Cynthia Lisa Mills, 47, of the 1600 block Cananaro Drive, Annapolis, with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation of murder and attempted first-degree murder. Mills turned herself into police custody at the Southern District. She is being held without bond. Police allege that Mills is connected to a murder-for-hire plot in Virginia. The Leesburg Police Department in Leesburg, Va., had arrested Wendell Mansel last August in connection to the murder-for-hire plot.

The CIA is probably smug and triumphant about its duplicitous vaccination drive in Abbotabad, a mission hatched to catch and kill Osama bin Laden ("A tainted polio program," Jan. 7). As a doctor, I cringe to think of this unscrupulous use of medicine for murder. While the London Guardian investigated the matter and revealed its unethical intricacies, it is amazing that not one American newspaper thought the CIA's vaccination plot was worthy of further scrutiny. The vaccination drive was against Hepatitis B, a deadly and common disease in the Third World, spread by contaminated needles, surgical instruments and tainted blood.

WASHINGTON -- FBI agents have been told by an Iraqi bein held in Kuwait that he led an attempt to assassinate former President George Bush last month on behalf of the Iraqi government, U.S. officials said yesterday.The officials said that the man had admitted to working with the Iraqi intelligence service and that other members of the 10-member team had admitted from a Kuwaiti jail to having received Iraqi government assistance.The officials were the first to describe the extensive jailhouse interviews since they began a week ago. While the FBI is not yet satisfied that it has established proof, the officials said the initial findings from the investigation had strengthened the view within the administration that the Iraqi government was behind the plot.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The government clamped a 24-hour curfew on the capital yesterday, shortly after U.S. forces arrested the bodyguard of a prominent Sunni leader on suspicion of plotting a suicide attack inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. A statement from the U.S. Army said the man was part of an al-Qaida cell "in the final stages of launching a series of ... attacks" that would have used several vehicles and possibly suicide vests. It said a seven-member cell believed to be linked to vehicle bombings in southern Baghdad was planning the attacks on the area that houses the Iraqi government and U.S. and other embassies under heavy military protection.

Apparently, if the secretary of state needs to take a sick day, she had better get a note from her doctor. A very "transparent" note, a very detailed note. With enough copies to send to her most vociferous critics. Hillary Rodham Clinton suffered a fall or a fainting spell in early December while recovering from a nasty flu that had left her dehydrated, and doctors said she had sustained a concussion as a result. Right away, conservative talking heads scoffed, saying she was faking it so she wouldn't have to appear before Congress and testify about what happened in Benghazi, Libya, where a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died in what is now being described as an attack by terrorists linked to al-Qaida.

OK The Walking Dead , I see you, doing your thing. This Sunday night's episode was by no means earth shattering, but in keeping with the style of season three, there was plenty to satisfy us fans and keep us coming back next week: humans were killed (albeit inconsequential humans), questions were answered (Where is Carol? Who was on the phone?) and the plot was advanced. We were left with Michonne strolling up to the prison fence, injured and covered with a camouflage of zombie entrails, and carrying a supermarket basket full of powdered baby formula.