A man killed earlier Wednesday by FBI officials told them Boston bomber Tamarlan Tsarnaev was involved with him in the slaying of three men in 2011.

Ibragim Todashev, who died during the interview with authorities, not only confessed to his direct role in slashing the throats of three people in the killings in Waltham, Massachusetts, but he also fingered Tsarnaev in the deaths, the official said Wednesday.

Todashev was being questioned about the slayings and his acquaintance with Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

“He used some kind of weapon,” the official said, and that prompted the FBI agent to shoot the suspect.

A second law enforcement official confirmed Todashev made the confession.

The former ballplayer Tweets he’s the target of a rape investigation and even Tweeted the accuser’s number, picture, and the location of her gym.

The outspoken slugger and admitted steroid-taker today posted a series of tweets, some that he removed a short time later, that revealed he’s being investigated for raping a Las Vegas woman.

He named and posted a picture of the tanned lean, ripped, bikini-clad fitness model and even listed her phone number and an address of the gym where she works out…

Las Vegas cops confirmed the fallen slugger is a suspect.

“He is a suspect in a sexual assault case,” said Las Vegas police officer Jose Hernandez.

“He has not been charged. Our investigation is ongoing.”

Four Americans were killed in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.

In a letter to Congressional leaders obtained by The New York Times, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. disclosed that the administration had deliberately killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen.

The American responsibility for Mr. Awlaki’s death has been widely reported, but the administration had until now refused to confirm or deny it.

The letter also said that the United States had killed three other Americans: Samir Khan, who was killed in the same strike; Mr. Awlaki’s son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, who was also killed in Yemen; and Jude Mohammed, who was killed in a strike in Pakistan.

“These individuals were not specifically targeted by the United States,” Mr. Holder wrote.

Crystal will play an older comedian forced to team up with a younger, more contemporary comedian for a late-night TV show.

This announcement follows the news that Crystal will do a nine-week encore run of his hit one-man Broadway show “700 Sundays” starting Nov. 5.

Jack Abramoff, Oliver North, and John Poindexter are just some of those who’ve invoked their right against self-incrimination before Congress.

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff invoked the Fifth Amendment at a 2004 congressional hearing about his suspicious dealings with Indian tribes.

The accusations blossomed into a bribery and influence-peddling scandal that eventually led to more than 20 convictions of lobbyists, lawmakers, congressional aides and others.

After serving a 3½-year prison sentence, Abramoff declared that most of the senators who lobbed questions at him that day were hypocrites who had taken thousands of dollars from his clients and firms.

Oliver North and John M. Poindexter, national security aides to President Ronald Reagan, initially pleaded the Fifth during the Iran-Contra hearings in 1986.

North, a Marine lieutenant colonel, said lawyers advised him to “avail myself of the protections provided by that same Constitution that I have fought to support and defend.”

North and Poindexter later testified in televised hearings under a deal that promised them limited immunity. That grant of immunity eventually would lead an appeals court to overturn their criminal convictions.

Rush Limbaugh criticized Darrell Issa for letting Lois Lerner get away, and says she forfeited her Fifth Amendment rights. Funny that suddenly Issa is saying the same thing.

“Issa basically let her get away with it,” the conservative talk show host said, according to a transcript. “She’s gone. He looked clueless, like didn’t know what was going on, didn’t know how to deal with this…

“She shows up and she makes a statement,” Limbaugh continued, referring to Issa’s actions at the earlier hearing. “She started her innocence, she denied doing anything wrong, and then says… ‘I’m not answering any questions,’ and Issa let her go. He asked her a couple of more questions. He seemed confused, turned off the mic, consulted his counsel behind him, and then came back and asked a couple more questions, and excused her.”

Limbaugh, echoing Issa’s later comments, argued that “once you assert your innocence and once you say you didn’t do anything wrong, you can’t then use the Fifth Amendment to say, ‘I’m not answering questions,’” he said. “Any good prosecutor — and that’s what Issa has to be. This is a congressional hearing.”

And now Darrell Issa is calling Lerner back and claiming she lost her Fifth Amendment rights.

Rep. Darrell Issa is hauling Lerner back before Congress and says she has no Fifth Amendment rights at this point.

The California Republican said Lerner’s Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination was voided when she gave an opening statement this morning denying any wrongdoing and professing pride in her government service.

“When I asked her her questions from the very beginning, I did so so she could assert her rights prior to any statement,” Issa told POLITICO. “She chose not to do so — so she waived…

“I understand from her counsel that there was a plan to assert her Fifth Amendment rights,” he continued. “She went ahead and made a statement, so counsel let her effectively under the precedent, waive — so we now have someone who no longer has that ability.”

Ban Ki-moon says we need to address water security as the world becomes depleted of its drinkable water supply.

Speaking on the UN’s International Day of Biological Diversity, Ban said there was a “mutually reinforcing” relationship between biodiversity and water that should be harnessed.

“We live in an increasingly water insecure world where demand often outstrips supply and where water quality often fails to meet minimum standards. Under current trends, future demands for water will not be met,” Ban said…

“Where once the focus was on trade-offs between water use and biodiversity, today we are coming to understand how biodiversity and water security are mutually reinforcing,” he said.

“Ecosystems influence the local, regional and global availability and quality of water. Forests help regulate soil erosion and protect water quality and supply. Wetlands can reduce flood risks. Soil biodiversity helps maintain water for crops.

“Integrating nature-based solutions into urban planning can also help us build better water futures for cities, where water stresses may be especially acute given the rapid pace of urbanization.”

Should we expect anything more?

On Wednesday, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) held an anti-abortion press conference for the bill he intends to reintroduce that restricts women’s abortion rights nationwide. A direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, Franks’ bill bans abortions after 20 weeks, before a fetus even reaches the point of viability. Just this week, an appeals court stuck down a 20-week abortion ban enacted by Franks’ home state of Arizona.

The lawmakers slated to speak today included nine House Republicans in addition to Franks — Republicans Chris Smith (NJ), Joe Pitts (PA), John Fleming (LA), Randy Weber (TX), Steve King (IA), Steve Daines (MT), Joe Wilson (SC), and Louie Gohmert (TX). Michele Bachmann (MN) was the only woman member of Congress listed for the event. Pictured above on the right is Susan B. Anthony List‘s Marilyn Musgrave and another non-member of Congress. Republicans have a history of excluding women from these conversations, like inviting an all-male panel to discuss limiting women’s access to birth control.

Rummy spoke with Larry King on his online show.

KING: Do you support same-sex marriage?

RUMSFELD: You know, I’m, I guess, of a generation that I don’t — I wonder — I listened to some of the Supreme Court justices and one of them said, ‘Well what’s next after that? Is it two people, three people?‘

KING: But you were a strong supporter of civil rights in Congress — I remember that.

RUMSFELD: You bet I was, throughout the 60s. I was proud of the work that the Congress did in the 1964 legislation and 1965 legislation. I guess I just don’t equate the two, and it’s not a subject I’m knowledgeable about. I guess the Rumsfeld here is: I don’t know.