1) While that may be a bummer to you, it's a feature to me. I hate having Google assume I want local content or value that higher than other content.

2) I don't go to a search-engine for news. There are better tools and sites for that.

3) Excuse me. I just suffered a parsing error.

4) And this is why I use it. Google search has become a bloated UX disaster and Google is a creepy company. Just plain search sounds great!