Plan to divide California into six states fails to qualify for ballot
(Reuters) – A long-shot effort to break California into six separate states failed to collect enough signatures to put it on the November 2016 ballot, state officials said on Friday, as the group behind the plan criticized the rejection.
California state senator gets jail time in voter fraud case
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A California state senator convicted on eight felony counts of perjury and voter fraud was sentenced to 90 days in jail on Friday in one of three ethics scandals involving Democratic lawmakers in the most populous U.S. state.
Kerry plays down hopes of imminent anti-Islamic State coalition
ANKARA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday played down chances of an imminent broad coalition against Islamic State militants, illustrating the difficulty Washington faces winning commitment for a military campaign in the heart of …
Colorado candidate gets death threat after questioning Sandy Hook massacre
DENVER (Reuters) – A candidate for a county commission seat in Colorado said on Friday he received a death threat after questioning whether the 2012 school shooting that killed 20 children in Connecticut was a hoax.
Mexico President slams Texas governor over border crackdown
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s deployment of National Guard troops on the U.S.-Mexican border is “reprehensible” and puts neighborly relations at risk, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in an interview published on Friday.
U.S. intensifies sanctions on Russia over Ukraine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States hit Russia’s largest bank, a major arms maker and arctic, deepwater and shale exploration by its biggest oil companies with new sanctions on Friday to punish Moscow for its intervention in Ukraine.
Corporate tax inversion crackdown ‘unavoidable’: U.S. Rep. Levin
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Corporations should be on notice that government action is coming on “inversion” deals done by U.S. businesses that reincorporate abroad to cut their tax bills, said the top Democratic tax-writer in the House of Representatives o…
U.S. judge questions Republican challenge to pay-to-play rule
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. district judge questioned on Friday whether two state Republican parties have legal standing to challenge a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule that puts some restrictions on asset managers when they make campaign…
Political postcards from the edge: Two US senators, one remote island
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There may be hope after all for Democrats and Republicans to work closely together, although they may have to travel thousands of miles from the U.S. capital – and to a remote island – to do so.
Former U.S. Afghanistan commander to lead effort against Islamic State
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has chosen retired Marine Corps General John Allen, who served as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to coordinate international efforts to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, a U.S. offici…
