U.S. bars Venezuelan officials accused of abuses in protests
WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) – Washington barred a group of Venezuelan officials, including government ministers and presidential advisers, from the United States on Wednesday after accusing them of abuses in a crackdown on protests against President N…
U.S. Senate bill would make colleges get tough on sexual assault
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to combat sexual assaults on college and university campuses by requiring schools to provide more help for victims and work more closely with police investig…
Massachusetts governor signs law limiting protests at abortion clinics
BOSTON (Reuters) – Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Wednesday signed into law a measure allowing to police to order anti-abortion protesters away from clinic entrances if their presence impedes public access.
Biofuel groups press White House on more than just 2014 targets
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. biofuel industry is urging the Obama administration to go beyond simply raising proposed targets for use of the fuels, making the case instead for fundamental changes to the government’s approach to the renewable fuel pr…
U.S. House passes $17 billion veterans healthcare bill, 420-5
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $17 billion plan to ease long healthcare delays at the scandal-plagued Veterans Affairs Department, adding much of the cost to the federal deficit.
Federal Obamacare market still faces cost overruns, delays: watchdog
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ten months after the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov, Obamacare’s federal health insurance exchange is still dogged by cost overruns and technology delays that could hamper enrollment when it resumes in November, a U.S. watchdo…
Kerry presses India on global trade deal as deadline looms
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who arrived in India on Wednesday for an official visit, has pressed New Delhi to drop its opposition to global trade reforms, saying it was a test of the country’s commitment to advance economi…
U.S. lawmaker takes soda tax battle to Capitol Hill
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Connecticut lawmaker on Wednesday launched the first national effort in years to tax soda drinks, the latest bid by regulators and politicians to stem rising obesity and diabetes rates by curbing the consumption of sugary drinks….
Congress jockeys over troubled border-funding bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Legislation to pay for handling a flood of Central American migrant children hung by a thread in the Congress on Wednesday amid deep divisions over President Barack Obama’s emergency funding request, even as the Senate agreed to …
Republican Paul Ryan slams U.S. Ex-Im Bank as ‘crony capitalism’
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican congressman Paul Ryan on Wednesday slammed the U.S. Export-Import Bank as a purveyor of “crony capitalism” that mainly helps a few large companies, and said Congress should focus instead on market reforms that speed gr…
