U.S. health agency finalizes conscience and religious freedom rule
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released a final rule allowing doctors, nurses and other health workers to opt out of procedures such as abortions and sterilizations which violate their personal or religious beliefs.
As measles returns, U.S. states look to cut vaccine exemptions
Maine could soon prohibit parents from citing religious or personal beliefs to avoid vaccinating their children, making the U.S. state one of a half dozen cracking down during the nation’s largest measles outbreak in 25 years.
Sexual assaults spike in U.S. military, hit new record: Pentagon
The U.S. Defense Department said on Thursday the estimated number of sexual assaults in the military climbed nearly 38 percent in 2018 compared with a survey two years earlier, data that critics say laid bare broken Pentagon promises of a crackdown.
McKesson to pay $37 million to resolve West Virginia opioid lawsuit
Drug distributor McKesson Corp has agreed to pay $37 million to resolve a lawsuit by the state of West Virginia seeking to hold it responsible for contributing to the opioid epidemic, the state’s attorney general said on Thursday.
Would-be NYC subway bomber who turned informant faces sentencing
A former al Qaeda recruit convicted of plotting to bomb New York City’s subway system will be sentenced on Thursday, nearly a decade after he pleaded guilty and became one of the U.S. government’s most valuable counterterrorism informants.
Accused gunman in North Carolina college shooting due in court
A former student at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte was due to appear in court on Thursday, accused of murdering two students and attempting to kill others when he opened fire in a crowded classroom on Tuesday.
Georgia to execute man convicted of killing ex-girlfriend, her friend in 1994
A 52-year-old man convicted of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends during an argument in 1994 is scheduled to be executed in Georgia on Thursday.
Facebook settlement with U.S. may include privacy oversight: Politico
Facebook Inc and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are negotiating a possible settlement that would require the company to create an independent privacy oversight committee and take other steps to safeguard users, Politico reported on Wednesday, citin…
Ex-CIA officer pleads guilty to conspiring to spy for China
A former CIA officer has pleaded guilty to conspiring to pass U.S. defense and intelligence secrets to China, the Justice Department said on Wednesday, in the third such case in less than a year.
Teenage Guatemalan migrant dies in Texas while in U.S. custody
A 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant died in a Texas hospital while in the custody of the U.S. government on Wednesday after his health steadily declined due to a severe brain infection, according to officials from both countries.
