Bills targeting protests in U.S. states fuel free speech fears
(Reuters) – Republican lawmakers in several central U.S. states are pushing bills that would crack down on demonstrations, drawing criticism from free speech campaigners and underlining the polarization over protests in the era of President Donald Trum…
Muslim woman assaulted at JFK airport; man charged with hate crimes
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Massachusetts man who prosecutors said yelled that President Donald Trump “will get rid of all of you” after assaulting a female Muslim employee at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport faces nine hate crime charges.
U.S.-Mexico crisis deepens as Trump aide floats border tax idea
PHILADELPHIA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The White House on Thursday floated the idea of imposing a 20 percent tax on goods from Mexico to pay for a wall at the southern U.S. border, sending the peso tumbling and deepening a crisis between the two neighbor…
Pennsylvania governor says he is cancer-free after treatment
(Reuters) – Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said on Friday he has been given a clean bill of health after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
Senator says Labor Dept dismantled website for Wells Fargo workers
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday accused the U.S. Labor Department of dismantling a website designed to help Wells Fargo workers file whistleblower retaliation and other complaints against the bank after Donald Trump…
Arkansas governor signs abortion law banning common procedure
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) – Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed into law on Thursday a bill banning the most common abortion procedure employed in the second trimester of a pregnancy, among the most restrictive abortion legislation in the United …
Red tape chokes off drilling on Native American reservations
FORT BERTHOLD, North Dakota (Reuters) – When the U.S. oil boom hit North Dakota a decade ago, wells sprang up quickly on the edges of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, an expanse of prairie and rolling hills three times larger than Los Angeles.
Super Bowl glare fixes attention on Texas ‘bathroom bill’
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – As Houston readies to host the Super Bowl, a push by lawmakers in Texas to restrict bathroom access for transgender people is raising fears the state may be unable to score future major sporting events and could lose champions…
Texas executes man convicted of killing two in 2002 robbery
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A Texas inmate was executed on Thursday for killing two sandwich shop employees during a robbery in 2002 after the Supreme Court denied appeals that argued he was not the trigger man and his case was tainted by prosecutorial m…
Illinois attorney general asks judge to stop paying workers
(Reuters) – The attorney general of Illinois asked a judge on Thursday to lift an order requiring state workers to be paid during the state’s record 19-month budget impasse in hopes of putting pressure on lawmakers to pass a spending plan.
