Black leaders emerge as powerful allies in LGBT fight in South
(Reuters) – The U.S. battle over bathrooms and wedding cakes is pushing many African-American leaders in the South to the forefront of the latest civil rights frontier, as the threat of discrimination overshadows long-held reservations on gay issues.
Heroin use at 20-year high in U.S. drug ‘epidemic’, U.N. says
VIENNA (Reuters) – A heroin “epidemic” is gripping the United States, where cheap supply has helped push the number of users to a 20-year high, increasing drug-related deaths, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Some evacuation orders lifted in California wildfires
(Reuters) – Firefighters battled on Wednesday to gain control of two wildfires burning across drought-parched foothills northeast of Los Angeles, though authorities lifted some evacuation orders as crews created a buffer around previously threatened ho…
Louisiana officer shot and killed during pedestrian stop
(Reuters) – A Louisiana sheriff’s deputy died of gunshot wounds on Wednesday after being shot three times in the back by a pedestrian he had stopped in a high-crime suburb of New Orleans, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Body recovered from family’s boat missing off Florida coast
(Reuters) – Searchers have recovered the body of one of the family members whose sailboat went missing off the Florida coast three days ago, a Coast Guard official said on Wednesday.
Idaho prosecutor denies Syrian refugees gang-raped girl
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – An Idaho prosecutor said on Wednesday that internet outlets devoted to carrying anti-Muslim sentiments were to blame for fomenting widely spread, false rumors that three Syrian refugee boys had gang-raped a young girl at knife…
U.S. transfers Guantanamo detainee to Montenegro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Yemeni man who had been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo for 14 years has been transferred to Montenegro, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama pushes to close the facility before leaving offic…
Tornadoes touch down in U.S. Midwest, no initial damage reported
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms tore across northern Illinois on Thursday as part of a weather system forecast to threaten a swath from the Mississippi River to Ohio.
U.S. completes ‘takedown’ of Medicare fraud: officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. law enforcement officials have charged 301 suspects with trying to defraud Medicare and other federal insurance programs in 2016, marking the “largest takedown” involving health care fraud allegations, the Justice Department…
In Silicon Valley, Obama to keep hot-button tech issues off agenda
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will head to Silicon Valley on Friday to a summit aimed at connecting about 1,200 entrepreneurs from 170 countries with the biggest and brightest players in the U.S. tech sector and venture capital communit…
