Chicago buffeted as strong winds prompt highrise evacuations
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Gusts of up to 70 mph (113 kph) in the Windy City on Friday caused the closure of the second-tallest U.S. building’s observation deck, power outages, flight cancellations and highrise evacuations.
U.S. proposes hike in Medicare Advantage payments; insurer shares rise
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Friday proposed raising payments by 1.35 percent on average next year to the health insurers who offer Medicare Advantage health benefits to elderly and disabled Americans.
Government proposes 1.35 percent rise in 2017 Medicare Advantage payments
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Friday said it was proposing an increase of 1.35 percent on average in payments to health insurers who offer Medicare Advantage, which provides health benefits to more than 17 million elderly or disabled peop…
Texas ‘affluenza’ teen’s case sent to adult court system
FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) – America’s “affluenza” teen had his case transferred to the adult court system on Friday, where 18-year-old Texan Ethan Couch faces decades behind bars if he violates a probation deal that kept him out of prison for killing…
Exclusive: Common mobile software could have opened San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone
Feb 19 (Reuters) – – The legal showdown over U.S. demands that Apple Inc AAPL.O unlock an iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Rizwan Farook might have been avoided if his employer, which owns the device, had equipped it with special mobile phone soft…
Widow of El Faro crew member seeks stronger oversight of ships
(Reuters) – The widow of one of the 33 crew members killed when the El Faro sank in a hurricane last fall called on Friday for stricter oversight of decisions by shipping companies and their captains to sail in adverse weather.
Virginia military base lifts lockdown after shots fired
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military’s Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia has lifted a lockdown on Friday that was imposed after shots were fired, the base said on Twitter.
Nashville, Tampa, Miami police unions urge boycotts of Beyonce shows
(Reuters) – Police unions in Nashville, Tampa and Miami are urging officers not to volunteer to work security at pop star Beyonce’s upcoming concerts in those cities, because of what they say was an anti-police message when she performed at the Super B…
Last of Louisiana’s ‘Angola Three’ inmates released
St. Francisville, La. (Reuters) – The last of three black inmates who spent decades in solitary confinement in Louisiana’s notorious Angola prison was released on Friday after pleading no contest to manslaughter in the 1972 death of a prison guard.
Hoverboards with counterfeit batteries seized at NY airport
NEW YORK (Reuters) – More than a thousand hoverboards seized at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport were powered by counterfeit batteries that were potentially dangerous, U.S. customs officials said on Friday, highlighting concerns about the safety of t…




