Jubilance in Times Square as New York marks the new year
NEW YORK (Reuters) – More than a million people in New York’s Times Square hailed the arrival of 2016 early Friday with kisses, cheers and a measure of relief as America’s biggest New Year’s Eve celebration unfolded without a hitch under a blanket of u…
Return of Texas ‘affluenza’ teen delayed, mother jailed in U.S
LOS ANGELES/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Texas teenager derided for his “affluenza” defense in a deadly drunken-driving case won a weeks-long delay in extradition from Mexico, while his mother was in a Los Angeles jail on Thursday after being deported.
Cosby faces big financial threat from civil lawsuits: legal experts
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Civil lawsuits accusing Bill Cosby of sex abuse and defamation could do major damage to the entertainer’s wealth, regardless of how a criminal prosecution plays out, lawyers who have handled similar cases said on Thursday.
Five New Year’s revelers wounded in New Orleans shooting
(Reuters) – Five young men were wounded, one critically, in a shooting at a Year’s Eve party in New Orleans, police and media reports said.
Federal judge blocks Arkansas restrictions on abortion pill
LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) – A federal judge on Thursday granted a two-week restraining order against an Arkansas law restricting use of the so-called abortion pill, one day before the statute was to go into effect.
Floods swamp Missouri, Illinois; nine million people in risk areas
(Reuters) – Towns in Tennessee and southern Illinois prepared on Thursday to cope with potential flooding after rain-swollen rivers washed out hundreds of structures in Missouri, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma and forced thousands to flee their homes.
Somali workers fired at Colorado packing plant in prayer dispute
DENVER (Reuters) – Nearly 200 workers, mostly Somali immigrants, have been fired from a meat-packing plant in Colorado after staging a walkout to protest what they said were insufficient prayer accommodations, the company and Islamic advocacy groups sa…
Another Washington state death blamed on a prisoner freed by mistake
(Reuters) – A former Washington state prisoner among those mistakenly released early since 2002 has been arrested on suspicion of killing a man, in the second death blamed on a wrongly released inmate, officials said on Thursday.
Suspected Islamic State supporter charged with New Year’s Eve plot in upstate New York
(Reuters) – A 25-year-old man accused of planning to attack a restaurant in upstate New York on New Year’s Eve has been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State militant group, the U.S. Justice Department sa…
U.S. chief justice urges judges, lawyers to cooperate for speedier litigation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts urged trial judges on Thursday to manage cases more efficiently and advised lawyers to avoid “antagonistic tactics,” as he focused his annual year-end report on federal rules intended to speed up litigation.
