Contraception opt-out violates religious freedom: U.S. appeals court
(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court has ruled that President Barack Obama’s healthcare law violates the rights of religiously affiliated employers by forcing them to help provide contraceptive coverage even though they do not have to pay for it.
Obama’s Nobel Prize fell short of hopes: committee insider
OSLO (Reuters) – The effect of giving the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama fell short of the nominating committee’s hopes, and several awards in the past 25 years were even more questionable, the committee’s former secretary says i…
US rail safety deadline must be extended soon: Senate panel chairman
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress must act soon to extend a Dec. 31 rail safety deadline or risk major disruptions to the U.S. economy, the Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee said on Thursday.
California’s new, unending fire season takes toll on firefighters
LAKEPORT, Calif. (Reuters) – The damage from California’s fast-spreading wildfires is usually expressed in acres destroyed, homes razed or people killed. But for the firefighters, a mental and physical toll is mounting just as fast.
Pope’s U.S. visit may deepen Republicans’ Hispanic problem
ORLANDO (Reuters) – Bob Cortes, a Republican legislator in Florida, fears he is losing the Hispanic vote that helped get him elected. The culprits: Republican presidential candidates such as Donald Trump who are railing against immigration.
Missouri lawmakers stop cities from raising minimum wage
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) – Missouri’s majority Republican legislature voted on Wednesday to block Kansas City, St. Louis and other municipalities from raising minimum wages above the state’s ceiling, overriding a veto of the bill by Governor Jay Nixo…
Wal-Mart worker group splits in two; both sides vow to continue wage fight
CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Wal-Mart Stores Inc worker group that has been one of the loudest voices pushing the retailer to boost wages and improve conditions has splintered over a disagreement about funding and strategic direction, according to…
Obama invites Texas student arrested for homemade clock to White House
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A Texas teenager taken away in handcuffs this week for bringing to his Dallas-area school a homemade clock that staff mistook for a bomb won a personal invitation from President Barack Obama on Wednesday to visit the White Hou…
Alaska residents to receive record payment from oil royalty fund
(Reuters) – Alaska will give each resident more than $2,000 next month as the annual payout from an oil wealth trust fund, a state revenue official said on Wednesday, a record amount despite the collapse in oil prices last year.
U.S. budget woes send ‘wrong message’ to potential foes: Defense Secretary
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday warned that continued uncertainty about U.S. military spending levels would send “the wrong message at the wrong time” when Russia and China are rapidly advancing their tec…
