Indiana, Arkansas retreat on religion bills may spark wider trend
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Oklahoma lawmakers have put the brakes on a religion bill similar to ones in Indiana and Arkansas that were overhauled last week after facing a storm of criticism for being seen as discriminatory against gays.
Ex-NFL star Darren Sharper pleads not guilty to U.S. charges he drugged women
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Former NFL star Darren Sharper entered a not guilty plea on Monday in New Orleans to federal charges that he drugged women with the intent to rape them, having already pleaded guilty to related charges in three states.
Arkansas woman dies at 116 after six-day reign as world’s oldest person
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Gertrude Weaver, who last week became the world’s oldest-known living person, has died at the age of 116 at a senior care facility in Arkansas, officials said on Monday.
Stray bullet hits boy, eight, in head as he sleeps in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An eight-year-old boy who was struck in the head by a stray bullet while he slept when an intruder opened fire in his house was listed in critical but stable condition on Monday after surgery to remove the projectile, police sai…
Clemson disciplines fraternity over gang-themed ‘Cripmas’ party
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – Clemson University has placed a fraternity on disciplinary probation for two years after some of its members threw a gangster-themed Christmas party in December that was seen as racially insensitive, the school said on Mond…
College watch list a ‘caution light’
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Regulators recently made public a once secret watch list of around 550 colleges under scrutiny for financial irregularities. But inclusion on the list doesn’t automatically mean the schools are about to fail, according to Depart…
Accused Boston bomber followed brother’s lead, defense argues
BOSTON (Reuters) – Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev followed his older brother’s lead in carrying out the 2013 bombing that killed three people, rather than acting on his own motivation, one of his attorneys argued on Monday.
Exclusive: Safety concerns rise at big Texas refinery a decade after disaster
TEXAS CITY, Texas (Reuters) – U.S. workplace regulators are probing accident data reported by Marathon Petroleum Corp at its huge Texas refinery, as laborers and union representatives raise concerns that safety practices implemented a decade ago follow…
Ex-convict pleads not guilty in fatal Arizona shooting rampage
PHOENIX (Reuters) – A former Arizona convict accused of an hours-long shooting rampage that killed one person and wounded five others in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa last month pleaded not guilty on Monday to multiple felony charges.
U.S. safety board looking into smoke in second Washington subway
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a second incident of smoke in a Washington-area subway tunnel in addition to its probe of a fatal January accident, the agency said on Monday.
