U.S., Cuba restore ties after 50 years
HAVANA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Cuba agreed on Wednesday to restore diplomatic ties that Washington severed more than 50 years ago, and President Barack Obama called for an end to the long economic embargo against its old Cold War e…
New York Mayor de Blasio named PETA’s Person of the Year
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was named 2014 Person of the Year by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for opposing horse-drawn carriages in Manhattan and advocating other animal-friendly causes, the group said on Th…
Father of unlicensed driver in fatal crash denies having let her drive his SUV
HARRISBURG, Pa. (Reuters) – A man whose 15-year-old daughter, an unlicensed driver, crashed his SUV in an accident in Pennsylvania that killed three people denies having given her permission to drive the vehicle, his attorney said on Thursday.
Trial of Pennsylvania family accused of starving boy set for March
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) – The trial of three members of a western Pennsylvania family accused of beating and starving a seven-year-old boy nearly to death will begin on March 10, court officials said on Thursday.
Wisconsin girls in Slenderman case ruled competent to stand trial
WAUKESHA, Wisc. (Reuters) – Two Wisconsin girls accused of luring a classmate into the woods and repeatedly stabbing her to please a fictional Internet character named Slenderman are competent to stand trial, a judge ruled on Thursday.
Apple’s Cook makes ‘substantial’ donation for gay rights in U.S. South
(Reuters) – Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook, the highest-profile U.S. business leader to publicly acknowledge being gay, has made a “substantial” donation to a gay rights effort in his native Alabama and two other southern U.S. states, activists sai…
Most steel fasteners safe on San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge: officials
(Reuters) – The vast majority of steel rods and bolts holding together a new section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge are safe, state investigators said Thursday, despite earlier cracks in about 32 fasteners on the span, which replaced a section of the bridge lost in a 1989 earthquake.
Black-market chemist pleads guilty in U.S. baseball doping scandal
MIAMI (Reuters) – A black-market chemist pleaded guilty on Thursday to concocting testosterone in the garage lab of his Florida home that was used to supply performance-enhancing drugs linked to the U.S. baseball doping scandal.
White House does not dismiss idea of Castro visit
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House does not dismiss the possibility of an eventual, precedent-shattering visit to Washington by Cuban President Raul Castro as part of President Barack Obama’s plans to normalize relations with Havana.
White supremacist charged in Kansas deaths found competent for trial
KANSAS CITY, Kan (Reuters) – A Kansas judge on Thursday found that a white supremacist accused in the murder of three people at Jewish facilities is competent to stand trial, after reviewing a psychological report requested by his defense lawyers.
