A seminary behind bars seeks to change Texas prison system
ROSHARON Texas (Reuters) – In a solitary confinement unit at a maximum-security prison in Texas, convicted murderer Troup Foster offers spiritual guidance to offenders as a part of a program designed to spark a cultural change in the country’s largest …
Exclusive: Oil-by-rail project for shut California refinery nears approval
(Reuters) – The first new crude-by-rail project at a California refinery is likely to win approval next month after more than a year of scrutiny, the head of the Kern County planning division told Reuters, and it could help reopen the shuttered plant.
NASCAR tells drivers to stay in cars in wake of fatal crash
(Reuters) – NASCAR on Friday said it would forbid drivers from getting out of their cars during caution periods following an on-track fatality last weekend when three-time champion Tony Stewart struck another driver.
Exclusive – Wife defines stakes in Oklahoma divorce: $17 billion
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – More than $17 billion of Oklahoma oilman Harold Hamm’s fortune could be subject to division with his estranged wife, according to an economic analysis presented in their divorce trial, defining the stakes in one of the biggest…
Police designate couple ‘prisoners’ after killing of American in Bali
DENPASAR Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Friday formally designated an American couple prisoners in connection with the death of a Chicago-based woman whose body was found in a bloodied suitcase on the resort island of Bali.
Al Qaeda tells family to press U.S. to negotiate hostage release
DUBAI (Reuters) – Al Qaeda told the family of a U.S. hostage kidnapped three years ago in Pakistan to press their government to exchange him for prisoners held by the United States, in a message posted on the Internet on Friday.
Missouri takes control of security away from Ferguson police
FERGUSON Mo. (Reuters) – Missouri’s governor moved to ease tensions on Thursday after days of racially charged protests over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, putting the African-American captain of the Highway Patrol in charge of secur…
Thailand stops U.S. and Australian couples leaving with surrogate babies: advocate
SYDNEY (Reuters) – U.S. and Australian couples attempting to leave Thailand with babies born by surrogate mothers have been stopped at the airport and prevented from leaving the country in recent days, an Australian surrogacy advocate said on Friday.
At end of round-the-world trip, Kerry’s plane breaks down in Hawaii
HONOLULU (Reuters) – The globe-trotting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was forced to catch a commercial flight on Thursday after his U.S. Air Force plane encountered technical difficulties before takeoff from Hawaii at the end of a nine-day round-t…
The other Texas border deployment: doctors, dentists, opticians
MISSION Texas (Reuters) – For the Texas State and National Guard, Operation Lone Star is a disaster preparedness exercise. For public health experts, it is a humanitarian mission. And for Itzel, a teenage schoolgirl, it is a chance to finally get glass…
