Suspect, hostage die in police shootout with California bank robbers
(Reuters) – A suspected bank robber and a female hostage died on Wednesday in a shootout with California police after a car chase sparked by a bank robbery in which thieves seized three women as hostages, firing assault rifles as they fled.
Utah asks Supreme Court to stay ruling on recognizing gay marriages
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) – Utah’s attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday for an emergency stay of an order by an appeals court to recognize hundreds of same-sex marriages performed in the state pending an appeal.
Romanian princess admits running cockfighting ring in Oregon
PORTLAND Ore. (Reuters) – A Romanian princess and her husband pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one charge of running an illegal gambling operation for their involvement in a cockfighting ring in rural Oregon. 
San Diego strippers say cops photographed them in the nude
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – Thirty strippers in the San Diego area filed a lawsuit against the San Diego Police Department on Wednesday, saying they were forced to be photographed while nude or nearly nude while officers claimed to be inspecting the clubs wh…
Attorney says Bergdahl grateful to Obama for freedom
SALMON Idaho (Reuters) – U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is grateful to President Barack Obama for the prisoner exchange that freed him from five years as a captive of the Taliban and wishes for privacy concerning family matters, his attorney said on …
U.S. beauty pageant winner sues after being stripped of crown
(Reuters) – A beauty pageant winner who was stripped of her Miss Delaware crown for being a few months too old is suing the Miss America organization, saying officials knew her age and disqualified her unfairly, court documents filed on Wednesday show….
Fight over human trafficking law jeopardizes U.S. response to border crisis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic lawmakers’ deep resistance to changing a 2008 law that combats human trafficking threatened on Wednesday to slow the government’s response to a surge of 57,000 undocumented Central American children across the sou…
Israeli-Palestinian clash echoed on University of California council
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A student with strong ties to Israel was appointed to the governing council of the University of California Wednesday amid debate similar to that which arose last year after the Board of Regents chose a Muslim student active i…
Four more charged with hate crimes tied to 2011 Mississippi slaying
JACKSON Miss. (Reuters) – Four white Mississippi residents pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to federal hate crime charges stemming from an attack on a black man run over by a truck and killed, in a case that has already yielded six convictions.
Missouri executes triple murderer after stay is lifted
(Reuters) – After a nearly day-long delay amid a flurry of final appeals, Missouri put to death a triple murderer who had claimed both that he was innocent and that he suffered from mental incompetence.
