El Nino more than 50 percent likely by summer: U.S. weather forecaster
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The chances have increased over the past month that the much-feared El Nino phenomenon, which has the potential to wreak havoc on global crops, would strike by summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the federal U.S. weather forecaster …
Mother in high-profile international custody fight returned to U.S
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A woman who sparked a high-profile international custody fight when she took her two U.S.-born children to her native Slovakia and failed to return on time returned to the United States on Thursday to face criminal charges, the …
Clever chimps at Kansas City Zoo make brief break to freedom
KANSAS CITY (Reuters) – Seven chimpanzees used an improvised ladder from a tree to scale a wall and briefly escape their enclosure at the Kansas City Zoo on Thursday, a zoo official said.
Slow-moving landslide prompts evacuations in Wyoming resort town
(Reuters) – A slow-moving landslide prompted the evacuation of dozens of homes in the upscale Wyoming community of Jackson amid reports the mass was gaining speed and could dislodge a hillside neighborhood, a city manager said.
U.S. agency recommends shorter prison sentences for drug offenders
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Up to 70 percent of all federal drug offenses could carry shorter prison sentences if the recommendation passed on Thursday by an agency that advises U.S. federal judges on sentencing is not opposed by Congress.
CIA’s ‘harsh interrogations’ exceeded legal authority: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A classified U.S. Senate report found that the CIA’s legal justification for the use of harsh interrogation techniques that critics say amount to torture was based on faulty legal reasoning, McClatchy news service reported on Thu…
Judge restores $120 million in tobacco settlement to Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia judge on Thursday set aside most of an arbitration ruling that could have cost the state of Pennsylvania some $180 million from a landmark 1998 settlement with the nation’s tobacco companies.
U.S. Navy looks to leverage submarine work to keep costs down
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy hopes to save money and time by leveraging industry investments as it replaces its Ohio-class nuclear-armed submarines with the Virginia-class attack submarines now built by General Dynamics Corp and Huntington Inga…
Los Angeles County sheriff deputies mistakenly kill man fleeing assailant
(Reuters) – An aspiring TV producer who was being held captive by a knife-wielding man in West Hollywood was mistakenly shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies as he tried to escape his assailant, the sheriff’s department said on Thurs…
Pennsylvania officials seek motive for school stabbing rampage
MURRYSVILLE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Pennsylvania officials sought a motive on Thursday for what may have driven a 16-year-old student to turn on his classmates with two kitchen knives, stabbing startled victims in the stomach and back and leaving nea…
