Georgia National Guard to grant identity cards to same-sex spouses
ATLANTA (Reuters) – Same-sex spouses of Georgia National Guard members will be able to receive military identity cards, leaving Mississippi as the only state yet to comply with a U.S. Defense Department directive to grant access to benefits for married…
Oklahoma to execute inmate; Missouri execution stayed
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – Oklahoma on Tuesday was scheduled to execute a man convicted of raping and murdering two elderly women in the 1980s, while a federal appeals court panel has stayed a Missouri execution planned for hours later.
Google bus blocked in San Francisco gentrification protest
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A Google Inc commuter bus was blocked in San Francisco’s Mission district for about a half hour Monday morning, highlighting many residents’ growing concern that an influx of affluent technology workers is driving up costs in …
U.S. defense bill boosts funding for missile defense to $9.5 billion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A compromise defense bill proposed on Monday by U.S. lawmakers would boost spending on missile defense by $358 million to $9.5 billion, mandating an additional homeland defense radar and increasing funding for U.S.-Israeli cooper…
Montana State cracks down on fraternity after rape report
(Reuters) – Montana State University has ordered members of an off-campus fraternity to attend classes on sexual assault prevention and imposed a ban on hard liquor there after a female student reported being raped at a frat house party where alcohol w…
Florida congressman loses $18 million in loan scheme
MIAMI (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, lost about $18 million in a scheme involving a Reston, Virginia-based firm that loaned customers funds in exchange for securities posted as collateral, his office said on Monday.
California seeks to send water south via tunnel, restore depleted delta
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – California pledged on Monday to restore 80,000 acres of the depleted Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta as part of a massive project to send fresh water from mountain streams in the north to farmers and residents in t…
Los Angeles sheriff’s officials charged in jail misconduct probe
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Eighteen current or former members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have been charged with corruption and civil rights violations in a probe of inmate abuse inside the United States’ largest county jail system, fed…
U.S. Korean War veteran released by North says made ‘confession’ under duress
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An elderly U.S. Korean War veteran released from detention in North Korea said on Monday a videotaped “confession” he made was given under duress and that he believed he may have been held in a misunderstanding over his interest…
U.S. launches Spanish-language healthcare website
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government has debuted the Spanish-language version of the healthcare website that will help Latinos to shop and sign up for new insurance plans under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law.