U.S. executions drop in 2013 as death penalty concerns rise: report
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) – Executions in the United States are decreasing due to concerns about costs, flawed prosecutions and shortages of drugs needed to carry out lethal injections, the Death Penalty Information Center said in a report on Thursd…
White House review panel proposes curbs on some NSA programs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A White House-appointed panel on Wednesday proposed curbs on some key National Security Agency surveillance operations, recommending limits on a program to collect records of billions of telephone calls and new tests before Washi…
Evolution lessons in Texas biology textbook will stay, board says
DALLAS (Reuters) – A panel of experts has rejected concerns by religious conservatives in Texas that a high school biology textbook contained factual errors about evolution and a state board approved the book on Wednesday for use in public schools.
U.S. citizen gets 25 years in Taliban weapons sting
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oded Orbach, one of two U.S. citizens among a group of men accused in 2011 of trying to sell weapons to people they thought were Taliban militants, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court.
Mega Millions winners in Georgia, California to split $648 million
ATLANTA (Reuters) – A 56-year-old Georgia woman played numbers from family birth dates to win half of a near-record $648 million Mega Millions jackpot, but the buyer of a second winning ticket sold in California has yet to come forward, lottery officia…
North Dakota says man in same-sex marriage may wed woman too
(Reuters) – A man already married to another man in a state that permits same-sex marriage could wed a woman in North Dakota without breaking state laws, the state’s top attorney has found.
Hearings set on second sanity test for theater gunman
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) – A judge presiding over the murder case against accused Colorado theater gunman James Holmes on Monday set hearings for next month on whether the onetime graduate student should undergo a second sanity examination.
Exclusive: Tesla Model S charging system may have started garage fire – California fire dept
(Reuters) – A fire department in Southern California said a garage fire may have been caused by an overheated charging system in a Tesla Model S sedan, in the latest link between the top selling electric car and the potential for fire.
Texas prosecutor seeks to put ‘affluenza’ teen behind bars
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A Texas prosecutor is trying to place behind bars a teenager who killed four people while driving drunk but received a sentence of probation based partially on defense arguments that the youth was a victim of his family’s enor…
Missouri mom charged for topless hot tub photo with teen daughter
(Reuters) – A photo of a topless Missouri mother and her bare-breasted teenage daughter in a hot tub has landed the mother in hot water with the law.
