Rights group asks U.S. judge to halt NSA phone data program
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The American Civil Liberties Union on Friday urged a federal judge to halt a U.S. spy agency’s sweeping collection of telephone data, arguing that the program goes beyond what Congress authorized and violates the constitutional rig…
Toronto’s scandal-hit mayor still has 42 percent approval
TORONTO (Reuters) – More than 40 percent of Toronto voters still approve of the job Mayor Rob Ford has done, even after he admitted smoking crack cocaine and city council stripped him of much of his authority.
Americans get extra week to sign up for Obamacare as website improves
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans hoping to sign up for health insurance under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law will have an additional eight days to do so for coverage to begin January 1, 2014, officials said on Friday.
Mass. crime lab chemist sentenced to 3-5 years for tampering
BOSTON (Reuters) – A former Massachusetts crime lab chemist was sentenced to three to five years in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to tampering with evidence and other charges in a case that shook the foundations of the state’s criminal justice…
North Korea confirms detention of U.S. citizen: State Department
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea has confirmed through Swedish officials in Pyongyang that it has detained a U.S. citizen, a State Department official said on Friday, after reports that an 85-year-old California man was pulled off a plane as he was a…
Virginia state Senator Deeds: ‘Some wounds won’t heal’
RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) – A prominent Virginia state politician who was stabbed in what police describe as an attempted murder by his son thanked supporters after his release from a hospital on Friday, but said some wounds would never heal.
Two children dead after car crashes into Minnesota pond
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Three children were in critical condition on Friday a day after the car they were riding in slid into a near-freezing pond in suburban Minneapolis in a crash that has left two of their siblings dead, authorities and the family’s…
Evolution battle stirs as Texas delays new biology text
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) – Social conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education have delayed approval of a high school biology textbook, pending a review by experts, citing concerns about the book’s lessons on evolution.
White House says 2015 enrollment for Obamacare pushed back one month
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration will push back the open enrollment season for Obamacare health insurance in 2015 by a month to give insurance companies more time to determine their rates, the White House said on Friday.
Connecticut to release Newtown school shooting report on Monday
(Reuters) – Connecticut’s long-awaited report on the shooting last December at a Newtown elementary school that killed 20 children and six adults is due to be released on Monday, the prosecutor’s office said on Friday.
