NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Post and its top editor must face a bias lawsuit brought by a woman who said she was fired for complaining about harassment at the newspaper and a political cartoon that some people said likened President Barack Obama to a chi... More »
(Note: Strong language in the eighth paragraph) By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – R&B singer Chris Brown pleaded not guilty on Monday to misdemeanor assault after a fight that broke a man’s nose on Sunday outside a Washington hotel, the latest legal run-in... More »
(Warning: Language in seventh paragraph may be offensive to some readers) By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – R&B singer Chris Brown pleaded not guilty on Monday to a charge of misdemeanor assault as a result of a fight on Sunday outside a Washington hotel, ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – American rapper 50 Cent on Monday struck a deal with Los Angeles prosecutors for three years’ probation and 30 days of community service after allegedly kicking the mother of his child and destroying her property during a June altercati... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain summoned the U.S. ambassador on Monday to discuss alleged spying on Spanish citizens and said that, if true, the action was unacceptable behavior by an ally. Earlier, Spanish newspaper El Mundo said the NSA recently tracked over 60 mil... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lou Reed, the pioneering musician who fronted influential rock band The Velvet Underground and won mainstream acclaim with solo songs “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Perfect Day”, died on Sunday aged 71. Reed, whose band fused music and art i... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – A data center critical for allowing uninsured Americans to buy health coverage under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law went down on Sunday, halting online enrollment for all 50 states in the latest problem to hit the progr... More »
LOS ANGELES/MIAMI (Reuters) – On Monday evening, U.S. cable network Fusion will launch with interviews of President Barack Obama and Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Later that night, four puppets will provide commentary on current events during a news chat show. ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A data center that hosts the key website for the healthcare exchanges that are at the heart of President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare reform law lost connectivity on Sunday, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Huma... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two Republican congressmen on Sunday defended Washington’s surveillance programs abroad in reaction to protests from allies, after the wide scope of the eavesdropping was revealed this year by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two months before the troubled October 1 launch of Obamacare exchanges, a key administration official overseeing the program assured a congressional oversight panel that work was on track to roll out a tested website that would make it e... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Protesters marched on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday to protest the U.S. government’s online surveillance programs, whose vast scope was revealed this year by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. People carried signs read... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Music producer Quincy Jones sued Michael Jackson’s estate on Friday, seeking millions of dollars in royalties generated from some of the star’s biggest hits after the King of Pop’s death. Jones, who worked on Jackson’s three biggest sol... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, besieged by bad news about the new government health care website, sought on Saturday to highlight a portion of the complex system that she said is working well. The website, designe... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There is little evidence that employers are sacrificing full-time jobs by hiring more part-timers or reducing existing employee hours because of the costs of providing health coverage under Obamacare. Conservative Republicans have pointe... More »
(Note: foul language, paragraph three) By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) – This year’s World Series has special significance for Boston Red Sox players and baseball fans, coming a little more than six months after the city was rocked by twin bombs that killed t... More »
WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG’s top labor leader still wants workers at the company’s plant in Tennessee to have German-style representation, an arrangement that would require the involvement of a U.S. trade union such as the United Auto Workers... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Foes of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law lost a bid on Tuesday to put an immediate stop to a key part of the law – the insurance subsidies in the 34 U.S. states that declined to establish their own online marketplaces. At a court ... More »
NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – Wedding bells rang for the first time for same-sex couples in New Jersey just after midnight on Monday when the state became the 14th in the nation to legalize gay marriage. Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat due to leave offic... More »
(Reuters) – Wedding bells will begin to ring for same-sex couples in New Jersey just after midnight on Monday when gay marriage becomes legal in the state, and several mayors plan to officiate at nuptials. Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat who will be leavi... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Law enforcement officials are investigating threats made against U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Twitter last week, police said on Sunday. U.S. Capitol Hill Police and the FBI are looking into series posts made against the Texas Republican by a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Roughly half a million Americans have applied for health insurance through new federal- and state-run exchanges under President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, an administration official said on Saturday. That figure comes as pr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate negotiations to bring a fiscal crisis to an end showed signs of progress on Sunday, but there were no guarantees the federal government shutdown was about to end or that a historic debt default would be avoided. IMF chief Chr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will delve into a decades-old debate over university admissions policies that favor racial minorities, hearing a Michigan case that picks up where the justices left off last session in a dispute from the... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate negotiations to bring a boiling fiscal crisis to an end showed signs of progress on Sunday, but there were no guarantees that the U.S. federal government shutdown was about to end or that a historic default would be avoided. Frida... More »
SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Reuters) – Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was in New York on Sunday to tour her first gun show since being shot in the head to review new measures that require background checks for buyers. Giffords and her husband,... More »
(Reuters) – Dennis Kimetto and Rita Jeptoo led a Kenyan sweep in contrasting styles at the Chicago marathon on Sunday in a race staged amid heightened security after the Boston marathon bombings in April which killed three people. Kimetto won the men’s race af... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and Republican leaders appeared ready to end a political crisis that has shuttered much of the U.S. government and pushed the country dangerously close to default after meeting at the White House on Thursday. No de... More »
(Reuters) – Astronaut Scott Carpenter, who in 1962 became the fourth American in space and the second to orbit the Earth, died on Thursday in Colorado at age 88 of complications from a stroke, his wife Patty Carpenter said. Carpenter, who lost radio contact wi... More »
(Reuters) – Consumers are increasingly turning to an unlikely source for home security – the cable company. A decline in prices for critical components such as cameras and wireless technology has lowered entrance barriers to the $13 billion home security marke... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama has invited House of Representatives Democrats to meet Wednesday to discuss the budget crisis and a looming debt deadline, the first of a series of talks with lawmakers of both parties, a White House official ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama refused to give ground in a fiscal confrontation with Republicans on Tuesday, saying he would negotiate on budget issues only if they agree to re-open the federal government and raise the debt limit with no conditi... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Monday reiterated that President Barack Obama would not negotiate with Republicans over the threat of a debt default, sticking to its line as stock prices fell and a U.S. government shutdown moved into its second week.... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China urged Washington on Monday to take decisive steps to avoid a debt crisis and ensure the safety of Chinese investments, as a deadlocked U.S. Congress confronted a looming deadline to increase the nation’s borrowing power or risk defaul... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday not to raise the U.S. debt ceiling without a “serious conversation” about what is driving the debt, while Democrats said it was irresponsible and reckless to raise the possibility of ... More »
(Reuters) – Detroit’s largest public sector union scored a symbolic victory Friday when a Michigan administrative law judge said one of the city’s pension funds could reinstate an extra annual pension check for city workers and retirees, and make retroactive b... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday that there is “no way” Republican lawmakers will agree to a measure to raise the nation’s debt ceiling unless it includes conditions to rein in deficit spending. Pressed o... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, already embroiled in a battle over a government shutdown, jumped into another dispute on Saturday – a long-running fight over the name of the Washington Redskins NFL team. Obama said that if he owned the team, he ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Saturday it would recall the vast majority of around 350,000 civilian Defense Department employees sent home during the U.S. government shutdown, a move that could greatly lessen the impact of Washington infighting o... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Saturday it would recall most of the roughly 400,000 civilian Defense Department employees sent home during the government shutdown, in a move that could greatly lessen the impact of the shutdown on America’s armed f... More »
(Reuters) – Detroit’s largest public sector union scored a symbolic victory Friday when a Michigan administrative law judge reinstated an extra annual pension check for city workers and retirees, although the judge in the city’s bankruptcy case has prohibited ... More »
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi (Reuters) – As Americans across the nation begin to find out what Obamacare has in store for them, many of Mississippi’s most needy will find out the answer is nothing. That is likely the case for William and Leslie Johnson of Jackson C... More »
STOCKTON, California (Reuters) – Stockton, California’s city council approved a plan on Thursday for the city to adjust its debt to exit from bankruptcy after reaching a deal with bond insurer Assured Guaranty to restructure more than $150 million of outstandi... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Los Angeles jury cleared concert promoter AEG Live of liability on Wednesday in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Michael Jackson, in a trial that offered a glimpse into the private life and final days of the so-called... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday to try to break a budget deadlock that has shut wide swaths of the federal government, but there was no breakthrough and both sides blamed each ot... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. government on Wednesday scrambled to add computer capacity to handle an unexpectedly large number of Americans logging onto new online insurance marketplaces created under Present Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law. Technical glitches an... More »
MEDFORD, Massachusetts (Reuters) – Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one of four justices to dissent from a June decision by the court that struck down a portion of a federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman, said on Thursday he has not g... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown signed a first-of-its-kind state law criminalizing what has become known as revenge porn, the distribution of private, explicit photos of other people on the Internet, usually by ex-lovers or spouses, to ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday scaled down a long-planned trip to Asia, as a U.S. government shutdown entered a second day with no end in sight to the funding row in Congress that triggered it. Obama is expected to leave on Saturday... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House rejected a Republican plan to reopen portions of the U.S. government on Tuesday as the first shutdown in 17 years closed landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and threw hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of wor... More »
(Reuters) – Technical glitches and heavy internet traffic slowed Tuesday’s launch of new online insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform, showcasing the challenge of covering millions of uninsured Americans. The opening it... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Millions of Americans will learn on Tuesday what President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law actually means for them, as the administration opens new insurance marketplaces in 50 states despite a government shutdown. The launch mark... More »
(Reuters) – Maryland’s state-run Obamacare health insurance marketplace announced a four-hour enrollment delay on Tuesday, citing technical problems less than 10 minutes after the system was scheduled to begin signing up uninsured residents for coverage. “We a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government began a partial shutdown on Tuesday for the first time in 17 years, potentially putting up to 1 million workers on unpaid leave, closing national parks and stalling medical research projects. Federal agencies were dir... More »
(Reuters) – The Obama administration accelerated its push to persuade individual Americans to sign up for the most extensive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system in 50 years, even as the program’s foes in Congress fought to delay its launch with the threat o... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service on Monday defaulted yet again on a prepayment for the healthcare of its future retirees as its finances remain in the red and legislative reform remains elusive. The agency has blamed the payments, more than $5 bi... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With a deadline to avert a federal government shutdown fast approaching, the U.S. Capitol was eerily quiet on Sunday as Republicans and Democrats waited for the other side to blink first and break the impasse over funding. The Republican... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration plans to sue North Carolina on Monday to block newly enacted voting rules that it believes violates federal civil rights law, a person briefed on the Justice Department’s plan said on Sunday. The challenge would ... More »
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (Reuters) – An unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Sunday to test upgrades before commercial satellite launch services begin later this year. The 22-story rocket, built and flown by Space Exploration Te... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With a deadline to avert a federal government shutdown fast approaching, the U.S. Capitol was eerily quiet on Sunday as Republicans and Democrats waited for the other side to blink first and break the impasse over funding. The Republican... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The most iconic image from the last big shutdown of the federal government in 1995 was also its most misleading. It was a sign on the door of the Air and Space Museum in Washington saying “Due to the Federal Government shutdown, the Smit... More »
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (Reuters) – An unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Sunday to test upgrades needed for planned commercial launch services. The 22-story rocket, built and flown by Space Exploration Technologies, or Space... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives on Sunday, ignoring a White House veto threat, approved a one-year delay in funding major provisions of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law as part of a government funding bill. Republicans attac... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Stockton, California said on Friday it had struck tentative deals opening the door to settlements with two major creditors, and putting the city at the “beginning of the end” of its bankruptcy case. The deals also could avert a major ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A top Federal Reserve official on Friday took a swipe at a fellow U.S. regulator’s proposal to rein in money market mutual funds, saying a key part of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plan is a step backward and should be ditched. ... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A 21-year-old California man was arrested on Thursday in the stabbing death of a Los Angeles Dodgers fan just blocks from the San Francisco Giants baseball stadium in a fight between fans of the rival franchises. Michael Montgomery of... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California’s non-solar homeowners are paying a growing share of maintaining the power grid under a controversial state policy, while ratepayers with solar rooftops are paying less, a report commissioned by the state’s utility regulator ... More »
JACKSON, Mississippi (Reuters) – An Elvis impersonator from Mississippi falsely accused of sending ricin-tainted letters to President Barack Obama and other officials filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the man authorities now believe is the real perpetrator.... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers and intelligence chiefs, facing an outcry over the government’s collection of personal communications data, said on Thursday they were open to measures tightening oversight of the government’s sweeping electronic eavesdrop... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Thursday announced new delays in rolling out President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform, saying small business and Spanish-language health insurance enrollment services would not begin on October 1 as planned. The ... More »
DETROIT (Reuters) – Detroit’s emergency manager proposed freezing pension benefits for some current city workers starting in 2014 and will launch a two-month probe into the city’s dysfunctional and error-prone handling of employee benefits. A copy of Kevyn Orr... More »
(Reuters) – Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, were the official witnesses of a same-sex marriage between two women in Maine over the weekend, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The former first couple witnessed the private ceremony on Saturd... More »
(Reuters) – Americans will pay an average premium of $328 monthly for a mid-tier health insurance plan when the Obamacare health exchanges open for enrollment next week, and most will qualify for government subsidies to lower that price, the federal government... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A trio of Tea Party-backed U.S. senators threatening to stall a bill to fund the U.S. government ran into a wall of resistance Monday from top Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In statements issued Monday eve... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Marshals Service on Friday canceled an auction of assets forfeited by convicted former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr concerned that one item – a guitar signed by Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen – might be faked. The Marshals Ser... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans in the House of Representatives on Thursday plowed ahead with a bill to gut President Barack Obama’s healthcare law while temporarily funding other government programs, ignoring a warning from the White House that the measure... More »
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Using the Wi-Fi connection at Starbucks was a better bet than risking putting confidential defense documents on a glitch-prone Pentagon computer network, a senior Defense Department official testified on Thursda... More »
PHOENIX (Reuters) – Ken Norton, the former heavyweight boxing champion who broke Muhammad Ali’s jaw in a 1973 bout, died on Wednesday at an Arizona hospital at age 70, his manager said. Norton, who died in Bullhead City, near the Arizona-Nevada border, had bee... More »
(Reuters) – The Department of Labor on Wednesday said same-sex couples in legal marriages can participate in employee benefit plans, even if the state they live in does not recognize gay marriage. Same-sex spouses, regardless of where they live, can now partic... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday the suspected Washington Navy Yard gunman’s background presented some “red flags” easy to spot in hindsight and ordered a broad review of security worldwide, including clearances. Aaron Ale... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former security contractor Edward Snowden was able to obtain secret documents revealing a massive U.S. spying effort from the National Security Agency’s internal website, U.S. officials said according to a report on Wednesday. The classi... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – As Janet Napolitano prepares to lead the cash-strapped University of California, the Board of Regents is set to vote Wednesday on whether to take first steps toward spending millions to repair a decaying mansion to house the system’s ... More »
WORCESTER, Massachusetts (Reuters) – A British man who admitted planning to kidnap, torture and eat at least one child using a sound-proofed dungeon he built in his home in Massachusetts was sentenced to nearly 27 years in U.S. prison on Tuesday. Geoffrey Port... More »
(Reuters) – Will Obamacare’s launch look more like Black Friday, when U.S. shoppers flood retail stores for bargains the day after Thanksgiving, or April 15, when procrastinators wait until nearly midnight to file their taxes? Officials involved in implementin... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Minerva Schools of KGI doesn’t yet have accreditation, a campus or even a full faculty roster, but it is offering something even Harvard can’t – four years of free tuition for its first matriculating class. The San Francisco-based Min... More »
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – The judge in the Guantanamo war crimes court is to decide this week whether to halt pretrial hearings in the September 11 case until next year so technicians can fix computer problems that defense lawyers say ar... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Meghan McCain, who gained attention in 2007 for her lively blogs tracking her father John McCain’s presidential campaign, is bringing her “brand of Republicanism” to a new television show she hopes will change perceptions of the millenn... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will mark the five-year anniversary of the U.S. financial crisis on Monday in an effort to move back to his domestic agenda after weeks of dealing with Syria. When Wall Street came to a near collapse in 2008, the r... More »
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Governor Tom Corbett is expected to propose early next week that Pennsylvania extend Medicaid benefits to more low-income residents, likely helping them purchase private insurance using Medicaid funds, a Republican state representative... More »
(Reuters) – If Bill de Blasio becomes New York City’s first Democratic mayor in 20 years, the liberal politician would soon find himself immersed in labor talks that could saddle the city with a $7 billion bill for retroactive wage increases for municipal work... More »
DETROIT (Reuters) – Detroit’s emergency manager is considering ending its health insurance coverage for city retirees under age 65 and giving them a modest stipend to purchase insurance from the health exchanges being established under Obamacare, according to ... More »
(Reuters) – Pop singer Billy Joel, Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLaine and jazz composer Herbie Hancock on Thursday were among the annual recipients of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, one of the United States’ top cultural awards. Rock guitarist Carlos S... More »
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – Florida Governor Rick Scott has called off a “private” alligator hunting trip on October 18 to raise funds for his 2014 re-election campaign. Golfing weekends, concerts and deep-sea fishing fundraisers are common in Florida pol... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday to explore a diplomatic plan from Russia to take away Syria’s chemical weapons, but voiced skepticism about it and urged Americans to support his threat to use military force if needed. Faced wit... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bill de Blasio, a harsh liberal critic of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, won the most votes in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday but may still face a runoff, according to unofficial results. With nearly 90 percent of precin... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad vigorously defended on Tuesday her record-breaking, 110-mile (177-km) swim from Cuba to southern Florida after skeptics raised questions about the grueling trek. “I swam … in squeaky-clean, ethical fas... More »
(Reuters) – In his first major speech since being sworn in last week as the new U.S. labor secretary, Thomas Perez vowed on Tuesday to work with President Barack Obama for comprehensive immigration reform, a higher minimum wage and implementation of new health... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Public Advocate Bill de Blasio won the most votes in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, according to exit polls reported by local media. The results did not show whether de Blasio had secured the 40 percent of votes n... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Americans to back a potential strike on Syria and said it was too early to say whether a diplomatic effort to get Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to turn over control of the country’s chemical wea... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Tuesday said it had ordered heightened security of U.S. facilities abroad on the September 11 anniversary, citing the attack that killed four U.S. government employees in Benghazi, Libya, last year. “The president’s na... More »
