WASHINGTON (AP) — Some labor unions that enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry, fearful that it will jeopardize benefits for millions of their members. More »Some unions now angry about health care overhaul
The Irish potato famine that caused mass starvation and approximately 1 million deaths in the mid-19th century was triggered by a newly identified strain of potato blight that has been christened "HERB-1," according to a new study. More »Mystery of Irish Potato Famine Solved
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup truck on Interstate 5 heading to a camping trip when a bridge before them disappeared in a "big puff of dust." More »I-5 bridge collapse survivor: 'You hold on'
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time, but heated reactions from the left and right made clear that the BSA's controversies are far from over. More »Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I attended the wedding of the son of some old friends in another state. Rather than buy the young couple a gift, we instead gave them a check for $1,000. Imagine our astonishment when a month later the following arrived in our mailbox:"Dear 'Loretta' and 'Evan,'"Thank you for the generous donation. We really enjoyed spending that money. If ever you feel like you have too much of it, we would gladly take it off your hands."Love, 'Mason' and 'Candace'"Abby, my husband and I have worked hard for many years in our business and have been blessed by the Lord. ... More »Wedding Thank-You Note Fails To Deliver Intended Message
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water. More »I-5 bridge collapses in NW Wash.; people in water
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river collapsed north of Seattle Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers as three injured people were pulled from the chilly waterway. More »I-5 bridge collapses into Wash. river, injuring 3
By Dominic Evans TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Syrian-born Islamist cleric who taught one of the men accused of hacking to death an off-duty British soldier on a London street praised the attack for its "courage" and said Muslims would see it as a strike on a military target. In an interview in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, where he has lived since being banished from Britain in 2005, Omar Bakri, founder of banned British Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, said he knew suspect Michael Adebolajo from his lectures a decade ago. ... More »Exiled cleric who taught UK knifeman praises 'courage'
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The 25,000 people at the soccer stadium and the millions more watching at home waited 90 minutes before the Australian evangelical preacher got to the message he had come to Communist-ruled Vietnam to deliver. More »Foreign preacher takes rare turn on Vietnam stage
By Steve Neavling DETROIT (Reuters) - As part of his efforts to solve Detroit's financial crisis, the city's emergency manager Kevyn Orr has asked for an appraisal of the collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts, sparking fears in artistic and philanthropic circles that he means to auction off the city's artistic jewels. Orr was appointed in March by Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder to tackle the shrinking city's long-term debt problem, which the emergency manager estimated at $15 billion in a recent report on the state of Detroit. ... More »Fear of art sale sparked by Detroit emergency manager asking for appraisal
By Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama wants to roll back some of the most controversial aspects of the U.S. "war on terror," but efforts to alter the global fight against Islamist militants will face the usual hurdle at home: staunch opposition from Republicans in Congress. In a major policy speech on Thursday, Obama narrowed the scope of the targeted-killing drone campaign against al Qaeda and its allies and announced steps toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba. He acknowledged the past use of "torture" in U.S. ... More »Obama wants to end 'war on terror' but Congress balks
In the annals of political correctness run amok in American schools, this story — if true — is easily an all-timer. More »Black Spanish teacher claims she was fired for using the word ‘negro’ in class
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service official who led the unit that targeted tea party groups and publicly disclosed the activity has been replaced, making her the third top IRS official moved aside since the episode was revealed two weeks ago. More »IRS replaces official who revealed targeting
PHOENIX (AP) — As jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial filed one by one from the courtroom after a dramatic five months of gut-wrenching testimony and gruesome photographs, three women on the panel cried and one looked to the victim's family, mouthing the word, "Sorry." More »Jury foreman says Arias testimony didn't help her
Between the faction of gay Christians who are happy with their sexual identity and "ex-gays," who say they've removed their homosexual yearnings, is a third group that gets little attention. These so-called Side B Christians identify as gay and believe it's not sinful to do so. But because they see acting on their orientation as ungodly, they commit to a life of celibacy. More »How Celibate Gay Christians Deal With Desire
Typical Lone Wolf: Tamerlan Tsarnaev Self-Radicalized, Failed to Join Militant Ranks in Dagestan More »No 'Manifesto' But New Clues to 'Frustrated' Boston Suspect: Sources
If you Google "George W. Bush shredding the constitution," you will get many millions of hits. The New York Times railed, "Ever since 9/11, we have watched Republican lawmakers help Mr. Bush shred the Constitution in the name of fighting terrorism." More »Obama and the Law
By Ilze Filks and Mia Shanley STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Police in Stockholm called in reinforcements on Friday after youths set cars and a school ablaze in a fifth night of rioting, the worst to hit Sweden for years. Pupils at a primary school in Kista - an IT hub that is home to the likes of telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and the Swedish office of Microsoft - arrived to find the inside of the small red wooden building had been completely burnt out. ... More »Stretched by riots, Swedish police call reinforcements
By Marice Richter GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America voted on Thursday to lift a century-old ban on openly gay scouts in a major victory for gay rights activists, but the decision means a sea of change for an organization that depends heavily on faith-based groups. More than 60 percent of the group's National Council, comprised of some 1,400 delegates, voted in favor of ending the ban, effective January 1, 2014, the group said in a statement. A prohibition on openly gay adult leaders remains in place. ... More »Boy Scouts of America votes to end century-old ban on gay scouts
The Boy Scouts of America will get no reprieve from controversy after a contentious vote to accept openly gay boys as Scouts. More »After vote on gay youth, Scouts face more turmoil