Killer of Florida teen told police he was attacked first

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• Killer of Florida teen told police he was attacked first
• Supreme court unlikely to delay healthcare ruling
• Bill ending oil company tax cuts clears Senate hurdle
• Boehner, Reid talks may end U.S. transport bill standoff
• TriWest protests U.S. contract award to UnitedHealth
• U.S. urges court to stay out of decision on Iranian group
• Church official called "keeper of secrets" in U.S. abuse case
• Cheney able to stand after heart transplant surgery
• Former U.S. Rep. Jefferson loses appeal on bribery convictions
• Facebook: Evidence shows New York man's lawsuit is fraud
• Teens may have trouble getting morning-after pill
• IRS waives fines for farmers missing MF Global tax info
• More Americans move to cities in past decade: census
• Judges grill Strauss-Kahn over prostitution case
• Wife says accused U.S. soldier had no issues
• Supreme court refuses tobacco firm appeal in smoker case
• Justice will prevail in shooting case: Florida Governor
• Slain Florida teen had marijuana residue in book bag: spokesman
• GM recalls more than 6,000 vans, SUVs over steering
• Suspect arrested in slaying of five in San Francisco
• Columbia University sues Illumina over DNA patents
• Mother of slain Florida teenager seeks trademarks
• Boehner, Reid talks may end U.S. transport bill standoff
• TriWest protests U.S. contract award to UnitedHealth
• Killer of Florida teen told police he was attacked first
• U.S. urges court to stay out of decision on Iranian group
• Bill ending oil company tax cuts clears Senate hurdle
• Church official called "keeper of secrets" in U.S. abuse case
• Cheney able to stand after heart transplant surgery
• Supreme court unlikely to delay healthcare ruling
• Dueling chants as demonstrators vent over U.S. healthcare law

Killer of Florida teen told police he was attacked first Posted: SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - The man who shot and killed an unarmed Florida teenager in a case that has sparked widespread public outrage told police the victim had punched him, knocked him down and slammed his head into the pavement repeatedly before he fired the fatal gunshot. The account of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, was published for the first time on Monday in the online edition of the Orlando Sentinel. ...

Supreme court unlikely to delay healthcare ruling Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday appeared prepared to decide the fate of President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare law soon, rather than delaying for years a ruling on the mandate that Americans buy insurance or pay a penalty. In the first of three days of historic arguments, the justices voiced doubt that a U.S. tax law requiring that people pay first and litigate later should postpone a ruling on the legal challenge to the president's signature domestic legislative achievement. ...

Bill ending oil company tax cuts clears Senate hurdle Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation repealing tax breaks for major oil companies passed its first hurdle in the Senate on Monday, but is unlikely to become law, as Republicans and Democrats seek to score political points over rising gasoline prices. The Senate voted 92 to 4 to proceed with consideration on the bill that would eliminate billions of dollars in tax breaks for the "big five" oil companies: Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Senate vote came amid increasing nervousness among U.S. ...

Boehner, Reid talks may end U.S. transport bill standoff Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress held talks on Monday over an extension of transport construction authority that would avert project shutdowns and give House Speaker John Boehner a shorter window to resolve Republican divisions over a signature jobs initiative. Aides said that Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and their staffs were discussing how to proceed after Boehner postponed a House vote on his proposal for a 90-day renewal of current law. ...

TriWest protests U.S. contract award to UnitedHealth Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - TriWest Healthcare Alliance on Monday filed a protest against the Pentagon's decision to award a contract worth close to $20.5 billion to UnitedHealth Group for military health insurance coverage in 21 western states. TriWest, which held the contract for 16 years, said it filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office because it viewed the government's evaluation of the bids as "flawed and unfair. ...

U.S. urges court to stay out of decision on Iranian group Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday urged a U.S. appeals court not to interfere with its review and decision-making process over whether to remove the Iranian dissident group Mujahadin-e Khalq from a U.S. terrorism blacklist. The group asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the State Department to either remove it from the list or require action within a specified period on its request to delist the group. ...

Church official called "keeper of secrets" in U.S. abuse case Posted: PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - One of the most closely watched child sex abuse trials involving the Roman Catholic Church began on Monday with a prosecutor asserting that Monsignor William Lynn was the "keeper of secrets" and his lawyer countering that he alone tried to stop the abuse. At the center of opening arguments in the case against Lynn, the most senior cleric to stand trial in the church's sex abuse scandal, was the Philadelphia Archdiocese's "secret archive" of files containing information about hundreds of suspect priests. ...

Cheney able to stand after heart transplant surgery Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney is doing well after undergoing heart transplant surgery over the weekend, a spokeswoman for his family said on Monday. The 71-year-old, who wielded considerable power as vice president during George W. Bush's presidency from 2001 to 2009, was still in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia. His wife and daughters were with him. "He is awake, and talking and even was able to stand up yesterday," said spokeswoman Kara Ahern. "His doctors are very pleased with the recovery so far. ...

Former U.S. Rep. Jefferson loses appeal on bribery convictions Posted: (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Monday upheld most of the convictions against former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson on multiple charges of bribery and money laundering. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, upheld all but one of 11 guilty counts against the former Democratic congressman from New Orleans, who used his home freezer to store $90,000 in cash. Jefferson was accused in 2007 of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes from companies while using his office to broker business deals in Africa. ...

Facebook: Evidence shows New York man's lawsuit is fraud Posted: (Reuters) - Facebook Inc urged a federal judge on Monday to throw out a lawsuit by a New York wood pellet salesman who said he deserves half of founder Mark Zuckerberg's stake in the social media company, calling the case a "fraud." Paul Ceglia, who has lived in Wellsville, New York, sued Zuckerberg and Facebook - now one of the world's most valuable companies - in 2010 in a dispute over a 2003 contract. Facebook has repeatedly said Ceglia was a fraud and that a "Work for Hire Document" was a forgery and emails he purportedly exchanged with Zuckerberg were made up. ...

Teens may have trouble getting morning-after pill Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many U.S. pharmacies may give teen girls incorrect information over the phone about whether they can get the morning-after pill - taken to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex - without a prescription, a new study suggests. In most states, anyone age 17 and over can get the pill without a prescription, as a result of a 2009 decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ...

IRS waives fines for farmers missing MF Global tax info Posted: CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tax officials will not penalize farmers who could not properly file their taxes because they had accounts at bankrupt broker MF Global. The Internal Revenue Service said in a press release on Friday it would waive fines for farmers who underpaid their taxes because they did not receive forms reflecting profits and losses in MF Global accounts before a March 1 deadline. The tax forms, known as 1099s, are normally delivered around the beginning of February. ...

More Americans move to cities in past decade: census Posted: (Reuters) - More Americans are living in cities now than a decade ago, according to U.S. Census data released on Monday. The most urban state is California - one that dominates the popular imagination as a land of empty deserts, open beaches and thick redwood forests - the Census numbers showed. In 2010, a total of 80.7 percent of Americans lived in urban areas, up from 79 percent in 2000. Conversely, 19.3 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas in 2010, down from 21 percent in 2000. At the same time, the population of urban areas grew by 12. ...

Judges grill Strauss-Kahn over prostitution case Posted: LILLE, France (Reuters) - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was questioned by three judges on Monday over his role in a prostitution case in the northern French city of Lille that could see him placed under formal investigation. The Socialist ex-finance minister, a strong contender to be France's next president until he was hit with sex assault charges in New York last May, appeared at the Lille court two days earlier than scheduled, although no official reason was given for the date change. ...

Wife says accused U.S. soldier had no issues Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The wife of a U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians this month said she does not believe her husband could have carried out the massacre and that she was confident he was fine before his latest deployment. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a decorated 38-year-old veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was charged last week with 17 counts of murder for killing eight adults and nine children and six counts each of assault and attempted murder for attacking two other adults and four children. ...

Supreme court refuses tobacco firm appeal in smoker case Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it will not hear an appeal by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co in a Florida case in which it was ordered to pay $28.3 million to a woman whose husband died of lung cancer after decades of smoking its cigarettes. The justices refused an appeal by the Reynolds American Inc unit, which argued that its constitutional due process rights had been violated and that the issue could affect thousands of pending cases in Florida against tobacco companies. In 2009, a state trial court in Pensacola, Florida, ordered Reynolds to pay more than $3. ...

Justice will prevail in shooting case: Florida Governor Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott on Monday cautioned against a rush to judgment in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, saying state authorities were still gathering facts. Martin, a 17-year-old African American, was killed on February 26 while walking through a gated community in an Orlando suburb. George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer, believed the young man in a "hoodie" hooded sweatshirt looked suspicious. Zimmerman followed him and an altercation ensued. Zimmerman's attorney has said Zimmerman acted in self-defense. ...

Slain Florida teen had marijuana residue in book bag: spokesman Posted: SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - The unarmed Florida teen whose fatal shooting by a neighborhood watch captain set off a national uproar had been suspended from his Miami high school 10 days earlier for having marijuana residue in his book bag, a family spokesman said on Monday. The residue was found in a plastic bag inside Trayvon Martin's book bag, family spokesman Ryan Julison said. "There was no substance found. There was a baggie that school officials believe may have formerly contained marijuana. There was no arrest or citation from the police," Julison said. ...

GM recalls more than 6,000 vans, SUVs over steering Posted: (Reuters) - General Motors Co is recalling 6,159 big vans and sport-utility vehicles in the United States for possible loss of steering. The U.S. automaker is recalling certain 2012 model-year Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans, and Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon XL SUVs because the gear shaft could fracture, which could lead to a loss of steering and increased risk of an accident, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. ...

Suspect arrested in slaying of five in San Francisco Posted: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Homicide detectives have arrested a man in connection with the murder of five people found slain at a home in a quiet San Francisco neighborhood and detained the suspect's younger brother on drug charges, police said on Sunday. Details of the case remained murky, but the investigation unfolded when a relative discovered two of the dead at the home on Friday morning, and three more bodies were found after police were called to the scene, San Francisco police said. ...

Columbia University sues Illumina over DNA patents Posted: (Reuters) - Illumina Inc, a gene-mapping company facing a $5.7 billion hostile takeover bid by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, was sued by Columbia University on Monday for allegedly infringing five patents related to DNA sequencing. According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, Illumina commercialized its so-called next-generation sequencing (NGS) products despite knowing about the patents, obtained between 2009 and 2012 and assigned to Columbia. ...

Mother of slain Florida teenager seeks trademarks Posted: MIAMI (Reuters) - The mother of the Florida teenager shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, in a case with racial overtones that has resonated across the United States, is seeking trademark rights to slogans based on his name. Sybrina Fulton, the mother of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, filed the trademark requests on March 21, according to the online database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In the filings, which were confirmed by Fulton's attorney Kimra Major-Morris, she seeks legal rights to the slogans "Justice for Trayvon" and "I Am Trayvon. ...

Boehner, Reid talks may end U.S. transport bill standoff Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress held talks on Monday over an extension of transport construction authority that would avert project shutdowns and give House Speaker John Boehner a shorter window to resolve Republican divisions over a signature jobs initiative. Aides said that Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and their staffs were discussing how to proceed after Boehner postponed a House vote on his proposal for a 90-day renewal of current law. ...

TriWest protests U.S. contract award to UnitedHealth Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - TriWest Healthcare Alliance on Monday filed a protest against the Pentagon's decision to award a contract worth close to $20.5 billion to UnitedHealth Group for military health insurance coverage in 21 western states. TriWest, which held the contract for 16 years, said it filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office because it viewed the government's evaluation of the bids as "flawed and unfair. ...

Killer of Florida teen told police he was attacked first Posted: SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - The man who shot and killed an unarmed Florida teenager in a case that has sparked widespread public outrage told police the victim had punched him, knocked him down and slammed his head into the pavement repeatedly before he fired the fatal gunshot. The account of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, was published for the first time on Monday in the online edition of the Orlando Sentinel. ...

U.S. urges court to stay out of decision on Iranian group Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday urged a U.S. appeals court not to interfere with its review and decision-making process over whether to remove the Iranian dissident group Mujahadin-e Khalq from a U.S. terrorism blacklist. The group asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the State Department to either remove it from the list or require action within a specified period on its request to delist the group. ...

Bill ending oil company tax cuts clears Senate hurdle Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation repealing tax breaks for major oil companies passed its first hurdle in the Senate on Monday, but is unlikely to become law, as Republicans and Democrats seek to score political points over rising gasoline prices. The Senate voted 92 to 4 to proceed with consideration on the bill that would eliminate billions of dollars in tax breaks for the "big five" oil companies: Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Senate vote came amid increasing nervousness among U.S. ...

Church official called "keeper of secrets" in U.S. abuse case Posted: PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - One of the most closely watched child sex abuse trials involving the Roman Catholic Church began on Monday with a prosecutor asserting that Monsignor William Lynn was the "keeper of secrets" and his lawyer countering that he alone tried to stop the abuse. At the center of opening arguments in the case against Lynn, the most senior cleric to stand trial in the church's sex abuse scandal, was the Philadelphia Archdiocese's "secret archive" of files containing information about hundreds of suspect priests. ...

Cheney able to stand after heart transplant surgery Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney is doing well after undergoing heart transplant surgery over the weekend, a spokeswoman for his family said on Monday. The 71-year-old, who wielded considerable power as vice president during George W. Bush's presidency from 2001 to 2009, was still in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia. His wife and daughters were with him. "He is awake, and talking and even was able to stand up yesterday," said spokeswoman Kara Ahern. "His doctors are very pleased with the recovery so far. ...

Supreme court unlikely to delay healthcare ruling Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday appeared prepared to decide the fate of President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare law soon, rather than delaying for years a ruling on the mandate that Americans buy insurance or pay a penalty. In the first of three days of historic arguments, the justices voiced doubt that a U.S. tax law requiring that people pay first and litigate later should postpone a ruling on the legal challenge to the president's signature domestic legislative achievement. ...

Dueling chants as demonstrators vent over U.S. healthcare law Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Supporters of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law chanted "We love Obamacare" while opponents replied "We love the Constitution" in lively demonstrations outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as the justices weighed the fate of the statute. Gusty winds whipped American flags, signs and banners as hundreds of supporters of the law outnumbered opponents at the white marble columned court building on the first of three days of arguments over the law signed by Obama in 2010. ...

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