Secret Service chief apologizes for prostitution scandal

Secret Service chief apologizes for prostitution scandal
Trainer filmed abusing horses banned from show for life
Female soldiers sue to lift combat ban
Florida student pleads guilty to threat on Obama's life
No verdict yet in ex-U.S. Senator Edwards' trial
Missouri to vote on "right to pray" constitutional amendment
Winds, heat hamper fight to contain Southwest wildfires
Four arrested after 131 immigrants found in Texas house
U.S. charges Chinese man with illegal nuclear-related exports
Aggressive Chicago prosecutor Fitzgerald to quit
Senior priest testifies at sex abuse trial
New York pension fund assets hit $150 billion, near peak
U.S. Education Department probing University of Montana rape reports
"Pro choice" stance on U.S. abortions at record low: poll
Los Angeles to become largest U.S. city to ban plastic bags
California man, 101, killed by car driven by woman of 91
Chicago police arrest 15 at futures exchange protest
Hearings delayed for two arrested in pre-NATO raids
150,000 more US heat deaths projected by 2100
Phony "dying bride" ordered to repay victims
Woman won't be charged for US Airways scare
Slain Florida marching band student asked for hazing: defendant
Obama orders agencies to shift services to mobile apps
Aggressive Chicago prosecutor Fitzgerald to quit
Court: Gore-Tex heiress can't adopt ex-husband
Arizona official says satisfied Obama U.S.-born
Wisconsin girl injured by stray arrow in her back
Obama defends foreign policy from Republican criticism
Chicago police arrest 15 at futures exchange protest
Female soldiers sue to lift combat ban
Missouri to vote on "right to pray" constitutional amendment
Trainer filmed abusing horses banned from show for life
Four arrested after 131 immigrants found in Texas house
U.S. charges Chinese man with illegal nuclear-related exports
Aggressive Chicago prosecutor Fitzgerald to quit
U.S. Education Department probing University of Montana rape reports
Florida student pleads guilty to threat on Obama's life
Chicago police arrest 15 at futures exchange protest
Los Angeles to become largest U.S. city to ban plastic bags

Posted: 23 May 2012 02:01 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Secret Service, in his first public appearance since a Colombian prostitution scandal involving his employees surfaced last month, apologized for the misconduct on Wednesday as lawmakers expressed doubt it was an isolated incident. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, gray-haired in a blue striped suit and tie, faced the Senate Homeland Security Committee and asserted that the behavior of a dozen employees in Cartagena in April did not reflect the culture of the agency that protects the president. ...

Trainer filmed abusing horses banned from show for life

Posted: 23 May 2012 06:50 PM PDT

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A Tennessee walking horse Hall of Fame trainer was banned for life from the most important horse show for the breed after ABC News showed a video of him abusing horses and he pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of cruelty to animals. Organizers of The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, the biggest annual event of the breed, said on Wednesday that trainer Jackie McConnell was barred from the Celebration and would not be allowed to set foot on the event grounds. ...

Female soldiers sue to lift combat ban

Posted: 23 May 2012 07:14 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two female soldiers filed suit on Wednesday to scrap the U.S. military's restrictions on women in combat, claiming the policy violated their constitutional rights. Command Sergeant Major Jane Baldwin and Colonel Ellen Haring, both Army reservists, said policies barring them from assignments "solely on the basis of sex" violated their right to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. ...

Florida student pleads guilty to threat on Obama's life

Posted: 23 May 2012 04:09 PM PDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - A college student pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to threatening in a Facebook post to kill President Barack Obama by putting "a bullet through his head." Joaquin Amador Serrapio, 20, had pleaded not guilty after his arrest by Secret Service agents in February. He changed his plea after accepting what his lawyer Alan Ross said was an offer from prosecutors. "He was really stupid, really stupid," said Ross. He said that Serrapio never intended to make good on his threats, which were posted on Facebook under the assumed name "Jay Valor. ...

No verdict yet in ex-U.S. Senator Edwards' trial

Posted: 23 May 2012 03:03 PM PDT

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - The North Carolina jury deciding whether former U.S. Senator John Edwards violated federal election laws while trying to hide an affair during his 2008 presidential bid finished its fourth day of deliberations on Wednesday without reaching a verdict. The 12 member-panel, which is deliberating in a courthouse in Greensboro, gave no hint at what issues were being considered or whether the deliberations might be nearing an end. ...

Missouri to vote on "right to pray" constitutional amendment

Posted: 23 May 2012 06:59 PM PDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Voters in the U.S. state of Missouri will decide on August 7 whether to approve a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to pray in public places. Governor Jay Nixon signed a proclamation on Wednesday setting the election on the amendment, which Missouri legislators voted overwhelmingly last year to put on the ballot in 2012. Had Nixon not signed the proclamation, the amendment would have automatically appeared on the November 6 general election ballot. ...

Winds, heat hamper fight to contain Southwest wildfires

Posted: 23 May 2012 12:32 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Fire crews hampered by wind gusts and dry conditions on Wednesday made slow gains battling dangerous forest and brush fires in the U.S. Southwest, including a wildfire in Nevada that doubled in size overnight and destroyed 17 buildings and two homes. Blazes in rugged, mountainous areas of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah have already forced the evacuation of several small towns and torched more than 85 square miles (220 square km) of forest, brush and grass in the past two weeks. ...

Four arrested after 131 immigrants found in Texas house

Posted: 23 May 2012 05:42 PM PDT

MCALLEN, Texas (Reuters) - Federal agents have arrested four people accused of smuggling 131 illegal immigrants found at a "stash house" in south Texas, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The 131 illegal immigrants were detained on Tuesday after a raid at a house near Alton, Texas, about eight miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, said ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda. The immigrants at the house were from Mexico and Central America, and did not require medical attention, she said. The four people arrested had been expected to appear before a U.S. ...

U.S. charges Chinese man with illegal nuclear-related exports

Posted: 23 May 2012 05:03 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chinese national was charged with illegally exporting to China U.S.-made sensors used to produce weapons-grade uranium, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday. Qiang Hu, 47, a sales manager for a Chinese subsidiary of MKS Instruments, was arrested at his hotel in North Andover, Massachusetts and charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. export laws. He allegedly allowed thousands of pressure measuring sensors, known as pressure transducers, to be exported from the United States to unauthorized users in China, the department said. ...

Aggressive Chicago prosecutor Fitzgerald to quit

Posted: 23 May 2012 04:51 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Patrick Fitzgerald, the aggressive U.S. attorney in Chicago whose investigations as a federal prosecutor ranged from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to CIA leaks and two consecutive Illinois governors, said on Wednesday he would step down effective June 30. Fitzgerald, 51, who was appointed to the post just days before the September 11, 2001, attacks, is the longest-serving U.S. attorney in Chicago history. ...

Senior priest testifies at sex abuse trial

Posted: 23 May 2012 03:18 PM PDT

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Monsignor William Lynn testified on Wednesday at his criminal trial in a Philadelphia pedophilia case that he reassigned a predator priest to live in parish housing attached to an elementary school, where he ultimately abused another child. Lynn, 61, the most senior U.S. clergyman to go on trial in the widespread U.S. Roman Catholic Church scandal, took the stand to defend himself against charges he covered up child sex abuse allegations against priests, many of whom were simply transferred to unsuspecting parishes. ...

New York pension fund assets hit $150 billion, near peak

Posted: 23 May 2012 11:56 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's pension fund assets rose 5.96 percent to $150.3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year, not far from the $154 billion peak set in 2007, the state's comptroller said on Wednesday. Despite the improvement, the return remained below the assumed rate of return of 7.5 percent. "Over the last three years, the fund has experienced strong gains during a period of economic instability," Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement. In 2009, the value of the pension fund fell to $108.9 billion in the midst of what DiNapoli called the "global economic meltdown". ...

U.S. Education Department probing University of Montana rape reports

Posted: 23 May 2012 04:38 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the University of Montana responded promptly and appropriately to at least 11 reported rapes and sexual assaults at its Missoula campus since 2010, a spokesman for the agency said on Wednesday. The investigation coincides with the opening on May 1 of a probe by the federal Department of Justice into complaints the university, Missoula police and a local prosecutor had failed to aggressively investigate more than 80 rapes reported in the city over the past three years. ...

"Pro choice" stance on U.S. abortions at record low: poll

Posted: 23 May 2012 03:32 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A record low 41 percent of Americans call themselves 'pro choice' on abortion, with the number sliding among independent voters, a key political group, a Gallup poll released on Wednesday showed. The results of the May poll come as abortion and contraception supporters have come under increasing pressure in Congress and across the United States. "Pro choice" is a label for people who favor the right of women to choose whether to bring a pregnancy to term. "Pro life" is a label for those who back legal protection for human fetuses, including outlawing abortion. ...

Los Angeles to become largest U.S. city to ban plastic bags

Posted: 23 May 2012 03:56 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The Los Angeles City Council voted on Wednesday to ban the use of plastic bags in grocery stores, setting the stage to become the largest American city to date to implement such a measure. The 13-1 vote kicks off a process that will include a four-month environmental review, a second vote to formally adopt an ordinance, and a six-month grace period for the roughly 7,500 grocers within the limits of the second-largest U.S. city. Smaller grocers will have 12 months to phase out the bags. ...

California man, 101, killed by car driven by woman of 91

Posted: 23 May 2012 02:26 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 101-year-old man crossing an intersection in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank was struck by a car being driven by a 91-year-old woman and later died of his injuries, police said on Wednesday. Otto Jensen, a popular local photographer, suffered serious injuries in the Tuesday evening accident and was pronounced dead at a hospital, Burbank police spokesman Darin Ryburn said. "It's truly a tragedy, not only for Otto's family but for the city, to lose such a well-known figure here in Burbank. He lived and worked here for a long time," Ryburn said. ...

Chicago police arrest 15 at futures exchange protest

Posted: 23 May 2012 04:05 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Police arrested 15 people blocking the main artery through Chicago's financial district on Wednesday during a demonstration against state tax breaks won last year by CME Group, the world's largest futures exchange company. The 15 men and women, three of whom were in wheelchairs, were escorted to the nearby plaza in front of the Chicago Board of Trade building, where they were detained in an area cordoned off with yellow tape while officers wrote tickets. CME owns the Board of Trade, which offers futures on corn, soybeans and Treasuries. ...

Hearings delayed for two arrested in pre-NATO raids

Posted: 23 May 2012 12:53 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A judge on Wednesday gave prosecutors more time to assemble their case against two men arrested on terrorism-related and possession of explosives charges ahead of the NATO summit. Sebastian Senakiewicz, 24, is charged with making a false terrorist threat, and Mark Neiweem, 28, is charged with attempted possession of explosives or incendiary devices in the days leading up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting on Sunday and Monday, which drew thousands of protesters to Chicago. ...

150,000 more US heat deaths projected by 2100

Posted: 23 May 2012 02:11 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Killer heat fueled by climate change could cause an additional 150,000 deaths this century in the biggest U.S. cities if no steps are taken to curb carbon emissions and improve emergency services, according to a new report. The three cities with the highest projected heat death tolls are Louisville, with an estimated 19,000 heat-related fatalities by 2099; Detroit, with 17,900, and Cleveland, with 16,600, the Natural Resources Defense Council found in its analysis of peer-reviewed data, released on Wednesday. ...

Phony "dying bride" ordered to repay victims

Posted: 23 May 2012 02:03 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York bride who faked having terminal cancer to swindle well-wishers into funding her dream wedding and honeymoon to the Caribbean on Wednesday was ordered to repay more than $13,000 to her victims, prosecutors said. Jessica Vega, 25, pleaded guilty last month to fraud and forgery charges for deceiving people in the Hudson Valley area of New York into thinking she had only a few months to live, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said. ...

Woman won't be charged for US Airways scare

Posted: 23 May 2012 03:03 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The passenger who said she had a surgically-implanted device in her body and caused a US Airways jetliner flying across the North Atlantic to divert to Maine will not face criminal charges in the security scare, prosecutors said on Wednesday. U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty said Lucie Zeeko Marigot, 41, a French citizen originally from Cameroon, would be taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and returned to France. ...

Slain Florida marching band student asked for hazing: defendant

Posted: 23 May 2012 12:14 PM PDT

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The Florida college marching band member killed in a brutal 2011 hazing wanted to submit to the ritual and received permission from the head drum major to participate on the night he died, according to testimony released by prosecutors on Wednesday. Robert Champion, 26, was beaten to death on board Bus C, part of a fleet of 11 buses and a limousine that ferried the Florida A & M University marching band to the Florida Classic football game and band competition in Orlando in November 2011. Champion's family has described the drum major as being opposed to hazing. ...

Obama orders agencies to shift services to mobile apps

Posted: 23 May 2012 01:20 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, hoping to spur U.S. innovation in the explosive field of mobile communications, on Wednesday ordered all major federal agencies to make many more of their services available on mobile phones within the next year. "Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device," Obama said in a statement. ...

Aggressive Chicago prosecutor Fitzgerald to quit

Posted: 23 May 2012 01:23 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Patrick Fitzgerald, the aggressive U.S. attorney in Chicago whose investigations ranged from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to CIA leaks and two consecutive Illinois governors, said on Wednesday he would step down effective June 30. Fitzgerald, 51, who was appointed to the post just days before the September 11, 2001, attacks, is the longest-serving U.S. attorney in Chicago history. ...

Court: Gore-Tex heiress can't adopt ex-husband

Posted: 23 May 2012 01:16 PM PDT

WILMINGTON, Del (Reuters) - F. Scott Fitzgerald observed that the rich are different, but that does not mean an heiress can adopt her 65-year-old ex-husband to increase her family's claim to a billion dollar inheritance. Delaware's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the unconventional adoption did not entitle the man to inherit a share of the Gore-Tex waterproof fabric fortune. Heirs to the founders of W.L. Gore & Associates Inc of Newark, Delaware, have fought for years over how to divide their stake in the privately held company, which has $3 billion in annual revenue. ...

Arizona official says satisfied Obama U.S.-born

Posted: 23 May 2012 01:22 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona's secretary of state said on Wednesday he has received information from state officials in Hawaii that verifies Barack Obama's birth records, satisfying criteria to put the president on the November ballot in the state. Ken Bennett, who in addition to his secretary of state duties serves as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign co-chairman in Arizona, made a request to authorities in Hawaii on March 30 about Obama's birth records on behalf of more than 4,000 constituents, his office said. ...

Wisconsin girl injured by stray arrow in her back

Posted: 23 May 2012 11:46 AM PDT

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Police in Wisconsin said on Wednesday that are puzzled about how a 7-year-old girl was shot in the back by an arrow while she was walking outside her home last weekend. Aryanna Schneeberg remains in fair condition in a Milwaukee hospital after a stray arrow struck her outside of her Campbellsport home on Sunday evening. "I screamed," said the girl's mother Laura Schneeberg during a news conference Tuesday. "I (saw) it, she was on the sidewalk right in front of our house." As of Wednesday, police do not know who shot the arrow. ...

Obama defends foreign policy from Republican criticism

Posted: 23 May 2012 11:16 AM PDT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday staunchly defended his foreign policy record against Republican election-year criticism that he has overseen a decline in American power in the world. Addressing graduating cadets of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Obama touted his decisions on pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq, winding down the unpopular war in Afghanistan, and the raid that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden - a record aides hope will counter voter discontent over a fragile economy and high unemployment. ...