Report challenges key Pentagon spending assumption

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• Report challenges key Pentagon spending assumption
• Rice meeting with senators fails to dampen criticism
• White House expected to seek billions in Sandy disaster aid
• Judge orders tobacco companies to admit deception
• ACLU sues over policy barring women from combat
• Massachusetts expands probe into evidence falsified by state lab
• New Jersey residents want shore rebuilt with strict standards: poll
• U.S. investigating use of force by Albuquerque police
• FBI probes possible links among rash of U.S. bomb threats
• Bangladeshi man pleads not guilty to New Y ork Federal Reserve bomb plot
• Senators ask U.S. to probe California gasoline prices
• Judge orders tobacco companies to admit deception
• New Yorker charged in killings of shopkeepers of Middle Eastern origin
• Rice meeting with U.S. senators fails to dampen criticism
• Patriot Coal bankruptcy moved to court in Missouri
• Buildings in 29 Tennessee counties receive bomb threats
• Rhode Island to leave "Christmas" out of tree ceremony
• Senior Democrat Durbin urges talks on Medicare
• Ex-Elmo puppeteer faces new sex-with-minor allegation
• Officials target gun violence in Connecticut
• Appeals court upholds New York gun licensing law
• Shippers seek White House's help to keep Mississippi River open
• New Jersey gay conversion therapy group sued for fraud
• Powerball jackpot jumps to record $500 million, drawing Wednesday
• Seattle police plan for helicopter drones hits severe turbulence
• Jeb Bush, with cash and clout, pushes contentious school reforms
• Insight: Sandy gives New York oil supply lesson
• Nobel winner and organ transplant pioneer Joseph Murray dies at 93
• Lava flows to the ocean in Hawaii, creating rare natural show

Report challenges key Pentagon spending assumption Posted: 27 Nov 2012 05:58 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. military grappled with budget cuts over the past year, one thing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made clear was the Pentagon must avoid reductions in training and maintenance that would lower the force's readiness to fight. But a report released by a Washington think tank on Tuesday challenged that assumption, concluding that a short-term cut in readiness funding could free up cash to develop weapons and equipment needed to be ready in the future. ...

Rice meeting with senators fails to dampen criticism Posted: 27 Nov 2012 05:04 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Tuesday conceded that an early account she gave about the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, was partly inaccurate, but her admission failed to win over Republican senators who accused her of misleading the public. Rice met for about an hour behind closed doors at the U.S. Capitol with Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, who have threatened to block her nomination if President Barack Obama chooses her for secretary of state or another top post in his second-term Cabinet. ...

White House expected to seek billions in Sandy disaster aid Posted: 27 Nov 2012 05:08 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is expected in the coming days to send Congress a multi-billion dollar request to fund recovery from Superstorm Sandy, which caused an estimated $71 billion in damages in New York and New Jersey. Congressional aides said there was no clear indication of the request's size, but some said it would likely be at least $11 billion. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund had access to about $7.8 billion as Sandy slammed the U.S. East Coast on October 29, causing widespread destruction in coastal New York and New Jersey. ...

Judge orders tobacco companies to admit deception Posted: 27 Nov 2012 05:26 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major tobacco companies that spent decades denying they lied to the U.S. public about the dangers of cigarettes must spend their own money on a public advertising campaign saying they did lie, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling sets out what might be the harshest sanction to come out of a historic case that the Justice Department brought in 1999 accusing the tobacco companies of racketeering. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler wrote that the new advertising campaign would be an appropriate counterweight to the companies' "past deception" dating to at least ...

ACLU sues over policy barring women from combat Posted: 27 Nov 2012 01:50 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union and four servicewomen sued the U.S. Defense Department on Tuesday to end a ban on women in combat, calling the military the last bastion of discrimination by the federal government and saying modern warfare has already put women in the line of fire. The civil rights group argued in a legal complaint filed in federal court in Northern California that the military policy barring women from roles primarily focused on combat solely because of their gender was unconstitutional. ...

Massachusetts expands probe into evidence falsified by state lab Posted: 27 Nov 2012 04:55 PM PST CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Investigators have identified 10,000 people convicted or accused of crimes based on evidence handled by a Massachusetts state crime lab chemist who falsified tests, and officials said they planned review thousands more cases dating back nine years. David Meier, a former prosecutor appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to lead the investigation, said his team initially had identified 2,000 people imprisoned or held on bail because of evidence tested by crime lab chemist Annie Dookhan, a governor's office spokeswoman said on Tuesday. ...

New Jersey residents want shore rebuilt with strict standards: poll Posted: 27 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Jersey Shore, where hundreds of homes were swept away or damaged in Superstorm Sandy, should be rebuilt, but with new, stricter building codes to protect against future storms, a poll of New Jersey voters said on Tuesday. If given the choice, voters said the state government in Trenton, rather than local governments, should pay for the recovery, including rebuilding beach front boardwalks, according to the poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. ...

U.S. investigating use of force by Albuquerque police Posted: 27 Nov 2012 02:10 PM PST (Reuters) - The Justice Department said on Tuesday it launched a civil rights probe into whether the police department in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has shown a pattern of using excessive force on civilians. The investigation - which is civil, not criminal - is one of 14 active police reform investigations across the country, according to the Justice Department. There have been 25 shootings involving Albuquerque police officers since 2010, 17 of which were fatal, according to KOB, a news station in the city. ...

FBI probes possible links among rash of U.S. bomb threats Posted: 27 Nov 2012 04:15 PM PST NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - The FBI said it was trying to determine if there is a connection among telephone bomb threats to facilities in 30 counties of Tennessee on Tuesday and similar recent incidents in other U.S. states. Courthouses and public facilities in 30 Tennessee counties were temporarily evacuated on Tuesday following a rash of such calls. Similar threats closed more than a dozen courthouses in Oregon last week and bomb threats were also made in Washington state and Nebraska. All affected facilities in Tennessee had been searched by late on Tuesday. ...

Bangladeshi man pleads not guilty to New Y ork Federal Reserve bomb plot Posted: 27 Nov 2012 03:46 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Bangladeshi man arrested in a sting operation denied on Tuesday charges that he attempted to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York last month with what authorities say he believed was a 1,000-pound (450-kg) bomb. During a brief hearing in Brooklyn federal court, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, pleaded not guilty to a two-count indictment charging him with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, al Qaeda. He faces life in prison if convicted. ...

Senators ask U.S. to probe California gasoline prices Posted: 27 Nov 2012 01:36 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six U.S. senators on Tuesday called for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether market manipulation by West Coast oil refiners contributed to a price spike in May and October that sent gasoline prices to record highs above $5 a gallon. The senators, all Democrats, want the Justice Department to conduct a "refinery-by-refinery probe" and subpoena records from California refineries to see whether public reports of maintenance shutdowns were accurate. Two of the state's largest refiners are Valero Energy Corp and Tesoro Corp. ...

Judge orders tobacco companies to admit deception Posted: 27 Nov 2012 03:34 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major tobacco companies that spent decades denying they lied to the U.S. public about the dangers of cigarettes must spend their own money on a public advertising campaign saying they did lie, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling sets out what might be the harshest sanction to come out of a historic case that the Justice Department brought in 1999 accusing the tobacco companies of racketeering. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler wrote that the new advertising campaign would be an appropriate counterweight to the companies' "past deception" dating to at least ...

New Yorker charged in killings of shopkeepers of Middle Eastern origin Posted: 27 Nov 2012 03:14 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Brooklyn grand jury on Tuesday indicted a clothing salesman on murder charges in the shooting deaths this year of three shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent, prosecutors said. Salvatore Perrone, 63, was arrested a week ago on suspicion of murder when a witness in a pharmacy matched his likeness to a photo circulated by police after it was captured on a security camera near the latest killing this month. ...

Rice meeting with U.S. senators fails to dampen criticism Posted: 27 Nov 2012 02:50 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Tuesday conceded that an early account she gave about the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, was partly inaccurate, but she failed to win over Republican senators who accused her of misleading the public. Rice met for about an hour behind closed doors at the U.S. Capitol with Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, who have threatened to block her nomination if President Barack Obama chooses her for Secretary of State or another top post in his second-term Cabinet. ...

Patriot Coal bankruptcy moved to court in Missouri Posted: 27 Nov 2012 02:15 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Patriot Coal on Tuesday lost a bid to keep its bankruptcy case in New York, after the United Mine Workers of America argued that the proceedings should be transferred to a venue closer to the company's operations. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman in Manhattan moved the case to St. Louis, Missouri, where the company is based. As part of the bankruptcy, Patriot is expected to seek significant cuts in retiree pension and health benefits. ...

Buildings in 29 Tennessee counties receive bomb threats Posted: 27 Nov 2012 01:39 PM PST NASHVILLE (Reuters) - Courthouses and public facilities in 29 Tennessee counties were temporarily evacuated on Tuesday following a rash of telephone bomb threats, similar to recent incidents in several other U.S. states, authorities said. Threats closed more than a dozen courthouses in Oregon last week and bomb threats were also made in Washington state and Nebraska. By mid-afternoon, 19 of the Tennessee courthouses had been cleared. "No devices have been found," said Jeremy Heidt, Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman. No bombs were found in any of the other states. ...

Rhode Island to leave "Christmas" out of tree ceremony Posted: 27 Nov 2012 03:13 PM PST (Reuters) - Rhode Island will go ahead with plans to hold a "holiday tree" lighting ceremony in the state capital despite controversy last year over Governor Lincoln Chafee's decision to avoid using the word "Christmas" in reference to the tree. The announcement on Tuesday that the state would hold a tree-lighting ceremony in Providence came just 24 hours after the governor's spokeswoman said the annual event had been scrubbed. Last year, protesters interrupted the ceremony with demands the conifer be officially referred to as a "Christmas tree. ...

Senior Democrat Durbin urges talks on Medicare Posted: 27 Nov 2012 01:28 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dick Durbin, a senior Senate Democrat and close ally of President Barack Obama, urged fellow liberals on Tuesday to consider reforming Medicare and Medicaid, the U.S. healthcare programs they have long fought to shield from spending cuts. The timing of his message - just as Democrats and Republicans struggling to avoid the "fiscal cliff," looming early next year - and its prominence may signal that Democratic leaders and the White House will discuss social programs at the fiscal policy negotiating table. ...

Ex-Elmo puppeteer faces new sex-with-minor allegation Posted: 27 Nov 2012 11:09 AM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The puppeteer formerly behind the "Sesame Street" character Elmo faces a new accusation of having sex with an underage boy, a week after a similar allegation prompted him to resign from the iconic public television children's program. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a man identified only as John alleges Kevin Clash engaged in oral sex and other sex acts with him when John was 16 years old. The suit seeks at least $75,000 in damages. ...

Officials target gun violence in Connecticut Posted: 27 Nov 2012 11:47 AM PST NEW HAVEN, Conn/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is taking a cautious step toward confronting the politically tricky subject of gun violence with an initiative unveiled on Tuesday that focuses on prevention. It was not the gun control launch that some of Barack Obama's supporters hoped for after the president won a second four-year term in a November 6 election. Instead, U.S. Justice Department and Connecticut officials announced a statewide program that targets repeat criminals, creates alternatives for potential gang members and rallies neighborhoods against violence. ...

Appeals court upholds New York gun licensing law Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:40 AM PST (Reuters) - The state of New York can continue to require residents who want to carry a concealed handgun in public to obtain a special license, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected a challenge brought by several Westchester residents and the Second Amendment Foundation against the state's handgun licensing scheme. Like numerous other states, New York imposes restrictions on individuals who wish to carry concealed firearms in public. ...

Shippers seek White House's help to keep Mississippi River open Posted: 27 Nov 2012 12:28 PM PST (Reuters) - Mississippi River barge operators and shipping groups on Tuesday asked U.S. President Barack Obama to declare a state of emergency on the river and direct the Army Corps of Engineers to keep the drought-lowered waterway open to commercial traffic to avert an "economic catastrophe." Water on the Mississippi River along the busy stretch from St. Louis to Cairo, Illinois was expected to recede to record-low levels by mid-December, effectively halting the flow of barges that carry billions of dollars worth of grain, coal, steel, fuel and other products. ...

New Jersey gay conversion therapy group sued for fraud Posted: 27 Nov 2012 11:52 AM PST (Reuters) - Four gay men who underwent treatment designed to change their sexual orientation filed a lawsuit in New Jersey on Tuesday accusing their therapists of fraud, in what may be the first suit of its kind against conversion therapists. Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a Jersey City-based non-profit organization, falsely claimed to be able to eliminate the four men's homosexual desires through a scientifically proven process, according to a complaint filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey. ...

Powerball jackpot jumps to record $500 million, drawing Wednesday Posted: 27 Nov 2012 11:29 AM PST (Reuters) - The jackpot for the Powerball lottery soared on Tuesday to a record $500 million and could increase again by the time the winning numbers are drawn on Wednesday, a lottery official said. The payout jumped nearly $175 million due to brisk ticket sales after no one won the top prize in Saturday's drawing, said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Lottery, where Powerball is based. "It really gets into uncharted territory at this point," she said on Tuesday. "Sales across the country are just through the roof. ...

Seattle police plan for helicopter drones hits severe turbulence Posted: 27 Nov 2012 09:53 AM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - One of the latest crime-fighting gadgets to emerge on the wish lists of U.S. law enforcement agencies - drone aircraft - has run into heavy turbulence in Seattle over a plan by police to send miniature robot helicopters buzzing over the city. A recent push for unmanned police aircraft in several cities is being driven largely by grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including more than $80,000 the city of Seattle used to buy a pair of drone choppers in 2010. ...

Jeb Bush, with cash and clout, pushes contentious school reforms Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:18 PM PST (Reuters) - Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush soared to rock star status in the education world on the strength of a chart. A simple graph, it tracked fourth-grade reading scores. In 1998, when Bush was elected governor, Florida kids scored far below the national average. By the end of his second term, in 2007, they were far ahead, with especially impressive gains for low-income and minority students. Those results earned Bush bipartisan acclaim. As he convenes a star-studded policy summit this week in Washington, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential education reformers in the ...

Insight: Sandy gives New York oil supply lesson Posted: 27 Nov 2012 05:10 AM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - At 4 p.m. on October 29, as heavy winds battered the East Coast ahead of Superstorm Sandy's landfall, the Coast Guard's regional command center on Staten Island lost power and its hulking backup generators hummed into action. Commander Linda Sturgis, who oversees emergency prevention at the Port of New York, was buzzed through two thick security doors into the Port's hive-like vessel traffic center, the maritime equivalent of an air traffic control tower. ...

Nobel winner and organ transplant pioneer Joseph Murray dies at 93 Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:03 PM PST (Reuters) - Dr. Joseph Murray, the surgeon who carried out the first successful kidney transplant and later won a Nobel Prize for his work in medicine and physiology, died on Monday in Boston at the age of 93. Murray died after suffering a stroke last Thursday, Brigham and Women's Hospital spokesman Tom Langford said. Murray and his team completed the first human organ transplant in 1954, taking a kidney from one identical twin and giving it to his twin brother, opening a new field in medicine, the hospital said. "The world is a better place because of all Dr. Murray has given. ...

Lava flows to the ocean in Hawaii, creating rare natural show Posted: 27 Nov 2012 06:03 PM PST HONOLULU (Reuters) - A volcano on Hawaii's largest island is spilling lava into the ocean, creating a rare and spectacular fusion of steam and waves that officials said on Tuesday could attract thrill-seeking visitors if it continues. Lava from a vent in Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii began flowing into the ocean 7 miles away on Saturday. The volcano has been erupting continuously from its Pu'u O'o vent since 1983. The flow was the first from the volcano to reach the ocean since December, said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. ...

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