| Lawmakers press for trade response to Bangladesh factory fire Dec 21st 2012, 01:25 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dozen U.S. lawmakers pressed President Barack Obama's administration on Thursday to complete a long-running review that could lead to suspension of trade benefits for Bangladesh after a deadly factory blaze there last month. "We are seriously concerned about the deterioration of working conditions and worker rights in Bangladesh," the congressional Democrats said in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. ... |  | Four men accused of trying to sell weapons of Saddam's family Dec 21st 2012, 01:24 (Reuters) - Four men were arrested on Thursday and accused of conspiring to sell stolen firearms believed to have belonged to the family of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, officials said. The pistols, shotguns and revolvers are estimated to be worth $250,000 to $350,000, according to a statement issued by the office of U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in Newark, New Jersey. The four men are accused of trying to find a buyer in New Jersey for the weapons, which were believed stored in Florida, the prosecutor said. ... | | Gun lobbyists plan media push after Newtown massacre Dec 21st 2012, 00:49 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One week after a school shooting that shocked Americans - with many of the 27 victims buried and time allowed for prayers and investigation - the National Rifle Association will dive in to the fierce national debate about gun control. The largest U.S. gun rights lobby plans a well-coordinated public entrance to the conversation on how to prevent such tragedies, starting with a rare news conference on Friday at a hotel across the street from the White House. ... | | More funerals in Newtown, White House gun task force meets Dec 21st 2012, 00:39  NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - As residents of Newtown, Connecticut, buried more victims of the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history on Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden convened a White House task force to search for ways to quell gun violence in the United States. With funerals for a half-dozen victims on Thursday, services have now been held for more than half of the 27 people shot and killed last Friday by a heavily armed, 20-year-old man who attacked an elementary school with an assault rifle. ...
| | DNA from 'In Cold Blood' killers may help solve 1959 Florida murder Dec 21st 2012, 00:10 ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida detective trying to crack a 53-year-old unsolved murder case will ask a Kansas judge for permission to exhume and extract DNA from the bodies of two notorious killers made famous in Truman Capote's 1966 true-crime novel, "In Cold Blood." Sarasota County Sheriff Detective Kim McGath told Reuters she believes the two men convicted for the 1959 murder of Herbert Clutter, his wife and two children in Holcomb, Kansas, might be responsible for a similar killing one month later of a family in Osprey, Florida. ... | | Michigan charges suspected highway shooter with "terrorism" Dec 20th 2012, 23:57 (Reuters) - A man known as the "I-96 shooter" suspected in two dozen random shootings on and around a Michigan interstate highway was charged on Thursday with terrorism and assault with intent to murder, according to the state attorney general's office. "These were acts of domestic terrorism against Michigan citizens and we are charging them as such," said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette of the case against Raulie Casteel, 43, of Wixom, Michigan, a small town about 35 miles northwest of Detroit. Casteel also faces felony firearms charges. ... | | Ohio governor signs law slightly weakening gun controls Dec 20th 2012, 23:36  COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Ohio's Republican Governor Johns Kasich on Thursday signed into law a measure that would slightly weaken the state's law on carrying concealed weapons, less than a week after a Connecticut school massacre focused national attention on gun control. The bill would require Ohio residents demonstrate competency with the weapon only once rather than each time the concealed carry permit expires. It also would allow carrying concealed weapons in the parking garage of the State Capitol. Kasich signed the bill along with 41 others and did not hold a signing ceremony. ...
| | Lawsuit over NYPD's "stop and frisk" data can move ahead Dec 20th 2012, 23:34 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people who have been stopped or frisked by New York police - but never convicted of any crime - can sue the police department for keeping their personal information in a database, a New York appeals court ruled on Thursday. In 2010, New York's largest civil liberties group filed a class action lawsuit against the New York Police Department on behalf of two men stopped separately by police in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Each man received two summonses, which were later dismissed, but their personal information remained in a growing NYPD database. ... | | White House defends Hagel as Obama mulls Pentagon choice Dec 20th 2012, 23:05 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday came to the defense of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel against critics who have attacked his record on Israel and Iran in a bid to head off his possible nomination as President Barack Obama's next Pentagon chief. With Hagel considered a leading choice for defense secretary, the administration joined allies rallying to support him against the onslaught, led by some pro-Israel groups and neo-conservatives, but also including former colleagues on Capitol Hill. ... | | New York infrastructure faces $89 billion gap in 20 years: official Dec 20th 2012, 22:41 NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York State and its local governments face a shortfall of up to $89 billion for infrastructure funding over the next 20 years, the state's top financial official said on Thursday. The collective shortfall is for transportation, water and sewer facilities throughout the state, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a report. New York and its cities, counties and authorities need to spend $250 billion on water, sewer and highway systems in the coming two decades, but only about $161 billion in such spending is planned, he said. ... | | Scouts can lease public land, despite stance on gays: court Dec 20th 2012, 21:49 SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America can lease public land from the City of San Diego for a cheap rate, even though the scouts prohibit atheists, agnostics and homosexuals from becoming members, a U.S. appeals court ruled. In an opinion on Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said two leases held by an organization chartered by the scouts do not violate the constitutional separation of church and state. The Boy Scouts policy of denying membership to gay scouts and scout leaders has prompted protests and lawsuits. In 2000, the organization won a 5-4 U. ... | | Air Force revamps Raytheon missile contract Dec 20th 2012, 21:45 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Air Force said on Thursday it has restructured a troubled air-to-air missile program run by Raytheon Co, freeing $104 million in immediate funding for the company and putting the program on track to return to its original schedule by mid-2014. Lieutenant General Charles Davis, the top Air Force official in charge of acquisition issues, said the two sides reached agreement last week on new contract terms that will pay Raytheon for delivery of actual missile rounds rather than the "performance-based" milestones used in the past. ... | |
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