| Animal rights group to pay circus $9.3 million in elephant dispute Dec 29th 2012, 01:46 NEW YORK (Reuters) - A major animal welfare group has agreed to pay $9.3 million to the owners of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to settle a lawsuit brought in response to now-dismissed legal claims of mistreated elephants. The settlement, announced by the parties on Friday, removes the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, from litigation by Ringling Bros. against the Humane Society, the Animal Welfare Institute and a former elephant handler for the circus. ... |  | Senate approves $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy reconstruction bill Dec 29th 2012, 00:43  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Friday approved a $60.4 billion aid package to pay for reconstruction costs from Superstorm Sandy, after defeating Republican efforts to trim the bill's cost. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to quickly take up the bill. Both chambers have to agreed on a package by Jan 2, when the current term of Congress is expected to end, or restart the process of crafting legislation in 2013. ...
| | Governor signs new law for abortion clinics in Michigan Dec 29th 2012, 00:39  (Reuters) - Michigan's Republican governor on Friday signed into law new rules for abortion providers that supporters say will protect the health of pregnant women but critics say will shutter clinics and restrict access. The law signed by Governor Rick Snyder increases state oversight of abortion clinics and establishes a screening protocol to make sure women are not being forced to get an abortion. The measure requires health facilities or clinics that perform more than 120 abortions a year to become licensed freestanding surgical outpatient facilities. ...
| | Claim seeks $100 million for child survivor of Connecticut school shooting Dec 29th 2012, 00:36  MERIDEN, Connecticut (Reuters) - A $100 million claim on behalf of a 6-year-old survivor is the first legal action to come out of the Connecticut school shooting that left 26 children and adults dead two weeks ago. The unidentified client, referred to as Jill Doe, heard "cursing, screaming, and shooting" over the school intercom when the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, opened fire, according to the claim filed by New Haven-based attorney Irv Pinsky. "As a consequence, the ... ...
| | Man pushed to his death on NY City subway tracks Dec 28th 2012, 23:46 NEW YORK (Reuters) - The death of a man who was shoved in front of an oncoming New York City subway train spurred a police hunt on Friday for the woman seen pushing him, as the second such violent death this month left its imprint on the city's millions of subway riders. The woman appeared to be mumbling to herself and pacing, witnesses told police, before she approached the man from behind on the platform of an elevated station in the borough of Queens and shoved him onto the subway track Thursday evening. ... | | Relics said to be from Jesus' birth to be at Chicago church Dec 28th 2012, 23:46 CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tiny fragments said to be from the manger that held the infant Jesus, the veil of his mother, Mary, and a thread from the cloak of St. Joseph will be displayed by a Roman Catholic church in Chicago when it celebrates its 155th anniversary on Sunday. The fragments, released by the Vatican in 1972, were a gift to the Holy Family Church from the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, also in Chicago. Displaying them now has particular significance because of their association with Christmas, which marks the birth of Jesus. The Rev. Jeremiah J. ... | | Senate rejects bid to trim Superstorm Sandy bill Dec 28th 2012, 23:41  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday rejected a Republican amendment to cut the immediate cost of a $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy reconstruction bill by more than half to $23.8 billion. The 54-41 vote cleared the way for final Senate action on the disaster recovery bill. (Reporting By Doug Palmer; editing by Todd Eastham)
| | Shock, heartbreak for U.S. families adopting Russian children Dec 28th 2012, 23:33  (Reuters) - For months, life for Ann and Kurt Suhs has been a whirlwind of assembling documents, getting fingerprinted and scheduling evaluations of their Atlanta-area home in preparation for welcoming a Russian child into their family for a second time. Now, the couple - who adopted their son Ben, now 7, from Russia at age 13 months - say they were blindsided by news that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday banning Americans from adopting Russian children effective next Tuesday. ...
| | Lapses led to Florida A&M drum major hazing death: report Dec 28th 2012, 23:29  TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida A&M University failed to follow state law and its own internal regulations on hazing ahead of a drum major's death from injuries after being beaten in a brutal marching band ritual in November 2011, a new report said on Friday. The 32-page report issued by the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system, detailed numerous incidents of inadequate oversight, poor communication and outdated policies at the school. ...
| | Tale of two cities: Chicago murder rate spikes, New York falls Dec 28th 2012, 23:10  CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a sharp contrast between two of the nation's largest cities, Chicago recorded its 499th murder of 2012 on Thursday night while New York reported 414 murders as of Friday even though it has more than three times the population, according to police. Plagued by gang violence, Chicago surpassed last year's murder total of 433 in October and is set for the highest rate of homicide since the third largest U.S. city recorded 512 in 2008. The number is likely to top 500 on the last weekend of the year. ...
| | Passengers on Queen Mary 2 sickened by unidentified pathogen Dec 28th 2012, 23:05 NEW YORK (Reuters) - An unknown illness, suspected of being a norovirus, has sickened 194 passengers and 11 crew members aboard the luxury cruise ship Queen Mary 2, causing vomiting and diarrhea, federal health officials said on Friday. Earlier in the week, 189 passengers and 31 crew members on the Emerald Princess came down with the same symptoms. The symptoms are those of norovirus, a contagious microorganism that can be acquired from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... | | Jean Harris, convicted of murdering "Scarsdale Diet" doctor, dies Dec 28th 2012, 22:58 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jean Harris, a former girl's school headmistress who was convicted and imprisoned for the 1980 murder of a best-selling diet doctor, has died, The New York Times reported on Friday. Harris died on Sunday at an assisted-living facility in Connecticut, the Times said, citing her son James. She was 89. Harris served 12 years in prison for the murder of her lover, Dr. Herman Tarnower, author of the hugely popular "Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet. ... | | White House talks don't include NRA: gun group president Dec 28th 2012, 22:45  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An effort led by Vice President Joe Biden to find ways to reduce gun violence after the Connecticut school massacre so far has not included talking to the National Rifle Association, the president of the gun rights group said on Friday. NRA President David Keene said neither Biden nor his staff has contacted the organization since President Barack Obama unveiled the effort on December 19. Keene said he was not surprised, given Biden's past support for new gun control laws. "He's not even a friendly antagonist," Keene told Reuters in an interview. ...
| | New routes for ships off California may help endangered whales Dec 28th 2012, 22:26  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Several endangered whale species may get a new lease on life when some cargo shipping lanes off the California coast are shifted next year. Routes due to be changed by June 2013 are used by ocean-going cargo vessels, tugboats and automobile carriers near San Francisco Bay, the Channel Islands in central California and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, environmental officials said on Friday. The shipping channels overlap with whale feeding and migration areas, and several blue whales and fin whales have been killed by ships, they said. ...
| | Illinois could be next state to legalize gay marriage Dec 28th 2012, 22:08 CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois could become the next U.S. state to legalize gay marriage with a bill set to be introduced in the state Senate in early January, even before a new legislature takes office with a super-majority of Democrats in both houses. Buoyed by November election referendum victories for gay marriage in Maryland, Maine and Washington state, gay marriage supporters in Illinois said they plan to press for approval in the Democrat-majority legislature. If it passes, that would make Illinois the tenth state to approve same sex nuptials. ... | | 10 days later, man who escaped high-rise Chicago prison missing Dec 28th 2012, 22:07 CHICAGO (Reuters) - The FBI is still searching for one of two convicted bank robbers who escaped last week from a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago by lowering themselves on a makeshift rope nearly 20 stories to the street. Kenneth Conley, 38, and his cellmate, Joseph Jose Banks, 37, escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center early on the morning of December 18. The pair apparently broke a window in the cell they shared, squeezed through the opening and lowered themselves to the street. They then hailed a cab to make their getaway. ... | |
No comments:
Post a Comment