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Thursday, January 23, 2014

U.S. Top News: U.S. privacy board says NSA phone program illegal, should end: reports

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01/23/2014

Reuters Election 2012 Daily round-up of the day's top news from the campaign trail, the White House and all the politics in between

U.S. privacy board says NSA phone program illegal, should end: reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records provides only minimal benefits to countering terrorism, is illegal and should end, a federal privacy watchdog said in a report to be released on Thursday, according to media reports.

Bitter cold lingers as U.S. northeast digs out from snow

NEW YORK/MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey (Reuters) - Residents of the northeastern United States on Wednesday dug out from a deadly winter storm that dumped more than 15 inches of snow in some places, with frigid temperatures forcing school closings and extensive flight delays and cancellations.

Texas executes Mexican national despite diplomatic protests

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Mexican national convicted for the 1994 slaying of a Houston police officer was executed by lethal injection in Texas on Wednesday, ending a capital murder case that put him at the center of a diplomatic dispute.

City bans pot shops in backlash against Washington state legalization

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Lawmakers in one of the largest cities in Washington state have said no to marijuana businesses, the latest in a series of backlashes by municipalities against a voter-approved recreational pot market in the northwest state.

U.S. brings fraud charges against firm that vetted Snowden

(Reuters) - The Justice Department has accused United States Investigations Services (USIS), the private firm that also vetted Edward Snowden before he leaked documents about U.S. spying efforts, of bilking millions of dollars through improper background checks, a court filing showed.

University of Utah offers paternity testing for women fearing sperm swap

(Reuters) - The University of Utah on Wednesday said it is providing free paternity testing to women who conceived children at two fertility clinics that employed a lab worker suspected of artificially inseminating a patient with his own sperm.

U.S. appeals court throws Arctic drilling into further doubt

JUNEAU, Alaska (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Interior Department wrongly awarded offshore oil leases in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska in 2008 without considering the full range of environmental risks posed by drilling in the Arctic.

6.3 million eligible for Medicaid since Obamacare launch: U.S. agency

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 6.3 million Americans were deemed eligible for government healthcare plans for the poor since the October 1 launch of President Barack Obama's healthcare law through December, federal officials reported on Wednesday.

Company in West Virginia spill failed to disclose second chemical

The company behind a chemical spill that left about 300,000 people in West Virginia without tap water failed to disclose a second chemical in the leak, state officials said on Wednesday.

Ex-Dallas Cowboys player Brent guilty of intoxication manslaughter

DALLAS (Reuters) - A Texas jury found former Dallas Cowboys player Josh Brent guilty on Wednesday of intoxication manslaughter for drinking heavily at a club, getting behind the wheel and causing a fiery car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown Jr. in December 2012.