Nation
Obama defends drone strikes but says no cure-all
By The Associated PressWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday defended America’s controversial drone attacks as legal, effective and a necessary linchpin in an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy. …
West Point case adds to military sex abuse scandals
By The Associated Press 7:00 p.m.ALBANY, N.Y. — Charges that an Army sergeant secretly photographed and videotaped women at West Point are part of a military-wide pattern of sexual misconduct, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said on Thursday. The military has been rocked by …
Doctor-turned-congressman fined for sex with patients
By The Associated Press 6:57 p.m.NASHVILLE — Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a licensed physician, was reprimanded and fined by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners for having sex with patients before he was elected to Congress, according to documents released Thursday. The Republican won re-election last …
Student loan rates targeted
By The Associated Press 6:47 p.m.WASHINGTON — Dismissing a veto threat from President Obama, lawmakers in the Republican-led House approved legislation that links student loan rates to the ups and downs of the financial markets. “We’re ripping off kids,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. The …
Okla. tornado survivors say goodbye as year ends
By The Associated Press 6:49 p.m.MOORE, Okla. — Students from a suburban Oklahoma City elementary school destroyed by this week’s tornado reunited with their teachers Thursday and collected whatever could …
Mom in enduring image: ‘God’s arms around’ 8-year-old daughter
By The Associated Press 6:49 p.m.MOORE, Okla. — The picture was published on hundreds of front pages around the world, becoming one of the lasting pictures from the tornado. On …
Controversial IRS official removed from post
By The Associated Press 6:52 p.m.TribLIVE Breaking News Alert -- This is a breaking story and we will update it shortly.
Hurricane season forecast: a whopper
By The Associated Press 6:49 p.m.COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Get ready for another busy hurricane season, maybe unusually wild, federal forecasters said on Thursday. Their prediction calls for 13 to 20 named Atlantic storms, 7 to 11 that strengthen into hurricanes and 3 to 6 …
Hurricane forecast: Another busy Atlantic season
By The Associated PressCOLLEGE PARK, Md. — Federal forecasters are predicting yet another busy hurricane season. Thursday’s outlook calls for 13 to 20 named storms, 7 to 11 that strengthen into hurricanes and 3 to 6 that become major hurricanes. The prediction by …
Cask ahoy: Winery tests ocean aging
By The Associated PressCHARLESTON, S.C. — A California winery this week recovered four cases of cabernet sauvignon that were submerged in Charleston Harbor three months ago in the first phase of an experiment to determine the effect of ocean aging on wine. Divers …
Memorial Day weekend traffic expected to be slightly lighter than last year
By Tom FontaineThe unofficial summer travel season is expected to start slowly, with fewer people taking trips over the Memorial Day holiday weekend than last year, AAA said Wednesday. The automotive trade group predicts 34.8 million people will travel at least 50 …
Vote on gays in Boy Scouts today
By The Los Angeles TimesGRAPEVINE, Texas — Protesters in Boy Scout uniforms staked out sides of a resort-lined street in this Dallas suburb, where national Scouting leaders met on …
From top to bottom, IRS officials not cooperating with lawmakers on targeting tactics
By McClatchy NewspapersWASHINGTON — Internal Revenue Service officials are not fully cooperating with efforts to learn who is responsible for targeting conservative groups, lawmakers learned on Wednesday during the third and most tense, dramatic hearing on the scandal. First, the director of …
Wall of water a fear for N.D. community
By The Associated PressBISMARCK, N.D. — A dam that threatened to give way and flood a North Dakota town was holding back the water on Wednesday, though the 1,300 residents of Cavalier still are told to stay away from their homes. Steady rainfall …
U.S. admits drones killed 4 Americans
By The Associated PressWASHINGTON — The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009. The disclosure to Congress occurs on the eve of a major national …
Chicago votes to shutter 50 schools; critics petition state
By The Associated PressCHICAGO — The Chicago Board of Education voted on Wednesday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define — for better or worse — Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term in …
Tornado annihilation staggering in Oklahoma
By The Associated PressMOORE, Okla. — The tornado that struck an Oklahoma City suburb this week may have caused $2 billion or more in damage as it tore through as many as 13,000 homes, multiple schools and a hospital, officials said on Wednesday …
FBI kills Florida friend of Boston Marathon bomber
By From Wire ReportsORLANDO, Fla. — A friend of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot and killed early on Wednesday by an FBI agent. He had confessed to a direct role in a 2011 triple homicide in Waltham, Mass., a federal …
Bill may coax rape reports in military
By The Associated PressWASHINGTON — Members of a House panel angry over the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the military took a key step toward tackling the problem by passing legislation on Wednesday that would strip commanding officers of their longstanding authority …
Ambassador bows to closed-door interview
By McClatchy NewspapersWASHINGTON — The retired American diplomat who co-chaired an internal State Department review of the 2012 terrorist attacks on American facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on Wednesday ended his refusal to submit to a closed-door interview with a Republican-led House committee …
